Preface

This guide provides operating system-specific information on using Oracle Parallel Server for Windows NT. Topics discussed are:

Intended Audience

This guide is for network administrators and database administrators who install, configure, and use Oracle Parallel Server on Windows NT clusters.

Prerequisites

This guide assumes that you are familiar with:

Windows NT and have installed and tested it for your personal computer (PC) and network hardware
object relational database management concepts

Structure

This guide contains the following chapters and appendices.

Chapter 1, "Overview of Oracle Parallel Server"

Describes the main features and components of Oracle Parallel Server.

Chapter 2, "System Requirements"

Describes the specific hardware and software requirements for installing Oracle Parallel Server.

Chapter 3, "Performing Pre-Installation Tasks"

Guides you through necessary pre-installation tasks

Chapter 4, "Installing Oracle Parallel Server"

Describes how to install how to install the components needed for Oracle Parallel Server.

Chapter 5, "Configuring Oracle Parallel Server"

Describes how to configure an Oracle Parallel Server.

Chapter 6, "Installing and Configuring Oracle Parallel Server Manager"

Describes the tasks to install and configure Oracle Enterprise Manager and Performance Manager for parallel server management.

Chapter 7, "Administering Multiple Instances"

Describes Oracle Parallel Server initialization files and Oracle Parallel Server Manager.

Chapter 8, "Adding Instances and Nodes"

Describes how to add a third or fourth node to an existing cluster, and how to migrate from an single-instance database to multiple instances.

Chapter 9, "Backing Up and Recovering"

Describes NT Backup Manager and the NT Recovery Manager.

Appendix A, "Directory Structure"

Describes the directory structures for Oracle Parallel Server.

Appendix B, "Troubleshooting"

Describes how to resolve Oracle Parallel Server problems.

Glossary

Provides brief descriptions of terms used throughout this manual.

Conventions

The following conventions are used in this guide:

Convention Example Meaning

All uppercase plain

ORANT\DATABASE\INITORCL.ORA

Indicates command names, SQL reserved words, and keywords, as in ALTER DATABASE. All uppercase plain is also used for directory names and file names

Italic

Italic used to indicate a variable:
filename.ORA
Italic used for emphasis:
The WHERE clause may be used to join rows in different tables.

Indicates a value that you must provide. For example, if a command asks you to type filename, you must type the actual name of the file.
Italic is also used for emphasis in the text and to indicate the titles of other guides.

Square brackets [ ]

Start > Programs > Oracle for Windows NT - [HOME_NAME] > Oracle Database Assistant

Encloses optional items. For example, you can start Oracle Installer from the default Oracle home or from another Oracle home indicated by [HOME_NAME] if you use multiple Oracle homes.
Square brackets also indicate a function key, for example [Enter].

Choose Start >

Choose Start > Programs > Oracle for Windows NT > Oracle Installer

How to start a program. For example, to start Oracle Installer, you must click the Start button on the taskbar and then choose Programs, Oracle for Windows NT, Oracle Installer.

C:\>

C:\ORANT\DATABASE

Represents the Windows NT command prompt of the current hard disk drive. Your prompt reflects the subdirectory in which you are working. Referred to as the MS-DOS command prompt in this guide.

Backslash (\) before a directory name

\DATABASE

Indicates that the directory is a subdirectory of the root directory.

ORACLE_HOME

Go to the ORACLE_HOME\DATABASE directory

SVRMGR> @%ORACLE_HOME%\RDBMS80\ADMIN\CATALOG.SQL

ORACLE_HOME is represented as the hard drive letter and the top level directory where the Oracle software is installed, such as:
C:\ORANT for Windows NT
C:\ORAWIN95 for Windows 95
C:\ORAWIN98 for Windows 98
In Server Manager commands, you may see %ORACLE_HOME%. Server Manager is able to locate your Oracle Home directory using the %ORACLE_HOME% variable. This convention can be used in Server Manager, SQL*Plus, Export Utility, and Import Utility.

HOME_NAME

OracleHOME_NAMETNSListener80

Represents the Oracle home name if you use multiple Oracle homes. This convention is not applicable for a single Oracle home.
The home name can be up to 16 alphanumeric characters. The only special character allowed in the home name is the underscore.

