‭ .

What is the difference between database and instance‬

1
‭Oracle database is consists of physical files like datafile, redo logs, tempfile, undo file and‬
‭controlfiles.‬
‭Whereas Oracle instance is consists of SGA(shared global area) and different background‬
‭processes.‬

‭2. What are the different phases of database startup?‬

‭ tartup nomount:In this phase, the database reads the initialization parameters (pfile/spfile).If‬
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‭any invalid parameter defined in the pfile , then it will throw error.‬
‭Startup mount:In this phase the database checks the consistency of control file which records all‬
‭the physical structures of the datase files.‬

‭ tartup open:During this phase the database tries to start in open mode i.e (read,write) for end‬
S
‭users. Here it will check the consistency of the the datafiles and redologs . In case of any‬
‭inconsistency it will try to recover the database from redologs.‬

‭3. What are the different states of a redolog member and its significance.‬

‭We can find the status of redologs from v$log.‬

‭select group#,status from v$log;‬

‭Different status of redolog are:‬

‭ NUSED– Online redo log has never been used. This is the status of a redo log that was newly‬
U
‭added, or just after a RESETLOGS, and not being used yet.‬
‭CURRENT– Means this redo log is currently getting written. This implies that the redo log is‬
‭active.‬
‭ACTIVE– Log is active but is not the current log. It is needed for crash recovery. It may be in use‬
‭for block recovery. It may or may not be archived.‬
‭CLEARING– Log is being re-created as an empty log after an ALTER DATABASE CLEAR‬
‭LOGFILE statement. After the log is cleared, the status changes to UNUSED.‬
‭CLEARING CURRENT- Current log is being cleared of a closed thread. The log can stay in this‬
‭status if there is some failure in the switch such as an I/O error writing the new log header.‬
‭INACTIVE– Log is no longer needed for instance recovery. It may be in use for media recovery.‬
‭It might or might not be archived.‬
‭3. What do you mean by multiplexing controlfile and how to achieve this.‬
‭4. What are the different partitioning techniques in oracle db .‬
‭5. What is global and local partitioned index.‬

‭ . What are the methods of converting non-partitioned table to partitioned table and explain on‬
6
‭this.‬
‭4. What is an ACL.‬
‭ rom 11g onwards, to access network packages like utl_mail,utl_http,utl_smtp, we need to have‬
F
‭addtional privilege through ACL.‬

‭You can check the below link for usage of ACL, for sending mail using utl_mail.‬

‭5. How to make password of an user non-expiry.‬

‭ assword parameters are defined in profiles. So to make an password non-expiry, First we need‬
P
‭to create a profile with password_life_time set to UNLIMITED and assign that profile to the‬
‭user.(This user will inherit all the password limits of the profile)‬
‭6. How to drop a private database link, when you are not the owner.‬

‭REFER LINK – https://dbaclass.com/article/how-to-drop-a-private-database-link-from-sys/‬

‭7. What happens when we open the database in resetlog mode.‬

‭ e should reset the online logs, when we do incomplete recovery or recovery through backup‬
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‭control file. When we do open resetlog, a new incarnation number is generated for the‬
‭database. Incarnation details can be viewed in v$database_incarnation.‬

‭8. What is SCN in oracle?‬

‭ CN Means, system change number. SCN is the logical point in time at which changes are‬
S
‭made to a database. Oracle assigns every committed transaction a unique SCN. The database‬
‭uses these SCNs to query and track the changes. For example, if a transaction inserts a row,‬
‭then the database records the SCN at which this delete occurred.‬

‭9. What is buffer cache?‬

‭ racle keeps copies of database blocks in an area of the SGA known as the buffer cache. The‬
O
‭cache may hold more than one copy of a block from different points in time, and may contain‬
‭‘dirty’ blocks – ie: blocks which have been updated but not yet flushed back to disk.‬

‭10. What is buffer cache hit ratio?‬

‭ he buffer cache hit ratio measures how many times a required block was found in memory‬
T
‭rather than having to execute a expensive read operation on disk to get the block.‬

‭A good buffer cache hit ratio is generally considered when it is > 80.‬

‭11. What is library cache? What is its functionality?‬

‭12. What is the TEMPORARY tablespace and its use?‬

‭ s the name suggests, Temporary tablespaces is used for tasks such as sort operations for‬
A
‭users and sorting during index creation. User cannot create objects in a temporary tablespace.‬
‭By definition, the temporary tablespace holds data only for the duration of a user’s session and‬
‭the temp space is released, once the session is closed.‬

‭13. Difference between pfile vs spfile.‬

‭ he pfile is read at instance startup time to get specific instance characteristics. Any changes‬
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‭made the pfile would only take effect when the database is restarted.‬

‭ he spfile is a server-side initialization parameter file and it permits dynamic changes without‬
T
‭requiring you to bring down the instance.‬

