FORS Training and Consulting Center was established as a division of FORS in 1994, becoming a pioneer in the field of IT education. Today, FORS UKC is part of the FORS group of companies engaged in almost all areas in the field of IT - from classical development, distribution and technical support of software products to innovative solutions for the digital transformation of the economy.
Educational Center FORS is one of the first Russian training centers that received authorization from Oracle Corporation and began to conduct training under the Oracle Authorized Courses Program. We have come a long way - from a department in the "FORS" company, which provides training in Oracle courses in a single class, to one of the largest authorized Oracle Training Centers in Central and Eastern Europe.
UKC FORS has a license for educational activities, which exempts our clients from paying VAT and makes it possible to include training costs in taxation expenses.
During this time, we have come a long way from the department of the Force company involved in training Oracle courses to the largest authorized Oracle training center in Eastern Europe.
Since 1998, we have been providing our customers with certification services at the Testing Center. Force Training Center is authorized by the largest international certification company VUE. Our clients have the opportunity to order almost all tests available for delivery in the Russian region.
The staff of our teachers includes the best specialists who stood at the origins of the implementation of Oracle in Russia. All this, combined with high requirements for the organization of the learning process in authorized training centers, serves to obtain the best results in the assimilation of programs by students in Oracle courses.
The high level of professionalism and vast practical experience of our teachers allows us to keep up with the latest Oracle developments and quickly implement the latest training programs, while maintaining market leadership. All Force teachers are certified by Oracle Corporation and participate in various projects to create corporate information systems based on Oracle.
ORACLE CERTIFICATION
The status of a certified Oracle specialist confirms the professionalism of the company's employees. Due to the complexity of Oracle software products and technologies, certified administrators and developers are among the most sought-after IT professionals in the world.
The presence of specialists in the staff gives the company a competitive advantage - it shows that business processes are supported by specialists who are familiar with industry standards.
ORACLE certification levels:
Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) - entry level Validates that the specialist has the knowledge to perform basic operations in the chosen area
Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) - Basic Level Confirms the ability to solve the full range of tasks in the chosen area
Oracle Certified Expert (OCE) - specialized certification Confirms the knowledge of a specialist, which allows you to perform basic operations, and his ability to solve a full range of tasks for specific Oracle technologies and architecture
Oracle Certified Master (OCM) - the highest level Confirms that its holder is an expert in Oracle technologies, has the highest level of knowledge, experience and skill
You can get acquainted with the Oracle certification program, about preparing for a specific test and about the necessary additional courses, learn about the possibility of purchasing a voucher for passing the test, as well as get acquainted with all available certifications and tests in detail on the Oracle website, in the Certification section and on our page dedicated to certification and testing.
Hello my readers. The article is intended Oracle database newbies. For those who are just going to study this subject area and become Oracle Database Administrators. So where to start??? I will note right away that there is no ideal initial level of preparation in order to become an Oracle DBA, but it is highly desirable that there be a true interest in the hardware side of databases, as well as a decent amount of knowledge of operating systems, UNIX servers and NT, as well as issues related to disks and memory.
It also helps a lot to have programming or development skills, because you will often have to work with developers. The most commonly used operating system for Oracle databases is UNIX, namely the UNIX versions manufactured by Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Sun Microsystems (Sun). IBM supplies the AIX variant of the UNIX operating system, but offers its own proprietary database product called DB2 Universal Database to accompany it.
If you want to train as a professional database administrator Oracle Database 11g, you need to take the following two training courses from Oracle or some other vendor: Oracle Database 11g:
- Administration Workshop I (Oracle Database 11g: Administration Workshop I);
- Oracle Database 11g: Administration Workshop II (Oracle Database 11g: Administration Workshop II).
Total exist three levels of certification for Oracle DBAs. The first involves obtaining an Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) certification, the second is an Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) certification, which is most often sought after by people professionally involved in Oracle databases, and the third, the last is the OCM (Oracle Certified Master) certification, which requires a lengthy two-day practical exam.
All Oracle Database 11g Database Administrator Certification candidates are required to take one of the approved physical or online courses in order to meet the new practice course requirement. Those who use Real Application Clusters (RAC) clusters or distributed Oracle databases in the company must take additional, specialized training courses. For those with a firm that uses the UNIX operating system and no prior experience with it, it may be best to start with a basic UNIX (or Linux) course from HP, Sun, Red Hat, or another vendor.
This course is not required to obtain an Oracle DBA certificate, but it will certainly be useful for those who are new to UNIX or Linux environments. Oracle itself also offers several Linux system administration courses, and even an Oracle Certified Linux Management Certification through the Oracle Certified Expert Program. Of course, those who plan to use Oracle databases in a Windows environment can easily do without taking a long and formal course on managing Windows, provided they are fairly familiar with the Windows operating system, if not working as a Windows system administrator.
On a note! It should not be forgotten that Oracle Corporation is not the only company that provides Oracle training. While Oracle University is a big institution with great courses, other private providers offer just as great, and in some cases even better courses. As is the case with all courses, the quality of teaching directly depends on the experience and communication skills of the teacher. And also, we should not forget that going somewhere to seminars is not at all obligatory: it is quite possible to purchase self-learning CDs and study on your own, and it is several (about 15) times cheaper than at physical training with an instructor. Even more effective is to subscribe to Oracle's online training program called Oracle iLearning (http://ilearning.oracle.com). It's cheaper than buying DVDs and gives you access to hundreds of Oracle University courses. If you decide to take these courses, you must make sure that you have access to the server with the actual database. Oracle provides very well designed sample schemas that you can use to hone your SQL skills either with its own database under development on a UNIX server or with the free Windows download of Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition on a desktop computer. With this approach, training will be much faster.
As you begin your role as an Oracle Database 11g DBA, you will find that the real world of Oracle databases is much broader and more complex than what has been covered in the various courses you have attended. As each new facet of the database is discovered, it will become clearer and clearer how the software works, why it works, and why sometimes it doesn't work. Only then can you learn more about databases and the software used to manage them. After reading really all the materials offered by Oracle and others, you should still not worry, because new versions always appear, with new functionality and new mechanisms of work, which practically guarantees an endless supply of new information.
After working as a database administrator for one or two years, you will already know enough to competently administer databases and troubleshoot common database problems. Those who will also continue to improve their programming skills during this time (mainly by writing scripts for the UNIX shell and working with PL/SQL) can even begin to create complex scripts to monitor and tune database performance. After that, those who move on will be able to learn much more about their database software and thereby increase their knowledge and their contribution to the work of the organization. Oracle is constantly releasing new tools that you can also learn to improve the performance of your production databases. While developers, testers, and system administrators are also doing their best for the good of the organization, it is the DBA who will ultimately pave the way for new and efficient ways to use new database features.
This article is intended primarily for Oracle DBMS administrators (and those who want to become them), it will be very useful for applied developers, as well as for users of this complex system. We are all waiting for an exciting journey in the world of Oracle, and I will help you not to get lost in it.
We will start from the very basics, from the simplest, and gradually we will move on and on. I'll warn you right now - it won't be easy. But are you ready to share the difficulties with me? If so, then go ahead!
Why will it be difficult for you? Because one must not just skim through the text, not just enjoy the process of reading, not just be satisfied with reading abstruse material, but WORK above the text. Exactly WORK. I will often describe complex relationships, if you do not draw them on paper, do not study every point, then there will be a gap. Gaps will accumulate until huge voids are formed. In the end, you will ask yourself: "What have I learned?". I think you already guessed what the answer will be.
Set a goal - to "understand EVERYTHING", if, nevertheless, something turned out to be incomprehensible - most likely I am to blame. Write to me, and in the next issues we will consider incomprehensible issues in much more detail.
Why will it be difficult for me? The fact is that I will also study with my subscribers. And since I am responsible for your advancement, since I will have to answer questions, collect material, I simply have to go one step forward. And while you are studying the current issue, I will have to prepare the next one.
As I promised, we will start with the simplest.
Brief history of ORACLE.
In 1977 Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Owets organized their business under the name Relational Software Incorporated (RSI). It was this company that laid the foundation for the Oracle relational database management system (RDBMS). Ellison, Miner, and Owets decided to develop a RDBMS using C and a SQL interface. And soon the first version (prototype) was released. Buyers in 1979 Oracle RDBMS version 2 was introduced, which ran on Digital PDP-11, running OS RSX-11. Then it was ported to the DEC VAX system.
