Lesson 1

Once you have a database running and in production, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to monitor proactively and routinely for potential problems. This is like doing preventative maintenance on a car. You can chose just to drive your car, never checking anything, until you find yourself stalled by the side of the road because something stopped working, or you can check under the hood every so often to see if something is about to break. It's obviously easier and less disruptive to detect and prevent problems than it is to experience them. That is true with both cars and databases. In this module, you will learn how to:

• Learning Objectives
  1. Monitor and rename the alert log
  2. Check license compliance
  3. Monitor free space
  4. Check for objects that have no room left for growth
  5. Monitor the efficiency of the buffer cache
  6. Monitor the efficiency of the shared pool
  7. Collect statistics for your database
  8. Monitor input and output (I/O)
  9. Check for redo log buffer contention

Oracle Database 23ai enhances database monitoring with advanced AI-driven analytics, autonomous management, and improved observability features, enabling proactive issue detection and resolution. Below, each learning objective is addressed with specific Oracle 23ai capabilities to streamline monitoring tasks.

1. Monitor and rename the alert log
   Oracle 23ai’s enhanced logging capabilities, part of its observability framework, allow administrators to efficiently monitor alert logs for critical events and errors with real-time insights. The DBMS_HCHECK package and SQL Firewall features enable automated detection and logging of anomalies, simplifying the process of renaming and archiving logs for better organization and compliance.
   Oracle 23ai
2. Check license compliance
   Oracle 23ai integrates AI-powered audit logs to monitor and enforce compliance with licensing requirements, ensuring adherence to regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA. The SQL Firewall feature tracks SQL statements and session contexts, providing detailed reports to verify license usage and prevent unauthorized access.
   How Oracle Database 23ai Brings AI to your Data
3. Monitor free space
   The Shrink Tablespace feature in Oracle 23ai enables automated reclamation of unused space in bigfile tablespaces, optimizing storage and providing real-time free space monitoring. Administrators can leverage Oracle Enterprise Manager’s enhanced interfaces to visualize and manage free space across pluggable databases in a multitenant setup.
   Database 23ai: Feature Highlights
4. Check for objects that have no room left for growth
   Oracle 23ai’s autonomous data management uses machine learning to proactively detect objects nearing storage limits by analyzing query patterns and storage configurations. The Smart Segmentation feature applies intelligent lifecycle rules to optimize space allocation, preventing growth constraints in dynamic workloads.
[](https://www.itconvergence.com/blog/learn-how-oracle-database-23ai-brings-ai-to-your-data/)[](https://itnoesis.com/2024/07/31/top-20-features-in-oracle-database-23c23ai-for-dbas-part-3/)
5. Monitor the efficiency of the buffer cache
   Oracle 23ai’s In-Memory Column Store enhancements provide advanced metrics to monitor buffer cache efficiency, optimizing data access for high-performance workloads. The True Cache feature further improves cache management by dynamically adjusting resources based on real-time usage patterns.
[](https://learn.oracle.com/ols/course/oracle-database-23ai-new-features-for-administrators/127088/140830)[](https://itnoesis.com/2024/07/31/top-20-features-in-oracle-database-23c23ai-for-dbas-part-3/)
6. Monitor the efficiency of the shared pool
   The Automatic SQL Plan Management (SPM) in Oracle 23ai optimizes shared pool usage by analyzing SQL performance and adjusting execution plans autonomously. Enhanced observability tools, including distributed tracing, provide detailed insights into shared pool efficiency, reducing manual tuning efforts.
[](https://www.oracle.com/database/23ai/)[](https://itnoesis.com/2024/07/31/top-20-features-in-oracle-database-23c23ai-for-dbas-part-3/)
7. Collect statistics for your database
   Oracle 23ai’s High-Frequency Statistics Collection automates the gathering of real-time database statistics, ensuring accurate performance metrics without manual intervention. Integration with Oracle Machine Learning enhances statistical analysis, enabling predictive insights for database optimization.
[](https://learn.oracle.com/ols/course/oracle-database-23ai-new-features-for-administrators/127088/140830)[](https://itnoesis.com/2024/07/31/top-20-features-in-oracle-database-23c23ai-for-dbas-part-3/)
8. Monitor input and output (I/O)
   Oracle 23ai’s AI-driven performance monitoring tools track I/O operations, identifying bottlenecks through metrics and distributed tracing for optimized throughput. The Exadata pushdown operations and Partitioned Hybrid Tables enhance I/O efficiency by intelligently distributing data across storage tiers.
[](https://www.oracle.com/database/23ai/)[](https://itnoesis.com/2024/07/31/top-20-features-in-oracle-database-23c23ai-for-dbas-part-3/)
9. Check for redo log buffer contention
   Oracle 23ai’s autonomous management capabilities detect redo log buffer contention by analyzing real-time performance metrics and query patterns. The SQL Analysis Report, available in DBMS_XPLAN and SQL Monitor, identifies contention issues and suggests optimizations to ensure smooth transaction processing.
[](https://www.oracle.com/database/23ai/)[](https://docs.oracle.com/en/learn/db23ai-sql-features/index.html)

The lessons in this module will highlight the most important metrics that you should be looking at regularly. Don't be the database administrator (DBA) who gets stranded by the side of the road. Monitor your database regularly. Don't let problems happen--prevent them.
In the next lesson, you will learn about items to monitor on a regular basis.