Chapter 14. Securing the Oracle Listener, Diagnostic Sources, and Memory
ORACLE DATABASE 10G: ADMINISTRATION II EXAM OBJECTIVES COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER:
Secure the listener.
Remove default EXTPROC entry and add a separate listener to handle external procedure calls.
Diagnostic Sources
Use the alert log and database trace files for diagnostic purposes.
View alerts using Enterprise Manager.
Control the size and location of trace files.
Monitoring and Managing Memory
Implement Automatic Shared Memory Management.
Manually configure SGA parameters for various memory components in the SGA.
Use Automatic PGA Memory Management.
NOTE
Exam objectives are subject to change at any time without prior notice and at Oracle's sole discretion. Please visit Oracle's Training and Certification website (http://www.oracle.com/education/certification/) for the most current exam objectives listing.
In this chapter, three distinct topics will be addressed: listener security, diagnostic sources, and automatic memory management. Security is a topic that seems to be on everyone's mind lately, and with good reason. Many network elements once thought to be secure are being proved otherwise at an alarming rate. Oracle's TNS (Transparent Network Substrate) listener is no exception.
Historically, the listener has received little attention or fanfare. However, with the advent of the Internet, security holes have been discovered that could be putting your database at risk. In this section, you will learn the security issues surrounding the listener, as well as how to address them to make your database more secure.
Also in this chapter, you will learn about Oracle's diagnostic sources. When problems in the database come up, it is important to know what sources of information are available to aid in the troubleshooting process. Oracle provides a wealth of data in the form of logs and trace files that you can use to resolve database issues, or you can go to Oracle technical support. In this section, you will learn the types of diagnostic data that Oracle provides. You'll also learn how to locate and view the information.
Lastly, you will learn about the automatic memory management options provided in Oracle 10g. As you are probably well aware, the sizing and management of SGA and PGA memory has historically been one of the most time-consuming elements in the life of a DBA. Oracle's new automatic memory management options relieve you of this task, and will do a better job. In this section, you will learn about the Automatic Shared Memory Management (ASMM) feature, which simplifies memory management for the SGA. You'll also learn about the Automatic PGA Memory Management (APMM) feature, which simplifies and optimizes PGA memory allocation.