As we begin an Oracle installation, it's important to understand exactly what an installation of the Oracle Database Server will provide us. In this section, we examine the concepts behind an Oracle installation and look at what will actually be installed on the machine when we're finished.
When installing Oracle, we should first note that an Oracle software installation is not the same as creating a database, although it is possible to accomplish both with certain installation procedures. When we speak of an Oracle database installation, we're referring to the process of loading the necessary software on a server that can support the creation and operation of an Oracle Database. Thus, we can say that an Oracle database cannot be created on a server unless an Oracle installation has occurred first. Once the installation is complete, our server will contain the Oracle kernel and the various tools needed to administer...