Oracle Documents

Data Masking

2010-06-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

Data Masking
Recently I came across few Oracle links which tells a lot about Data Masking. Here are few links which gives you a great idea about the data masking feature of Oracle and the usage. It also covers the licensing part too.
Oracle Data Masking Pack:
Oracle Data Masking Pack provides a comprehensive easy-to-use solution to share production data with internal and external entities while preventing sensitive or confidential parts of the information from being disclosed to unauthorized parties. The solution replaces sensitive data in databases with realistic-looking, scrubbed data based on masking rules and conditions. QA staff can now use real data to represent authentic application and database scenarios in their testing processes without violating privacy policies or laws.
https://shop.oracle.com/pls/ostore/f?p=ostore:product:3264476248645124::NO:RP,3:P3_LPI,P3_PROD_HIER_ID:4509221213031805719914,4509951127051805720010#

Replacing Sensitive Data Using the Data Masking Pack:
This tutorial shows you how to identify sensitive data, select appropriate mask formats for the sensitive fields, apply the mask and then replace the sensitive fields in the production version.
This tutorial covers the following topics:
Overview
Prerequisites
Managing the Data Masking Format Library
Identifying Sensitive Data for Masking
Creating Data Masking Definitions for Your Application Schema
Exporting Mask Definitions to XML
Importing Data Masking Definitions
Creating and Applying a User-Defined Mask
Summary
Refer the below link for more details and screen shots.
http://www.oracle.com/technology/obe/obe10gemgc_10204/datamask/datamask.htm
Oracle Data Masking Pack Demo:
Refer the below link for a demo on Data masking.
http://download.oracle.com/technology/products/oem/screenwatches/data_masking/index.html

Active Data Guard and Snapshot Standby Features Of 11G

2010-04-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Active Data Guard and Snapshot Standby Features Of 11G
This is a nice database article to see active data guard and snapshot standby features in 11G. It also covers the below topics:
1: Activate Real Time Query on a physical standby database
2: Convert a physical standby database to snapshot standby mode
3: Utilize a snapshot standby database for testing application changes
4: Convert a snapshot standby database back to physical standby mode
http://www.databasejournal.com/features/oracle/article.php/3834931/article.htm

Configuring Dataguard Broker

2010-04-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Configuring Dataguard Broker:
This is a beautiful database article to configure dataguard broker in 11G . It also covers the below topics:
1: Demonstrates how to set up and utilize Data Guard Broker features in Oracle Database 11g.
2: Configuration of standby redo logs on the standby database.
3: Configuration of the primary and standby databases to ensure successful setup of Data Guard Broker
4: Data Guard Broker configuration on primary and standby database servers
5: Using Data Guard Broker to perform a switchover operation
6: Using Data Guard Broker to perform a switchback operation
http://www.databasejournal.com/features/oracle/article.php/3822176/Configuring-Data-Guard-Broker.htm
I hope the above link will definitely help you to configure and use data guard broker in your environment.

Installing Solaris 10 Virtual Machine Using Oracle VM Manager

2010-03-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

Installing Solaris 10 Virtual Machine Using Oracle VM Manager:
Hope this will help. A stepwise process to install solaris 10 virtual machine.
http://blogs.oracle.com/virtualization/2010/02/installing_solaris_10_virtual.html

Oracle VM

2010-03-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Techincal Information Of Oracle VM:
Oracle VM is free, next generation, scalable server virtualization software that supports Oracle and non-Oracle applications. Oracle VM provides an easy-to-use graphical interface for creating and managing virtual server pools running on x86 and x86-64-based systems across an enterprise; both Linux and Windows guests are supported. Part of Oracle VM includes the Xen hypervisor, and Oracle's engineering team contributes heavily to feature development of Xen mainline software. Refer the link below to collect technical information related to Oracle VM.
http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/virtualization/024974.htm

Larry Ellison

2010-02-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

Larry Ellison:
If you do not know who is Larry Ellison then read this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison

Global Product Security

2010-02-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

The Oracle Global Product Security Blog:
If you are looking for a place to watch security related information for Oracle products, refer the below blog:
http://blogs.oracle.com/security/

Oracle Virtualization

2010-02-26T11:39:00.000-08:00

Oracle Virtualization:
If you are looking for Oracle Virtualization, the right place to go is:
http://blogs.oracle.com/virtualization/

I hope most of your queries will be answered here.