1983 became the herald of the release of version 3, which brought changes to the SQL language, increased system performance and added some other improvements. Unlike the previous versions, the third version was written entirely in C. Since then, RSI has changed its name to Oracle Corporation.
Oracle version 4 was introduced in 1984. This version supported both the VAX OS and the IBM VM. This version provided the ability to multi-user stable data reading. Version 5 appeared in 1985. and marked a turning point in the DBMS market as it pioneered client-server technology using SQL*Net. The fifth version was also one of the first MS DOS programs to break the 640Kb barrier.
In 1988 Oracle introduced version 6. This version introduced low-level locking and many other performance and functionality improvements (including sequence generation and lazy writes). Oracle is already running on multiple platforms and operating systems. In 1991 Oracle RDBMS Parallel Processing Server version 6.1 for DEC VAX system was released. Soon this version began to support other platforms.
Oracle 7 was released in 1992, and there were many architectural changes in memory and I/O. Oracle 7 is already a full-fledged RDBMS product that users are accustomed to and has been using for many years.
In 1997 version 8 was released, which introduced an object model, new properties and administration tools.
In 1999 version 8i (Oracle 8.1.5) with built-in Java was released.
In 2001 Released version 9i. According to the developers, more than 400 changes have been made compared to the previous version. Characteristic changes are the "intellectualization" of automated systems and the expansion of opportunities for analytics.
As you can see, the Oracle product is already 25 years old, and we have to make up for all these "lost" years in a much shorter period. The latest version of the product includes 75 different server products, but most of them are beyond the scope of our course.
Basic concepts and conditional abbreviations
Before we begin our study of Oracle, it is necessary that everyone be clear about the terms that will be encountered in the text. Each issue of the mailing list will have a "Basic Concepts" section so that readers do not waste their time searching for definitions for unfamiliar words.
DB (DB)- Database. A collection of data specially organized for ease of retrieval. The database is the actual data.
DBMS (DBMS)- Database Management System. Oracle software is a DBMS.
RDBMS (RDBMS)- Relational Database Management System. Internal access to data is carried out in a relational way. Oracle is a RDBMS.
Buffer is some amount of RAM used to store data. The buffer contains data that is expected to be used, or that has been used most recently. In most cases, a buffer is a copy of a block of data that is stored on the hard drive. The data in the buffer can be modified and written to disk, and a buffer can also be created to store data temporarily. In relation to Oracle - buffers contain those blocks of data that were recently accessed. The collection of buffers makes up the database buffer cache. The buffer also stores temporary entries in the transaction log, which are then written to disk (the transaction log buffer).
Cache- memory area for quick access to data. From a hardware point of view, this is a small (in terms of RAM) amount of memory that is much faster than main memory. This amount of memory is used to reduce the time it takes to frequently download data or instructions to the central processing unit (CPU). The CPU itself contains a built-in cache. In Oracle, a set of buffers (block buffers - that is, blocks of data in RAM) and a shared pool are considered a cache, since they serve to store data and instructions that facilitate fast access. Caching is a very useful mechanism that greatly increases the speed of data access. Since it is usually not possible to fit all the buffers in RAM, special algorithms are used (the most common is the storage of the most frequently used blocks).
Block- the smallest unit of data storage in the Oracle DBMS. Contains header information and the block itself (data or PL/SQL code). The block size is configurable from 2 to 16Kb.
Bottleneck- Components that limit the performance or efficiency of the system.
Data Dictionary- a set of tables used to maintain information about the database.
Checkpoint- an operation that causes all changed data (data blocks in memory) to be written to disk. This is a key factor in the problem of quickly recovering a database after a crash.
Schema- collection of database objects.
SGA (System Global Area) A shared memory area used to store data and control information for an Oracle instance. The SGA is allocated in memory when an Oracle instance starts up and is freed when it shuts down. SGAs are made up of data buffers, a changelog buffer, and a shared pool. This is one of the most important concepts and we will cover it in more detail later.
