All, > > Consider reading the Oracle Concepts Manual. This will give you a good > understanding of the foundations underneath your administration tasks. I > find most new DBAs get in trouble in areas where they don't understand the > underlying concepts. And as a bonus, that one is a free download :-) And for us old-timers who started out with 5.1.17 (!!), it is ABSOLUTELY essential to re-read the Concepts, Admin, SQL Reference and Reference manuals every time there is a new release. Otherwise, we will be stuck in the dark ages. As well, one needs to dig into the Db as well to understand: For example: Arguing with someone who goes by Metalink Note 423.1 which states that "table scans (small tables) counts scans of tables that are 4 blocks or less" against the fact that this is now controlled by "_small_table_threshold" :) {Note: The review date on this note is 18-May-2004. Does Oracle Support not have enough people review/confirm what they restate?) Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating this event! And for those who aren't but are getting a day off, enjoy this Universal holiday. -- John Kanagaraj <>< DB Soft Inc http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkanagaraj http://jkanagaraj.wordpress.com (Sorry - not an Oracle blog!) ** The opinions and facts contained in this message are entirely mine and do not reflect those of my employer or customers ** -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l