File=module0-introduction.

htm; updated 5/11/2013

Figures shown in these notes are from Oracle® Database Administrator's Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2)

Introduction to CMIS 565 – Module 0

Course Objectives – In this course you learn to:
· Identify various components of the Oracle architecture.
· Start up and shut down an Oracle database .
· Create an operational database.
· Manage Oracle control files, redo log files, datafiles, tablespaces, segments, extents, and blocks.
· Manage users, privileges, and resources.
· Perform basic backup and recovery operations.
· Implement network connectivity.

This lesson introduces you to Oracle 11g Edition and the tasks of a Database Administrator.

The Oracle11g Enterprise Edition

The Oracle11g Enterprise Edition is an Object-Relational Database M anagement System designed

for Grid Computing.
· A Grid architecture is composed of pools of servers, storage, and networks
· Goal: a flexible architecture to meet on-demand computing needs.
· Example: Different applications can run on a grid of linked database servers – when demand
increases, a DBA can provision more servers to an application that demands more resources.
· Grid computing focuses on high performance and scalability.

Oracle Database software enables grid computing with the following characteristics:
· Performance and scalability: Implemented through low cost hardware clusters, like Itanium and
Linux.
· Reliability: Continuous availability of data and applications through Oracle Data Guard.
· Security and privacy: security features to share enterprise grid resources while maintaining
privacy and security.
· Self-management:
o Oracle infrastructure automates many functions.
o A single DBA can manage hundreds of servers through Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM)
Cloud Control.
· Distributed computing: Oracle has advanced integration features that allow applications and data
to run anywhere in the network.

How does Grid Differ from Cluster?

· Cluster – a technology used to create a grid infrastructure.
· Clusters have static resources for specific applications for specific owners.
· Grids can consist of multiple clusters.
· Grids have dynamic resource pools shareable among applications and users.
· Grid does not require all severs in a grid to run the same set of applications.

Oracle Software Components used to build a Grid include:

· Oracle Real Application Clusters
o RAC is a cluster database with shared cache architecture that runs on multiple servers.
o Servers are attached through a cluster interconnect and shared storage subsystem.
o A RAC database appears like a single database to system users.
o All standard backup and recovery tools work transparently with RAC.
o All SQL operations are identical for RAC versus a standard Oracle database.
· Automatic Storage Management
 o Simplifies management of Oracle database files.
o ASM requires the management of disk groups as opposed to individual files.
· Oracle Scheduler – enables scheduling business and IT tasks (jobs).
· Oracle Streams
o Enables streaming data between databases, nodes, or blade farms in a grid so it can be
shared easily.
o Can keep two or more copies of data in sync as updates are applied.
· Oracle Transportable Tablespaces
o Allows Oracle datafiles to be unplugged from a database, moved/copied to a new location and
plugged into another database.
o Supports simultaneous mounting of read-only tablespaces by two or more databases.
· Oracle Data Guard
o Allows a primary database to automatically failover to a standby database.
o Allows multiple standby databases.
o Failover can be to servers running different operating systems, e.g., LINUX and Windows.

Types of Database Users

· Database Administrators:
o Installing and upgrading the Oracle Database server and application tools
§ Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA)
§ Download/install software patches (patch releases) from Oracle Support
o Allocating system storage and planning future storage requirements for the database system
o Creating primary database storage structures (tablespaces) after application developers have
designed an application
o Creating primary objects (tables, views, indexes) once application developers have designed
an application
o Modifying the database structure, as necessary, from information given by application
developers
o Enrolling users and maintaining system security
o Ensuring compliance with Oracle license agreements
o Controlling and monitoring user access to the database
o Monitoring and optimizing the performance of the database (Tuning)
o Planning for backup and recovery of database information
o Maintaining archived data on tape (or disk)
o Backing up and restoring the database
§ Backup using Recovery Manager (RMAN) software
§ Recover with RMAN
o Contacting Oracle for technical support
· Network Administrators: administers Oracle networking products, such as Oracle Net Services.
· Application Developers:
o Designing and developing the database application
o Designing the database structure for an application
o Estimating storage requirements for an application
o Specifying modifications of the database structure for an application
o Relaying this information to a database administrator
o Tuning the application during development
o Establishing security measures for an application during development
· Database Users:
o Database users interact with the database through applications or utilities
o Entering, modifying, and deleting data, where permitted
o Generating reports from the data

Structured Query Language (SQL)

· Primary means of communicating with the database is SQL.
 · Direct communication - command-line use of SQL statements.
· Indirect communication - through Oracle Enterprise Manager web interface.
· Direct communication - through SQL Developer software.

SQL*Plus Used To:

· Start up and shut down the database
· Set database initialization parameters
· Create and manage users
· Create and alter database objects (such as tables and indexes)
· Insert and update data
· Run SQL queries, and more.

Identifying an Oracle Database Software Release Version

The release numbering scheme is explained in this figure.

Description of Figure 1-1 follows

· Major Database Release Number – a general version identifier.

· Database Maintenance Release Number – some new features may be included in this release.
· Fusion Middleware Release Number – reflects the release level of the Oracle Application Server
(OracleAS).
· Component-Specific Release Number – different components can have different numbers in this
position depending upon things such as component patch sets or interim releases.
· Platform-Specific Release Number – usually this is a patch set so when different platforms require
equivalent software patch sets, this digit will be the same across the platforms.

This query of the data dictionary view PRODUCT_COMPONENT_VERSION will display release
information for the current installation of the DBORCL database – note that this is an Oracle Version 10g
database.

COL PRODUCT FORMAT A40

COL VERSION FORMAT A10
COL STATUS FORMAT A16
SELECT * FROM PRODUCT_COMPONENT_VERSION;

PRODUCT VERSION STATUS

---------------------------------------- ---------- ----------------
NLSRTL 11.2.0.3.0 Production
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition 11.2.0.3.0 64bit Production
PL/SQL 11.2.0.3.0 Production
TNS for Linux: 11.2.0.3.0 Production

Database Administrator Account

Each DBA in a LINUX or UNIX or Windows environment needs a privileged account.
· In LINUX this can be accomplished by assigning you to the DBA group for security privilege
purposes.
· Two special accounts are created as part of every Oracle database – SYS and SYSTEM.

SYS – the SYS account is automatically granted a role named DBA.

· DBA Role – a role that contains most database system privileges.
· SYS owns all base tables and views of the database data dictionary.
· As an individual DBA, you should never directly modify any tables/views owned by SYS.
· Only DBAs should be able to connect to an Oracle database using the SYS account.

SYSTEM – this account is used to create additional tables/views used for database administration.

DBA Role:
· A predefined DBA role is automatically created with every Oracle Database installation.
· This role contains most database system privileges.
· Only allocate this role to a DBA.

SYSDBA and SYSOPER System Privileges: Special administrative privileges.

· Allow creating databases
· Allow startup/shutdown an oracle database instance
· The DBA role does not include these privileges.

These accounts, roles, and privileges will be covered in more detail in later note sets.

Course Focus
This course focuses on basic database administrator tasks and teaches the Oracle architecture in detail.
Database backup, recovery, network administration, and database tuning are only briefly covered. These
topics are covered in detail in courses offered through Oracle Corporation as follows:

· Backup and recovery in Oracle11g Database Administration Fundamentals II

· Network administration in Oracle11g Database Administration Fundamentals II
· Database tuning in Oracle11g Database Performance Tuning

Oracle Certification
The certification links change constantly. The current certification link is the Oracle University Certification
Program:
http://education.oracle.com/pls/web_prod-plq-dad/db_pages.getpage?page_id=39&p_org_id=1001

END OF NOTES