Re: System Requirements Oracle 9i Database

"Larry R Harrison Jr" <larrytuaz_at_cox.net> wrote in message news:Ydgqb.2765$0K6.2664_at_fed1read06...
> My wife, who wants to help me jump-start my database designing skill-set
(I
> do a lot of it in Access & Visual Basic), purchased Oracle 9i Database for
> me. It has 16 CDs altogether.
>
> I am a total newbie with this altogether, I mean TOTALLY--any average
9-year
> old knows as much about it as I do. My skillset in Access & Visual Basic
is
> considerable--to the point I have a couple of clients whom I've been
> designing such databases for--but in Oracle I am totally dumb, frankly.
>
> Heck, I'm not even sure how current Oracle 9i is. And as my wife paid less
> than $100 for these 16 CDs--and I've always been under the impression that
> Oracle is a VERY serious software package--I figured it would cost a grand
> at least, so maybe she didn't even get the real version of it for all I
> know.

Actually, you can download the database for *free* from technet.oracle.com (but it's 1.5GB big, so spending $100 for the CD set was probably a good idea). She probably purchased a trial license, which gives you the total software set, which is totally unlimited in functionality (not crippleware, for example). But the rules are that you can only use it for testing, development and evaluation purposes. The minute you start making money from it, Oracle will expect to hear back from you!! (It's done on the honour system, so it's down to you to be honourable).

> What are the system requirements for this version? I currently have
Windows
> XP Professional (not server) on a 500 MHz computer with 256 Meg of RAM; I
am
> about to add a 1.753 Gigahertz Athlon XP 2100 system with 512 Meg of RAM
and
> a 30 Gig Hard drive, and I figure that would be powerful enough.

Yup. 500MHz is probably a bit too slow (though it would work). 256MB of RAM is bare minimum territory. 512MB starts getting comfortable (go to 1GB if you possibly can). The Windows Oracle install is about 2.86GB, but you'll want a database or three on top of that, so allow 10GB, so 30GB is OK (if it were me buying a new machine, I'd be specc'ing an 80GB hard drive minimum). Warning: Personal Bias alert: if I was buying a new system, I'd stick with Intel. My memory is not what it used to be -I'm racing towards 40

    -but I seem to recall hearing about some minor quirks with Oracle and Athlons. Nothing too serious, so don't change plans if you've already placed the order.

> Tips?

Be patient. You're starting from scratch, so there's a lot to learn, and much of it may seem very strange to begin with. Visit http://tahiti.oracle.com to get access to the latest Oracle documentation (though your CD set will probably include it already). Read the official Concepts Guide. Then visit sites such as www.geocities.com/lydian_third, www.jlcomp.demon.co.uk, http://asktom.oracle.com. Visit google and hunt around for advice. Take nothing on face value: test it yourself to destruction. Lurk here for a month or two, and try and pick up on the sort of questions being asked, and ask yourself how *you* would answer them. Then see what answers actually come through, and compare. When you're feeling brave, post some of your answers and see how they are taken by people.

Buy books. Try and avoid anything with the words 'Oracle Press' on their covers, since they generally spout myths and rubbish which you don't want to imbibe. Anything with the names Jonathan Lewis, or Thomas Kyte on the cover are *extremely* good bets for accurate advice. Mostly anything associated with TUSC is to be treated the same way you would have treated an Oracle Press book, for much the same reasons. O'Reilly are good. As are Wrox (though they've been bought out by someone whose name escapes me... someone here will be able to give the new name).

Avoid anything that mentions OCP (Oracle Certified Professional). The qualification is not worth a damn, and leads you straight into myth territory.

If you can afford an Oracle training course (most people can't), go. Go to DBA Fundamantals I if you can... the architecture stuff they cover on that is extremely good (but you play Russian Roulette with the instructor you get. If the guy starts reading from the course notes in the first hour, then leave and ask to be scheduled with someone else at a later date). DBA Fundamentals II is quite good, but is light on networking, and the Backup and Recovery stuff is not difficult. Don't bother with Performance Tuning, because it's a badly-written course that addresses none of the real issues.

Email me if you like. I'm sure some other regular posters here don't mind private emaill, either.

I think the general thing is to get involved and to get communicating, and you've already started that by posting here. Just don't stop now.

And the other general thing is to test and test and test, and verify for yourself. Experiment, and stuff the consequences.

The other thing I would suggest, given your background, is that you learn Oracle at the command line, and learn *Oracle*. Worry about putting a graphical front-end app. on top of Oracle later. When you've got command-line Oracle sorted, the graphical front-ends will come as second nature, and will be better for the understanding you have of the back-end architecture and inner-workings.

And finally, enjoy yourself. Oracle is quite a majestic system. It's got an internal logic that is beautiful, and the sense of power that you can get from controlling those internal workings can be quite exhilerating. So have fun.

Regards
HJR Received on Wed Nov 05 2003 - 18:33:37 CST