Oracle Database 11g getting started
Please select from the menu to the left to access articles, tutorials and other resources that will help you find out more about the Oracle Database 11g family.
Introducing the Oracle Database family
Oracle Database 11g is available in several editions: Standard Edition One, Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition. Each is built using the same common code base, which means your database applications can easily scale from small, single processor servers to clusters of multi-processor servers - without changing a line of code. Additional options for enhanced performance, scalability, availability, security and manageability are available with Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition.
Of particular interest to Oracle on Windows developers is Oracle Database XE which may be used FREE of charge for both development and deployment. Developers wishing to become acquainted with Oracle technology can use XE to step up the learning curve. The XE edition is also built on the same code base as the other members of the Database family allowing for a seamless transition through the product family should the need arise for greater scalability.
To find out more about each edition, please see below.
Oracle Database XE
Oracle Database Standard Edition One
Oracle Database Standard Edition
Oracle Product Family Feature Matrix
Oracle Database Express Edition
Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (XE) is the entry-level, small-footprint edition of Oracle Database built on the 10g Release 2 code base. XE is free to develop, deploy and distribute. It's also fast to download and simple to administer and is therefore an ideal starter database for Oracle on Windows.
Oracle Database XE can be installed on any size host machine with any number of CPUs (one database per machine). You can store up to 4GB of user data, use up to 1GB of memory and use one CPU on the host machine.
Downloads
To download your copy of Oracle Database 10g Express Edition for Windows, please click here...
Articles
Oracle Database 10g Express Edition This is a concise data sheet
Oracle Database 10g Express Edition FAQ Please read this to find answers to your XE questions
Tutorials
Oracle Database Express Edition Getting Started This 8 page document provides instructions and illustrations to help you get started
Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Tutorial This on-line tutorial prepares the developer to perform common development and administrative tasks for Oracle Database XE
Forums
To visit the Oracle Technology Network forum for Oracle Database XE, please click here...
If you have downloaded and installed your copy of XE, you may register for a special forum run my XE expert, Tom Kyte. For further information, please click here...
To visit the Oracle Database XE website, please click here...
Database Migration with Oracle
Moving data physically from a SQL Server or Microsoft Access database to an Oracle Database Server is a relatively simple process. Oracle's free SQL Developer tool provides substantial capabilities for modelling the metadata and transferring data. Stored Procedures can also be translated into Oracle's PL/SQL language.
Migrating an existing application to Oracle Database Server requires an understanding of Oracle's unique features. For example, the locking and concurrency model ensures readers and writers of data do not block each other - so that data is presented in a transactionally consistent form. The result is that some application code that attempted to work around scalability issues can be amended to a simpler and more natural expression of the business need.
Oracle provides many resources to assist in migrating solutions, including a specialist centre in the UK where advice and porting facilities are available to assist in optimising the process. Please see below to access articles, tutorials and other information about migration.
Downloads
Oracle Migration Workbench 10
Oracle SQL Developer (contains the Migration Workbench)
Oracle Database Migration Verifier (see top righthand corner)
Articles
Oracle Migration Workbench Data Sheet
Oracle Migration Tools Statement of Direction (May 2008)
Tutorials
Oracle SQL Developer Migration Workbench Getting Started
Oracle SQL Developer Documentation
Migrating a Microsoft Access Database to Oracle
Oracle Database 10g Upgrade Guide
Oracle Database Migration Verifier tutorial
Forum and Knowledge Base
Oracle's forum for Migration Workbench
Oracle Migration Knowledge Base
Case Studies
Patsoft
Oracle Database scalability
Oracle's Database technology leads the industry in performance and scalability. Oracle Databases power the majority of the world's most demanding environments and continue to maintain a lead across various industry standard benchmarks. Oracle Database 11g extends this lead even further by introducing capabilities that fully leverage the latest hardware innovations. To find out more about some of the technologies that enable scalability, please see below.
Downloads
Oracle Coherence for the Microsoft .NET Framework v3.3.1
Articles
Oracle Database 11g Performance and Scalability
Oracle Advanced Compression
Oracle Real Application Clusters
Oracle Coherence for the Microsoft .NET Framework
Case Study
Talx Boosts Availability and Scalability with RAC on Windows
To visit Oracle's Real Application Clusters page for more information, please click here...
Oracle Database Licensing
Here are a number papers that help explain the various licensing options:
Oracle Licensing This is an overview document that summarises the key points
Oracle Software Investment Guide This is a detailed guide that provides many examples to illustrate how Oracle licensing works
Multi-core licensing 'discounts' Oracle provides a 'discount' for multi-core chips that is manufacturer dependant as described in this matrix
Oracle Software Buyers Guide A link to Grey Matter's site that provides licensing information and prices to help you budget or procure licenses for the deployment phase
If you require further assistance in understanding Oracle licensing or budgeting for the deployment phase, please contact us, We can also help you understand the various licensing options for Microsoft developer tools.