Oracle8^™ for Windows NT

Oracle8 for Windows NT extends the tradition of the industry-leading Oracle8. With major enhancements in performance, scalability, functionality, manageability, and reliability, Oracle8 for Windows NT represents a significant advance in Oracle database technology. The combined strength of Oracle8 and the tight integration with Windows NT brings ease of use and power to the era of network computing.

ORACLE8 FOR WINDOWS NT SETS PACE

Oracle8 for Windows NT sets the pace for the simple, powerful, reliable, and secure database for network computing. Based on an advanced, scalable architecture, Oracle8 for Windows NT addresses the needs of today's most demanding and complex database applications. Oracle8 for Windows NT provides:

• Ease of Use Oracle8 for Windows NT incorporates ease-of-use features that make it ideal for any computing environment. A simple install and a pre-configured and pre-tuned database provide easy and quick operation of the database.

• Multithreaded Architecture  Oracle8 for Windows NT delivers maximum performance and scalability through its unique design with the Windows NT multithreaded architecture. In addition, Oracle8 for Windows NT has been optimized to take full advantage of NT's multitasking and I/O capabilities.

• Windows NT Integration  Oracle8 for Windows NT offers tight integration with the Windows NT Registry, Windows NT Performance Monitor, Windows NT Event Viewer, Windows NT Service, and Windows NT Security Login.

Oracle8 for Windows NT significantly improves support for high-end online transaction processing (OLTP) and decision support systems. Oracle8 for Windows NT includes all the necessary tools to build business-critical applications, ensure efficient and reliable data access, and comprehensively and easily manage corporate data. Oracle8 for Windows NT is ideal for workgroups, branch offices, line of businesses, and centralized enterprises.

NCA for Network-Centric Computing

Oracle's open, standards-based Network Computing Architecture (NCA) allows IT organizations to spend less time struggling with interoperability and more time focusing on deploying solutions. Oracle8 for Windows NT, a major component of NCA, is designed to meet the demands of network-centric computing and object-oriented development methods. NCA provides maximum extensibility and is based on open industry standards such as CORBA and IIOP. Whether for traditional enterprise applications or electronic commerce on the Web, Oracle8 for Windows NT and NCA provide the power, robustness, network integration, and flexibility to support the most demanding applications.

ONLINE TRANSACTION PROCESSING

Unmatched Scalability for Transaction Processing

New technology in Oracle8 for Windows NT allows database applications to scale much higher than ever before. Together with Oracle8's parallel architecture and Windows NT's multitasking, multithreaded environment, Oracle8 for Windows NT provides OLTP applications with scalability to support thousands of users and extremely high-volume transaction workloads. Oracle8 for Windows NT provides exceptional scalability on both SMP and clusters.

OLTP applications take advantage of Oracle8 for Windows NT's parallel architecture by distributing tasks or worker threads across multiple processors or machines, such as in a clustered environment, improving individual transaction response times and overall system throughput. Oracle8 for Windows NT efficiently prioritizes the threads to achieve maximum performance. The Windows NT operating system automatically balances processing workload evenly across allocated hardware and operating system resources.

Oracle8 for Windows NT also includes support for Oracle's multithreaded, multi-server (MTS) architecture. This architecture coordinates thousands of simultaneous user requests. Individual requests are queued and serviced by a minimum of server threads. This allows for efficient memory utilization.

Sophisticated caching of database blocks, SQL execution plans, and executable stored procedures takes maximum advantage of available server memory. Available system resources can be precisely allocated with a high degree of control, optimizing performance to the capabilities of the system and to the system workload on a dynamic basis. I/O operations are similarly specialized, utilizing different techniques such as asynchronous and multi-block reads and writes to improve response times and overall system throughput for all users and all requests. Stored procedures and database triggers are stored in compiled form, allowing them to be executed directly without recompilation or parsing, resulting in optimum run-time performance.