Oracle Press Releases

2010-02-26T11:24:00.000-08:00

Oracle Press Releases:
See the latest news for Oracle Corporation. Follow the below link:
http://pressroom.oracle.com/search/search?group=PressReleases&keyword =

Oracle Licenses and Price

2010-02-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

Oracle Licenses and Price:
Oracle products offering and pricing are given in more details at below link:
http://www.oracle.com/corporate/pricing/pricelists.html

Sun Oracle Exadata Storage Server

2010-02-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

Oracle Exadata: Sun Oracle Exadata Storage Server:
Sun Oracle Exadata Storage Server is a storage product highly optimized for use with the Oracle database. Exadata delivers outstanding I/O and SQL processing performance for data warehousing applications by leveraging a massively parallel architecture to enable a dynamic storage grid for Oracle Database 11g deployments. Exadata is a combination of software and hardware used to store and access the Oracle database. It provides database aware storage services, such as the ability to offload database processing from the database server to storage, and provides this while being transparent to SQL processing and your database applications. Exadata storage delivers dramatic performance improvements, with unlimited I/O scalability, is simple to use and manage, and delivers mission-critical availability and reliability to your enterprise. Refer the below URL for more information
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/db/exadata/index.html

Sun Oracle Database Machine

2010-02-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

Oracle Exadata: Sun Oracle Database Machine:
The Sun Oracle Database Machine provides an optimal solution for all database workloads, ranging from scan-intensive data warehouse applications to highly concurrent OLTP applications. With its combination of smart Oracle Exadata Storage Server Software, complete and intelligent Oracle Database software, and the latest industry standard hardware components from Sun, the Database Machine delivers extreme performance in a highly-available, highly-secure environment. With Oracle's unique clustering and workload management capabilities, the Database Machine is also well-suited for consolidating multiple databases onto a single grid. Delivered as a complete pre-optimized and pre-configured package of software, servers, and storage, the Sun Oracle Database Machine is simple and fast to implement and ready to tackle your large-scale business applications. Refer below URL for more details
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/db/exadata/index.html

Oracle Exadata

2010-02-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

Oracle Exadata:
Do you know about Oracle Exadata?
"The world's first OLTP database machine with Sun flashfire technology."

Follow the below links for more information:
Oracle Unveils Exadata Version 2: The First Database Machine for OLTP:
http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/033684

Sun Oracle Database Machine and Exadata Storage Server:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/db/exadata/index.html

Refer the "Techical Information" section of the above link.

OCRCONFIG

2009-10-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

Usage of ocrconfig to administer Oracle Cluster Registry:
Prerequisites:
Requires administrative previlege on UNIX based systems or as a user with administrator previleges on windows based systems.

Usage:
ocrconfig -option

Options:
-backuploc: To change an ocr backup file location.
-downgrade: To downgrade ocr to an earlier version.
-export: To export the contents of an ocr to a target file.
-help: to display help for ocrconfig tool.
-import: To import the ocr contents from a previously exported ocr file.
-overwrite: To update an ocr configuration that is recorded on the ocr with the current ocr configuration information that is found on the node from which you are running this command.
-repair: To update an ocr configuration on the node from which you are running this command with the new configuration information specified by this command
-restore: To restore an ocr from an automatically created ocr backup file.
-showbackup: To display ocr backup information.
-upgrade: To upgrade an ocr to a latest version.

