In Oracle Database 18 and above, SQL Tuning Advisor detects if SQL is executing on Exadata. SQL Tuning Advisor privately gathers system statistics and does analysis with and without these statistics.

DB Optimizer 2.0 takes SQL tuning beyond standard hint injections and SQL rewrites by offering advanced features such as Index Analysis and VST diagrams. With the new DB Optimizer 2.0, "we have ...

As any database admin knows, mastering the subtler nuances of SQL can be likened to the black arts. For me, tuning the efficiency of SQL queries on large, heavily used databases is a perfect example.