ORACLE Configurations
There are many types of configurations. Let's look at the main ones, analyze and define the characteristics.
OLTP (Online Transaction Processing)- operational processing of transactions. This is the most common configuration. An OLTP system consists of users who interact with the system. These systems are usually used for prompt input of primary information (filling out contracts, checking credit card numbers, asynchronous transactions, etc.).
Characteristic features of OLTP systems: typically supports a large number of users working with the RDBMS. Since users wait for data to be returned to requests, response time is of great importance. OLTP systems are associated with intensive read-write processes. Depending on the application, the read-write rating may vary.
DSS (Decision Support System)- Decision support systems are used in decision-making processes. These decisions can be based on information such as the volume of sales in certain regions, a sample of buyers for a particular product, a sorted list of email addresses, and more.
Features of DSS: Long-running queries versus large amounts of data. Users of DSS systems are forced to wait minutes, hours, and sometimes several days for a response to a request. Data is usually collected from various sources and then processed. The DSS system is associated with an intensive reading process (writing processes
occur much less frequently).
Data Warehouse is a large scale system that consists of both OLTP and DSS. These systems typically work with hundreds of gigabytes of data and serve a huge number of users.
Features of a data warehouse: has some attributes of DSS systems, i.e. long-running queries, as well as real-time components. These components are often used as data sources for DSS queries.
Information Store (Data Mart)- this is a reduced version of the data warehouse (focused on solving highly specialized tasks), while retaining many of the features of the Data Warehouse.
Characteristic features of the information shop: typically 100 gigabytes of data or less. Just like a data warehouse, it supports a large number of users and allows you to generate complex solutions.
Video server: Allows you to support a large number of video streams. These video streams can be used on demand, as entertainment, and as educational courses.
Characteristic features of the video server: Must have a wide bandwidth to support multiple video streams. Also, it must be able to handle a large I/O load. When reading from devices, large blocks of data are loaded at once, which are not very fragmented.
Web server: designed to work with static and dynamic web pages. These pages can be very simple or complex, generated from a database. The Oracle Web Server is typically used for commercial web applications. Such
Apps allow shoppers to browse catalogs that include product images and even video illustrations. The buyer can purchase the product he likes.
Features of the Oracle Web Server: usually supports a significant number of users, contains a large amount of data that is accessed frequently, and at the same time, data that is not accessed very often. Server performance can be improved by a large amount of RAM.
OLAP(Online Analytical Processing)- analytical processing in real time. Typically used in conjunction with multidimensional data. OLAP users are financial analysts or marketing personnel working with data on a global level.
Characteristic features of OLAP systems: require a large amount of disk memory and powerful computing systems. An OLAP system can only support a small number of users. However, the number of users depends on the specific configuration.
Conclusion
So, we got acquainted with the history of Oracle Corporation, learned a few important concepts and learned the most important configurations. You can congratulate yourself - you have begun your dive into the wonderful world of Oracle.
The professional retraining program is dedicated to the main areas in the field of network and system administration, as well as technologies for developing and administering databases.
The program includes official Microsoft authorized training courses, Cisco Networking Academy and NDG Linux vendor courses, and EMC Academy courses. The program deals with network and system administration technologies, general issues of database organization, technologies for developing and administering Microsoft SQL Server and PostgreSQL databases.
During the program, you will learn:
- How to prepare equipment for installing Linux and Windows operating systems;
- Operating system administration basics and system administration tasks:
- Scheduling users and groups;
- Access control to basic OS resources;
- Configuring servers and workstations for networking;
- Regulations for carrying out preventive work to support operating systems as parts of an infocommunication system;
- Principles of building packet networks, basic switching and routing technologies used in corporate network solutions;
- Organizational principles of Microsoft SQL Server DBMS;
- Theoretical foundations of data manipulation tools in the relational model of Microsoft SQL Server;
- Factors affecting the performance of query execution;
- Principles of data manipulation and data integrity in Microsoft SQL Server databases;
- Principles of planning effective index structures;
- The physical structure of the databases;
- Principles of storage and processing of spatial, XML and BLOB data;
- The concept of the transaction log and the recovery model for SQL Server databases;
- Aspects of secure data storage;
- Principles of creation and implementation of ETL solutions;
- Architecture and principles of implementation, configuration parameters of the PostgreSQL DBMS;
- Fundamentals of PostgreSQL database security;
- Benefits of using PL/pgSQL;
- Fundamentals of the PL/pgSQL language;
- Built-in functions of PostgreSQL;
- Supported data types of arguments and return values.