‭14. How to check whether database is using pfile or spfile.‬

‭1) SQL> SELECT name,value FROM v$parameter WHERE name = ‘spfile’;‬

‭ AME VALUE‬
N
‭———- ————————————————–‬
‭spfile /fsys1/oracle/product/9.2.0/spfileTEST.ora‬
‭2) SQL> show parameter spfile;‬

‭15. What is the default block size in database? Can we use different block sizes and how?‬

‭ tarting from oracle 10g, the default block size(DB_BLOCK_SIZE) is 8Kb. In previous versions‬
S
‭it was 2Kb.‬

‭To use different block size, use the parameter DB_nK_CACHE_SIZE .‬

‭For using 2K block size, set db_2k_cache_size=2G in the init pfile and bounce the database.‬

‭Similarly for using block size of diffent type, below can be used.‬

‭ B_2K_CACHE_SIZE‬
D
‭DB_4K_CACHE_SIZE‬
‭DB_16K_CACHE_SIZE‬
‭DB_32K_CACHE_SIZE‬

‭16. What happens when we open the database with resetlog?‬

‭We need to open the database using resetlog option after an incomplete database recovery.‬

‭SYNTAX- ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS;‬

‭This command will do below things in the database.‬

I‭t recreates the online redologs and reset the log sequence to 1.‬
‭Updates all the datafile and online redolog files with new resetlog timestamp and scn.‬
‭New incarnation number is generated.‬
‭Note – It is always recommended to take a fresh full DB backup after opening the database with‬
‭resetlog.‬

‭17. What is checkpoint and when it happens?‬

‭ hen we do any changes to the database and commit , then modified blocks are not written to‬
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‭datafile directly,Instead they are written to redolog.And checkpoint is the action, when these‬
‭modified(committed) blockes will be flushed to the datafile. These blocks are also known as dirty‬
‭blocks.‬
‭A checkpoint number is the SCN number, at which all the dirty blocks are written to‬
‭datafile(disk).‬
‭Below events make a checkpoint to occur:‬

‭ . When a redo log switch happens.‬

1
‭2. When DBWR writes all dirty buffers from SGA to datafiles.‬
‭3. When we execute alter system switch logfile (or) alter system checkpoint;‬

‭18. What is SCN in oracle?‬

‭ CN is system change number. Oracle assigns unique number is each committed transaction in‬
S
‭the database. SCN value gets incremented with each transaction.SCN information is updated in‬
‭controlfile.‬

‭Below queries to find SCN:‬

‭select dbms_flashback.get_system_change_number scn from dual;‬

‭select current_scn from v$database;‬

‭19. What is a relation between GLOBAL_NAME parameter and DB_LINK?‬

‭ LOBAL_NAMES specifies whether a database link is required to have the same name as the‬
G
‭database to which it connects. GLOBAL_NAMES is either set to FALSE OR TRUE.‬

I‭f the value of GLOBAL_NAMES is FALSE, then any name can be given to DB_LINK. If the‬
‭value is TRUE, then database link name should be same as that of the database it is pointing.‬

‭20. What is SYSTEM tablespace and what it contains?‬

‭SYSTEM tablespace is the first tablespace which is created while creating a fresh database.‬

I‭t stores the data dictionary i.e the metadata ( Means data about different objects in the‬
‭database).‬

‭This is a mandatory tablespace cannot be dropped.‬

‭21. What is SYSAUX tablespace and what it contains?‬

‭ s the name SYSAUX says, it is an auxiliary tablespace to SYSTEM tablespace. It contains‬

A
‭non-sys default data about different components of the database like OLAP, WORKSPACE‬
‭MANAGER, TEXT SEARCH, DATA MINING, RECOVERY CATALOG, OEM, SPATIAL ETC.‬

‭ his tablespace was introduced in Oracle 10g to reduce to workload from SYSTEM tablespace.‬
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‭Like SYSTEM tablespace also gets created by creating the database and it cannot be dropped.‬

‭22. What do you know by SGA and its purpose?‬

‭ atabase buffer cache‬

D
‭Redo log buffer‬
‭Shared pool‬
‭Java pool‬
‭Large pool (optional)‬
‭Streams pool‬
‭23. What is PGA and its purpose?‬

‭Below are the components of PGA.‬

‭Persistent area – >It contains bind variable values.‬

‭ work area -> is a private allocation of PGA memory used for memory-intensive operations.‬
A
‭For example,‬

‭Sort area – > a sort operator uses the sort area to sort a set of rows. S‬

‭ ash area – > Similarly, a hash join operator uses a hash area to build a hash table from its left‬
H
‭input,‬

‭ itmap merge area -> A bitmap merge uses the bitmap merge area to merge data retrieved from‬
b
‭scans of multiple bitmap indexes.‬

