Oracle DBA Glossary for Official Documentation

Oracle DBA Glossary for Official Documentation​

For many Oracle DBAs, English documentation is both a treasure trove and a daunting challenge. While we often rely on Chinese blogs and communities, ​Oracle’s official documentation​ remains the ultimate authority for complex or rare issues. Whether mastering new features or diagnosing performance problems, fluency in technical English is what separates junior DBAs from experts. Mastering core vocabulary is your first key to unlocking this knowledge.

Below is a categorized glossary of ~100 essential terms for Oracle DBAs.

​Core Architecture & Concepts​

The foundation of Oracle’s structure and operations.

• ​Database: Physical files (data files, control files, redo logs) storing data.
• ​Instance (Database Instance)​: Memory (SGA) + background processes accessing the database.
• ​SGA (System Global Area)​: Shared memory for instance data.
• ​PGA (Program Global Area)​: Non-shared memory per server/background process.
• ​Background Process: Automatic maintenance processes (e.g., DBWn, LGWR).
• ​Schema: Logical collection of objects (tables, indexes) tied to a username.
• ​Table: Core data structure (rows/columns).
• ​Index: Structure speeding up data retrieval (e.g., B-tree, bitmap).
• ​View: Logical representation of tables (no physical storage).
• ​Tablespace: Logical storage unit containing data files.
• ​Data File: Physical file storing database data.
• ​Control File: Binary file tracking physical database structure.
• ​Redo Log File: Records database changes for recovery.
• ​ACID Properties: Transaction fundamentals: Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability.

​Core DBA Responsibilities​

Daily operational terms.

Installation & Configuration

• ​Installation: Deploying Oracle software.
• ​Configuration: Post-setup adjustments (parameters, network).
• ​OUI (Oracle Universal Installer)​: GUI for software installation.
• ​DBCA (Database Configuration Assistant)​: GUI for database setup/deletion.
• ​Parameter File (PFILE/SPFILE)​: Configurations for instance startup.
• ​Listener: Process routing client connections to server processes.

Backup & Recovery

• ​Backup: Data copy creation (physical/logical).
• ​Recovery: Restoring databases using backups/logs.
• ​RMAN (Recovery Manager)​: Oracle’s backup/recovery tool.
• ​ARCHIVELOG Mode: Saves redo logs for point-in-time recovery.
• ​RPO (Recovery Point Objective)​: Max tolerable data loss time.
• ​RTO (Recovery Time Objective)​: Max downtime duration.

Security Management

• ​Security: Protecting data from unauthorized access.
• ​Authentication: Verifying user identity.
• ​Authorization: Granting access permissions.
• ​Privilege: Right to execute SQL/access objects.
• ​Role: Group of privileges.
• ​Auditing: Monitoring database activity.
• ​Encryption: Data obfuscation for security.
• ​TDE (Transparent Data Encryption)​: Automatic storage encryption.

Performance Tuning

• ​Performance Tuning: Optimizing resource use.
• ​Response Time: User request-to-result duration.
• ​Throughput: Operations processed per unit time.
• ​Wait Event: Session pause due to resource contention.
• ​AWR (Automatic Workload Repository)​: Performance stats repository.
• ​ASH (Active Session History)​: Samples active sessions for diagnostics.
• ​ADDM (Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor)​: Analyzes AWR data for optimizations.
• ​SQL Tuning: Optimizing SQL efficiency.
• ​Execution Plan: Oracle’s data access path for SQL.
• ​Optimizer: Generates execution plans.
• ​Statistics: Data distribution metrics for the optimizer.
• ​Bind Variable: SQL placeholder for reuse/performance.
• ​Contention: Resource access conflicts (e.g., locks).
• ​Hit Ratio: Cache efficiency metric (e.g., Buffer Cache).

​Oracle DBA Market Skills​

Top skills per ZipRecruiter analysis:

Linux, SQL, Troubleshooting, RMAN, Performance Tuning, RAC, Data Guard

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High Availability & Disaster Recovery​

Ensuring business continuity.

• ​High Availability (HA)​: Minimizing downtime.
• ​Disaster Recovery (DR)​: Post-disaster service restoration.
• ​Oracle RAC (Real Application Clusters)​: Multi-server instance access for HA.
• ​Oracle Data Guard: Maintains standby databases for DR.
• ​Primary Database: Production database handling user requests.
• ​Standby Database: Transaction-consistent copy for failover.
• ​Failover: Automatic/manual standby activation during primary failure.
• ​Switchover: Planned primary/secondary role swap.
• ​MAA (Maximum Availability Architecture)​: Oracle’s HA best-practice framework.

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Conclusion​

These 100+ terms are your foundation. True mastery comes from practice: read official docs daily (e.g., new features or wait events). When terms become tools—not barriers—you’ll solve problems faster and understand them deeper.

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