Oracle Database 10g Insider Solutions

IntroductionIntroduction

Oracle Corporation released its flagship Oracle Database 10g relational database management system in February of 2004. This new version not only arrived with a slew of features, it fundamentally changed the way certain functions and operations are done in the database. When combined with the comprehensive but voluminous documentation set, it is no wonder that first-time users and even experienced Oracle technicians stumble during implementation of this new version. They want to get the best of Oracle Database 10g, but are faced with plowing through the thousands of pages in the 150-odd manuals, searching for nuggets to implement and exploit.

If this describes you, a solution to this problem is now in your hands. This book has been written by a trio of experienced Oracle professionals who have faced and overcome the very same issues you face. Having worked in the trenches with previous versions of Oracle products, and now with this new version, they have distilled their combined real-life experiences into this tome. We hope you enjoy reading this book and discovering the nuggets that the authors have laid out for you in the subsequent pages!Who Should Read This Book

This book is for anyone who has to work with Oracle Database 10g. Primarily written for database administrators, it caters to database architects as well as developers who would like to know how this new version affects their enterprise and their applications. The chapters are replete with examples and code that the authors themselves have used and tested so you can apply them confidently in a real-life situation.

This book, however, is not designed to act as anintroductory book or even a comprehensive reference of new features in Oracle Database 10g. Only those features that are useful and have the most bang-for-the-buck in practical terms are listed and discussed. Such topics are covered in depth and, where warranted, additional sources for reading from manuals and MetaLink notes are recommended.What You Need to Use This Book

This book covers Oracle Database 10g Release 1 as well as Release 2 of the product, making specific reference to the latter where necessary. Hence, you need to use a supported version of Oracle Database 10g Release 1 at the least. By default, the features and code listed would work for installations that use Oracle Database Release 1 on any operating-system platform unless specifically mentioned otherwise. All SQL code listed is operating-system neutral unless UNIX-style directories are referred to within the code. In certain cases, UNIX-based shell scripts have been used as wrappers around SQL code to demonstrate a few features in principle. These scripts can easily be adapted to Windows and should work without change if they are executed under an emulator such as CygWin or MKS Toolkit. Please note that some of the database features are available only when licensed separately. These are specifically indicated.

Throughout the text, we refer to a number of manuals and MetaLink notes. Although the manuals are available both online at http://tahiti.oracle.com and with the software distribution, all readers may not have access to MetaLink. If you do not have a MetaLink account that can be used to access these notes, you can easily create one at http://metalink.oracle.com using your Customer Support Identifier (CSI). This should be available from whomever administers your Oracle Support Contract.How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided into five logical parts. Chapters within these sections deal with specific topics related to that area. The parts are as follows:

• Part I, "Getting Started with Oracle Database 10g." This part provides an introduction to the architecture of this version as well practical tips on installing and customizing your installation. If you are new to Oracle Database 10g or are installing it for the first time, you may find this section helpful when you get started. If you are currently using ASM or plan to use it later, Chapter 4 in this part, "Setting Up Automatic Storage Management," can provide some insider tips!

• Part II, "Quick Wins Using Oracle Database 10g." This part launches straight away into a number of administrative tools and options that you can configure quickly and easily in Oracle Database 10g. This includes using Automatic Memory Management, Automatic Statistics Collection, Automatic Undo, Automatic Segment Management, as well as RMAN. This part shows how you can use these features that are already present in Oracle Database 10g to generate "quick wins."

• Part III, "Tuning Oracle Database 10g." This part deals exclusively with topics related to tuning. Starting with a new approach to tuning, we deal with the workload repository and various tuning-related advisors in this part. The part is rounded off with a chapter on the Cost Based Optimizer.

• Part IV, "Scaling and Availability with Oracle Database 10g." This part discusses products and options related to this topic. Oracle RAC (Real Application Clusters), Data Guard, and Flashback technologies are discussed in detail. We also introduce the concept and application of grid technologies now made possible with Oracle Data- base 10g.

• Part V, "Using Oracle Database 10g Utilities and Other Advanced Features." This part discusses the new utilities provided by Oracle Database 10g. We wrap it up with a separate chapter listing a collection of interesting new features that are worth pursuing further.

All sample code for this book can be downloaded on the Sams website at http://www.samspublishing.com. To access it, type this book's ISBN (without the hyphens) in the Search box and click Search. When the book's title is displayed, click the title to go to a page where you can download the code.Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographic conventions are used in this book:

• Code lines, commands, and programming-related language appears in a monospace typeface.

• Placeholders in syntax descriptions appear in an italic monospace typeface.

• The ¬ icon is used before a line of code that signifies to readers that the author meant for the continued code to appear on the same line.

In addition, this book contains the following special elements.

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Note - Notes show how you can further explore the topic in question, or provide additional information about a particular topic being described.

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Tip - Tips highlight shortcuts, convenient techniques, or tools that can make a task easier.

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Sidebars - A large number of sidebar topics add value without distracting from the main flow.

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Caution - Cautions alert you to common pitfalls you should avoid.

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