‭24. What is the job of DBWR process and how many DBWR processes are there?‬
‭ BWR Means, database writer is mainly responsible for writing modified blocks(ie. dirty blocks)‬
D
‭to the physical data files(disks).‬

‭For below events, DBWR writes to datafiles.‬

‭ heckpoint is issued‬
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‭Too much dirty buffers in Buffer cache‬
‭No free space in the buffer cache‬
‭During database shutdown(Except abort method)‬
‭Tablespace being dropped (or)taken offline(or) placed in read only mode, (or) in hot backup‬
‭mode.‬
‭The parameter DB_WRITER_PROCESS controls the number of DBW processes you want to‬
‭use. It can be from 1 to 20. Using more number of DBWR process will increase the write‬
‭performance. However, it will increase the CPU usage on the DB server.‬

‭The default value of DB_WRITER_PROCESS is 1 or cpu_count/8 , which ever is greater.‬

‭25. What is the job of LGWR process?‬

‭LGWR, i.e log writer writes the contents of the redolog buffer to an online redo log file.‬

‭LGWR writes when any of the below event occurs.‬

‭ hen a commit is issued‬

W
‭Every 3 seconds‬
‭When 1/3rd of redo buffer is full‬
‭Before DBWr writes to disk.‬
‭26. Can we have multiple DBWR and LGWR process?‬

‭ e can have multiple DBWR process , using the parameter db_writer_process. But there is by‬
W
‭default one lgwr process. However from 12c onward, two additional log writer slave process are‬
‭introduced( ora_lg00,ora_lg01).‬

‭Recommended value for db_writer _process =2 or cpu_count/8‬

‭ here is hidden parameter _max_outstanding_log_writes , that controls the number of log writer‬
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‭slave processes. Default value is 2. These slave processes are technically called outstanding‬
‭log writer process.‬

‭27. Is there any dependency between DBWR and LGWR?‬

‭ hen dbwr wants to write to datafiles, if it feels that some of redo information in log buffer has‬
W
‭not been written to redo log file, then DBWR will ask LGWR, to copy redo information to redo‬
‭log file first, so that DBWR can write dirty buffers to disk after that.‬
‭28. What is the function of CKPT process?‬

‭Responsible for updating the headers of the datafile, during checkpoint.‬

‭29. What is the function of SMON process?‬

‭SMON (System Monitor) background performs below tasks like‬

I‭t performs instance recovery(including crash recovery during instance startup)‬

‭It cleans up unused temporary segments for proper space utilization‬
‭Shrink Undo segment‬
‭30. What is the function of PMON process?‬

‭PMON (Process Monitor) performs below tasks like‬

‭ leanup dead processes and sessions‬

c
‭terminate sessions which exceed idle timeout limit‬
‭managing job queue processes‬
‭responsible for monitor other background process and restart or stop if necessary‬
‭31. What is the function of MMON process?‬

‭ MON i.e Manageability Monitor ,background process which performs tasks like taking AWR‬
M
‭snapshots and performing ADDM analysis.‬

‭32. How instance recovery works in oracle database?‬

‭ hen an instance terminated as abnormally or crashed the database goes down in‬
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‭an inconsistent state that‬
‭means all ongoing transactions committed or uncommitted were not completed.So before it can‬
‭be opened, the database must be in a consistent mode.‬
‭Hence SMON performs critical role in recovering the database. Oracle using last SCN in the‬
‭control file and will apply committed or uncommitted transaction from Redo logs, which is known‬
‭as roll forward. In this state database is in MOUNT state . Database then checks the‬
‭accessibility of UNDO segments and opens the database. Now uncommitted transactions are‬
‭rolled back with the help of UNDO ,which is called ROLL BACK.‬

‭33. Difference between dedicated server vs shared server configuration in oracle db?‬

‭34. What is oracle bequeath connection?‬

l‭ocal connections are known as bequeath connection. I.e when we connect to database from‬
‭the same db server like sqlplus / as sysdba. then it creates a bequeath connection.‬
‭35. What is user global area? and where it is located?‬

‭36. What is a direct path read?‬

‭direct path read I/O operation reads data into the session’s PGA instead of the SGA.‬

‭37. What is dynamic sampling?‬

‭38. Can we create local or global partitioned Index on a non-partitioned table?‬

‭ e cannot create a local partitioned Index on a non-partitioned Table. But we can create global‬
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‭partitioned Index on non-partitioned Table.‬

‭39. Explain different methods to convert a non-partitioned table to a partitioned Table.‬

‭40. Why partitioning is required?‬

‭41. What is High water mark?‬

‭42. What is the difference between Delete and truncate?‬

‭Delete will not change high water mark of a table. If truncate will reduce the HWM.‬

‭ lso , we can restore deleted data , if it is present in. undo. But truncate cannot be restored at‬
A
‭all.‬

‭43. What happens when you put the database in hot backup mode?‬

‭When we do the database or tablespace in host backup mode,‬

‭ BWn checkpoints the tablespace (writes out all dirty blocks as of a given SCN)‬
D
‭CKPT stops updating the Checkpoint SCN field in the datafile headers and begins updating the‬
‭Hot Backup Checkpoint SCN field instead‬
‭LGWR begins logging full images of changed blocks the first time a block is changed after being‬
‭written by DBWn‬

‭Why redo generation is high during hot backup:‬

‭ ull block image logging during backup eliminates the possibility that the backup will contain‬
F
‭unresolvable split blocks. To understand this reasoning, you must first understand what a split‬
‭block is. Typically, Oracle database blocks are a multiple of O/S blocks. For example, most Unix‬
‭filesystems have a default block size of 512 bytes, while Oracle’s default block size is 8k. This‬
‭means that the filesystem stores data in 512 byte chunks, while Oracle performs reads and‬
‭ rites in 8k chunks or multiples thereof. While backing up a datafile, your backup script makes a‬
w
‭copy of the datafile from the filesystem, using O/S utilities such as copy, dd, cpio, or OCOPY. As‬
‭it is making this copy, your process is reading in O/S-block-sized increments. If DBWn happens‬
‭to be writing a DB block into the datafile at the same moment that your script is reading that‬
‭block’s constituent O/S blocks, your copy of the DB block could contain some O/S blocks from‬
‭before the database performed the write, and some from after. This would be a split block. By‬
‭logging the full block image of the changed block to the redologs, Oracle guarantees that in the‬
‭event of a recovery, any split blocks that might be in the backup copy of the datafile will be‬
‭resolved by overlaying them with the full legitimate image of the block from the archivelogs.‬
‭Upon completion of a recovery, any blocks that got copied in a split state into the backup will‬
‭have been resolved by overlaying them with the block images from the archivelogs. All of these‬
‭mechanisms exist for the benefit of the backup copy of the files and any future recovery. They‬
‭have very little effect on the current datafiles and the database being backed up. Throughout the‬
‭backup, server processes read datafiles DBWn writes them, just as when a backup is not taking‬
‭place. The only difference in the open database files is the frozen Checkpoint SCN, and the‬
‭active Hot Backup Checkopint SCN.‬

‭44. Does DBWR write uncommitted data to datafiles?‬

‭ es dbwr writes uncommited data to datafile. If the buffer cache is full , then uncommited data‬
Y
‭will be written to the datafiles.‬

‭45. When checkpoint happens in the database?‬

‭NA‬

‭46. What are the different types of Buffer states in Buffer cache?‬

‭Free Buffers – Means buffer data is same as that of block in disk and it has not been changed.‬

‭Dirty Buffer – the buffer has been has modified , but not copied to disk yet‬

‭Pinned Buffer – Buffers which are currently in use by active session.‬

‭47. Which db parameter defined the buffer pool/cache size?‬

‭48. What is the parameter db_keep_cache_size?‬

‭49. If I flush the buffer cache, what will happen to the uncommitted transactions in buffer?‬

‭If we flush the buffer cache, then all the uncommitted transactions , i.e dirty blocks will be‬
‭ ritten to disk. We can flush the buffer cache manually using command ALTER SYSTEM‬
w
‭FLUSH BUFFER_CACHE;‬
‭Important pont to‬

‭ 0. If i issue alter system flush buffer_cache command in a live production database with huge‬
5
‭number of transaction, then what will be the impact?‬

‭ his is not recommended to do in production. As all the buffer data will be flushed and the‬
T
‭next transaction have to do physical read on disk, i.e it will have impact on the i/o for some time.‬

‭51. What if i flush the shared pool in a live production database? Will there be any impact?‬

I‭f we flush the shared pool then all the queries need to do hard parsing, and it will slow down the‬
‭database trasnaction for sometime, till the hard parsing count has been decreased.‬

‭52. In RAC, how can you flush shared pool or buffer cache of all the nodes in one command?‬

‭Just need to add global keyword at the end of the normal command.‬

‭alter system flush buffer_cache global;‬

‭alter system flush shared_pool global;‬

‭53. What is FREELIST and FREELIST GROUP?‬

‭54. What is an ITL?‬

‭ITL Means interested transaction lists.‬

‭55. What is row chaining ?‬

‭ ow chaining occurs when one row cannot fit in a single block and it has to span into multiple‬
R
‭blocks. This usually has serious implications, and we need to avoid this.‬

‭56. What are the different types of checkpoints in oracle?‬

‭57. What is static registration and dynamic registration in listener?‬

‭58. Are you aware of private redo? What is its use?‬

‭59. What is in-memory undo?‬

‭60. Are redo entries for undo segements stored in redo log file?‬
‭ es undo related redo entries are stored in redo log file also. Just like whenever changes to‬
Y
‭datablock or index block changes are written to redo record. Similarly undo records changes‬
‭also written to redo log.‬

