Chapter 1: Introduction to DBMS

1. What is database?
2. Which type of storage system is Oracle? What other storage systems are available?
3. Define Database Management System (DBMS) and RDBMS.
4. How is Oracle different from other programming languages?
5. Give some examples of join methods.
6. Which sorting algorithm does Oracle follow?
7. What is database designing?
8. What is data modeling?
9. What is the difference between logical data model and physical data model?
10. What are the components of logical data model?
11. Define relationship.
12. What is a primary key?
13. What is a foreign key?
14. What is normalization? What are the different forms of normalization?
15. What is functional dependency?
16. What is trivial functional dependency?
17. What is full functional dependency?
18. What is multi-valued dependency?
19. What is transitive dependency?
20. What is the standard normal form for most Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) databases?
21. What is de-normalization? Why is it recommended?
22.

What is join dependency?

Chapter 2: Oracle Architecture

1. What are the components of an Oracle instance?
2. What is the difference between database and instance?
3. What are the different types of memory structure available in Oracle?
4. What are the components of SGA?
5. Why do you need PGA?
6. What are the disk components?
7. What happens when a user requests for some information from RDBMS?
8. What do you mean by data consistency? How does Oracle maintain consistency of data?
9. What happens when multiple users try to update the same set of data?
10. How long does the rollback segment hold data to maintain consistency?
11. What is the process of updating or inserting certain data in the database?
12. What is System Change Number (SCN)?
13. What is DataBase WRiter (DBWR)?
14. When does DBWR write to the datafile?
15. What is LoG WRiter (LGWR)?
16. When does LGWR write to the log file?
17. What is the physical structure of the disk resources in Oracle?
18. What is the logical structure of the disk resources?
19. What is the difference between a temporary tablespace and a permanent tablespace?

20. Name a tablespace, which is automatically created when you create a database.
21. Which file is accessed first when you start an Oracle database?
22. What is the job of the System Monitor (SMON) and Process Monitor (PMON) processes?
23. How do you control the number of datafiles in an Oracle database?
24. How do you determine the maximum number of datafiles in an Oracle database?
25. How do you control the maximum number of redo log files in a database?
26. What is the difference between SPFILE and PFILE?
27. What are the advantages of using SPFILE?
28. How can you find out if the database is using a PFILE or SPFILE?
29. How do you view parameter values when you are using PFILE or SPFILE?
30. How can you start the database using PFILE or SPFILE?
31. Explain the process to change parameter values.
32. How can you covert SPFILE to PFILE 3nd PFILE to SPFILE?
33. How can you backup the parameter files?
34. What is the PGA_AGGREGRATE_TARGET parameter?
35. What happens after a user process fails?
36. What happens during startup mount?
37. What background process refreshes materialized views?
38. What is the difference between multithreaded/shared server and dedicated server?
39. What is a listener process?
40.

What is large pool? What are the benefits of using large pool?

Chapter 3: Backup & Recovery

1. What do you understand by database backup? What are the different types of backup?
2. Which files must be backed up?
3. What is full backup?
4. Which tools can you use for full backup?
5. Can you backup the online redo log files?
6. What is the difference between hot backup and cold backup?
7. Why more redo is generated during hot backup?
8. What is the difference between incremental backup and differential backup?
9. Can we take incremental backup without taking the full backup?
10. How to recover database if we lost the control file and we do not have a backup and the database is also
down?
11. What is RMAN?
12. Suppose you have taken a manual backup of a datafile using the operating system. How RMAN will know
about it?
13. What is catalog command and how is it used?
14. How do you mark the beginning of backup and what happens after that?
15. How do you find the total database size in the database?
16. Can you track changes to blocks during hot backup?
17. What are the architectural components of RMAN?
18. How does RMAN improve performance of backup?
19. What are channels?

