Oracle is an enormous system with myriad technologies, options, and releases. Most users--even experienced developers and database administrators--find it difficult to get a handle on the full scope of the Oracle system. And as each new version of the database is released, users find themselves under increasing pressure to learn about a whole range of new technologies.This book distills the enormous amount of information about what Oracle is, where it came from, and what the latest releases do--and packages it into a compact, easy-to-read volume filled with focused text, illustrations and helpful hints. It explains what's new and important about Oracle's revolutionary releases, Oracle8 (the "object-relational database") and Oracle8i (the "Internet database"). It covers: Oracle products, options, and overall architecture Installing and running Oracle (creating databases, configuring Net8, starting up and shutting down Oracle) Oracle data structures Managing Oracle (implementing security, using the Oracle Enterprise Manager, dealing with fragmentation and reorganization, and performing backup and recovery) Oracle networking Monitoring and tuning Multi-user concurrency and online transaction processing (OLTP) Special issues for high-availability systems Hardware architectures (e.g., SMP, MPP, NUMA) and their impact on Oracle Data warehousing Distributed databases Extensions for Oracle8 and Oracle8i, including the latest Java and web technologies It also includes an appendix full of references to additional online and offline resources.For new Oracle users, DBAs, developers, and managers, Oracle Essentials provides an invaluable, all-in-one introduction to the full range of Oracle features and technologies. But even if you already have a library full of Oracle documentation and books, you'll find that this compact book is the one you turn to, again and again, as your one-stop, truly essential reference.