So far in this course, your interaction with Oracle has been through Server Manager and SQL*Plus. These utilities have been around for years, but since they are command driven, many people find them difficult to use.
It should come as no surprise that Oracle now provides a set of GUI-based tools for database administration. These tools are highly integrated, and are known collectively as Oracle Enterprise Manager.
Many people abbreviate that to OEM.
Enterprise Manager can be installed and configured as either a two-tier or three-tier application. The two-tier installation is the simplest. You install the software on your PC, and run the individual modules as required. The three-tier configuration is available only with Oracle8i, and represents a great leap forward in functionality. It requires a separate Enterprise Management Server, but provides additional features such as remote job scheduling and a web-based interface. It also more easily allows for multiple administrators.
The Oracle Database Administration Certification Test will test your ability to perform tasks with commands, not with a GUI interface. However, knowing how to navigate through the GUI utilities will probably be very useful to you in your job, and so it is a good idea to learn these
This module will explain the basics of the Oracle Enterprise Manager architecture. After that, you will be introduced to each of the five applications that make up the DBA Management Pack. The DBA Management Pack is what Oracle calls the bundle of OEM applications used for basic database administration tasks.