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Oracle® Database 2 Day DBA
11g Release 2 (11.2)

Part Number E10897-02
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1 Introduction

As a database administrator (DBA), you are responsible for the overall operation of Oracle Database. This introductory chapter is intended to help orient you to many common DBA tasks, to the tools available to you, and to this guide. The chapter contains the following sections:

About This Guide

Oracle Database 2 Day DBA is a database administration quick start guide that teaches you how to perform day-to-day database administrative tasks. The goal of this guide is to help you understand the concepts behind Oracle Database, and to help you learn how to perform all common administrative tasks needed to keep the database operational. These tasks include configuring the database, managing memory and storage, managing users, managing database objects such as tables, performing basic troubleshooting, creating backups for your database, performance monitoring activities, and more.

The primary administrative interface used in this guide is Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control, featuring all the self-management capabilities introduced in Oracle Database.

What This Guide Is Not

Oracle Database 2 Day DBA is task-oriented. The objective is to describe why and when administrative tasks must be performed. Where appropriate, it describes the concepts necessary to understand and complete a task, assuming the reader has no prior knowledge of the database. This guide is not an exhaustive discussion of all Oracle Database concepts. For this type of information, see Oracle Database Concepts.

Additionally, for a complete discussion of administrative tasks, see Oracle Database Administrator's Guide.

How to Use This Guide with Related Material

This guide is part of a comprehensive set of learning material for administering Oracle Database, which includes a 2 Day DBA Oracle By Example (OBE) series, available on the Web, and in an Oracle University instructor-led class.

Every chapter in Oracle Database 2 Day DBA has an associated Oracle By Example lesson. The OBE steps through all tasks in the chapter and includes annotated screenshots. In some cases, the OBE provides additional information to help you complete the task.

At the end of each chapter, you can find the link to its associated OBE lesson. The home page for the 2 Day DBA Oracle By Example series is as follows:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/obe/11gr2_2day_dba/index.html

In addition, Oracle University provides a related instructor-led course called Oracle Database 11g: 2 Day DBA. Contact Oracle University for more information.

About Oracle Database

Oracle Database is a relational database with object and Extensible Markup Language (XML) capabilities. In a relational database, all data is stored in two-dimensional tables that are composed of rows and columns. Oracle Database enables you to store data, update it, and efficiently retrieve it, with a high degree of performance, reliability, and scalability.

Oracle Database is composed of the following elements:

Common Oracle DBA Tasks

As an Oracle DBA, you can expect to be involved in the following tasks:

In a small to medium-sized database environment, you might be the sole person performing these tasks. In large, enterprise environments, the job is often divided among several DBAs, each of whom has a specialty, such as database security or database tuning.

See Also:

Oracle Database Concepts for more information about the duties of database administrators

Tools for Administering the Database

The goal of this guide is to enable you to quickly and efficiently create an Oracle database, and to provide guidance in basic database administration.

The following are some products, tools, and utilities you can use to achieve your goals as a database administrator: