Here are the steps to complete the challenge:

To create a new VCN with the name exam-vcn within your assigned compartment by using the Start VCN Wizard, follow these steps:

In the OCI Console, go to Networking and click Virtual Cloud Networks.

Select your assigned compartment from the list on the left.

Click Start VCN Wizard.

Select Create VCN with Internet Connectivity and click Start VCN Wizard.

Enter exam-vcn as the VCN Name and leave the other fields as default. Click Next.

Review the summary and click Create. This will create a VCN with a public subnet, a private subnet, an internet gateway, a NAT gateway, a service gateway, and a route table.

To create a new Oracle Functions application named exam-app within your assigned compartment by using the private subnet in your previously created VCN, follow these steps:

In the OCI Console, go to Developer Services and click Functions.

Select your assigned compartment from the list on the left.

Click Create Application.

Enter exam-app as the Application Name and select your previously created VCN from the VCN dropdown menu.

Select the private subnet from the Subnet dropdown menu and leave the other fields as default. Click Create. This will create an Oracle Functions application that can run serverless functions in a private subnet.

One possible IAM policy statement that allows API Gateway to access Oracle Functions in your compartment is:

ALLOW any-user to use functions-family in compartment <your-compartment-name> where ALL {request.principal.type = 'ApiGateway', request.resource.compartment.id = '<your-compartment-OCID>'}

This statement grants the any-user group the permission to use the functions-family resource type in the specified compartment, but only if the request is coming from an API Gateway and the function belongs to the same compartment as the API Gateway. For more information, see Create a Policy to Give API Gateways Access to Functions.

To complete the task of setting up the context for Fn CLI and deploying the python function to exam-app, you can follow these steps:

a. Set up the Fn CLI context in Cloud Shell - In the OCI Console, go to Developer Services and click Functions. - Select your assigned compartment from the list on the left. - Click Getting Started on the top right corner. - Copy and paste the commands from the Set Up Fn CLI Context section into the Cloud Shell window. This will create a new context for your region and compartment. - Set your registry [repo-name-prefix] by entering the following command in the Cloud Shell window:

`fn update context registry [region_key].ocir.io/[tenancy-name]/{username}`

where [region_key] is the region key for your region (for example, iad for US East Ashburn), [tenancy-name] is the name of your tenancy (for example, ocuocictrng16), and {username} is your username (for example, 99248134-lab.user01).

For example, if your region is US East Ashburn, your tenancy is ocuocictrng16, and your username is 99248134-lab.user01, your command would be:

`fn update context registry iad.ocir.io/ocuocictrng16/99248134-lab.user01`

b. Login to the registry using docker login, which will require you to generate and use an Auth Token - To generate an Auth Token, follow these steps: - In the OCI Console, open the Profile menu on the top right corner and click User Settings. - Click Auth Tokens on the left panel and then click Generate Token. - Enter a description for the token and click Generate Token. - Copy and save the token value. You will not be able to see it again later. - To login to the registry using docker login, follow these steps: - In the Cloud Shell window, enter the following command:

`docker login [region_key].ocir.io`

where [region_key] is the region key for your region (for example, iad for US East Ashburn).

For example, if your region is US East Ashburn, your command would be:

`docker login iad.ocir.io`

- Enter your username in the format `[tenancy-name]/oracleidentitycloudservice/{username}` (for example, ocuocictrng16/oracleidentitycloudservice/99248134-lab.user01) and press Enter.

- Enter your Auth Token as the password and press Enter. You should see a message saying 'Login Succeeded'.

c. Use wget https://objectstorage.us-ashburn1.oraclecloud.com/n/ocuocictrng5/b/PBT_Storage/o/ExamFunction-main.zipto upload the zip archive containing the Python function files to Cloud Shell. - In the Cloud Shell window, enter the following command:

`wget https://objectstorage.us-ashburn1.oraclecloud.com/n/ocuocictrng5/b/PBT_Storage/o/ExamFunction-main.zip`

This will download the zip archive to your current directory.

d. Extract the files by using the unzip utility and navigate to the python sub-folder - In the Cloud Shell window, enter the following commands:

`unzip ExamFunction-main.zip`

`cd ExamFunction-main/python`

This will extract the files from the zip archive and change your current directory to the python sub-folder.

e. Deploy the python function to the exam-app using an fn command - In the Cloud Shell window, enter the following command:

`fn deploy --app exam-app --local`

This will deploy the python function to the exam-app application using your local Docker image.

f. Invoke the function at least 2 times using an fn command - In the Cloud Shell window, enter the following command:

`fn invoke exam-app hellopython`

This will invoke the function and print its output.

- You can invoke the function again by repeating the same command or pressing Up Arrow and Enter keys. You should see different outputs each time you invoke the function.

Option A is correct because using Autonomous Transaction Processing with shared Exadata infrastructure is the most suitable option for running seasonal workloads in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Autonomous Transaction Processing is a fully managed, serverless, and elastic database service that can scale up or down automatically based on the workload demand. It also supports stopping and starting the database to save costs when it is not in use. It runs on Exadata infrastructure, which provides high performance, availability, and security for transactional and mixed workloads12.

Option B is incorrect because using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Exadata DB Systems is not optimal for running seasonal workloads in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Exadata DB Systems are dedicated, high-performance database systems that can run multiple databases with different shapes and versions. However, they are not serverless or elastic, and they do not support stopping and starting the database. They are more suitable for mission-critical and steady-state workloads that require consistent performance and availability3 .

Option C is incorrect because using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Virtual Machine DB Systems is not optimal for running seasonal workloads in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Virtual Machine DB Systems are flexible and cost-effective database systems that can run single-node or RAC databases with different shapes and versions. However, they are not serverless or elastic, and they do not support stopping and starting the database. They are more suitable for development, testing, or production workloads that require moderate performance and availability .

Option D is incorrect because using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Bare Metal DB Systems is not optimal for running seasonal workloads in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Bare Metal DB Systems are high-performance database systems that run single-node databases with locally attached NVMe storage. However, they are not serverless or elastic, and they do not support stopping and starting the database. They are more suitable for high-performance, latency-sensitive, specialized, or traditional workloads that require full control over the entire cloud stack .

Option A is correct because creating a FastConnect virtual circuit with Microsoft Azure as the provider to establish a private interconnect between the application tier running in the Azure Virtual Network and the OCI VCN that contains the Oracle Databases is the most-fault tolerant and secure solution for this customer. This option provides low latency, high throughput, and consistent network performance across the clouds.It also avoids exposing the traffic to the public internet, which enhances security and reliability12.

Option B is incorrect because creating an encrypted, Virtual Private Network connection between the Microsoft Azure Virtual Network that contains the application tier and the OCI Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) that contains the Oracle Databases is not as fault-tolerant and secure as option A.This option relies on the public internet for connectivity, which can introduce latency, bandwidth limitations, and security risks12.

Option C is incorrect because using an OCI Virtual Cloud Network remote peering connection to create a remote network connection between the application tier running in Microsoft Azure Virtual Network and Oracle Databases running in the OCI Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) is not possible. Remote peering connections can only be used to connect two VCNs within the same region or across regions within OCI.They cannot be used to connect a VCN with a VNet in another cloud provider3.