‭Why?‬

‭ uring Recovery, part of roll forward process is to re-create undo segments. Just like data and‬
D
‭index , undo segments are also rollforwarded . As the rollforward completed, Now the data file‬
‭blocks contain both committed and noncommited changes. And the undo segements also‬
‭contain commited(inactive) and uncommited(active) changes. And the undo segment header‬
‭block contains the transaction table. So rollbackward process will access this information and‬
‭rollback the uncommited transactions.‬

‭So it is necessary for the oracle to keep undo related redo in redolog file.‬

‭61. Does dml activities on temporary table generates Undo and redo?‬

‭ 2. What is force logging in oracle? In which scenarios we need to put the database in force‬
6
‭logging mode?‬

I‭f force_logging is enabled in the database/tablespace level, then logs will be generated even‬
‭for nologging operations. Usually In dataguard setup, we enable force_logging .‬

‭63. What is the difference between force logging and supplemental logging?‬

‭64. What is shared pool? What are the components inside shared pool?‬

‭Components are:‬

‭Shared pool is a part of SGA. Below are the components of shared pool.‬

‭Library Cache: Parsing is done here.‬

‭ ictionary Cache: – > Information like table/index definition , referential constraint relation etc.‬
d
‭So whenever user want to access a table defination, it gets the details from dictionary cache,‬
‭instead of hitting the system datafile. This is also known as row cache, because this cache‬
‭contains rows instead of full blocks.‬

‭Result Cache: stores result set .‬

‭65. Explain about soft parsing and hard parsing of queries?‬

‭ 6. Explain the mechanism how sql query decides whether to do hard parsing or soft parsing in‬
6
‭library cache?‬
‭67. What you know about parent cursor and child cursor?‬

‭ cursor is a memory area in library cache allocated to a SQL statement which stores various‬
A
‭info about the SQL statement like its text, execution plan, statistics etc.‬
‭Each SQL statement has‬
‭– One Parent cursor‬
‭– One or more child cursor‬
‭Parent cursor: – > It contains the sql_text of the query.‬
‭Child cursor – > A parent cursor can have more than one child cursor.‬

‭It stores information about, execution plan, bind value, environmental setting etc.‬

‭ wo textually same sql statements will have have one parent cursor. But can have different child‬
T
‭cursor.‬

‭68. What is session cursor cache?‬

‭We can also call this as private cursor Caches.‬

‭ hen a statement is issued, after going through syntax and symentic check, it searches the‬
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‭library cache for existing cursor.If the cursor is not present, then it creates a new cursor for the‬
‭statement( which is a resource intensive operations). But if the cursor is already present, then it‬
‭will do soft parsing( less expensive then hard parsing). But still these soft parsing need to use‬
‭some resource for searching and handling with latches .‬

‭ ow when session cursor cache is enabled, sessions cursors of repetitive statements will be‬
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‭stored in the session cursor cache(i.e PGA/UGA). So now the session cursor cache contains a‬
‭pointer into the library when the cursor was closed. So when a sql is resubmitted, the syntax‬
‭and symantic checks are bypassed( as the presence of the cursor in session cursor cache‬
‭guarantee this).‬

‭ o when the query is submitted, if the cursor is closed, then it will be a soft parse( but without‬
S
‭syntax and symentic check)‬

‭But if the cursor is open, then it will skip the soft parse also.‬

‭Lets explain with an example.‬

‭We have a pl/sql block,inside which we need to execute a sql 100 times.‬

‭ ithout session cached cursor, soft parsing will happen around 100 times.(1st one might be‬
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‭hard parsing)‬
‭ ut with session cached cursor, parsing will be skipped completely( once the cursor is opened‬
B
‭after 1 or 2 executions).‬

‭ e can say, good value of session_cached_cursor can help in reducing library cache latch‬
W
‭contention.‬

‭ owever too much session_cached_cursor value when no. of sessions are very high can cause‬
H
‭ORA-4031 out of memory issue.‬

‭69. Are hash_value and plan_hash_value both are same or different? Explain more on this.‬

‭hash_value is generated for a sql statement(text).‬

‭70. Can two queries have same hash_value but different plan_hash_value?‬

‭71. Can two queries have same plan_hash_value but different hash_value?‬

‭ 2. Lets say for the query select * from EMP, cursor is present in library cache? Now i have‬
7
‭dropped a column from EMP table? What will happen now?‬

I‭f any DDL operation happened on the table, then cursor the all the statements using this table‬
‭will be invalidated. So next time the query hits library cache, it need to do hard parsing again.‬

‭73. How do i know whether a specific query is doing soft parsing or hard parsing?‬

‭ e can check the parse_call column in v$sql table, If the parse_call is 1 means, it was getting‬
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‭parsed for the 1st time.‬

‭So if parse_call is 1, then it is doing hard_parse.‬

‭ 4. Explain different values of cursor_sharing parameter? What is the default value? How this‬
7
‭parameter behaves with different values?‬

