jimblaze:

dont mind my typos i meant you need! anyway i got my dream job as a DBA in 2009 with no experience whatsoever! heck i even failed the written, oral and practical exams!but because of a simple prayer i said "Lord let your favour be on me, so that when they see me they will see you"! that was it and i got it!

Congrats Jim. I am happy for you. What you need now more than anything else while on the job is self development, hard work, excessive reading and mentoring. And if you do have any question do not forget to ask. Hopefully when next i am in the country i will bring along my e-library and share whatever i think can help you develop in the job with you if you so desire.
Congrats once again.

at least azum has some idea of what he is talking about.

lol.

Beaf:

2006 is a very long time in this information age. So many thing have happened since Oracle peaked at 41% of market share in 2005. They have seen an exodus of clients to easier to use db's that are not only more secure, but easier to use by a factor of several magnitudes (eg SAP to SQL Server). Why pay for a system that makes its devs age fast when the same job can be accomplished in half the time and to better quality by systems that cost only a fraction?
There is no future for most making the mistake of jumping on the Oracle bandwagon these days, its better to get broader IT skills (or potentially go hungry).

Look i am here to add my own quota to the development of Nigeria. Not to engage on baseless argument with you or whoever. And i showed you a Gartner report, and i do seriously hope you know who they are, of 2006 showing that then Oracle was 47.1% how can Oracle picked at 41% where the following year it was 47.1%? Common sense even though i know it is not common. Or did you not see the following sentences in the other link?

1. Gartner 2008 Worldwide RDBMS Market Share Reports 48.9% Share for Oracle (*)

Gartner 2008 Worldwide RDBMS Market Share Reports 48.9% Share for Oracle (*)
Gartner has published their market share numbers by operating system for 2008 based on total software revenues. According to Gartner, Oracle
Continues to be #1 overall with 48.9 per cent share

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/143366_gartner-rdbms-market-share

2. Gartner 2007 Worldwide RDBMS Market Share Reports 48.6% Share for Oracle (*)

You quoted 2005 report where you claimed Oracle peaked at 41%. Yet you went to claim 2006 is a very long time in this information age. I guess your 2005 is earlier than the 2006 report i quoted in your world.

Like i said i am here to share the little i know not to undertake in unnecessary argument. Believe what you can. The day you find out the truth it will set you true.

yeah I believe I do, but my point still is; in naija "years of experience" is still a great criteria for getting shortlisted at all,and here I think database is actually losing it's grip,i.e "an employer here, would rather employ a programmer that can as well perform the task of a DBA, in other to save cost for employing them both" then if I may ask, I've a feeling u've got "IT" qualifications,more than that of a mere DBA, I'm sure I'm right, right?

Everywhere in the world, there is no substitute for "years of experience". This is not limited to Nigeria alone. A lot of company go the way you mentioned to cut cost. So it is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. But believe me database can never lose its grip. Nothing can be far from the truth. You're saying this because it is becoming difficult for you to get a job. Dont be disappointed but keep at it. On the long run you wont regret being a DBA. Like i said in an earlier post, look to start with smaller companies and go from there. Being a DBA especially an Oracle DBA is not a day's job. It does not start and end with getting OCP. Its like building a house where after the foundation blocks are laid one after the other till the building is complete. But as a DBA, there is no end since it keeps evolving. I have been doing this for a long time and have no regrets whatsover.
And please dont believe the nonsense people say about Oracle RDBMS. For a long forseable future it is still going to be the #1 database worldwide because it keeps evolving. Do your on research.
To you last question, yeah i do have a background in Computer Science from U.I.

Gartner Report for 2006:

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=507466

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/143366_gartner-rdbms-market-share

By the way, what i said was that 75% of the largest companies in the world run on Oracle RDBMS.

babyface12:

", you definitely do need some good experience. The next question is how do you get experience without a job. Simple.
Practice on your own. By owning a simple laptop, one can go a long way to getting the required experience. Even at a job you will never put all that your OCP exam covers to use. Yes it is true. Hope this helps."