20. Can you take offline backup with RMAN?

21. What Is a recovery catalog?
22. Can you use RMAN without recovery catalog?
23. Why is the catalog optional?
24. What does RMAN backup consist of?
25. What is a backup set?
26. What is a backup piece?
27. What are the benefits of using RMAN?
28.Suppose you lost a control file. How do you recover from this?
29. Can you take partial backups if the database is running in the NOARCHIVELOG mode?
30. Can you take online backups if the database is running in the NOARCHIVELOG mode?
31. How do you bring the database in the ARCHIVELOG mode from the NOARCHIVELOG mode?
32. If you cannot shutdown the database even for a minute, then in which mode would you run the database?
33. Where should you place archive log files- in the same disk where database exists or in another disk?
34. Can you take online backup of a control file?
35. What is logical backup?
36. Can you take the backup of log files if the database is running in the ARCHIVELOG mode?
37. Suppose you want to retain only last three backups of datafiles. How do you perform it in RMAN?
38. Which is more efficient- incremental backups using RMAN or incremental export?
39. How do you recover from the loss of datafile if the database is running in the NOARCHIVELOG mode?
40. Consider a situation where you have lost some datafiles and don't have the full backup. The database
was running in the NOARCHIVELOG mode. What can you do now?

Chapter 4: SQL*Loader
1. What is SQL*Loader?
2. What is the difference between the SQL*Loader and import utilities?
3. How can you use the SQL*Loader utility?
4. Is it essential to have a character-based delimiter in datafile for SQL*Loader to identify data?
5. Can SQL*Loader load Unicode-based datafiies?
6. How can you load fixed length records using SQL*Loader?
7. How can you load Microsoft Excei data into Oracle?
8. How does SQL*Loader handles newiine characters in a record?
9. Can you selectively load only those records that you need?
10. How can you load multi-line records?
11. How can you get SQL*Loader to commit only at the end of the load file?
12. Can you improve the performance of SQL*Loader?
13. What is the difference between the conventional and direct path loads?
14. Can you skip header records while loading?

Chapter 5: Managing Physical Structure

1. What is the control file? How is it used?
2. Where is the information about control file stored?
3. At what stage of instance, startup information about control file is read (from parameter file)?
4. What kind of information is stored in a control file?

5. Can you recover a control file?

6. What happens when control file is damaged?
7. How do you ensure that control file is safe considering the importance of it?
8. Explain the steps of creating copy of a control file.
9. How can you obtain the information about control file?
10. How do you add a datafile to a tablespace?
11. How do you resize a datafile?
12. What view would you use to look at the size of a datafile?
13. What view would you use to determine free space in a tablespace?
14. What are online redo log files? How are they used?
15. Define the redo log group and the redo log member.
16. What is archive log file? How is it used?
17. How can you get the information about log files and archive log files?
18. What is log switch?
19. How would you force a log switch?
20. What is checkpoint?

Chapter 6: Streams
1. What is Change Data Capture (CDC)?
2. What is Oracle Streams?
3. What is the difference between Oracle Streams and CDC?
4. What is Database Change Notification?
5. What is Stream replication?
6. What is Streams?
7. What is Streams pool in Oracle lOg?
8. What is Logical Change Record (LCR)?
9. What is the capture process?
10. What is the apply process?
11. What is SYS.AnyData?
12. Why is additional supplemental logging needed?
13. What is direct apply?
14. What is downstream capture?
15. How can you find the setup of lob_assembly?
16. List some important Streams views.
17. How can you set DML handler?

Chapter 7: Real Application Cluster

1. WhatisRAC?
2. How is RAC different from non-RAC databases?
3. What is an interconnect network?
4. Explain the software component of RAC.
5. List the background processes required for RAC.
6. What is Global Resource Directory (GRD)?
7. What is the benefit of using Virtual IP (VIP)?
8. What is the use of Atomic Controlfile Memory Service (ACMS)?

9. How does RAC ensures data consistency between two nodes?

10. What is cache fusion?
11. What are the major RAC wait events?
12. What is the use of GTXO-j?
13. What is the use of Lock Monitor process?
14. What is the use of LMD?
15. What is the use of LMS?
16. What is the use of LCK0?
17. What is the use of RMSn?
18. What is the use of RSMN?
19. What components are shared in RAC?
20. Why do we need to store datafiles in shared storage in RAC environment?

