Oracle Database – What is it?
Oracle Database, known more colloquially as simply
Oracle, is database management system with a model which relational as well as
object-oriented. This article attempts
to clarify in lay-man terms what the Oracle Database system does.
What
does the Oracle Database do? - The primary purpose of the Oracle Database is to
store collected data and retrieve the same when required. Since, in large
companies and organisations, the amount of data is huge and almost
unmanageable, the Oracle Database is used very frequently. It also provides
multi-user access which allows many users from the same organisation to access
the data at the same time without crashes or bugs. Another advantage of having
an Oracle Database manage your information is that the data is secure and even
if the system crashes, retrieving the data becomes very easy.
How
does an Oracle Database Work? : - An oracle database usually contains datafiles
which contain and classify the various data in various tables and indices. It
stores these datafiles and executes pre-stored functions and procedures. The
data is stored typically as tablespaces which are contained in memory segments,
extents and data blocks.
To
identify and control these various datafiles, the Oracle Database has a control
file which essentially records the name and locations of the various files and
the time of creation and change. This control file also aids in system data
recovery in case of a crash.
The
use of a database system makes the management and handling of data extremely
simple. It also records the various changes made by multiple users and keeps a
record of which changes were made by whom. However, it must be noted that there
is a lock on changing and modifying data by other users if one user is already
doing so.
Thus
the Oracle Database system is a boon for information and data storage and
management in most companies worldwide. Nowadays, Oracle database is most popular RDBMS in global market and Oracle company is also becoming giant. Oracle is having now Sun products like Java, MySQL, Solaris operating system and Sun hardware, Sun storage. Before taken over of Sun Microsys, Oracle didn't have it's own operating system and hardware like IBM DB2 and Microsoft. But now Oracle has everything and it becomes most powerful database, software, hardware company in market. Due to these all reasons, database administrator of Oracle is earning more and DBA services is highly demand-able in market.