RAC Administration and Maintenance Tasks

2009-10-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

RAC Administration and Maintenance Tasks using ocrconfig, ocrdump, olsnodes, srvctl, crsctl, oifcfg, ocrcheck

This topic covers the following RAC maintenance activities:

Checking CRS status
Viewing name of the cluster
Viewing nodes configuraion
Checking votedisk information
Checking OCR disk information
Timeout settings in cluster
Add/Remove OCR files
Add/Remove votedisk
Backing up OCR
Backing up votedisk
Restoring OCR Devices
Restoring voting disk devices
Changing Public IPs and Virtual IPs

Refer the below link to learn more about the above maintenance activities.
http://www.oracledba.org/11g/rac/11g_RAC_Admin_Maintenance_Tasks.html

The above link will also give beautiful information and usage of the below tools:

ocrconfig
ocrdump
olsnodes
ocrcheck
crsctl
oifcfg
srvctl

WebLogic Configuration for RAC

2009-10-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

How-To Configure and Use Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) with Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3:
This demo shows how to configure Oracle WebLogic Server to work with Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) as well as how to test the connections to the backend Oracle RAC nodes using a web application.

Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3 integrates Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) features in Oracle Database 11g, minimizing database access time while allowing transparent access to rich pooling management functions that maximize both connection performance and availability.

There are multiple configuration options for Oracle RAC features within Oracle WebLogic Server. Oracle recommends using Oracle WebLogic Server JDBC multi data sources. This applies to scenarios with or without global transactions. Also you could configure Oracle WebLogic Server to use Oracle JDBC THIN driver’s connect-time failover as well as Fast Connection Failover from Oracle JDBC driver’s Implicit Connection Cache.

In this demo, we will configure and use Oracle WebLogic Server JDBC multi data sources for failover and load balancing.

Check the below URL for detailed steps:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/weblogic/howto/rac/index.html#

Task List for Physical Standby Database Creation

2009-10-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Task List: Preparing to create a physical standby database:
This section provides a checklist of tasks that you perform to create a physical standby database and synchronize it so that it is ready to begin managed recovery. Each step includes a reference to a section that provides additional information.

Preparing the Primary Database for Standby Database Creation:
Primary Node:
Enable Forced Logging
Create a Password File
Configure a Standby Redo Log
Set Primary Database Initialization Parameters
Enable Archiving

Step-by-Step Instructions for Creating a Physical Standby Database:
Primary Node:
Create a Backup Copy of the Primary Database Datafiles
Create a Control File for the Standby Database
Prepare an Initialization Parameter File for the Standby Database
Copy Files from the Primary System to the Standby System

Standby Node:
Set Up the Environment to Support the Standby Database
Start the Physical Standby Database
Verify the Physical Standby Database Is Performing Properly

Post-Creation Steps:
Primary/Standby Node:
Upgrade the data protection mode
Enable Flashback Database

Configure Standby Database using RMAN

2009-10-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

Configure Physical Standby Database using RMAN:
Follow the below steps to configure physical standby database using RMAN

Target Database:
Make sure the target database is mount or on open stage.

$ export ORACLE_SID TEST
$ rman target /
RMAN> show all;
Using target database controlfile instead of recovery catalog RMAN configuration parameters are:
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 1 DAYS;
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION OFF;CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '/u01/oradata/backup/Oracle_Backups d_ F.rman';
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 1;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1;
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/u01/oradata/backup/Oracle_Backups d_ F.rman';
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO UNLIMITED;
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/u01/oradata/backup/ORACLEORA92DATABASESNCFTEST.ORA';

2. Backup the current production database to create a standby database:

RMAN> backup database include current controlfile for standby plus archivelog;

3. Manually copy the backup sets from the production server to the DR Server (location of backups must match on both production and DR). Make sure all DR filesystems are identical with respect to the target database environment.

4. On the DR Server start up the TEST database in nomount mode. Make sure the parameter file and password file are all present at DR server at $ORACLE_HOME/dbs location for UNIX system.

$ set ORACLE_SID TEST
$ sqlplus /nolog
SQL> connect / as sysdba
SQL> startup nomount
SQL> exit

5. Create the standby database using RMAN. This assumes the database file structures will be identical on both servers. Also you have initialization parameter, password file and backup piece are all placed in their correct locations. The tnsnames.ora and listener.ora must have information for target and auxiliary database and listener is up.