‭cursor_sharing=EXACT‬

‭75. Spinning on a latch impact CPU time or wait Time?‬

‭Spinning impacts CPU TIME.‬

‭76. What is the difference between oracle foreground events and background events?‬

‭ oreground events are those which happens due to the server process like row lock contention,‬
F
‭buffer busy wait etc.‬
‭ ut background events are those which occurs due to the activities of background processes‬
B
‭like , LGWR, DBWR etc.. Event examples are log file parallel write etc.‬

‭77. What is the difference between latches and locks.‬

‭78. What is the difference between latches and mutex.‬

‭ 9. When crash recovery happens and how oracle determines whether it needs crash recovery‬
7
‭or not?‬

‭ rash recovery happen we try to open the database after instance has been terminated‬
C
‭abruptly.‬

‭ o while opening the database, it checks the SCNs of each datafile and SCN in control file. If‬
S
‭the SCNs are same, then database is consistent and will be opened without any need of crash‬
‭recovery. But SCNs are different , then crash recovery will happen . Redo will be used to roll‬
‭forward the database by processing both commited and uncommited transactions. After that‬
‭uncommited transactions will be rolledback with the help of UNDO.‬

‭ gain, there will another question – > Why scn of datafile is different from scn of controlfile ??‬
A
‭Because For any changes happens in the database the scn will be incremented. But the scn in‬
‭the datafile headers will be updated, only when checkpoint happens. So till checkpoint is not‬
‭happened scn will be differnt from datafile scn.‬

‭80. What happens when we issue commit?‬

‭ cn is incremented‬
s
‭data from log buffer is written to logfile.‬
‭locks will be released.‬
‭81. Difference between small file tablespace and big file tablespace . Explain pros and cons of‬
‭both.‬

‭Bigfile tablespace‬

‭ bigfile tablespace consists of a single datafile ,which size can be extended upto 32 TB. This is‬
A
‭useful in very large environments. Because no. of datafiles in db is controlled by db_file‬
‭parameter , creating a big file tablespace of large sizes can help in this.‬

‭ lso we can resize the tablespace using alter tablespace command, instead of alter database‬
A
‭datafile command in case of smallfile tablespace.‬

I‭t is always recommended to use big file tablespace with ASM ( which provides striping method‬
‭,otherwise parallel processes might impacted).‬
‭small file tablespace‬

I‭t contain lot of datafiles(upto 1022) with each size of max 32GB. It gives us the flexibilty to‬
‭create datafile in different directory or asm diskgroups .‬

‭ ut only thing is , if we want to resize a tablespace, We cannot use alter tablespace. Rather we‬
B
‭need to resize each datafile of that tablespace individually.‬

‭82. Explain structure of a block.‬

‭ lock header contains information about the type of block (table block, index block, and so on);‬
b
‭transaction information when relevant‬

‭table directory, if present, contains information about the tables that store rows in this block‬

‭ he row directory contains information describing the rows that are to be found on the block.‬
T
‭This is an array of pointers to where the rows are to be found in the data portion of the block.‬

‭These three pieces of the block are collectively known as the block overhead,‬

‭Free space- free space available‬

‭Data – >Actual data already there‬

‭83. Does temp files generate redo?‬

‭ emp files never have REDO generated for them, although they can have UNDO generated.‬
T
‭Thus, there will be REDO generated working with temporary tables since UNDO is always‬
‭protected by REDO‬

‭84. What control_file contains?‬

‭ iles oracle need.‬

F
‭Information about checkpoint that has taken place.‬
‭archive redo log history‬
‭Backup information‬
‭85. If i drop a table. will anything be written to redo log buffer for this action?‬

‭ hen you drop a table, the effects of that drop are written to the redo log. The data from the‬
W
‭table you dropped is not written; however, the recursive SQL that Oracle performs to drop the‬
‭table does generate redo. For example, Oracle will delete a row from the SYS.OBJ$ table (and‬
‭other internal dictionary objects), and this will generate redo, and if various modes of‬
‭supplemental logging are enabled, the actual DROP TABLE statement will be written into the‬
‭redo log stream.‬
‭86. What is granules in SGA?‬

‭ emory is allocated to the various pools in the SGA in units called granules. A single granule is‬
M
‭an area of memory of 4MB, 8MB, or 16MB in size. The granule is the smallest unit of allocation,‬
‭so if you ask for a Java pool of 5MB and your granule size is 4MB, Oracle will actually allocate‬
‭8MB to the Java pool (8 being the smallest number greater than or equal to 5 that is a multiple‬
‭of the granule size of 4). The size of a granule is determined by the size of your SGA (this‬
‭sounds recursive to a degree, as the size of the SGA is dependent on the granule size). You‬
‭can view the granule sizes used for each pool by querying V$SGA_DYNAMIC_COMPONENTS.‬
‭In fact, we can use this view to see how the total SGA size might affect the size of the granules:‬

