Database Versus Instance
People, even experienced DBAs, dealing with Oracle often confuse the idea of what a database is with what an instance is.
Oracle Server
The files, processes, and memory structures, whether used when processing SQL statements or not, make up the Oracle Server. The Oracle Server consists of the Oracle instance and the Oracle database.
Database
An Oracle database consists of the physical datafiles and the other physical supporting files that assist in the controlling of the access and operation. The collection of data is treated as a single unit. To interact with these files, and the information in these files, you need the assistance of the operating system (for resources such as memory and I/O subsystem) and a set of specific ...
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