$ RMAN target ‘sys/password@TEST’ auxiliary / (This is executed from DR server.)
RMAN> duplicate target database for standby nofilenamecheck dorecover;

6. Once the DR database is created, you will need to manually add a tempfile:

SQL> alter database open read only;
SQL> alter tablespace temp add tempfile ‘/u01/oradata/TEMP01.DBF’ size 500M;

7. Put the DR database into managed standby mode:

SQL> shutdown immediate
SQL> startup nomount
SQL> alter database mount standby database;
SQL> alter database recover managed standby database disconnect;

8. On the production database switch logs to initiate replication:

SQL> alter system switch logfile;

The configuration of Dataguard is now complete.

For more detailed information to create a Physical standby database using RMAN, refer the below URL:
http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/RMAN_9i/RMAN9_32.shtml

ASM Commands

2009-10-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

Summary of ASM Commands:
This section describes each individual ASMCMD command in detail:

cd: Changes the current directory to the specified directory.
du:Displays the total disk space occupied by ASM files in the specified ASM directory and all its subdirectories, recursively.
exit:Exits ASMCMD.
find:Lists the paths of all occurrences of the specified name (with wildcards) under the specified directory.
help:Displays the syntax and description of ASMCMD commands.
ls:Lists the contents of an ASM directory, the attributes of the specified file, or the names and attributes of all disk groups.
lsct:Lists information about current ASM clients.
lsdg:Lists all disk groups and their attributes.
mkalias:Creates an alias for a system-generated filename.
mkdir:Creates ASM directories.
pwd:Displays the path of the current ASM directory.
rm:Deletes the specified ASM files or directories.
rmalias:Deletes the specified alias, retaining the file that the alias points to.

Refer the below URL for more details on asmcmd for 10GR2:
http://www.mcs.csueastbay.edu/support/oracle/doc/10.2/server.102/b14215/asm_util.htm#table

Refer the below URL for more details on asmcmd for 11G Release 1:
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b31107/asm_util.htm#table

RMAN Commands

2009-10-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

RMAN Commands:
This chapter describes, in alphabetical order, Recovery Manager commands and subclauses. For a summary of the RMAN commands and command-line options, refer to "Summary of RMAN Commands".

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B14117_01/server.101/b10770/rcmsynta.htm#77541

For command line options for the RMAN client, refer to "cmdLine".

To configure recovery catalog database refer the below URL:
http://oracledocaccess.blogspot.com/2009/06/configure-recovery-catalog.html

For RMAN concepts refer the below URL:
http://oracledocaccess.blogspot.com/2009/06/rman-concepts.html

LogMiner Viewer

2009-08-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

Using LogMiner Viewer to Perform a Logical Recovery:
Purpose:
In this module, you will learn how to use LogMiner to analyze your redo log files so that you can logically recover your database.
http://www.oracle.com/technology/obe/obe9ir2/obe-ha/logminer/logminer.htm

Logminer

2009-08-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Logminer:

LogMiner is an Oracle utility which uses a dictionary meta data (online , from a flat file, or from redologs ) to scan the redo/archive logs and generates a set of SQL statements which would have the same effect on the database as applying the corresponding redo record.

Logminer can be used to mine the logs of the current database or a remote database.

The following steps are needed to analyze logs of a remote database.

1) Build the Dictionary file of the production database and scp to the mining/test server.
2) Get the list of archive logs which you want to mine from production server and scp to the mining/test server.
3) Add Redo Log Files for mining
4) Start LogMiner
5) Query V$LOGMNR_CONTENTS
6) End the LogMiner Session

Follow the below steps:
Production:
1: Log in as sys user
2: execute sys.dbms_logmnr_d.build ('PROD_dict.ora', '/oracle/admin/PROD/utldir');
3: Determine the archive log sequences that are needed by querying v$archived_log on the remote database. (Look at first_time, next_time values).
Ex: /u006/archive/PROD/PROD_1_4829_651194874.arc
4: send the above 2 files mentioned in step 2 and 3 to Mining/Test Server using scp/ftp/sftp etc.