@azum but how would your employer be  impressed with the fact that you got your experience from "Home Practice".in my opinion, it won't matter, after all, "home practice" can't be included under the "Experience" column of any CV to back-up the fact that you've got experience to go with your OCP Cert. can it? my question here is, how does practicing at home help with "employment" apart from the fact that it builds and solidifies your personal skills

Simple. A lot of questions you face at Oracle DBA interviews require that you've dont it to be able to answer it. These are not choice questions. let me give you a vivid example, there is a whole world of difference in the installation of Oracle 11g Release 1 and Oracle 11g Release 2. I doubt if there is any book out there that cover the little details. Even if there is, the way someone who has only read about it anwers questions on such will definitely defer from the way someone who has actually installed both installation will answer the same question. Trust me i know what i am talking about. When ASM was introduced with Oracle 10g, my first experience of using it was done on my laptop where i had to simulate raw devices. This was even before i had the opportunity of doing it in a real life environment. This in fact gave me the confidence such that when i finally had to do it, i had the basic hands-on of how it works.
Once you got shortlisted for an interview, the major hurdle is gone. What remains is your ability to prove to the interviewer you can actually do the job. Even at that for greenhorn DBA's, look to start with a small IT company rather than looking to start with a big bank or big company. That way you can learn to crawl before you learn to run DBA speaking. And believe me, cant say about Nigeria since its being long i since worked there, but in major companies worldwide, DBA jobs are segregated. Each DBA has a specific assigned tasks to do. So imagine in a situation where as a DBA all you do is managing and ensuring backups are run, how do you get up to skill in skillsets like performance tuning, high availability etc. Now you get my gist?

Well everyone to his own. Here is someone talking about SQLServer and MySQL when it is a known fact that over 75% of largest companies in the world run on Oracle Database. And MYSQL? Do you know Oracle Corp owns it now as an add-on since it just bought SUN?

babyface12:

@Azum, well said, what's the title for that ealier post of your's? would love to take a look, cos all I see here after my search is "Oracle DBA Corner" trend and the way u've been assisting fellow DBA's related trends,

Unfortunately i cant remember now. Its being a long time. But it is there somewhere in the "Oracle DBA Corner".

babyface12:

@candylips I remember this one time a friend of mine, who went for an interview, that requested for DBAs, he was asked "can you code?" his response;", mmmhhh, ", and that was the end of the interview for him, I believe codding should be a skill meant for a programmers only, Y ask a question as such in an interview for recruiting DBAs??

Look just like in any trade, you need to know what you're getting into. You guys need to make research on the job profile of a typical DBA. There are many types of DBA. In one of my earlier posts, i believed i explained the different types of a DBA. Search for some of my earlier posts and you will find it. There is the Development Dba, Systems DBA, Core DBA, Apps DBA, Production DBA and what is now known in the DBA world as DBA 2.0 among many others. I really dont have the time here to go into each one of these. Google these online and you will know the distinction in each one.
Most employers dont even know the difference. So if your friend went for an interview and he was asked if he can code, it simply means he is being employed as a Development DBA and not necessarily that he is going to be doing some programming. And now that depends on the shop again. In this case my guess is the employer wants someone who can assist the programmers or developers in a development environment. And to do that well you need some good knowledge of coding to be able to troubleshoot and tune codes written by the programmers.

candylips:

another issue is that companies tend to need only a finite number of DBAs and the work of DBAs are getting redundant this days

reason why i say this is that tools are making it easier to administer DB's without the need for a fulltime DBA

i'll advise u to go and learn a programming language and do oracle by d way side

Damn where do you guys get your information from? Check major job sites and see how many positions are there daily for Oracle DBAs'. There are so many positions ut there that go unfilled. The issue is one requires experience and without it, OCP alone will do one no good. You mention tools, you need DBAs to use those tools.

babyface12:

Really? does this mean it's a TOTAL wast of time and money going to study "oracle"? does this ,mean there're no real opportunities out there for OCP's anymore, anyways, keep your views coming and besides I don't see any OCP dropping a comment, ?

babyface12:

