As we already discussed, an Oracle database system is made up of two major components, the 1) instance and 2) the database.
We talked about some of the components of the instance.
Now we will discuss some of the database file and data structures.
We are most concerned with the files stored on disk when we discuss backup and recovery.
In this module we will cover the various data files, where they are placed on disk, and some tips about managing data files that will make your life easier. By the end of this module, you should be familiar with the following:
- Oracle Control files
- Redo log files
- Archive log files
- Checkpoint processing
- Some file placement considerations
- How to determine the current state and structure of your database
Currently, the Oracle DBA certification exam does not test you on best practices or work related situations. One site may run Unix exclusively
while another site may run only NT. It would be unfair to test you on situations that you would not normally encounter in most production
environments. That is why the test is based solely on the content presented in the Oracle8 Backup and Recovery class. The information presented in this module will present backup and recovery concepts, but will use a particular configuration to demonstrate certain points. The disk file names in our discussion and samples are sample names for purposes of illustration only. I will try to stay true to the default naming conventions familiar to most Oracle database users.