Mining/Test Server:
1: Log in as sys user
2: exec sys.dbms_logmnr.add_logfile('/export/home/oracle/logminer/archive/PROD_1_4829_651194874.arc');
3: exec sys.Dbms_Logmnr.start_logmnr(dictfilename => '/export/home/oracle/logminer/dict/PROD_dict.ora');
4: Query the V$LOGMNR_CONTENTS to see the mined rows
5: exec sys.DBMS_LOGMNR.end_logmnr;

Note: Do not execute step 5 until you have finished quering V$LOGMNR_CONTENTS.

ROW CACHE LOCK

2009-08-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

WAITED TOO LONG FOR A ROW CACHE ENQUEUE LOCK:
When Row cache contention occurs, if the enqueue cannot be gotten within a certain time period, a trace file will be generated in the location with some trace details.
The trace file tends to contain the words:
>> WAITED TOO LONG FOR A ROW CACHE ENQUEUE LOCK! <<>> WAITED TOO LONG FOR A ROW CACHE ENQUEUE LOCK! << address="700000036f27628" cid="0(dc_tablespaces)
hash=a6840aa5 typ=9 transaction=0 flags=00008000
...

The trace will often contain a systemstate dump, although most useful information is in the header section. Typically a session holding the row cache resource will either be on cpu or blocked by another session. If it is on cpu then errorstacks are likely to be required to diagnose, unless tuning can be done to reduce the enqueue hold time. Remember that on a multi node system (RAC) the holder may be on another node and so multiple systemstates from each node will be required. For each enqueue type, there are a limited number of operations that require each enqueue.

DC_TABLESPACES:
Probably the most likely is allocation of new extents. If extent sizes are set low then the application may constantly be requesting new extents and causing contention. Do you have objects with small extent sizes that are rapidly growing? (You may be able to spot these by looking for objects with large numbers of extents). Check the trace for insert/update activity, check the objects inserted into for number of extents.

DC_SEQUENCES:
Check for appropriate caching of sequences for the application requirements.

DC_USERS:
Deadlock and resulting "WAITED TOO LONG FOR A ROW CACHE ENQUEUE LOCK!" can occur if a session issues a GRANT to a user, and that user is in the process of logging on to the database.

DC_OBJECTS:
Look for any object compilation activity which might require an exclusive lock and thus block online activity.

DC_SEGMENTS:
This is likely to be down to segment allocation. Identify what the session holding the enqueue is doing and use errorstacks to diagnose.

The details are also available at:
http://www.metalink.oracle.com/
Doc ID:
278316.1

Solution to ROW/LIBRARY Cache locks:
Set the below event in database level and restart the database. This will resolve the issue.
event='32333 trace name context forever, level 10'

Query Rewrite Feature in Materialized Views

2009-08-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

Query Rewrite Feature in Materialized Views:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Setup the Environment:
This includes creating a MV_CAPABILITIES_TABLE and a customised function to test this feature on Materialized views.

create table MV_CAPABILITIES_TABLE
( statement_id varchar(30) ,
mvowner varchar(30) ,
mvname varchar(30) ,
capability_name varchar(30) ,
possible character(1) ,
related_text varchar(2000) ,
related_num number ,
msgno integer ,
msgtxt varchar(2000) ,
seq number) ;

The above table can be created by executing the below script:
$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/utlxmv.sql

You can create a customised function to generate query rewrite functionalities reports on materialized views.
Refer the below URL to create a function called my_mv_capabilities.
http://www.sqlsnippets.com/en/topic-12884.html

Create/Test the Query Rewrite Feature of Materialized Views:
Create a table called dept:
SQL> create table dept (id number, name varchar2(20));
SQL> insert into dept values (1, 'Finance');
SQL> insert into dept values (2, 'Admin');
SQL> insert into dept values (3, 'HR');
SQL> commit;