Oracle, oracle, oracle!!, how relevant is this course in recent times, as I've heard, even  OCP holders have to struggle to get a Job in the  IT sector, the saying goes "you better off a Programmer than a mere DBA/P",  how true bis this? is database losing it's relevance in the Nigerian IT sector,if "YES/NO" please back it up with factual instances thanks

No it is not a waste. Never has been and never will be. Who ever told you that is deceiving you. I've been in this for a long time and i definitely know what i am saying. In Nigeria, we put a lot of emphasis on certifications. The problem is that having OCP alone without hands-on and i mean hands-on experience is no good. To go with your OCP, you definitely do need some good experience. The next question is how do you get experience without a job. Simple.
Practice on your own. By owning a simple laptop, one can go a long way to getting the required experience. Even at a job you will never put all that your OCP exam covers to use. Yes it is true. Hope this helps.

wizzykid:

Hi everyone, Can anyone pls help me with the right path to follow to get an oracle career. I'm a complete novice and don't knw mch about oracle.
Thnx

This is a nice link to start from:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/getting-started/index.html

Obo Boco:

it seems like am the only female in this forum, well you guys are very helpful to me with your discussions, i did oracle 10g, and have written my sql and oca exams, am left with ocp, so pls i still need advice, well right now am a corper serving with an it firm, the thing is i was taught oracle on linux but here they only know how to run oracle with windows, though its similar but i still kinda get confused since am already use to running my oracle on linux. so pls who can assist, to understand or cope with the difference. and pls i still need more materials to help me with my ocp thanks, you can mail me with dazzle37us@yahoo.com.

Good that you started out using Linux. Learn as much as you can on Oracle running on Linux because it will stand you in good stead when the time comes for transition from Oracle on Linux to Oracle on other Unix versions. Get books on Unix to broaden your knowledge. With regards to the difference between Oracle on Windows and Oracle on Linux, the basic one is that on Windows Oracle makes use of services while on Linux/Unix it uses processes. This is a good starting point. Like i always say to know more you need to do it hands-on. No amount of book reading can replace the feeling of having done it hands-on. Any basic Windows pc running a minimum of 2GB RAM will do for you. Get one, download Oracle from oracle.com and install. Then practice. Good luck.

All,

Saw this and thought i should share:

http://www.datadisk.co.uk/html_docs/rac/rac.htm

dominique:

thanks azum, will do. what i will like to know is the kind of questions that will be asked in a job interview concerning RAC.

@vivalavida
about 70-80% of the (authentic) dump question come out in the exam. make sure you read your instructional materials so you can tackle the questions that were not featured in the dumps.

Honestly most questions being asked are hands-on questions. So my advice is to try and do it hands-on. But always expect questions on the services in RAc and there are just tons of them, the interconnect, the VIP, and so on. By the way, i have some nice materials on RAC that i can share with you guys if you can work out the logistics of getting them.

dominique:

@A-40
thanks i've seen it (pg 15). it's a bit technical for a starter like me but i'll try and get around it.

any point u need clarification let me know and i will gladly do that.

@vivalavida

To explain it here is an example from oracle Support:

PURPOSE
This example shows the use of Deferred Constraints.


When a constraint is deferred, the database will check that the constraint is
satisfied only at commit time. This is useful in the case where an update to
a foreign key will violate the constraint. This will allow you to change the
foreign key and then cascade the changes to the parent table before committing
the change.


The following example can be run from SQL*Plus:

------------------------------Begin Script--------------------------------------
DROP TABLE EMP;
DROP TABLE DEPT;

CREATE TABLE DEPT (
DEPTNO NUMBER(2) NOT NULL,
DNAME CHAR(14),
LOC CHAR(13),
CONSTRAINT DEPT_PRIMARY_KEY PRIMARY KEY (DEPTNO));

INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (10,'ACCOUNTING','NEW YORK');
INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (20,'RESEARCH','DALLAS');
INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (30,'SALES','CHICAGO');
INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (40,'OPERATIONS','BOSTON');