HOMEID

HOME0, HOME1, HOME2

Represents a unique registry subkey for each Oracle home directory in which you install products. A new HOMEID is created and incremented each time you install products to a different Oracle home directory on one computer. Each HOMEID contains its own configuration parameter settings for installed Oracle products.

Symbols

period .
comma ,
hyphen -
semicolon ;
colon :
equal sign =
backslash \
single quote `
double quote "
parentheses ()

Symbols other than brackets and vertical bars must be entered in commands exactly as shown.

Convention	Example	Meaning
All uppercase plain	ORANT\DATABASE\INITORCL.ORA	Indicates command names, SQL reserved words, and keywords, as in ALTER DATABASE. All uppercase plain is also used for directory names and file names
Italic	Italic used to indicate a variable: filename.ORA Italic used for emphasis: The WHERE clause may be used to join rows in different tables.	Indicates a value that you must provide. For example, if a command asks you to type filename, you must type the actual name of the file. Italic is also used for emphasis in the text and to indicate the titles of other guides.
Square brackets [ ]	Start > Programs > Oracle for Windows NT - [HOME_NAME] > Oracle Database Assistant	Encloses optional items. For example, you can start Oracle Installer from the default Oracle home or from another Oracle home indicated by [HOME_NAME] if you use multiple Oracle homes. Square brackets also indicate a function key, for example [Enter].
Choose Start >	Choose Start > Programs > Oracle for Windows NT > Oracle Installer	How to start a program. For example, to start Oracle Installer, you must click the Start button on the taskbar and then choose Programs, Oracle for Windows NT, Oracle Installer.
C:\>	C:\ORANT\DATABASE	Represents the Windows NT command prompt of the current hard disk drive. Your prompt reflects the subdirectory in which you are working. Referred to as the MS-DOS command prompt in this guide.
Backslash (\) before a directory name	\DATABASE	Indicates that the directory is a subdirectory of the root directory.
ORACLE_HOME	Go to the ORACLE_HOME\DATABASE directory `SVRMGR> @%ORACLE_HOME%\RDBMS80\ADMIN\CATALOG.SQL`	ORACLE_HOME is represented as the hard drive letter and the top level directory where the Oracle software is installed, such as: C:\ORANT for Windows NT C:\ORAWIN95 for Windows 95 C:\ORAWIN98 for Windows 98 In Server Manager commands, you may see %ORACLE_HOME%. Server Manager is able to locate your Oracle Home directory using the %ORACLE_HOME% variable. This convention can be used in Server Manager, SQL*Plus, Export Utility, and Import Utility.
HOME_NAME	OracleHOME_NAMETNSListener80	Represents the Oracle home name if you use multiple Oracle homes. This convention is not applicable for a single Oracle home. The home name can be up to 16 alphanumeric characters. The only special character allowed in the home name is the underscore.
HOMEID	HOME0, HOME1, HOME2	Represents a unique registry subkey for each Oracle home directory in which you install products. A new HOMEID is created and incremented each time you install products to a different Oracle home directory on one computer. Each HOMEID contains its own configuration parameter settings for installed Oracle products.
Symbols	period . comma , hyphen - semicolon ; colon : equal sign = backslash \ single quote ` double quote " parentheses ()	Symbols other than brackets and vertical bars must be entered in commands exactly as shown.

Types of Documentation

Your documentation set consists of two types of documentation:

Documentation Type Describes...

Operating System-specific

Installation, configuration, and use of Oracle Parallel Server in a Windows NTenvironment. Operating system-specific documents are occasionally referred to in the generic documentation set. These documents are easy to identify because they always mention their specific operating system in their title.

Generic

Products that are uniform across all operating system platforms. The vast majority of documents in your documentation set belong to this category. While reading through the generic documentation set, you are occasionally asked to refer to your platform-specific or operating system-specific documentation for procedures specific to the Windows NT operating systems.
To easily identify where these generic documentation references are described in this document, see the index of this guide for the following entry:
generic documentation references
All generic documentation references described in this guide appear under this index entry.