Create a test mview:
SQL> Create materialized view test DISABLE QUERY REWRITE as select id,name from dept;

Generate Report:
SQl> set long 5000
SQL> select my_mv_capabilities( 'TEST', 'REWRITE' ) as mv_report from dual ;

MV_REPORT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not Capable of:
REWRITE

REWRITE_FULL_TEXT_MATCH
query rewrite is disabled on the materialized view

REWRITE_PARTIAL_TEXT_MATCH
query rewrite is disabled on the materialized view

REWRITE_GENERAL
query rewrite is disabled on the materialized view

The above report clarifies that the MV has no query rewrite feature available.

Enable Query Rewrite:
SQL>alter materialized view test enable query rewrite;

Generate Report:
SQl> set long 5000
SQL> select my_mv_capabilities( 'TEST', 'REWRITE' ) as mv_report from dual ;

MV_REPORT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capable of:
REWRITE

REWRITE_FULL_TEXT_MATCH

REWRITE_PARTIAL_TEXT_MATCH

REWRITE_GENERAL

The above report clarifies that the MV has no query rewrite feature enabled.

Effect of query rewrite on PLAN:
A very good analysis is available below:
http://www.sqlsnippets.com/en/topic-12918.html

How Query Rewrite can be enabled from database level:
Following 2 initialization parameters can enable this feature in database:
query_rewrite_enabled string TRUE
query_rewrite_integrity string enforced

Database Features: 8i vs 9i vs 10G vs 10GR2

2009-08-25T15:06:00.001-07:00

Database Features: 8i vs 9i vs 10G vs 10GR2:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Here is an article which will give you an idea about the major differences in features for various versions of Oracle databases:
-------------------------------------------
Oracle 8i Features:
-------------------------------------------
Auditing - Basic setup instructions to allow the auditing of user actions.

Cost Based Optimizer (CBO) And Database Statistics - Lists the available mechanisms for gathering database statistics that are used by the cost based optimizer.

Dropping Columns - Hide unused columns or completely remove them.

Index Organized Tables - Save space and improve the performance of tables which are predominantly access by their primary keys.

Locally Managed Tablespaces - Reduce contention on the system tables by delegating extent management to individual tablespaces.

LogMiner - Analyze archived redo logs to identify specific specific statements and undo them.

Partitioned Tables And Indexes - Reduce tables and indexes to a more managable size and simultaneously improve performance.

Recovery Manager (RMAN) - Explanation of RMANs basic backup, recovery and reporting functionality.

Refreshing Stale Statistics - Keep your optimizer statistics up to date without increasing the load on the server.

Replication (Simple) - Using materialized views (snapshots) to replicate data on a remote database.

Replication (Advanced) - Using Oracle Advanced Replication for two-way data replication.

Statspack - Analyze the performance of your system using the replacement for the UTLBSTAT/UTLESTAT scripts.

Standby Database - Keep an up-to-date copy of the production database ready for failover in the event of a disaster.

Temporary Tables - Most applications need temporary tables to store information during complex data processing. See how Oracle can manage your temporary tables and keep your data secure.
----------------------------------------------
Oracle9i New Features:
---------------------------------------------
Automatic Segment Free Space Management - Reduce segment header contention and wasted space within blocks by switching from using FreeLists to Automatic Segment Free Space Management.

Automatic Undo Management - Replace you existing rollback segments with self-tuning undo segments.

Bitmap Join Indexes - Increase the performance and reduce the size of your data warehouse.

Data Guard - Oracle9i Data Guard is the new name for Oracle8i Standby Database incorporating a large number of new features.

Flashback Query - Get a consistent view of your data at a previous point in time.

Memory Management In Oracle9i - See how easy memory management has become in Oracle9i.

Multiple Block Sizes - Improve efficiency by having multiple block sizes that relate more closely to the operations that are being performed.