CREATE TABLE EMP (
EMPNO NUMBER(4) NOT NULL,
ENAME CHAR(10),
JOB CHAR(9),
MGR NUMBER(4) CONSTRAINT EMP_SELF_KEY REFERENCES EMP (EMPNO),
HIREDATE DATE,
SAL NUMBER(7,2),
COMM NUMBER(7,2),
DEPTNO NUMBER(2) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT EMP_FOREIGN_KEY FOREIGN KEY (DEPTNO)
REFERENCES DEPT (DEPTNO) INITIALLY DEFERRED,
CONSTRAINT EMP_PRIMARY_KEY PRIMARY KEY (EMPNO));

INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7839,'KING','PRESIDENT',NULL,'17-NOV-81',5000,NULL,10);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7698,'BLAKE','MANAGER',7839,'1-MAY-81',2850,NULL,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7782,'CLARK','MANAGER',7839,'9-JUN-81',2450,NULL,10);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7566,'JONES','MANAGER',7839,'2-APR-81',2975,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7654,'MARTIN','SALESMAN',7698,'28-SEP-81',1250,1400,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7499,'ALLEN','SALESMAN',7698,'20-FEB-81',1600,300,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7844,'TURNER','SALESMAN',7698,'8-SEP-81',1500,0,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7900,'JAMES','CLERK',7698,'3-DEC-81',950,NULL,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7521,'WARD','SALESMAN',7698,'22-FEB-81',1250,500,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7902,'FORD','ANALYST',7566,'3-DEC-81',3000,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7369,'SMITH','CLERK',7902,'17-DEC-80',800,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7788,'SCOTT','ANALYST',7566,'09-DEC-82',3000,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7876,'ADAMS','CLERK',7788,'12-JAN-83',1100,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7934,'MILLER','CLERK',7782,'23-JAN-82',1300,NULL,10);
commit;
---------------------------------End Script-------------------------------------


Without the deferred constraint, the following will happen when you delete
"deptno number 20" from the table "dept":

SQL> delete dept where deptno=20;

1 row deleted.

*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02091: transaction rolled back
ORA-02292: integrity constraint (SCOTT.EMP_FOREIGN_KEY) violated
- child record found

At this point the statement is rolled back and "dept number 20" is undeleted.


When using the deferred constraint, deleting this row will not generate an
error until a "commit" is performed. For example:

SQL> delete dept where deptno=20;

1 row deleted.

SQL> commit;
commit
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02091: transaction rolled back
ORA-02292: integrity constraint (SCOTT.EMP_FOREIGN_KEY) violated
- child record found


This will then give you a chance to delete the "child" rows before issuing the
"commit" command. For example:


SQL> delete dept where deptno=20;

1 row deleted.

SQL> delete emp where deptno=20;

5 rows deleted.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.


Another situation where the deferred constraint checking feature could be useful
is if you want to change the primary key value in the parent table i.e., "DEPT".

SQL> update dept set deptno=25 where deptno=20;

1 row updated.

SQL> update emp set deptno=25 where deptno=20;

5 rows updated.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.


A constraint can also be created "INITIALLY IMMEDIATE DEFERRABLE". This means
that the constraint will be checked at "initially" instead of at "commit" time,
unless you manually set the constraint to "deferred". For example:

------------------------------Begin Script--------------------------------------
DROP TABLE EMP;
DROP TABLE DEPT;

CREATE TABLE DEPT (
DEPTNO NUMBER(2) NOT NULL,
DNAME CHAR(14),
LOC CHAR(13),
CONSTRAINT DEPT_PRIMARY_KEY PRIMARY KEY (DEPTNO));

INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (10,'ACCOUNTING','NEW YORK');
INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (20,'RESEARCH','DALLAS');
INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (30,'SALES','CHICAGO');
INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (40,'OPERATIONS','BOSTON');

