Before You Begin

This guide provides operating system-specific information on using Oracle Parallel Server for Windows NT. Other Oracle Parallel Server implementation, installation and configuration issues are covered in your Oracle Parallel Server documentation set.

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 the cluster and network hardware
Object-relational database management concepts

Structure

This guide contains the following chapters and appendices.

Chapter 1 New Features in This Release

Describes the new features in this release, and where to find information on Oracle Parallel Server for Windows NT.

Chapter 2 Migrating or Upgrading to Release 8.1

Describes the steps to migrate or upgrade to release 8.1.

Chapter 3 Creating Raw Devices

Describes setting up raw devices for Oracle Parallel Server data files, control files and redo log files for various configurations.

Chapter 4 Managing Raw Devices

Describes additional utilities in this release to manage raw devices.

Appendix A Directory Structure

Describes the directory structures for Oracle Parallel Server.

Documentation and Code Conventions

The following conventions are used in this guide:

Convention Example Meaning

All uppercase plain

ORANT\NETWORK

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 is used to indicate a variable:
filename
Italic is 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 [ ]

X:\[PATHNAME]\ORACLE\
HOME_NAME

Encloses optional items. For example, when you create an OFA-compliant Oracle home directory, you can place an optional pathname before the \ORACLE pathname.
Square brackets also indicate a function key, for example [Enter].

Choose Start >

Choose Start > Programs > Oracle > HOME_NAME > Network Administration > Net8 Easy Config

How to start a program. For example, to start Net8 Easy Config, you must click the Start button on the taskbar and then choose Programs, Oracle, HOME_NAME Oracle Universal Installer.

C:\>

C:\ORACLE\ORA81>

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

\OPS

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

ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_BASE

Go to the ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\BIN directory

In this Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA)-compliant release, all subdirectories are no longer under a top level ORACLE_HOME directory. There is now a new top level directory called ORACLE_BASE that by default is C:\ORACLE.

HOME_NAME

OracleHOME_NAMETNSListener80

Represents the Oracle home name.
The home name can be up to sixteen 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\NETWORK	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 is used to indicate a variable: filename Italic is 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 [ ]	X:\[PATHNAME]\ORACLE\ HOME_NAME	Encloses optional items. For example, when you create an OFA-compliant Oracle home directory, you can place an optional pathname before the \ORACLE pathname. Square brackets also indicate a function key, for example [Enter].
Choose Start >	Choose Start > Programs > Oracle > HOME_NAME > Network Administration > Net8 Easy Config	How to start a program. For example, to start Net8 Easy Config, you must click the Start button on the taskbar and then choose Programs, Oracle, HOME_NAME Oracle Universal Installer.
C:\>	C:\ORACLE\ORA81>	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	\OPS	Indicates that the directory is a subdirectory of the root directory.
ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_BASE	Go to the ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\BIN directory	In this Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA)-compliant release, all subdirectories are no longer under a top level ORACLE_HOME directory. There is now a new top level directory called ORACLE_BASE that by default is C:\ORACLE.
HOME_NAME	OracleHOME_NAMETNSListener80	Represents the Oracle home name. The home name can be up to sixteen 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.