Large User Population Support

Oracle8 and Net8^ƒ efficiently utilize operating system and networking resources, allowing tens of thousands of concurrent users to connect over multiple network protocols. Connection pooling temporarily drops the physical connection for idle users (and transparently re-establishes the connection when needed), increasing the number of users that can be supported. The Connection Manager multiplexes several user sessions over one network connection, reducing resource requirements especially for multi-tier applications.

TP Monitor Support

Oracle8 for Windows NT provides XA support for Transaction Processing (TP) monitors. Dynamic XA support provides high performance for multi-tier applications with industry-standard, XA-compliant TP monitors. This offers a robust way to bring Oracle8 for Windows NT into a heterogeneous environment, supporting mission-critical applications that use distributed transactions across multiple platforms and databases.

VERY LARGE DATABASE SUPPORT

Oracle8 for Windows NT addresses the largest and most demanding OLTP and data warehousing applications with databases up to hundreds of terabytes in size.

Partitioned Tables and Indexes

Partitioned tables and indexes divide large tables and indexes into pieces which can be separately managed, rather than managing the entire table as one large monolithic object. Partitions are a "divide and conquer" technique which provides scalable performance with a large amount of data. Partitioning decreases the time required to perform many administrative operations by applying the operations to smaller units of storage, which improves performance through increased parallelism, and improves availability by containing the impact of failures.

Enhanced Parallelism

Oracle8 extends Oracle's industry-leading parallelism to insert, update, and delete operations, as well as queries. In addition, all queries can now be run in parallel, including those based on an index scan and a single partition scan, as well as full-table scans.

OBJECT-RELATIONAL FEATURES

Oracle8 for Windows NT provides an object-relational paradigm for complex applications. This improved way of defining data structures allows developers to directly define their business documents, such as purchase orders, inventory items, and data warehouse information, within Oracle8. This allows developers of mainstream commercial applications to better manage their business documents.

MANAGEABILITY

Easy to Install and Use

Oracle8 for Windows NT incorporates ease-of-use features that make installation and setup simple. An intuitive install procedure provides all that is needed to get a pre-tuned and pre-configured Oracle8 database up and running. This installation allows users to focus more on their database applications rather than on the database itself.

Central Management

Oracle^» Enterprise Manager provides a single integrated management console for central administration of multiple remote servers, enabling the kind of "lights out" management that is vital in large, distributed environments. The fully integrated, graphical Oracle Enterprise Manager allows administrators to perform complex management tasks with point-and-click ease. The combined power and simplicity allows any administrator, at any level of expertise, to manage the Oracle8 database, freeing up time for other tasks. They can schedule and automate jobs and events on both specific objects or groups of objects, greatly simplifying management operations.

Wizards

Oracle8 for Windows NT also includes major improvements in manageability through the use of several new Wizards. The task of managing a robust, powerful database engine can now be done easily and efficiently with these Wizards.

Oracle Database Assistant

• Oracle Database Assistant Ÿ Easy-to-use Wizards such as the Oracle Database Assistant help you quickly create databases. The task of creating a database can now be done automatically and easily.

• Oracle Data Migration Assistant Ÿ Oracle Data Migration Assistant automatically migrates your existing Oracle7^ƒ for Windows NT database to Oracle8 for Windows NT. The task of migration is transparent. Moving to Oracle8 for Windows NT is simple and effortless.

Oracle Web Publishing Assistant

• Oracle Web Publishing Assistant Ÿ Getting data from Oracle8 into HTML has never been easier or faster. No knowledge of SQL or HTML syntax is even required.

• Oracle Migration Assistant for Microsoft Access Ÿ Oracle Migration Assistant for Microsoft Access provides complete and easy migration of schema or data, or both, from your Microsoft Access database to Oracle8 for Windows NT. The wizard walks you through several simple tasks and in just seconds you're up and running.

• Oracle INTYPE File Assistant Ÿ The Oracle INTYPE File Assistant provides an easy and intuitive GUI to generate input files necessary for the Object Type Translator. This tool is used in conjunction with Oracle development environments to build rapid object-based applications.