CREATE TABLE EMP (
EMPNO NUMBER(4) NOT NULL,
ENAME CHAR(10),
JOB CHAR(9),
MGR NUMBER(4) CONSTRAINT EMP_SELF_KEY REFERENCES EMP (EMPNO),
HIREDATE DATE,
SAL NUMBER(7,2),
COMM NUMBER(7,2),
DEPTNO NUMBER(2) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT EMP_FOREIGN_KEY FOREIGN KEY (DEPTNO)
REFERENCES DEPT (DEPTNO) INITIALLY IMMEDIATE DEFERRABLE,
CONSTRAINT EMP_PRIMARY_KEY PRIMARY KEY (EMPNO));

INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7839,'KING','PRESIDENT',NULL,'17-NOV-81',5000,NULL,10);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7698,'BLAKE','MANAGER',7839,'1-MAY-81',2850,NULL,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7782,'CLARK','MANAGER',7839,'9-JUN-81',2450,NULL,10);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7566,'JONES','MANAGER',7839,'2-APR-81',2975,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7654,'MARTIN','SALESMAN',7698,'28-SEP-81',1250,1400,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7499,'ALLEN','SALESMAN',7698,'20-FEB-81',1600,300,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7844,'TURNER','SALESMAN',7698,'8-SEP-81',1500,0,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7900,'JAMES','CLERK',7698,'3-DEC-81',950,NULL,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7521,'WARD','SALESMAN',7698,'22-FEB-81',1250,500,30);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7902,'FORD','ANALYST',7566,'3-DEC-81',3000,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7369,'SMITH','CLERK',7902,'17-DEC-80',800,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7788,'SCOTT','ANALYST',7566,'09-DEC-82',3000,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7876,'ADAMS','CLERK',7788,'12-JAN-83',1100,NULL,20);
INSERT INTO EMP VALUES (7934,'MILLER','CLERK',7782,'23-JAN-82',1300,NULL,10);
commit;
---------------------------------End Script-------------------------------------

SQL> delete dept where deptno=20;
delete dept where deptno=20
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02292: integrity constraint (SCOTT.EMP_FOREIGN_KEY) violated
- child record found


SQL> set constraint emp_foreign_key deferred;

Constraint set.

SQL> delete dept where deptno=20;

1 row deleted.

There are new columns in the "user_constraints/dba_constraints/all_constraints"
views that will give you information on whether the constraint is deferrable.
For example:

SQL> select constraint_name,deferrable,deferred from user_constraints
where constraint_name like 'EMP%';

CONSTRAINT_NAME DEFERRABLE DEFERRED
------------------------------ -------------- ---------
EMP_PRIMARY_KEY NOT DEFERRABLE IMMEDIATE
EMP_SELF_KEY NOT DEFERRABLE IMMEDIATE
EMP_FOREIGN_KEY DEFERRABLE DEFERRED



Search Words:
=============

ORA-2091 ORA-2292

vivalavida:

i need hlp.wat is deferable constraints?

Constraints that are deferred. Thats the simple way to explain it. Basically most constraints are executed when data is being populated in a table. In certain situations however because of certain expectations one can stop certain constraints from being executed. Note, these constraints still exist on the columns in that table, however, they are in a deferred state. Just look at it from the point of view of when you defer something.

For those looking for DBA jobs, here is one for you all:

http://www.jobserve.com/Oracle-DBA-RAC-Lagos-Nigeria-Permanent-W3D3C17CD1620D19D.jsjob?r=464336A938F768E4

@A-40,
Np giving you the documents. The issue is the logistics of getting it to you.
Anyway, let's see. Was in Nigeria in March and may come in June. If i do then i can burn these on dvds and bring for you.
Another option will be if you have one of these accounts online at any storage site. Let me know and i can upload these for you to download.
k?

Pallytu:

@Azum and A-40, u guys r rily gr8t,v bn follyng dis ORACLE DBA corner months ago nw and am rily intrestd in Oracle bt wl b finishng my B.tech in August by specia grace of God and afterwards,wl like to enrol for dis Oracle, pls guys i rily nid your help on dis. Wht steps du u guys tnk shud take? Whch of dis centres is d best 4me(Aptech,niit or new horizon)? Wl rily apreciate it if u guys cud help out on dis. Thnks.

