Oracle DBA Exam Cram

• Oracle DBA Exam: Test 3 and Test 4 is the only book available to help DBAs improve their chances of becoming certified.
• Covers all required topics, concepts, and terminology. Helps readers make use of the best study materials available with end-of-chapter resource sections.
• Features practice exam questions formatted like those encountered on the actual exam.
• Provides a special tear-out Cram Sheet with tips, acronyms, and memory joggers that readers can review just prior to taking an exam.
• Includes sections on proven test-taking strategies, time-saving study tips, and shortcuts.

Key Features:

• The certification program, now under the wings of Oracle, has a new name: Oracle Certified Professional (OCP). The DBA track certification is now available for Oracle7 and will remain live until Q4 1999-a great shelf life!
• Insight into the exams from one of the developers of the first Oracle7 certification exam, who served as a question quality-control expert for the new OCP exams.
• Unique editorial approach in this "one-of-a-kind" book offers hard-to-find information about how to successfully pass OCP Test 3 (Backup and Recovery Workshop) and Test 4 (Performance and Tuning Workshop).
• Oracle has announced to all DBAs who hold the Chauncey certification that they will receive credit for Tests 1 and 2. In order to re-certify, they will have to take Tests 3 and 4. It is for this reason, that we have grouped the coverage of the tests in the same way (Volume I: Tests 1 and 2, Volume II: Tests 3 and 4).

Table of contents

Introduction ..... xv

Chapter 1

Oracle OCP Certification Tests ..... 1

The Testing Situation ..... 2

Test Layout And Design ..... 3

Using Oracle?s Test Software Effectively ..... 5

Taking Testing Seriously ..... 6

Question-Handling Strategies ..... 6

Mastering The Inner Game ..... 7

Additional Resources ..... 8

Chapter 2

Tuning Overview ..... 13

Tuning Toolbox ..... 14

The Tuning Process ..... 31

Tuning For Application Environments ..... 38

Practice Questions ..... 42

Need To Know More? ..... 47

Chapter 3

Tuning Applications ..... 49

Statement Tuning ..... 50

Indexes ..... 63

Optimizer Tuning ..... 67

Hint Usage ..... 73

Practice Questions ..... 79

Need To Know More? ..... 83

Chapter 4

Database Configuration ..... 85

Optimal Flexible Architecture ..... 86

File Placement ..... 86

Striping Tables ..... 91

Storage Parameters ..... 93

Other Database Configuration Options ..... 106

Practice Questions ..... 118

Need To Know More? ..... 123

Chapter 5

Tuning The SGA ..... 125

Tuning The Oracle Block Size ..... 126

Tuning The Shared Pool ..... 127

Tuning The Buffer Cache ..... 142

Tuning The Redo Log Buffer ..... 150

MTS And The SGA ..... 151

Practice Questions ..... 152

Need To Know More? ..... 158

Chapter 6

Tuning Rollback Segments And Redo Logs ..... 159

Rollback Segments ..... 160

Redo Logs ..... 167

Practice Questions ..... 174

Need To Know More? ..... 179

Chapter 7

Monitoring And Detecting Lock And Latch Conention ..... 181

Oracle Locks ..... 182

Practice Questions ..... 190

Chapter 8

Tuning Oracle Sorts ..... 197

Types Of Oracle Sorts ..... 198

Practice Questions ..... 205

Need To Know More? ..... 210

Chapter 9

Sample Test: Performance Tuning ..... 211

Questions, Questions, Questions ..... 212

Selecting Proper Answers ..... 212

Decoding Ambiguity ..... 213

Working Within The Framework ..... 214

Preparing For The Test ..... 215

Taking The Exam ..... 215

Sample Test: Performance Tuning ..... 217

Chapter 10

Answer Key To Performance Tuning Sample Test ..... 237

Chapter 11

Backup And Recovery Strategies And Motivation ..... 255

When Should You Perform Backups? ..... 256

Backup Plans ..... 257

Recovery Plans ..... 262

Practice Questions ..... 265

Need To Know More? ..... 270

Chapter 12

Backup Methods ..... 271

Export ..... 272

Offline (Cold) Backups ..... 278

Online (Hot) Backups ..... 278

Supporting 24-Hour Operations ..... 281

Practice Questions ..... 284

Need To Know More? ..... 289

Chapter 13

Recovery Scenarios ..... 291

Failure Modes ..... 292

The RECOVER Command ..... 293

Recovery Without Archive Logging ..... 296

Recovery With Archive Logging ..... 296

Parallel Recovery ..... 306

Distributed Recovery ..... 306

Things To Remember About Recovery ..... 307

Practice Questions ..... 308

Need To Know More? ..... 314

Chapter 14

Troubleshooting Backups ..... 315

Alert Log File ..... 316

Online Redo Logfile Corruption ..... 319

DBVERIFY ..... 319

V$ Recovery Views ..... 321

Practice Questions ..... 323

Need To Know More? ..... 326

Chapter 15

Sample Test: Backup And Recovery ..... 327

Sample Test: Backup And Recovery ..... 328

Chapter 16

Answer Key To Backup And Recovery Sample Test ..... 347

Glossary ..... 357

Index ..... 373