Chapter 8: Oracle Packages

1. How can you record information about current session?
2. What is the use of recording information about current session?
3. Name some of the procedures available in the dbms_application_info package.
4. Is there any other way to read the information set by the dbms_application_info package?
5. Suppose you want to modify partitioning scheme of certain tables in a live database. How can you do that?
6. Suppose you have developed scripts to redefine tables using the dbms_redefinition package and the user
is granted privilege to execute the dbms_redefinition package but still the user gets insufficient privilege
error when the script is executed. What is possible reason for the error?
7. Can you redefine a table online?
8. How can you use the dbms_redefinition package?
9. How can you find out If a table can be redefined?
10. Suppose you have developed a script to redefine a table after confirming that the table can be redefined;
however, the redefinition process fails in the middle and further attempts show that it cannot be redefined as
materialized view exists on the table. Why did this happen and how can you recover from the situation?
11. Does Oracle provide any package to find out fragmented data blocks?
12. Can you get information about a specific rowid of a table using any Oracle supplied package?
13. How can you use the dbms_sql package to execute the DMLs dynamically?
14. How can you execute quer es using the dbms_sql package?
15. Does Oracle support asynchronous notification?
16. How can a session indicate its interest in receiving alerts?
17. When does an alert gets signaled?
18. How can you process messages in order asynchronously?
19. List some of the procedures provided by the dbms_aq package.
20. How can you create an Advanced Queuing (AQ)?
21. How can you grant privileges on AQ to other users?
22. What procedures can you use to register with an AQ?

Chapter 9: Trouble Shooting & Performance Tuning

1. Name a few places you will look to get more details on a performance issue.
2. What is the use of ALERT log file? Where can you find the ALERT log file?

3. Which tools are available to monitor performance?

4. What are the background trace files?
5. What is a user process trace file?
6. Which trace file is used for performance tuning and why?
7. Which utility can you use to make trace file more readable?
8. How can you monitor performance of the database pro-actively?
9. What are dynamic performance views? Who has the access to these views?
10. What is a lock?
11. What is db file sequential read wait event?
12. What do you understand by db file scattered read?
13. How can you find out if a session is blocking another?
14. Describe the Oracle Wait Interface.
15. What do the db_file_sequential_read and db_file_scattered_read events indicate?
16. How can you get more details about the blocking session?
17. How would you determine what sessions are connected and what resources they are waiting for?
18. What are different types of locks?
19. What are the different locking modes and how can you identify those?
20. How can you identify locked object?

Chapter 10: Data Guard

1. What is data guard?
2. Why do you need to have data guard? What are the benefits of using data guard?
3. Explain the architecture of data guard.
4. What are the services required on primary database?
5. What are the services required on standby database?
6. What happens when standby database is not available?
7. Is there any difference in the data changes in primary and secondary database?
8. What is role transition and when does it happen?
9. What is the maximum number of standby databases that can be associated with a production database?
10. What is the difference between logical standby database and physical standby database?
11. How can you find out whether a database is primary or standby?

Chapter 11: Oracle Installation & UNIX

1. What is Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA)? Why is it important to use OFA?
2. Where in the Oracle directory tree structure are audit traces placed?
3. Give the command to display space usage on the UNIX system.
4. Give the command to list the files in the UNIX directory to list hidden files.
5. How do you execute a UNIX command in the background?
6. How do you execute a UNIX command that will continue running even after you log out? .
7. What is the difference between a soft link and a hard link?
8. What privileges are available on a UNIX directory?
9. How can you replace a string in a file in the vi editor?

10. Give two UNIX kernel parameters that affect installation of Oracle.
11. List the major steps in installation of Oracle software on UNIX in brief.
12. How do you find out the number of instances that are running on a server?
13. How do you automate starting and shutting down of databases in UNIX?
14. WhatisOERR?
15. How do you view virtual memory statistics in Linux?