• Oracle Net8 Assistant Ÿ Oracle Net8 Assistant provides fast and simple configuration of networking for Oracle8. Configuring your network environment is easier than ever.

• Improved Documentation and Help System Ÿ The online documentation and help system has been completely revised and rewritten. The new Information Navigator quickly and easily helps you view and search the answers to your most commonly asked questions. Oracle8 gives you the choice of reading either HTML or Acrobat files.

Additional Management Enhancements

Oracle8 for Windows NT includes several other management enhancements to provide greater flexibility and simplicity.

• SMS enabled Ÿ Customer sites supporting Microsoft SMS for software distribution and asset management may now distribute Oracle8 client software and Oracle8 for Windows NT. Predefined Oracle packages have been added to allow for simple software distribution through SMS.

• Starting/Stopping Oracle Instance Ÿ You can now start or shutdown the Oracle8 for Windows NT instance by simply going to the Windows NT Service Control Panel and selecting the appropriate service action.

• Automatic OS Authentication Ÿ Oracle8 for Windows NT employs a more integrated security login model. Administrators can grant access to Oracle8 for Windows NT via secured access to NT domains.

OPEN DATA ACCESS

Oracle8 for Windows NT leverages your investment in the tools and applications you have today by providing open data access through a variety of standard data access methods. These include ODBC, Oracle Objects for OLE, JDBC, and native Oracle drivers. By providing open connectivity with open deployment, Oracle8 for Windows NT fits in any environment, regardless of existing corporate standards. Oracle Objects for OLE provides a custom control (OCX or ActiveX) combined with an OLE in-process server that lets you plug native Oracle8 functionality into your Windows applications.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT WITHOUT LIMITS

Oracle8 for Windows NT provides a single database management system that can satisfy all of your current and future data requirements. Oracle8 ConText^» Cartridge enables Oracle8 for Windows NT to manage text with the same security, scalability, integrity, and intelligence as it manages structured data. Oracle8 Spatial Data Cartridge allows you to efficiently store, access, and manipulate your spatial data in the same way as your structured data. Oracle8 Image Cartridge provides for the storage, retrieval, and processing of two-dimensional, static bit-mapped images. Images are stored efficiently using popular compression schemes in industry-standard desktop publishing image interchange formats. And Oracle Video Cartridge stores, manages, and delivers high-resolution, full-screen video and high-fidelity audio from a server to a client over a corporate network.

Because of the openness of the data cartridge architecture under NCA, developers may extend the capabilities of Oracle8 for Windows NT by developing additional customized cartridges.

Hardware and Software Requirements

• Intel 486 or higher
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or higher
• 48 MB RAM
• 200 MB hard disk space
• CD-ROM required for installation

Oracle8 for Windows NT Key Features

System Integration

• Windows NT Performance Monitor Integration
• Windows NT Event Viewer Integration
• Windows NT Registry Support
• Windows NT Service Integration
• Native Win32 Administration Utilities
• Native Support for SMP
• Single process, multithreaded, parallel architecture
• Dynamic load balancing for high load
• NT dynamic synchronization
• Security Integration
• Automatic Operating System Authentication, Operating System role management
• Raw Device Support
• Asynchronous I/O for high-performance
  data access
• Winsock 2.0 Support
• SMS-enabled

Networking

• Net8
• TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, Named Pipes, DECNet, DCE, NDS, LU6.2

Management/Ease of Use

• Oracle Database Assistant
• Oracle Data Migration Assistant
• Oracle Web Publishing Assistant
• Oracle Migration Assistant for Microsoft Access
• Oracle INTYPE File Assistant
• Oracle Net Assistant
• NT Backup/Recovery Manager
• Start/Stop Oracle Instance from NT Service

