Identifying Your Oracle Database Software Release

Identifying Your Oracle Database Software Release

Because Oracle Database continues to evolve and can require maintenance, Oracle periodically produces new releases. Not all customers initially subscribe to a new release or require specific maintenance for their existing release. As a result, multiple releases of the product exist simultaneously.
As many as five numbers may be required to fully identify a release. The significance of these numbers is discussed in the sections that follow.

Release Number Format

To understand the release nomenclature used by Oracle, examine the following example of an Oracle Database server labeled "Release 10.1.0.1.0".

Figure 1-1 Example of an Oracle Database Release NumberDescription of "Figure 1-1 Example of an Oracle Database Release Number"
Note:Starting with release 9.2, maintenance releases of Oracle Database are denoted by a change to the second digit of a release number. In previous releases, the third digit indicated a particular maintenance release.

Major Database Release Number

The first digit is the most general identifier. It represents a major new version of the software that contains significant new functionality.

Database Maintenance Release Number

The second digit represents a maintenance release level. Some new features may also be included.

Application Server Release Number

The third digit reflects the release level of the Oracle Application Server (OracleAS).

Component-Specific Release Number

The fourth digit identifies a release level specific to a component. Different components can have different numbers in this position depending upon, for example, component patch sets or interim releases.

Platform-Specific Release Number

The fifth digit identifies a platform-specific release. Usually this is a patch set. When different platforms require the equivalent patch set, this digit will be the same across the affected platforms.

Checking Your Current Release Number

To identify the release of Oracle Database that is currently installed and to see the release levels of other database components you are using, query the data dictionary view PRODUCT_COMPONENT_VERSION. A sample query follows. (You can also query the V$VERSION view to see component-level information.) Other product release levels may increment independent of the database server.COL PRODUCT FORMAT A35
COL VERSION FORMAT A15
COL STATUS FORMAT A15
SELECT * FROM PRODUCT_COMPONENT_VERSION;
PRODUCT VERSION STATUS
---------------------------------------- ----------- -----------
NLSRTL 10.2.0.1.0 Production
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition 10.2.0.1.0 Prod
PL/SQL 10.2.0.1.0 Production
...
It is important to convey to Oracle the results of this query when you report problems with the software.

Today we will discuss the third topic in oracle which is called Selecting an Instance with Environment variables.In this topic we will learn about various kinds of instance and there variables.How they work and in which environment they execute properly.


Selecting an Instance with Environment Variables

Before you attempt to use SQL*Plus to connect locally to an Oracle instance, you must ensure that environment variables are set properly. When multiple database instances exist on one server, or when an Automatic Storage Management (ASM) instance exists on the same server as one or more database instances, the environment variables determine which instance SQL*Plus connects to. (This is also true when there is only one Oracle instance on a server.)
For example, each Oracle instance (database or ASM) has a unique system identifier (SID). To connect to an instance, you must at a minimum set the ORACLE_SID environment variable to the SID of that instance. Depending on the operating system, you may need to set other environment variables to properly change from one instance to another.
Refer to the Oracle Database Installation Guide or administration guide for your operating system for details on environment variables and for information on switching instances.
Note:This discussion applies only when you make a local connection—that is, when you initiate a SQL*Plus connection from the same machine on which the target instance resides, without specifying an Oracle Net Services connect identifier. When you make a connection through Oracle Net Services, either with SQL*Plus on the local or a remote machine, or with Enterprise Manager, the environment is automatically set for you.
For more information on connect identifiers, see Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide.
Solaris Example
The following Solaris example sets the environment variables that are required for selecting an instance. When switching between instances with different Oracle homes, the ORACLE_HOME environment variable must be changed.% setenv ORACLE_SID SAL1
% setenv ORACLE_HOME /u01/app/oracle/product/10.1.0/db_1
% setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/lib:/usr/dt/lib:/usr/openwin/lib:/usr/ccs/lib
Most UNIX installations come with two scripts, oraenv and coraenv, that can be used to easily set these environment variables. For more information, see Administrator's Reference for UNIX Systems.
Windows Example
On Windows, you must set only the ORACLE_SID environment variable to select an instance before starting SQL*Plus.SET ORACLE_SID=SAL1


This concludes our topic i hope you have read it in detail and understand the concept of the topic.Our next topic is Identifying Your Oracle Database Software Release.Which i will post soon

Today we will read and learn about the second topic of the oracle.In this topic we will discuss one of the most important thing about oracle which is called database administrator.The job of the administrator is very creucial in every field of our daily life especially in computer langauges it's worth become double.

Tasks of a Database Administrator

The following tasks present a prioritized approach for designing, implementing, and maintaining an Oracle Database:

Task 1: Evaluate the Database Server Hardware
Task 2: Install the Oracle Database Software
Task 3: Plan the Database
Task 4: Create and Open the Database
Task 5: Back Up the Database
Task 6: Enroll System Users
Task 7: Implement the Database Design
Task 8: Back Up the Fully Functional Database
Task 9: Tune Database Performance
Task 10: Download and Install Patches
Task 11: Roll Out to Additional Hosts
These tasks are discussed in the sections that follow.
Note:When upgrading to a new release, back up your existing production environment, both software and database, before installation. For information on preserving your existing production database, see Oracle Database Upgrade Guide.

Task 1: Evaluate the Database Server Hardware
Evaluate how Oracle Database and its applications can best use the available computer resources. This evaluation should reveal the following information:
How many disk drives are available to the Oracle products
How many, if any, dedicated tape drives are available to Oracle products
How much memory is available to the instances of Oracle Database you will run (see your system configuration documentation)

Task 2: Install the Oracle Database Software
As the database administrator, you install the Oracle Database server software and any front-end tools and database applications that access the database. In some distributed processing installations, the database is controlled by a central computer (database server) and the database tools and applications are executed on remote computers (clients). In this case, you must also install the Oracle Net components necessary to connect the remote machines to the computer that executes Oracle Database.
For more information on what software to install, see "Identifying Your Oracle Database Software Release".
See Also:For specific requirements and instructions for installation, refer to the following documentation:
The Oracle documentation specific to your operating system
The installation guides for your front-end tools and Oracle Net drivers

Task 3: Plan the Database
As the database administrator, you must plan:
The logical storage structure of the database
The overall database design
A backup strategy for the database
It is important to plan how the logical storage structure of the database will affect system performance and various database management operations. For example, before creating any tablespaces for your database, you should know how many datafiles will make up the tablespace, what type of information will be stored in each tablespace, and on which disk drives the datafiles will be physically stored. When planning the overall logical storage of the database structure, take into account the effects that this structure will have when the database is actually created and running. Consider how the logical storage structure of the database will affect:
The performance of the computer executing running Oracle Database
The performance of the database during data access operations
The efficiency of backup and recovery procedures for the database
Plan the relational design of the database objects and the storage characteristics for each of these objects. By planning the relationship between each object and its physical storage before creating it, you can directly affect the performance of the database as a unit. Be sure to plan for the growth of the database.
In distributed database environments, this planning stage is extremely important. The physical location of frequently accessed data dramatically affects application performance.
During the planning stage, develop a backup strategy for the database. You can alter the logical storage structure or design of the database to improve backup efficiency.
It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss relational and distributed database design. If you are not familiar with such design issues, please refer to accepted industry-standard documentation.
Part II, "Oracle Database Structure and Storage", and Part IV, "Schema Objects", provide specific information on creating logical storage structures, objects, and integrity constraints for your database.

Task 4: Create and Open the Database
After you complete the database design, you can create the database and open it for normal use. You can create a database at installation time, using the Database Configuration Assistant, or you can supply your own scripts for creating a database.
Please refer to Chapter 2, "Creating an Oracle Database", for information on creating a database and Chapter 3, "Starting Up and Shutting Down" for guidance in starting up the database.

Task 5: Back Up the Database
After you create the database structure, carry out the backup strategy you planned for the database. Create any additional redo log files, take the first full database backup (online or offline), and schedule future database backups at regular intervals.
See Also:
Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Basics
Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide

Task 6: Enroll System Users
After you back up the database structure, you can enroll the users of the database in accordance with your Oracle license agreement, and grant appropriate privileges and roles to these users. Please refer to Chapter 22, "Managing Users and Securing the Database" for guidance in this task.

Task 7: Implement the Database Design
After you create and start the database, and enroll the system users, you can implement the planned logical structure database by creating all necessary tablespaces. When you have finished creating tablespaces, you can create the database objects.
Part II, "Oracle Database Structure and Storage" and Part IV, "Schema Objects" provide information on creating logical storage structures and objects for your database.

Task 8: Back Up the Fully Functional Database
When the database is fully implemented, again back up the database. In addition to regularly scheduled backups, you should always back up your database immediately after implementing changes to the database structure.

Task 9: Tune Database Performance
Optimizing the performance of the database is one of your ongoing responsibilities as a DBA. Oracle Database provides a database resource management feature that helps you to control the allocation of resources among various user groups. The database resource manager is described in Chapter 24, "Using the Database Resource Manager".
See Also:Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for information about tuning your database and applications

Task 10: Download and Install Patches
After installation and on a regular basis, download and install patches. Patches are available as single interim patches and as patchsets (or patch releases). Interim patches address individual software bugs and may or may not be needed at your installation. Patch releases are collections of bug fixes that are applicable for all customers. Patch releases have release numbers. For example, if you installed Oracle Database 10.2.0.0, the first patch release will have a release number of 10.2.0.1.
See Also:Oracle Database Installation Guide for your platform for instructions on downloading and installing patches.