‭87. What is fixed SGA?‬

‭ he fixed SGA contains a set of variables that point to the other components of the SGA, as‬
T
‭well as variables that contain the values of various parameters.‬

‭88. What is the recommended value of redolog size?‬

‭ here is no standard formula for this . The size will vary depending upon the database‬
T
‭transaction.‬

‭Optimal is to set it to value such that, the one log switch happens in every 15 minutes.‬

‭89. Can i have redologs of different sizes in a database?‬

‭ ou can have redologs of different size, But all the redologs inside a group should be of same‬
Y
‭size.‬

‭90. How select statement is processed in oracle?‬

‭91. How Insert statement is processed in oracle?‬

‭92. How Update statement is processed in oracle?‬

‭93. How delete statement is processed in oracle?‬

‭94. What is shared pool? What are the components inside shared pool?‬

‭Shared pool is a part of SGA. Below are the components of shared pool.‬

‭Library Cache:‬
‭ ictionary Cache: – > Information like table/index definition , referential constraint relation etc.‬
d
‭So whenever user want to access a table defination, it gets the details from dictionary cache,‬
‭instead of hitting the system datafile. This is also known as row cache, because this cache‬
‭contains rows instead of full blocks.‬

‭Result Cache: stores result set .‬

‭95. What is the role of library cache in memory architecture and what it stores.‬

‭96. Explain about soft parsing and hard parsing of queries?‬

‭ hen oracle executes a sql statement which is not present in shared pool, then it wll do hard‬
W
‭parsing.‬

‭ oft parsing means, sql statement has been already executed before and its execution plan is‬
S
‭present in shared pool.‬

‭ 7. Explain the mechanism how sql query decides whether to do hard parsing or soft parsing in‬
9
‭library cache?‬

‭98. What is cursor? Explain about parent cursor and child cursor?‬

‭ cursor is a memory area in library cache allocated to a sql statement, which stores information‬
A
‭like sql text, statistics and executions plans.‬

‭Each sql statement will have one parent cursor and one or more child cursor.‬

‭Parent cursor: It stores the sql text of the sql statement.‬

‭ hild cursor – It stores information like , execution plan, bind variable, statistics, environment‬
C
‭details.‬

‭ wo identical sql queries will share the same parent cursor , but the child cursor may or may not‬
T
‭be shared.‬

‭99. What is session cursor cache?‬

‭We can also call this as private cursor Caches.‬

‭ hen a statement is issued, after going through syntax and symentic check, it searches the‬
W
‭library cache for existing cursor.If the cursor is not present, then it creates a new cursor for the‬
‭statement( which is a resource intensive operations). But if the cursor is already present, then it‬
‭will do soft parsing( less expensive then hard parsing). But still these soft parsing need to use‬
‭some resource for searching and handling with latches .‬
‭ ow when session cursor cache is enabled, sessions cursors of repetitive statements will be‬
N
‭stored in the session cursor cache(i.e PGA/UGA). So now the session cursor cache contains a‬
‭pointer into the library when the cursor was closed. So when a sql is resubmitted, the syntax‬
‭and semantic checks are bypassed( as the presence of the cursor in session cursor cache‬
‭guarantee this).‬

‭ o when the query is submitted, if the cursor is closed, then it will be a soft parse( but without‬
S
‭syntax and sementic check)‬

‭But if the cursor is open, then it will skip the soft parse also.‬

‭Let’s explain with an example.‬

‭We have a pl/sql block inside which we need to execute a sql 100 times.‬

‭ ithout session cached cursor, soft parsing will happen around 100 times.(1st one might be‬
W
‭hard parsing)‬

‭ ut with session cached cursor, parsing will be skipped completely( once the cursor is opened‬
B
‭after 1 or 2 executions).‬

‭ e can say, good value of session_cached_cursor can help in reducing library cache latch‬
W
‭contention.‬

‭ owever too much session_cached_cursor value when no. of sessions are very high can cause‬
H
‭ORA-4031 out of memory issue.‬

‭100. Are hash_value and plan_hash_value both are same or different? Explain more on this.‬

‭101. Can two queries have same hash_value but different plan_hash_value?‬

‭102. Can two queries have same plan_hash_value but different hash_value?‬

‭ 03. Let’s say for the query select * from EMP, cursor is present in library cache? Now i have‬
1
‭dropped a column from EMP table? What will happen now?‬

I‭f any DDL operation happened on the table, then cursor the all the statements using this table‬
‭will be invalidated. So next time the query hits library cache, it need to do hard parsing again.‬

‭104. How do i know whether a specific query is doing soft parsing or hard parsing?‬

‭ e can check the parse_call column in v$sql table, If the parse_call is 1 means, it was getting‬
W
‭parsed for the 1st time.‬
‭So if parse_call is 1, then it is doing hard_parse.‬

