Oracle Certified Master credential for Oracle Database 11g

The Oracle Certified Master credential is designed for Oracle Certified Professionals with advanced training and at least three to four years of professional, enterprise-level experience with Oracle Database. This column introduces two Oracle Database 11g Oracle Certified Master exams, provides details on the target candidates and focus areas of each exam, and describes a few sample tasks that are similar to those in the exams. 

About the Oracle Certified Master Exams

Obtaining the Oracle Certified Master credential requires passing an onsite practical exam—conducted in an Oracle University classroom—that tests candidates on their ability to perform database administration tasks in a live database environment. To become an Oracle Certified Master, a candidate must complete two required advanced DBA courses from Oracle University in addition to passing an Oracle Certified Master exam. 

All candidates must complete a certain number of “skillsets” that test their ability to perform complex technical tasks. They are required to complete the tasks with either the command-line interface or Oracle Enterprise Manager, and because the exams are based on the Oracle Enterprise Linux platform, working knowledge of Linux commands is essential. Candidates also need to be prepared to work with the following tools while completing the skillsets: 

• Oracle Recovery Manager (Oracle RMAN) utility
• Oracle Network Manager
• Oracle Net Configuration Assistant
• Oracle Database Configuration Assistant
• Oracle Enterprise Manager
• Oracle Listener Utility
• Oracle Management Service
• Oracle Password Utility
• Oracle Data Guard command-line interface 

 

As shown in the diagram in Figure 1, each Oracle Certified Master candidate participating in the practical exam is provided with two machines: a database server and a management server. Both servers are provided with Oracle Enterprise Linux Release 5.2 and Oracle Database 11g installed. The database server hosts the production database the candidate uses to perform various database administration tasks. The management server hosts Oracle Management Repository, which the candidate uses to perform Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control tasks.

 

Figure 1: Oracle Certified Master examination servers
 

Depending on a candidate’s current certification, that person needs to take and pass one of the following exams to become an Oracle Certified Master on Oracle Database 11g: 

• Oracle Database 11g Certified Master Upgrade Exam
• Oracle Database 11g Certified Master Exam  

 

Oracle Database 11g Certified Master Upgrade Exam

This exam provides a path for Oracle Certified Masters on Oracle9i Database or Oracle Database 10g to upgrade their certification to Oracle Database 11g Certified Master. Candidates need not upgrade the OCP certification; they will instead be granted 11g OCP certification along with 11gmaster certification when they pass this exam. The exam is based on Oracle Database 11gRelease 1. 

This one-day practicum tests candidates on four primary areas: 

• Oracle Database, Oracle RMAN, Oracle Enterprise Manager, and network configuration
• Oracle Data Guard
• Data and data warehouse management
• Performance management  

 

Oracle Database 11g Certified Master Exam

Candidates need to be Oracle Certified Professionals on Oracle Database 11g before signing up for this exam. The exam is based on Oracle Database 11g Release 2 and includes the use of Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC). 

This two-day practicum tests candidates on eight primary areas: 

• Creating database and network configurations
• Managing database availability
• Database warehouse management
• Data management
• Performance management
• Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control
• Oracle Data Guard
• Grid infrastructure, Oracle Automatic Storage Management, and Oracle RAC  

 

Before You Take the Oracle Database 11g Certified Master Exam

Here are some recommendations for candidates who plan to take the Oracle Database 11gCertified Master exam: 

• Gain considerable hands-on expertise with all the exam objectives.

• Get comfortable with the Linux command language—you will need to perform certain operating-system-level tasks such as executing a script and moving/copying a file/directory.

• Be prepared to use all the tools listed in this column.

• Practice completing tasks within a time limit. Working out each of the skillsets within a stipulated time is one of the key factors in achieving this certification.

   

Sample Tasks

The sample tasks in this section are representative of the types of tasks candidates will be asked to perform on the Oracle Certified Master exams. 

Task: Creating a tablespace. Create a tablespace named HRTBS in the ORCL database with the following specifications: 

• Tablespace name: HRTBS
• Block size: 16 K
• File size: expected to grow to 3 TB
• Initial extent size: 1 MB
• Next extent size: 1 MB 

 

This task tests whether the candidate knows how to create a bigfile tablespace with the given specifications. Also, 16 K is a nonstandard block size, and hence the candidate is expected to do the configuration necessary to create the tablespace.

Task: Creating a partitioned table. Create a partitioned table called PART_EMPLOYEES, using the list-partitioned EMPLOYEES table. The partitions should be stored in the EMPTBS1, EMPTBS2, and EMPTBS3 tablespaces.

The PART_EMPLOYEES table should have the following column specifications: 

EMPLOYEE_ID       NOT NULL NUMBER(6)
EMAIL             NOT NULL VARCHAR2(25)
HIRE_DATE         NOT NULL DATE
MANAGER_ID        NUMBER(6)
DEPARTMENT_ID     NOT NULL NUMBER(4)
 

Next, populate the PART_EMPLOYEES table by executing the populate_parttable.sql script.

This Task tests whether the candidate knows how to create a partitioned table with the given specifications.The candidate   is expected to create a list-partitioned PART_EMPLOYEES table and store each partition in a seperate tablespace.(The EMPLOYEES table is configured accordingly before a candidate start this task.) The candidate will then populate the table,using the script provided.  

Task: Oracle RMAN configuration.Configure Oracle RMAN according to the following specifications, and perform a backup of the ORCL database to recover the database in the event of a failure: 

• Enable compression for the backups on disk
• Configure automatic backup of the control file and server parameter file 

 

This task tests whether a candidate knows how to use the Oracle RMAN CONFIGURE command to create persistent settings in the Oracle RMAN environment and then perform a backup. When performing the task, the candidate should use the following settings to enable compression of the backups on disk: 

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET; 

CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON;