Selected Database Instance Installation Topics
How do I
1.1 Create a new Oracle instance without using the installer?After a DBA installs Oracle8, the Oracle installer can configure and start a trial database instance. This instance is suitable for test use only because the installer has not optimally configured database structures such as the control files, the rollback segments, and the redo log groups. Modifications to the archive mode, product user profiles, and the checkpoint process are also useful in some environments. A DBA can also manually create a new Oracle instance without using the Oracle installer. The How-To’s in this chapter explain the process of instance creation and methods for minimally configuring Oracle8 to support SQL*Plus and Server Manager connections. The remainder of the chapter focuses on some of the steps necessary to transform the default configuration of a typical trial instance to a working database capable of supporting production work.1.2 Create Windows NT and Oracle client services for the new instance?
1.3 Use the password file to authenticate database administrators?
1.5 Create a new control file?
1.7 Examine and change the rollback segment configuration?
1.8 Create and multiplex redo log groups?
1.10 Start the checkpoint process?
1.11 Enable product user profiles?
1.1 Create a New Oracle Instance Without Using the Installer
The trial database instance is useful for testing and initial orientation to Oracle8, but it is likely that the demands of production applications will eventually justify an additional instance or instances. This How-To includes instructions that enable you to create a new Oracle instance using the Instance Manager and Server Manager utilities.1.2 Create Windows NT and Oracle Client Services for the New Instance
After you create a new Oracle instance, there is still some configuration work to do before Server Manager, SQL*Plus, or Enterprise Manager can communicate with it. This How-To explains configuring NT and Oracle services to enable these tools to access the database.1.3 Use the Password File to Authenticate Database Administrators
If you have followed the steps in the previous How-To’s, the database is running and the SQL*Plus, Server Manager, and Enterprise Manager tools can communicate with it. You need not confine database administrator duties to the SYS or SYSTEM accounts, nor does Oracle require continued use of the connect internal command to connect to the instance via Server Manager. This How-To describes generation and use of the password file to assign database administration privileges and authenticate users who hold them.1.4 Multiplex Control Files
Oracle Corporation recommends that copies of the control file reside on multiple disks. The database doesn’t run without a current control file, and this practice, called multiplexing, protects the control file from disk failure. This How-To illustrates the steps to multiplex the control files and build an extra margin of safety into an Oracle database.1.5 Create a New Control File
Many Oracle parameters, such as the shared pool size, are based solely on the parameter file. Oracle requires a new control file, however, before it can recognize changes to some features of the database configuration such as database name or the maximum number of data files. This How-To explains the process of rebuilding the control file to change this latter type of database parameter.1.6 Create New Tablespaces
Under Windows NT, the only Oracle tablespace that the installer will create is the system tablespace where the data dictionary tables and views will reside. Most Oracle instances contain additional tablespaces. The exact architecture depends on the business needs that the databases address, but it is likely that some specific tablespaces will enhance database performance. This How-To is a guide for adding additional tablespaces and provides some guidance about which new tablespaces to create.1.7 Change the Rollback Segment Configuration
Rollback segments provide database clients with the capability to reverse uncommitted changes. They also provide read consistency in the multiuser Oracle environment. The configuration and default number of rollback segments will probably not be optimal for installer-generated instances. This How-To presents instructions for querying and enhancing the rollback segment configuration for an Oracle instance.
1.8 Create and Mirror Redo Log Groups
Oracle8 keeps track of all changes made to a database in redo log files. These files are important in recovery, and Oracle8 can maintain multiple copies of them in a multiplexed architecture. Learn how to create additional redo log groups and members in this How-To.1.9 Enable Archive Log Mode
This How-To focuses on how to preserve redo logs so that changes made since the last backup are recoverable. Using Oracle8’s archive capability is one way to guarantee up-to-the-minute transaction recovery.