‭105. Does archivelogs contains uncommitted data?‬

‭ es they can. The archivelogs are simply archive copies of online redologs(when they are filled).‬
Y
‭So like online redologs also contains both committed and uncommited data, archivelogs also‬
‭does the same.‬

‭106. What is open_cursor?‬

‭107. What is delayed block cleanout?‬

‭108. What is the difference between opatch and opatchauto?‬

‭109. Can i create a tablespace with 16k block size and explain how you will do it?‬

‭ or that we need to set db_16k_block_size to a value. and then create tablespace with 16k‬
F
‭block size.‬

‭Note – changing db_16k_block_size parameter will need instance restart.‬

‭110. To change sga_target and sga_max_size is db restart required?‬

‭111. Explain about cross platform migration and what different methods we can do for this?‬

‭112. Do you remember how many phases are there in db upgrade (in 12c/19c etc)?‬

‭107 phases in 12c to 19c upgrade.‬

‭113. What will be the impact after db upgrade. If i am not doing the timezone upgrade.‬

‭No impact‬

‭114. What is sql quarantine?‬

‭ 15. Is it recommended to enable huge pages and transparent hugepages in Linux for running‬
1
‭oracle database? Explain‬

‭huge pages should be enabled , But transperant hugespages should be disabled.‬

‭Why hugepages:‬
‭ y default operating system memory page is of 4KB. But with hugepages we can use memory‬
B
‭pages greater than 4KB .Keeping large page size will help in minimum resource requirement for‬
‭managing the page table entries. The hugepage can vary from 2MB to 256 MB.‬

‭Why not transperant hugepages:‬

I‭f transperant hugepages is enabled, then the memory will be allocated during the run time and‬
‭it might cause delay in allocation.‬

‭ o oracle recommended for standard hugepages, with which memory will preallocated ,while‬
S
‭starting the instance.‬

‭116. Why dbwr is called as lazy writer?‬

‭117. Difference between force logging and supplemental logging?‬

‭ orce logging means , even nologging operations will be logged. Supplemental logging means,‬
F
‭additional information of tables will be captures in the redolog, ( mostly used for goldengate‬
‭extracts).‬

‭118. Are you aware of touchcount concept in lru?‬

‭119. What is endian format?‬

‭ ndian is the storage method of multi-byte data types in memory. In other words, it determines‬
E
‭the byte order of the data.‬

‭There are two kinds of endian,‬

‭Little – > Means end byte will be smaller( with hexadecimal represenatation)‬

‭Big – > Means end byte will be bigger( with hexadecimal represenatation)‬

‭120. What is persistent area in PGA?‬

‭It stores the bind values of sql queries.‬

‭121. Difference between db_name and db_unique_name?‬

I‭n dataguard environment, All instances will have same db_name and different‬
‭db_unique_name .‬

‭122. What is db_flashback_retention_guarantee?‬

‭ 23. A user was running a select query , it is expected to take 1 hour. But while the query was‬
1
‭running for 30 mins only, another user B deleted some data and committed. So Now will the‬
‭user A see those deleted data?‬

‭ es user will see those deleted data. It will see all the data as it was at the time of starting the‬
Y
‭transaction.‬

‭124. In which scenarios we need to open the database in resetlog .‬

‭ fter doing an incomplete recovery‬

A
‭After flashback the database‬
‭After doing rman cloning‬
‭There might be some more scenarios .‬

‭ 25. We know both pga and temp tablespace is used for sorting. So what is difference between‬
1
‭thse two?‬

‭ orting is always done in pga . But if the pga becomes full, before sorting operation is completed‬
s
‭, then pga content is swapped from pga to temp. when it is required, it will be read back to pga.‬

‭126. Does open resetlog , resets the SCN to 0 or 1?‬

‭1‬

‭ 27. Does the db upgrade time depends upon the size of the database? I mean will upgrading‬
1
‭5TB db will take more time than upgrading a 10gb database?‬

‭ o, size doesn’t matter for upgrade. But upgrade time depends upon the number of‬
N
‭components present in the database.‬

‭ 28. Does applying patch on a 1TB database take more time than applying patch on 50 GB‬
1
‭database?‬

‭patching time doesn’t depends upon size of the database.‬

‭129. What do you mean by pinning in oracle? like cursor pin, buffer pin?‬

I‭f a buffer in the buffer cache is getting changed, first it gets pinned to ensure, other processes‬
‭don’t replace this buffer.‬

‭ ame is for cursor. If a statement is getting executed, then its cursor gets pinned, so that cursor‬
S
‭memory dont gets deallocated‬

‭130. what is the difference between alter system kill session and kill -9 <pid>?‬
‭131. what is the difference between rman and expdp backup?‬

‭132. what happens internally when you ran gather stats?‬