Oracle Managed Files - Let Oracle manage operating system level file placement, naming and cleanup.

Real Application Clusters - A brief introduction to the Oracle9i replacement for Oracle Parallel Server.

Recovery Enhancements In Oracle9i - Reduce unplanned downtime by using the new crash, instance and media recovery features of Oracle9i.

Recovery Manager (RMAN) Enhancements In Oracle9i - Use the latest RMAN features which make backup and recovery quicker and more reliable.

DBNEWID Utility - Change the internal DBID and the database name using this new utility without rebuilding your controlfile.

DBMS_XPLAN - Easily format the output of an explain plan with this replacement for the utlxpls.sql script.

Export BLOB Contents Using UTL_FILE - Use the new UTL_FILE functionality to write binary data to files.

STATISTICS_LEVEL - Let Oracle9i Release 2 control the collection of statistics and advisories with a single parameter.
------------------------------------------------
Oracle 10G New Features:
------------------------------------------------
Flashback Versions Query-

Tablespace Management-
ALTER TABLESPACE RENAME TO ;
ALTER DATABASE DEFAULT TABLESPACE ;

Oracle Data Pump-
create directory dpdata1 as '/u02/dpdata1';
grant read, write on directory dpdata1 to ananda;

* Data Pump Export
expdp ananda/abc123 tables=CASES directory=DPDATA1 dumpfile=expCASES.dmp job_name=CASES_EXPORT
* With Parallel Operation
dumpfile=expCASES_%U.dmp parallel=4
* Data Pump Import
impdp ananda/abc123 directory=dpdata1 dumpfile=expCASES.dmp job_name=cases_import

Flashback Table-
drop table recycletest;
show recyclebin
FLASHBACK TABLE RECYCLETEST TO BEFORE DROP;

Managing the Recycle Bin-
PURGE TABLE TEST;
PURGE TABLESPACE USERS;
PURGE RECYCLEBIN;

Other Uses of Flashback Tables-
FLASHBACK TABLE RECYCLETEST TO SCN 2202666520;

Automatic Workload Repository-

Automatic Storage Management-

RMAN-
Incremental Backups Revisited by block change tracking enabled:
alter database enable block change tracking using file '/rman_bkups/change.log';

Flash Recovery Area-
alter system set db_recovery_file_dest = '/ora_flash_area';
alter system set db_recovery_file_dest_size = 2g;
alter system set db_flashback_retention_target = 1440;
alter database flashback on;

Incremental Merge-
backup incremental level_1 for recover of copy with tag level_0 database;

* Compressed Files
backup as compressed backupset incremental level 1 database;
* Recovery Preview
restore database preview;
* Resetlogs and Recovery

RMAN can now readily use all backups, before and after a resetlogs operation, to recover the Oracle database. There is no need to shut down the database to make a backup. This new capability means that the database can be re-opened immediately for the user community after a resetlogs operation.

Enterprise Manager 10g-
Ultra Search HTTP port number = 5620
iSQL*Plus HTTP port number = 5560
Enterprise Manager Console HTTP Port (starz10) = 5500
Enterprise Manager Agent Port (starz10) = 1830

Automatic Segment Management-
High Water Mark to Low Water Mark:
alter table bookings enable row movement;
alter table bookings shrink space compact;
alter table bookings shrink space cascade;

Transportable Tablespaces-

Automatic Shared Memory Management-

ADDM and SQL Tuning Advisor-
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10G R2 new features
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Manageability Features:
• ASM Command Line Tool
• Drop Empty Datafiles
• Direct SGA Access for Hung/Slow Systems
• Faster Startup
• Manage Multiple Objects in Oracle Enterprise Manager
• Automatic Segment Advisor

Backup and Availability Features
• Oracle Secure Backup
• Dynamic RMAN Views for Past and Current Jobs
• Dynamic Channel Allocation for Oracle RAC Clusters
• Tempfiles Recovery via RMAN
• Flashback Database/Query Through RESETLOGS
• Flashback Database Restore Points
• Flash Recovery Area View