Oracle DBA 11gR2 Architecture
Oracle DBA 11gR2 Architecture
Stream Pool In a single database, you can specify that Streams memory be allocated
from a pool in the SGA called the Streams pool. To configure the Streams pool, specify
the size of the pool in bytes using the STREAMS_POOL_SIZE initialization parameter. If
a Streams pool is not defined, then one is created automatically when Streams is first
used.
Java Pool Java pool memory is used in server memory for all session-specific Java code
and data within the JVM. Java pool memory is used in different ways, depending on what
mode the Oracle server is running in.
Fixed SGA The fixed SGA contains a set of variables that point to the other
components of the SGA and variables that contain the values of various parameters. The
size of the fixed SGA is something over which we have no control and it is generally very
small.
Oracle DBA 11gR2 Architecture
Background Processes
Background processes are used to perform various tasks within the RDBMS system.
These tasks vary from communicating with other Oracle instances and performing
system maintenance and cleanup to writing dirty blocks to disk. Following are brief
descriptions of the nine Oracle background processes:
DBWR (Database Writer)--DBWR is responsible for writing dirty data blocks from the
database block buffers to disk.
LGWR (Log Writer)--The LGWR process is responsible for writing data from the log
buffer to the redo log.
CKPT (Checkpoint)--The CKPT process is responsible for signaling the DBWR process
to perform a checkpoint and to update all the datafiles and control files for the database
to indicate the most recent checkpoint. A checkpoint is an event in which all modified
database buffers are written to the datafiles by the DBWR. The CKPT process is optional.
If the CKPT process is not present, the LGWR assumes these responsibilities.
PMON (Process Monitor)--PMON is responsible for keeping track of database
processes and cleaning up if a process prematurely dies (PMON cleans up the cache and
frees resources that might still be allocated). PMON is also responsible for restarting any
dispatcher processes that might have failed.
SMON (System Monitor)--SMON performs instance recovery at instance startup. This
includes cleaning temporary segments and recovering transactions that have died
because of a system crash. The SMON also defragments the database by coalescing free
extents within the database.
Oracle DBA 11gR2 Architecture
Background Processes
RECO (Recovery)--RECO is used to clean transactions that were pending in a
distributed database. RECO is responsible for committing or rolling back the
local portion of the disputed transactions.
ARCH (Archiver)--ARCH is responsible for copying the online redo log files to
archival storage when they become full. ARCH is active only when the RDBMS
is operated in ARCHIVELOG mode. When a system is not operated
in ARCHIVELOG mode, it might not be possible to recover after a system
failure. It is possible to run in NOARCHIVELOG mode under certain
circumstances, but typically should operate in ARCHIVELOG mode.
MMAN (Memory Manager)--is used for internal database tasks that manage
the automatic shared memory. MMAN serves as the SGA Memory Broker and
coordinates the sizing of the memory components
MMON (Memory Monitor)--The Oracle 10g background process to collect
statistics for the Automatic Workload Repository (AWR).
MMNL (MMON Lite) is a background process that assists the MMON process.
This process will flush the ASH buffer to AWR tables when the buffer is full or a
snapshot is taken.
Oracle DBA 11gR2 Architecture
PGA (Program Global Area)
A Program Global Area (PGA) is a memory area used by a single Oracle
Database server process. When you connect to an Oracle database instance,
you create a session that uses a server process for communication between the
client and database instance. Each server process has its own PGA.
User Session
A User Session is a specific connection of a user to an Oracle instance through
a user process. when a user starts SQL*Plus, the user must provide a valid
username and password, and then a session is established for that user. A
session lasts from the time the user connects until the time the user
disconnects or exits the database application