Does anyone know the algorithm that Oracle uses to spawn DBWR processes in Oracle9i2 ? We are running two instances of 9.2.0.4 (from the same Oracle home) on a 40-CPU SunFire 15K server. One is an 11i apps instance with 650GB database and 3GB SGA size and over 600 data files. The other is a very small instance with around 15 data files. Per a Metalink document, Oracle spawns #CPU/8 DBWR processes in 9i. This statement holds true for the larger instance which has five DBWR process but the smaller instance has only one. I am assuming that the spawned DBWR processes is also a function of number of data files that the DBWR has to write to. Any help will be appreciated Regards Amir -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l