Transaction Processing and Decision Support

Transaction Processing

• Multithreaded Server Architecture
• Scalable SMP performance
• Shared database buffer cache
• Shared SQL cache (SQL statements, PL/SQL procedures, functions, packages, and triggers)
• Shared dictionary cache
• Fast and Group Commits
• Deferred Writes
• Serializable Transactions
• Queuing

SQL Optimizer

• Cost-based, syntax-independent optimization
• ANALYZE table statistics generation
• Nested-loop and sort-merge join selection
• "Star" query algorithm support
• Manual UNION ALL predicate push-down
• Histograms

Transactional Data Access

• B-tree single column and concatenated
  column indexes
• Clustered tables, hash-clusters, application-specific hash functions
• ROWIDs
• Query results directly from index lookup
• Integrated bitmapped indexes
• Index-organized tables

VLDB support

• Table partitioning
• Index partitioning
• Partition-aware optimizer
• Concurrency Control and Reliable Results
• Unrestricted row-level locking
• No lock escalation
• Contention-free queries
• Unique sequence number generation
• Non-blocking, multi-version, read-consistent query results

Oracle8 Parallel DML

• Parallel execution of SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE commands
• Parallel sorts, joins, and aggregates
• Parallel inserts, updates, deletes
• Parallel direct database reads and direct
  database writes
• Parallelization of user-written code
• Parallel CREATE INDEX and CREATE TABLE AS SELECT commands
• Parallel direct-path data loading
• Oracle8 Parallel Server for SMP and
  MPP architectures*
• Fully integrated parallel query architecture
• Application transparency
• Supports standard server features/options
• Dynamic workload balancing

High Availability

• Online backup by file, table-space,
  or database
• Online recovery
• Parallel recovery
• Parallel backup/restore utility
• Point-in-time database, tablespace recovery
• Incremental backup
• Read-only tablespaces
• Mirrored multisegment log files
• Checksums on database and redo log file blocks
• Dynamic resizing of database files
• Oracle8 Parallel Server for highly
  available applications*
• Oracle Fail Safe*
• Standby database
• Third-party integration of tape backup

Distributed Systems

Distributed Queries and Transactions

• Transparent remote and distributed query
• Distributed, optimized joins
• Location and network transparency
• Integrated distributed query architecture
• Transparent, multi-site distributed transactions
• Distributed SQL updates and remote procedure calls (RPCs)
• Commit transparency
• Automatic failure detection and resolution

Open Gateways

• Data source transparency
• Transparent SQL gateways
• Transparent procedural gateways
• Distributed queries and update transactions
• Compliant with XA standard for TP-monitor coordinated two-phase commits*

Data Replication

• Multiple, read-only snapshots (basic primary site replication)
• Symmetric Replication
• Updatable snapshots (both master and snapshot tables updatable)
• Multiple master configurations (full table replication between master sites hybrid configurations (combine snapshot and multiple master configurations)
• Fail-over configuration support
• Automatic conflict detection and resolution
• Distributed schema management
• Synchronous and Asynchronous Replication support
• Subquery snapshots
• Object-Relational Database*

Object Types

• Object types with constructor methods
• VARRAY and Nested Table collection types
• Object ID reference pointers
• User-defined member methods
• Ordering methods

Views

• Relational and object views over relational and object data
• INSTEAD OF triggers to update views

Client-side Object Support

• Client-side cache
• Object support in Pro*C, OCI
• Object Type Translator utility to generate C header files

LOBs

• Binary, character LOBs with random, piece-wise access
• LOB storage inside or outside the database Application Development

SQL Implementation

• 100-percent ANSI/ISO SQL 92 Entry Level compliant NIST tested
• ANSI/ISO standard precompilers applications interface (API)
• Robust SQL extensions including UNION, INTERSECT, MINUS, outer join, and tree-structured queries (CONNECT BY)
• SQL3 inline views (query in the FROM clause of another query)
• Updatable join views