Task 11: Roll Out to Additional Hosts
After you have an Oracle Database installation properly configured, tuned, patched, and tested, you may want to roll that exact installation out to other hosts. Reasons to do this include the following:
You have multiple production database systems.
You want to create development and test systems that are identical to your production system.
Instead of installing, tuning, and patching on each additional host, you can clone your tested Oracle Database installation to other hosts, saving time and eliminating inconsistencies. There are two types of cloning available to you:
Cloning an Oracle home—Just the configured and patched binaries from the Oracle home directory and subdirectories are copied to the destination host and "fixed" to match the new environment. You can then start an instance with this cloned home and create a database.
You can use the Enterprise Manager Clone Oracle Home tool to clone an Oracle home to one or more destination hosts. You can also manually clone an Oracle home using a set of provided scripts and Oracle Universal Installer.
Cloning a database—The tuned database, including database files, initialization parameters, and so on, are cloned to an existing Oracle home (possibly a cloned home).
You can use the Enterprise Manager Clone Database tool to clone an Oracle database instance to an existing Oracle home.
See Also:
Oracle Universal Installer and OPatch User's Guide and Enterprise Manager online help for details on how to clone an Oracle home.
Enterprise Manager online help for instructions for cloning a database.

I hope you had properly read this post and try your best to understand it.

Information On Oracle

This chapter presents an overview of the environment and tasks of an Oracle Database administrator (DBA). It also discusses DBA security and how you obtain the necessary administrative privileges.

The following topics are discussed:

Types of Oracle Database Users
Tasks of a Database Administrator
Selecting an Instance with Environment Variables
Identifying Your Oracle Database Software Release
Database Administrator Security and Privileges
Database Administrator Authentication
Creating and Maintaining a Password File
Server Manageability

We will go through with these topics one by one.First we will understand the types of oracle database users.

Types of Oracle Database Users
The types of users and their roles and responsibilities depend on the database site. A small site can have one database administrator who administers the database for application developers and users. A very large site can find it necessary to divide the duties of a database administrator among several people and among several areas of specialization.

This section contains the following topics:

Database Administrators
Security Officers
Network Administrators
Application Developers
Application Administrators
Database Users

Database Administrators

Each database requires at least one database administrator (DBA). An Oracle Database system can be large and can have many users. Therefore, database administration is sometimes not a one-person job, but a job for a group of DBAs who share responsibility.
A database administrator's responsibilities can include the following tasks:
Installing and upgrading the Oracle Database server and application tools
Allocating system storage and planning future storage requirements for the database system
Creating primary database storage structures (tablespaces) after application developers have designed an application

Creating primary objects (tables, views, indexes) once application developers have designed an application
Modifying the database structure, as necessary, from information given by application developers
Enrolling users and maintaining system security
Ensuring compliance with Oracle license agreements
Controlling and monitoring user access to the database
Monitoring and optimizing the performance of the database
Planning for backup and recovery of database information
Maintaining archived data on tape
Backing up and restoring the database
Contacting Oracle for technical support

Security Officers
In some cases, a site assigns one or more security officers to a database. A security officer enrolls users, controls and monitors user access to the database, and maintains system security. As a DBA, you might not be responsible for these duties if your site has a separate security officer. Please refer to Oracle Database Security Guide for information about the duties of security officers.

Network Administrators
Some sites have one or more network administrators. A network administrator, for example, administers Oracle networking products, such as Oracle Net Services. Please refer to Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for information about the duties of network administrators.
See Also:Part VII, "Distributed Database Management", for information on network administration in a distributed environment

Application Developers
Application developers design and implement database applications. Their responsibilities include the following tasks:
Designing and developing the database application
Designing the database structure for an application
Estimating storage requirements for an application
Specifying modifications of the database structure for an application
Relaying this information to a database administrator
Tuning the application during development
Establishing security measures for an application during development
Application developers can perform some of these tasks in collaboration with DBAs. Please refer to Oracle Database Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals for information about application development tasks.

Application Administrators
An Oracle Database site can assign one or more application administrators to administer a particular application. Each application can have its own administrator.

Database Users
Database users interact with the database through applications or utilities. A typical user's responsibilities include the following tasks:
Entering, modifying, and deleting data, where permitted
Generating reports from the data

This is it for this part of the section.I will go through the next topic in my next post.

My First Blog

This is my first blog and i am going to post material on Oracle Database administration (DBA) and english learning from today.

I hope i will continue this blog in a continuous manner.