1. Overview

   1. Chapter 1 Introduction

      1. About Parallel Processing
      2. Parallel Processing for Databases
      3. Parallel Processing in Oracle
      4. Overhead for Oracle Parallel Processing
      5. Requirements for Oracle's Parallel Features

   2. Chapter 2 Architectures for Parallel Processing

      1. Hardware Architectures
      2. High-Speed Interconnect
      3. Software Architectures of Parallel Database Systems
      4. Oracle's Parallel Processing Architecture

2. Oracle Parallel Execution

   1. Chapter 3 Parallel Execution Concepts

      1. What Is Parallel SQL?
      2. How Parallel Execution Works

   2. Chapter 4 Using Parallel Execution

      1. Parallel Query
      2. Parallel DML
      3. Parallel DDL
      4. Parallel Data Loading
      5. Parallel Recovery
      6. Parallel Replication Propagation

   3. Chapter 5 Monitoring and Tuning Parallel Execution

      1. Tuning Overview
      2. Dynamic Performance Views
      3. Using EXPLAIN PLAN to View Parallel Execution
      4. Tuning Tips for Parallel Execution
      5. Automatic Tuning of Parallel Execution in Oracle8i

3. Oracle Parallel Server

   1. Chapter 6 Oracle Parallel Server Architecture

      1. OPS and Oracle Instances
      2. Synchronization Between Instances
      3. OPS Impact on Database Files
      4. Integrated Distributed Lock Manager
      5. Group Membership Service
      6. Rollback Segments in OPS

   2. Chapter 7 Administering an OPS Database

      1. Creating an OPS Database
      2. Starting and Stopping an OPS Database
      3. Managing Instance Groups
      4. Backing Up an OPS Database
      5. Recovering an OPS Database

   3. Chapter 8 Locking Mechanisms in OPS

      1. Cache Coherency
      2. Lock Types in OPS
      3. Lock Modes
      4. Parallel Cache Management
      5. PCM Lock Types
      6. PCM Lock Allocation Parameters and Verification
      7. PCM Lock Allocation Guidelines
      8. Non-PCM Locks

   4. Chapter 9 Storage Management in OPS

      1. Using Free Lists and Free List Groups
      2. The PCTFREE Parameter: Reserving Free Space
      3. Using Reverse Key Indexes

   5. Chapter 10 Monitoring and Tuning OPS

      1. OPS Performance Views
      2. Dynamic Performance Views
      3. Monitoring PCM Locking
      4. Monitoring Overall Statistics
      5. Monitoring and Tuning IDLM
      6. Oracle Performance Manager

   6. Chapter 11 Partitioning for OPS

      1. When Is Partitioning Needed?
      2. Partitioning Techniques
      3. Changing Your Partitioning Scheme

   7. Chapter 12 Application Failover

      1. Maintaining a Failover Database
      2. Planning for Failover with OPS
      3. Failover Complexity
      4. Failover Methods

   8. Chapter 13 Parallel Execution in OPS

      1. How Parallel Execution Works with OPS
      2. Disk Affinity
      3. Instance Groups for Parallel Execution

1. Appendix A Appendix: Case Studies

   1. Application Suitability

   2. Case Study 1: An OLTP Application on an SMP Platform

   3. Case Study 2: An OLTP Application on a Cluster

   4. Case Study 3: A DSS Application on an MPP Platform

2. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The illustration on the cover of Oracle Parallel Processing is a wasp and a wasp nest. The paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus aurifer and Polistes apachus) is the most common of the social wasps. As their name implies, paper wasps make their nests out of paper, or rather, chewed wood and plant particles combined with saliva to make a paper-like paste. Wasp nests are usually the size of a person's outstretched palm and are shaped like an umbrella. They hang under building eaves, roofs, and tree branches and are constructed with multiple tiers of vertical cells. A single nest houses anywhere from 15 200 wasps.

Paper wasps are social insects, indicated both by their caste system (made up of one or more queens, a few drones, and many workers) and by their food sharing. Drinking only liquids (either flower nectar or other insects' blood), adult wasps share their food with the young by regurgitating it. The young then produce a saliva that is 50 times more nutritious than the original nectar. Adults complete the cycle by receiving that saliva from the young.

Female wasps are capable of inflicting a painful sting on humans, causing swelling and redness for a few hours. However, 3% of people may go into anaphylaxis from a sting. This life-threatening allergic reaction causes hives, severe swelling, blocked airways, circulatory failure, and possibly death. Approximately 50 people die in the U.S. each year from anaphylactic shock caused by a sting. Wasps, unlike honeybees, can sting multiple times. Honeybees can sting only once since their stingers have barbs, causing the stinger to remain in the skin and detach from the bee, effectively killing it.

Paper wasps are one of the less aggressive wasps. They rarely attack people and only do so to defend their nests (which happens if nests are in highly-trafficked areas such as windows, doors, or even fruit trees in orchards). All social wasps are beneficial to humans in that they prey on many harmful, plant-feeding, and nuisance insects. For this reason, social wasp colonies should be protected, though preferably in areas uninhabited by humans. Jeffrey Holcomb was production editor for Oracle Parallel Processing. Norma Emory was the copyeditor. Maureen Dempsey proofread the book. Emily Quill and Madeleine Newell provided quality control. Matt Hutchinson provided production support. Bruce Tracy wrote the index.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

Alicia Cech and David Futato designed the interior layout based on a series design by Nancy Priest. Mike Sierra implemented the design in FrameMaker 5.5.6. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Rhon Porter using Macromedia FreeHand 8 and Adobe Photoshop 5. This colophon was written by Jeffrey Holcomb.

Whenever possible, our books use a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. If the page count exceeds this binding's limit, perfect binding is used.