Declarative Integrity Constraints

• 100-percent ANSI/ISO standard declarative entity and referential integrity constraints
• CHECK, DEFAULT, not NULL constraints
• PRIMARY, FOREIGN, UNIQUE keys
• Optional DELETE CASCADE
• Constraint checking at end of statements or end of transactions

Stored Procedures

• PL/SQL procedural extension to ANSI/ISO standard SQL Strongly typed variable declarations (SQL datatypes)
• Block structure flow control, including FOR and WHILE loops, and IF THEN ELSE SQL cursor support
• Static and dynamic SQL support
• Robust exception handling
• JSQL Java-stored procedures and triggers
• Subprogram types: procedures, functions,
  and packages
• Subprograms stored in shared, compiled form
• Called from Oracle and third-party tools ‡ , Oracle Precompilers^‡, Oracle Call Interface, and other stored procedures and database triggers
• Remote procedure calls (RPCs) protected by a transparent two-phase commit
• User-defined PL/SQL functions in SQL
• Cursor variables for easy retrieval of multi-row result sets
• Wrapper utility hiding PL/SQL application code in binary source format
• External procedure callouts
• Server side file I/O

Database Triggers

• Procedural code executed automatically on INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE
• Triggers execute either BEFORE or
  AFTER operations
• Triggers fire once per statement or once per row
• Modeled after ANSI/ISO SQL3 specification

Programmatic Interfaces

• Pro*C/C++ for Windows NT supports Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0
• Pro*COBOL^» for Windows NT supports MicroFocus COBOL 4.0
• Embedded SQL and PL/SQL application development
• 100-percent ANSI/ISO X3.135- 1992 compliant. FIPS flagger meets FIPS 127-2 requirements
• Oracle Call Interface: procedure/function call interface
• JDBC and JSQL for Java applications
• Multi-threaded client application support National Language Support
• Unicode UTF-2 variable-width encoding
• Per-session control of language preference with system defaults
• Character set conversion for heterogeneous client/server and distributed database environments
• National calendar support
• Dual database character sets Data Security
• Choice of internal or external user authentication
• External choices include: operating system, OS security package, network operating system, security service, and authentication device
• Encrypted passwords
• Password policy enforcement
• Global users and roles
• Full datastream encryption through DES and RSA RC4 encryption algorithms^€
• Complete protocol support and application transparency
• Fine-grained database privileges
• Hierarchical role-based security for group-level access control
• Site customized DBA roles
• Roles are basis for ANSI/ISO SQL3 security standard
• Evaluated at US TCSEC C2, European ITSEC E3
• Automatic auditing on per-session or per-object basis
• Application-specific or context-sensitive auditing via PL/SQL stored procedures and database triggers Systems Management

Oracle Enterprise Manager

• Systems Manager¹easy to use, GUI, menu-driven DBA utility for Windows
• Secure remote database administration
• Data Dictionary and Dynamic Performance Tables
• Application Identification Facility
• PROFILEs limit user resource consumption
• Job Queues for automatic scheduling of PL/SQL stored procedure execution
• Remote SQL Tracing
• SNMP Support: public RDBMS MIB, Oracle8 private MIB, Replication MIB
• Table TRUNCATE
• Enable/disable constraints and triggers
• Advanced space management features
• Oracle Expert and Oracle^» TRACE
• Requires Oracle Advanced Networking Option^ƒ Requires Oracle or third-party tool, Oracle Precompiler, or Oracle SQL*Module^»
• Requires appropriate optional feature bundle: Parallel Server option, Advanced Replication option, or Objects Option

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Oracle, Oracle Enterprise Manager, SQL*Module, Pro*COBOL, Oracle TRACE, and ConText are registered trademarks, and Enabling the Information Age, Oracle8, Oracle7, Oracle8 Spatial Data Cartridge, Oracle8 Image Cartridge, Oracle Video Cartridge, PL/SQL, Pro*C, Pro*C/C++, JSQL, Oracle Expert, Network Computing Architecture, and Advanced Networking Option are trademarks of Oracle Corporation.

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