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Lesson 3 Initialization changes
Objective Identify changes to initialization parameters.

Parameter Initialization Changes

Before installing the database, it is useful to understand what changes have been made to the initialization settings. Changes in initial settings of the database can affect your system if you are migrating an existing Oracle database to oracle. This lesson covers those changes.

Legacy Note

If you are migrating a database that is Oracle version 7, you should review the changes that occurred between version 7 and Oracle8 as well as the changes listed here.

New parameters

This table lists new parameters that have been added to the initialization parameters for Oracle.

View the table below to view these parameters.
Parameter nameDescriptionImprovement over earlier Oracle versions.
DB_BLOCK_CHECKING Identifies corrupt blocks when changes are made to a block.Earlier detections of corrupted blocks.
ENT_DOMAIN_NAME Identify which global domain this server belongs to. Used for Oracle Advanced Security.Allows global user security to be implemented.
FAST_START_IO_TARGET Specifies the number of I/O writes before the database is made available to users.Smaller values for this parameter result in faster recovery times.
FAST_START_PARALLEL_ROLLBACK Specifies the maximum number of parallel processors that can perform a rollback.Higher values utilize more parallel processors for faster rollback.
HS_AUTOREGISTER Enables self-registration of agents that connect to the database.Less overhead for subsequent connections of the same agent.
INSTANCE_NAME Identifies an instance when there are multiple instances on the same server.Compatible with new feature for multiple services that connect to the same database instance.
JAVA_POOL_SIZE Size of the Java Pool.Allows larger Java Pool when more Java activity is used on the database.
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n Specifies location of multiple archives.Needed to use the new standby backup database and READ ONLY database features.
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_STATE_n Enable or disable one of the multiple archive destinations.Used for multiple archive feature.
LOG_ARCHIVE_MAX_PROCESSES Define number of ARCH background processes to start.Used for multiple archive feature.
NLS_COMP Require language-specific sorts for queries if the NLS_SORT is used in the session.Easier foreign language (NLS) compatibility.
NLS_DUAL_CURRENCY Override default currency symbol.Easier foreign language (NLS) compatibility.
PARALLEL_AUTOMATIC_TUNING Allow Oracle to tune parallel queries.Less demand for Shared Pool resources.
PARALLEL_SERVER_INSTANCES Specifies the number of parallel server instances.Less demand for Shared Pool resources.
PARALLEL_THREADS_PER_CPU Number of parallel threads the CPU can handle.Better load balancing for parallel execution of processes.
QUERY_REWRITE_ENABLED Allows query to be rewritten to use a materialized view.Take advantage of materialized views.
QUERY_REWRITE_INTEGRITY Enforces relationship integrity when rewriting a query.Take advantage of materialized views.
RESOURCE_MANAGER_PLAN Specify a resource manager plan to use.Take advantage of the resource manager.
SERVICE_NAMES Specify multiple service names for an instance, if desired.Use to create multiple services for the same instance.
SORT_MULTIBLOCK_READ_COUNT Tune large data sorts.More efficient handling of high volumes of data.
STANDBY_ARCHIVE_DEST Defines archive logs used for the standby database.Needed to create a standby database.

It is important to familiarize yourself with these twenty-one new parameters, keeping in mind that Oracle removed nearly sixty parameters from its Oracle8 software to create this new version. The net effect is that there are far fewer parameters to set for your oracle database.
How do you set these new parameters for your database? You can edit the initialization file (usually called init.ora) or use the Database Configuration Assistant to change these parameters, as described in the next lesson.
The next lesson describes the features of the Database Configuration Assistant.