|Oracle9i Database Administrator's Guide
Release 2 (9.2) for Windows
Part Number A95491-01
Identification of a user, device, or other entity in a computer system, often as a prerequisite for allowing access to resources in a system.
A representative copy of data. This copy includes important parts of your database such as control files, redo log files, and data files.
A backup is a safeguard against unexpected data loss; if you lose your original data, you can use the backup to make data available again. A backup is also a safeguard against an application error; if an application makes incorrect changes, you can restore the backup.
Files that record the physical structure of a database and contain database name, names and locations of associated databases and online redo log files, timestamp of database creation, current log sequence number, and checkpoint information.
A set of read-only tables that provide information about a database.
A function written in a third-generation language (3GL), such as C, and callable from within PL/SQL or SQL as if it were a PL/SQL function or procedure.
Oracle architecture that ensures that database utilities, error messages, sort order, date, time, monetary, numeric, and calendar conventions automatically adapt to native language and locale.
Represents a unique registry subkey for each Oracle home directory in which you install products. A new HOMEID is created and incremented each time you install products to a different Oracle home directory on one computer. Each HOMEID contains its own configuration parameter settings for installed Oracle products.
Represents the name of an ORACLE_HOME. In Oracle 8i release 8.1.6 or later, all Oracle homes have a unique
An ASCII text file that contains information needed to initialize a database and instance.
Every running Oracle database is associated with an Oracle instance. When a database is started on a database server (regardless of computer type), Oracle allocates a memory area called System Global Area (SGA) and starts at least one Oracle process. This combination of SGA and one or more Oracle processes is called an instance. Memory and processes of an instance manage the associated database's data efficiently and serve one or more database users.
Produce a more defined version of some object by replacing variables with values (or other variables).
Server process that listens for and accepts incoming connection requests from client applications. Oracle listener processes start up Oracle database processes to handle subsequent client communications.
A configuration file that describes one or more Transparent Network Substrate (TNS) listeners on a server.
To associate a database with an instance that has been started.
Capability of having more than one Oracle home on a computer.
Name used by clients to identify Oracle Net server. A net service name is mapped to a port number and protocol. Also known as a connect string, database alias, or service name.
A listener on a server that listens for connection requests for one or more databases on one or more protocols. See listener.
A set of file naming and placement guidelines for Oracle software and databases.
Corresponds to the environment in which Oracle products run. This environment includes location of installed product files,
PATH variable pointing to products' binary files, registry entries, net service name, and program groups.
If you install an OFA-compliant database, using Oracle Universal Installer defaults, Oracle home (known as
ORACLE_HOME in this guide) is located beneath
ORACLE_BASE. It contains subdirectories for Oracle software executables and network files.
Oracle network interface that enables Oracle tools running on network workstations and servers to access, modify, share, and store data on other servers.
A service that is associated with an Oracle component.
Oracle base, known as
ORACLE_BASE in this guide, is the root of the Oracle directory tree.
If you install an OFA-compliant database using Oracle Universal Installer defaults,
X is any hard drive (for example,
Oracle Corporation's procedural language extension to SQL.
PL/SQL enables you to mix SQL statements with procedural constructs. You can define and execute PL/SQL program units such as procedures, functions, and packages.
A right to execute a particular type of SQL statement or to access another user's object.
A mechanism in an operating system that can run an executable. (Some operating systems use the terms job or task.) A process normally has its own private memory area in which it runs. On Windows NT a process is created when a program runs (such as Oracle or Microsoft Word). In addition to an executable program, all processes consist of at least one thread. The ORACLE master process contains hundreds of threads.
Portions of a physical disk that are accessed at the lowest possible disk (block) level.
To restore a physical backup is to reconstruct it and make it available to the Oracle server. To recover a restored backup is to update it using redo records (that is, records of changes made to the database after the backup was taken). Recovering a backup involves two distinct operations: rolling forward the backup to a more current time by applying redo data, and rolling back all changes made in uncommitted transactions to their original state.
Files that contain a record of all changes made to data in the database buffer cache. If an instance failure occurs, redo log files are used to recover modified data that was in memory.
A circular buffer in System Global Area (SGA) that contains information about changes made to the database.
A Windows repository that stores configuration information for a computer.
A computer on a network other than the local computer.
A database on a computer other than the local database.
Copying and maintaining database objects in multiple databases that make up a distributed database system.
A named group of related privileges. You can grant a role to users or other roles.
A named collection of objects, such as tables, views, clusters, procedures, and packages, associated with a particular user.
(1) Information stored in rollback segments to provide transaction recovery and read consistency. Rollback segment information can be used to re-create a snapshot of a row before an update.
(2) A read-only copy of a master table located on a remote node. Snapshots can be queried, but not updated; only the master table can be updated. Snapshots are periodically refreshed to reflect changes made to the master table.
A preconfigured, ready-to-use database that requires minimal user input to create.
A special database administration role that permits a database administrator to perform
ALTER DATABASE BACKUP,
RECOVER, and includes
A group of shared memory structures that contain data and control information for an Oracle instance.
A unique name for an Oracle instance. To switch between Oracle databases, users must specify the
SID is included in the
CONNECT DATA parts of the connect descriptors in a
tnsnames.ora file, and in the definition of the network listener in a listener.ora file.
One of two standard DBA usernames automatically created with each database. (The other username is
SYSTEM is created with an initial password of
SYSTEM is the preferred username for DBAs to use for database maintenance.
A database is divided into one or more logical storage units called tablespaces. Tablespaces are divided into logical units of storage called segments, which are further divided into extents.
An individual path of execution within a process. Threads are objects within a process that execute program instructions. Threads allow concurrent operations within a process so that a process can execute different parts of its program simultaneously on different processors. A thread is the most fundamental component that can be scheduled on Windows NT.
A file that contains connect descriptors mapped to net service names. The file may be maintained centrally or locally, for use by all or individual clients.
Each server and background process can write to an associated trace file. When a process detects an internal error, it dumps information about the error to its trace file. Some of the information written to a trace file is intended for the database administrator, while other information is intended for Oracle Support Services. Trace file information is also used to tune application and instance performance.
A name that can connect to and access objects in a database.
Selective presentations of the structure of, and data in, one or more tables (or other views).