Unfortunately i am not based in Nigeria and cant help. But there are many resources online to help u get started. A good place to start is:http://www.oracle.com/technology/index.html.

Good luck.

@A-40,

Unfortunately i dont have the materials you asked for. For one i am not a SAP Functional expert. Only those can have the materials you're asking for. The materials i have on SAP has to do with managing the Oracle DB hosting the SAP application: stuff like that.

On PLSQL, i guess you got me wrong. It is very good to know it. Trust me. But then, there is more to being an Oracle DBA than knowing just PLSQL. My point is the time aspiring DBAs on this thread spend learning PLSQL can be used to learn stuff like networking, operating system and so on. A complete DBA is one that knows a little bit of everything including those that seems unrelated to the DBA work.

@Dominique
On OEM: i dont agree that learning OEM makes you a lazy DBA. Infact OEM GC 10.2.0.5 is more complicated than anything before it. It requires a lot of learning and mastering to be an expert. I see a situation in not distant a future where being an OEM GC expert becomes a specialist subject just like RAC, DG , RMAN etc. That said, it is also important to know the basics fundamentals behind how OEM works. As such A-40 and your tutor are right that you should not devote too much time on it. At this stage it is advisable to learn and have a good grasp of the basics of Oracle DBA tasks first.

On Backups:
Level 0 is a full database backups. This is basically a complete backup of your database. This is the ideal backups that should be done. However so many constraints make it impossible to do this regularly. For example the size of your database makes it impossible to do a full backup level 0 backup every time. For example, it is not advisable to do a full backup of a 3 Terabyte that takes like 24 hours to complete every time. It is in this scenerio that level 1 backups come into play.

Level 1: A level 1 backup is simply a backup of the data that has changed in the database since the last level 0 backup. For example let's say you take a level 0 backup on Sunday. This level 0 backups then becomes your base level backup. If you then take a level 1 backup on Monday, what happens is that the backup taking on monday will only include data that has changed since your level 0 backup on Sunday. If you now take another level 1 backup on Tuesday what you have is the backup of data that has changed since your last backup on Sunday. And so on. In this case if say on Friday at 4.00pm your database crashes and you want to recover, you first have to restore your level 0 backup taken on Sunday and then progressively apply all the level 1 backups taken from Monday to Thursday. This will bring your database up to Thursday. To bring your database up till the crash time on Friday you then apply archived log files in a process called roll forward. As you notice here, this a tedious process which involves not only restoring the base level 0 backup of Sunday but also applying all the different daily level 1 backups of Monday to Thursday.
This is where Cummulative level 1 backups come into play. What happens here is that a cummulative level 1 backup of all the changes that happen since the last level 0 backup is taken. For example your level 0 backup is done on Tuesday. On wednesday a cumulative backup of all the changes that happens since the last level 0 backup on Tuesday is done. If also on Saturday you do a cumulative backup this backups up all the changes that has happened since the last level 0 backup is taken. This makes database recovery simple since all you need to restore is a level 0 backup and 1 single cumulative level 1.

I hope this explains the situation. To read more go to www.otn.oracle.com

A-40:

@Dominique
You are more than welcome. What do you mean by bittersweet by the way? Care to share

@Azum
Patiently waiting for your reply

@A-40. I already replied.

@Jimblaze,
First let me start by saying i never ever installed Oracle on Solaris running on virtual machine. All my work on Oracle with Solaris has always being on Sun Solaris servers and not virtual machines. That said i will attempt to apply my knowledge here to your questions.

1. the only reason i can think of in this case could be that you did not create the oracle user properly. You must have missed an error that occur while you were creating it. Or could it be that the user you tried to create exist?

2. When Oracle states that it requires 1024MB of physical memory, it means that this is what is required as minimum for Oracle ALONE after the OS memory use has been taken care of. In this case remember out of the 1024MB of physical memory, your virtual software is allocated some and so also the Sun Solaris you installed. In effect what remains of the 1024MB physical memory you have will be about half of that which does not even meet the basic minimum requirement. As such dont expect Oracle to run on such. Even at 1024MB, you will be hard pressed to have Oracle being able to run on Solaris.

3. To be able to run Oracle on Solaris, all the required patches must be installed. Which in effect means you must have a service plan number. I really dont know how you can go around this. Hopefully somehow you will be able to get around this and start it al over again. Also, after applying all the require Solaris patches, make sure you cross check the Memory Kernel parameters in Solaris that is required to be modified so that Oracle can run. This have to be configured otherwise your oracle instance wont start up. When you do start to do your install again, post what whatever errors you have so we can all find a solution to them.

savenaija:

Thanks Azum for your time but i need to create a cd, that when the user inserts in into their computer, it needs to automatically install the system i created. Do i need to use something like install sheild or do i use the batch process .bat?
And how do i go about doing this??
The tables and the application export needs to be installed, etc,

Unfortunately what you want to achieve can be partly achieved but will require a lot of work and testing to achieve. But definitely you can not run an Oracle Instance from a CD.

A-40:

@Azum
Na wah oh Bros you just overlooked ma post

@A-40,

Sorry abeg. must have somehow overlooked your last post.
On SAP, i administer the oracle database hosting the application. Do know my way around the application though. I am however not a SAP functional person. I do have some materials on SAP though but from an Oracle DBA point of view. Let me know what type of materials you really need and i will see if i have it.
To be an Oracle DBA, a lot of personal development is required. Working on windows may not be enough on the long run though a very good point to start. You will need to have hands on practice on the other operating systems such as unix and linux. And with the advent of VMware, you can easily install these to seat on your laptop for practice purposes. And i do hope you belong to Oracle Technology network. But believe me, being an Oracle DBA is very exciting, its more than a meal ticket.
Knowing PLSQL and SQL is very good, but the emphasis on it here is misplaced. Look being an Oracle DBA is far more than knowing PLSQL or SQL. As a DBA, except you're a Development DBA, you hardly get to put to use whatever knowledge you have of this. Its over 7 years know that i wrote a PLSQL procedure or what have you. At a stage as a DBA it becomes very irrelevant to you. You get involved in sepcialities such as DG, RAC, ASM, OEM GC, Streams, Replication, RMAN, DR etc that hardly require little or no PLSQL or SQL.
On RAC, if you do have any questions or issues, dont hesitate to ask and i will definitely share whatever knowledge i have with you or anyone.
Once again i apologies for not replying early.

savenaija:

Thanks Azum, but i still want it on a cd as exe file. let me restructure the question.
i have completed my application, and would like to copy it onto a cd,
first of all i need to know how go about creating .exe file that contains, application express program, my export of tables .exp, and my application thats a .sql
And created paremeters that the user needs to input, eg. LOV, etc,
The cd needs to be a auto run,

Not possible.

@Savenaija,

then your best bet will be to get the machine u installed your application on to the school and demo it. Simple.

@savenaija

savenaija:

Azum please help.

Actually your best bet is to ask the school to give you a server/pc and you do a reinstall of your application and your database. That way the school can have a copy for future reference and for the use of other students as a case study. To do this, you will simply need to do an export of your database from your pc/server and import to the server/pc provided by the school.

@A-40:

a. On ASM: Yes and no, it is not particularly "entwined" with ASM. Before Oracle 10g when ASM was introduced, use is made of other volume managers to achieve RAC in Oracle 9i and even with parallel server in Oracle 8i and below. The fact is that RAC blossoms on shared storage which is better managed now with ASM. And that's why both seems to be siemese(sp) twins. But you can still have a RAC installation without ASM, though supported it is better without doubt using ASM>.

b. On Contract jobs: i guess with this scenerio you will be answering a lot of RAC questions during the interview. You really need to read wide. You definitely should expect questions on the following: interconnect, RAC services, CRS, voting disk, private ip, virtual ip and so on. RAC has so many components that you need to read about. search the internet for sample interview questions on RAC. A good place to start is this:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/obe/demos/admin/demos.html

c. environments i work on: currently i support Oracle databases running the SAP ERP on solaris 10. I also support various other Oracle instances running on Windows server. But actually, thank God for His mercies, with all humility i can say i have been privileged to work with Oracle on all the platforms it runs on such as Unix(solaris, aix, open vms, hp, etc), Linux, Windows, Mac O/S and so on. Just name any O/S that Oracle runs i have been opportuned to work on it by the special grace of the Almighty.