For more information about the courses, see the page with the educational trajectory and the content of each module of the program.
The final certification for the program is Final qualifying work.
The vocational retraining program provides opportunities for learning and preparation for certification exams within:
- Cisco Networking Academy programs:
- LPI Linux Essentials Professional Development by Linux Professional Institute (LPI)
- Microsoft Authorized Courses:
Start date
- October 1 (October - June, September - December)
- March 1 (March - June, September - May)
There are no classes in July and August - holidays!
Class mode
The form of education is part-time (evening).
Classes are held 2-4 times a week for 4 ac. hours (on weekdays from 18:00, on weekends from 10:00 or from 14:00).
Prerequisites
The program is intended for specialists with higher, secondary vocational education, senior students. Acceptance rules...
For admission, you must pass
Computer test No. VKT-113.2 Operating system MS Windows
- The concept of operating systems. Functions and classification of operating systems.
- Composition of MS Windows. Hardware requirements.
- The concept of the original and localized versions of the program.
- Keyboard layout. Language switching.
- Working with the mouse in MS Windows: pointers and types of operations.
- MS Windows interface. Main elements.
- Window elements in MS Windows. Window display modes, window operations. Window types.
- Launching, closing applications, switching between them.
- Elements of dialog boxes, filling fields in dialog boxes.
- Operations with icons. Types of pictograms.
- Types of menus and commands. Ways to execute commands.
- Main menu. sections of the main menu.
- Completion of work with MS Windows. System reboot.
- Standard MS Windows applications: Paint graphics editor, Word text editor, Calculator. Standard buttons in applications.
- Opening and saving documents.
- Clipboard. Copying and moving data through the Clipboard.
- Labels: definition, types, methods of creation, operations.
- File system. Namespace.
- Application "My Computer (Computer)": go to the desired drive and folder; viewing modes; creating and renaming folders; selection, copying, moving and deleting objects; undo last action; changing properties and setting parameters.
- Search for files and folders.
- Taskbar: purpose, settings.
- Desktop: appointment, setting. Organize windows and icons.
- Setting the Main Menu.
- Control Panel Setup: Date/Time, Keyboard, Mouse, Printers, Fonts, Screen.
On the market, you can find Oracle courses for every taste and need - SQL basics, administration (DBA), development of program modules in PL / SQL, application performance tuning, and many others. All training centers and their programs are certified by Oracle.
In addition to basic training programs, there are also narrowly focused ones. There are courses in Oracle Business Intelligence (BI), Oracle Streams, Real Application Clusters, Data Guard Administration, etc.
Curricula are divided by Oracle versions. There are many Oracle 11g courses available, but there are also early versions of Oracle 9i and 10g available.
Education on the market is present, mainly full-time. Online courses are rare.
After training, you will be able to
The list of skills is highly dependent on the training course. We will try to list the knowledge and skills of some basic programs.
- Knowledge of SQL and PL/SQL languages.
- Knowledge of fundamental concepts of relational DBMS.
- Using the SQL*Plus program.
- Oracle DBMS administration basics (installation, diagnostics, configuration and management).
- Special packages and add-ons for working with the database.
Oracle training is built on the principle of international certification and tests of various levels. For example, for administration, there are the following certificates:
- Oracle Junior Specialist: Oracle Database Administrator (OCA).
- Oracle Professional: Oracle Database Administrator (OCP).
For whom
Basically Oracle courses are intended for developers, database administrators, business analysts and other IT professionals.
The level of initial training depends on the chosen course. Basic programs require computer literacy and sometimes knowledge of the theory of relational DBMS. Advanced programs require Oracle experience, knowledge of SQL, and the ability to solve specific database management problems.
Certificates of Completion
Upon completion of the course, certificates and diplomas of completion are issued. At the same time, the main proof of a specialist's qualification is a successfully passed international Oracle exam.
