Database Architecture & Administration Flashcards
7 cards from real OCP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Database Architecture & Administration flashcards as text
Which Oracle feature automatically manages disk group mirroring, striping, and rebalancing for database files?
Answer: Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle ASM provides volume management and file system capabilities for Oracle database files, including automatic striping and mirroring across disks.
In a multi-process Oracle architecture, what is the difference between a dedicated server and a shared server configuration?
Answer: In dedicated mode, each session gets its own server process; in shared mode, sessions share a pool of server processes
In dedicated server mode, each client session has its own server process; in shared server mode, multiple sessions share a smaller pool of server processes via dispatchers.
Which Oracle background process performs space management tasks such as coalescing free extents in tablespaces using dictionary extent management?
Answer: SMON
SMON (System Monitor) performs instance recovery at startup and handles space management including coalescing free space in dictionary-managed tablespaces.
What is the function of the PMON (Process Monitor) background process in Oracle?
Answer: Cleans up resources from failed user processes and rolls back their transactions
PMON detects failed user processes and cleans up their resources, including releasing locks, rolling back uncommitted transactions, and freeing SGA resources.
In Oracle, what is a System Change Number (SCN)?
Answer: A monotonically increasing number that Oracle uses to maintain a consistent view of the database over time
An SCN is a logical timestamp Oracle uses to track the order of changes, enabling consistent reads, point-in-time recovery, and Flashback operations.
Which Oracle view provides information about all datafiles associated with the database, including their size, status, and tablespace membership?
Answer: DBA_DATA_FILES
DBA_DATA_FILES is a data dictionary view showing all datafiles with their tablespace name, size, autoextend settings, and status.
Which Oracle initialization parameter, when set to MEMORY_TARGET, enables Automatic Memory Management that tunes both SGA and PGA automatically?
Answer: MEMORY_TARGET
Setting MEMORY_TARGET enables Automatic Memory Management (AMM), where Oracle automatically tunes both SGA and PGA components within the specified total memory limit.