Re: Learning Oracle DBA

"Sultan" <fancykingNOfaSPAM_at_hotmail.com.invalid> wrote in message news:06f57f7b.55416186_at_usw-ex0109-068.remarq.com...
> Hello All,
> I am trying to do my certification on Oracle DBA. The
> background I have is that, I have seen some DBA's work on
> the sites that i have worked before.
>
> This is the help I need from anyone who has knowledge in
> this field.
>
> I know that when you download the Oracle software into NT
> Server, it asks if you need the Client side or the DBA side.
> Do I have to get the DBA side to get on some hands on
> experience?

Well, it rather depends on what you want to achieve. Since you say you want Oracle DBA certification, you're going to need to know how to set up and maintain Oracle databases -and that rather requires you to have the Oracle Server software installed. You're going to need to know what physically constitutes an Oracle database, how to create a properly sized and tuned Oracle Instance, how to look after your Control Files, how to mirror and size redo logs, not mention how to create tablespaces, tables and indexes, and to maintain them for best efficiency. You're going to need to understand rollback segment behaviour. You'll want to know about clusters and index organised tables... and if you haven't got an Oracle database to practice on, I can't for the life of me see how you can even contemplate getting that little lot under your belt.

>
> Is there any specific things I need to get hands on
> expereince?

See the above list... and that's just for starters. The way I got started, incidentally, was that I had several years of developing small databases in (gulp) Access, and I dived straight in and started trying to convert them to Oracle -just the table structures, indexes and constraints. The fact that I never got the front ends working wasn't important -just getting my hands dirty with Oracle structures and concepts (not to mention Oracle SQL) was useful experience.

>Is a NT must?

Of course not. What operating system(s) is/are you familiar with? Use that/them. There's Oracle versions for most platforms that spring readily to mind, and even for those that don't. In the big, bad real world, you'll find a lot of critical systems installed on Unix, so you might want to stick to that -but if you are happier pointing-and-clicking, then don't complicate the issue by trying simultaneously getting to grips with both Oracle and a brand new O/S.

>If I use NT, what are the things
> that i have to download to work on NT?

Go to www.technet.oracle.com, and you'll find a stack of free versions of Oracle for download or ordering (you don't pay for the CDs they ship out). You'll have to sign up as a member first, but that's free too. I'd suggest you try and get hold of the latest version of Oracle (8.1.6 is standard stuff, though 8.1.7 was released just the other day) -it's available in a variety of 'editions', and for complete functionality, try and get the Enterprise Edition.

Pick the O/S you want to work with and there's almost certainly an 8.1.6 Enterprise Edition available for it.

> I know these questions sound very simple to people who have
> already used this tool, but i need their feedback on this.I
> thank you personally in advance for your help.
>

No worries, and good luck. I would just add, though, that if you are at all unsure about the basic workings of operating systems, you are going to be fighting an uphill battle.

Regards
HJR
> Sultan.
>
>
>
> * Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find
related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping. Smart is Beautiful Received on Sun Jul 23 2000 - 00:00:00 CEST