Like i have always said on this thread many times in the past, there is far far more to being an Oracle DBA than knowing to write good SQL and PL/SQL. Trust me i have seen DBAs who can not debug a simple SQL or PLSQL program.

Anyway if you have any further questions or clarifications on RAC kindly shoot and i will try my best to answer time permitting. And hey, good luck.

A-40:

@Azum
Thanks for the tip na laziness been dey worry me. Actually i have searched and gotten materials on the entire RAC thing and i must confess its really vast and closely entwined with ASM. The thing is i kinda got a few contract job openings but they needed someone with experience in that area (RAC) which is why i needed info on how to run and manage the clusterware which is its primary component

By the way what kind of environment do you work on?

@A-40:

a. On ASM: Yes and no, it is not particularly "entwined" with ASM. Before Oracle 10g when ASM was introduced, use is made of other volume managers to achieve RAC in Oracle 9i and even with parallel server in Oracle 8i and below. The fact is that RAC blossoms on shared storage which is better managed now with ASM. And that's why both seems to be siemese(sp) twins. But you can still have a RAC installation without ASM, though supported it is better without doubt using ASM>.

b. On Contract jobs: i guess with this scenerio you will be answering a lot of RAC questions during the interview. You really need to read wide. You definitely should expect questions on the following: interconnect, RAC services, CRS, voting disk, private ip, virtual ip and so on. RAC has so many components that you need to read about. search the internet for sample interview questions on RAC. A good place to start is this:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/obe/demos/admin/demos.html

c. environments i work on: currently i support Oracle databases running the SAP ERP on solaris 10. I also support various other Oracle instances running on Windows server. But actually, thank God for His mercies, with all humility i can say i have been privileged to work with Oracle on all the platforms it runs on such as Unix(solaris, aix, open vms, hp, etc), Linux, Windows, Mac O/S and so on. Just name any O/S that Oracle runs i have been opportuned to work on it by the special grace of the Almighty.

Like i have always said on this thread many times in the past, there is far far more to being an Oracle DBA than knowing to write good SQL and PL/SQL. Trust me i have seen DBAs who can not debug a simple SQL or PLSQL program.

Anyway if you have any further questions or clarifications on RAC kindly shoot and i will try my best to answer time permitting. And hey, good luck.

A-40:

Whats good people where una dey now? Who has any experience with RAC's or is currently working on that environment right now? I need a few tips on how the Clusterware thing works and possibly get the software

Let me start by using a layman's language for some definition: When two or more physical machines of similar attributes are joined together to to form a single configuration you get what is called a CLUSTER. Each of those physical machines in this configuration is thus called a NODE. Thus the overlaying software that manages this sort of configuration is what is known as the CLUSTERWARE. The Clusterware basically manages the heartbeat of this configuration. What i mean is that it determines which node is down, which one is up? how the load on each node is balanced? how the nodes in this type of configuration communicates with each other and so on. This is bascially what a clusterware does. Do note that clusterwares are not limited to Oracle alone. In any cluster, be it Oracle (RAC) or Operating System such as Sun Solaris cluster, AIX(HACMP) etc a clusterware software exists. With regards to Oracle clusterware, this was introduced if i remember correctly in Oracle 10g. Until then Oracle uses 3rd party clustering solutions to achive RAC and Oracle parallel server configuration. But from Oracle 10g, Oracle introduced the Oracle Clusterware  thus giving its customers the option of either using this or a 3rd solution to achieve clustering. Thus if you're implementing RAC, you have the option of either using the Oracle clusterware or a 3rd party clustering solution. Oracle supports this. But going forward i see this changing. to download simply go to the download tab on www.otn.oracle.com and download. Hope this answers your questions.