Oracle Database 11g: The Top New Features for DBAs and Developers by Arup Nanda

In this multipart series, learn how important new features such as Database Replay, Flashback Data Archive, and SecureFiles work via simple, actionable how-to's and sample code.

Change, although constantly present, is seldom risk-free. Even if the change is relatively minor (creating an index for example), your goal is probably to predict its precise impact as accurately as possible and then take appropriate action

Many new change assurance (or "Real Application Testing," as Oracle calls it) features in Oracle Database 11g bring that dream closer to reality. The Database Replay tool, for example, allows you to capture production database workload and replay it in a test (or even the same) database to assess the impact of change. Or consider SQL Performance Analyzer, which predicts the performance impact of changes to SQL before they are made. In my opinion, this Real Application Testing functionality alone justifies the upgrade.

Overall, Oracle Database 11g makes database infrastructure far more efficient, resilient, and manageable. For example, very compelling new features in the realm of partitioning ease the design and management of partitioned tables immensely.

In this series (as in the previous series focusing on Oracle Database 10g), you will learn how these new features work via simple, actionable how-to's and sample code.

Enjoy the series, and the release!

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Database Replay Explore Database Replay, the new tool that captures SQL statements and lets you replay them at will.	Partitioning Learn about Referential, Internal, and Virtual Column partitioning; new sub-partitioning options; and more.
Transaction Management Get an introduction to Flashback Data Archive and explore Enterprise Manager's LogMiner interface.	Schema Management Add columns with a default value easily and explore invisible indexes, virtual columns, and read only tables.
SQL Plan Management Use bind variables that pick the right plan every time and ensure a new execution plan is perfect before it's used.	SQL Performance Analyzer Accurately assess the impact of rewriting of SQL statements and get suggested improvements.
SQL Access Advisor Get advice about optimal table design based on actual use of the table, not just data.	PL/SQL: Efficient Coding Triggers that fire several times at different events and ability to force triggers of the same type to follow a sequence are some new gems.
RMAN Explore Data Recovery Advisor, do parallel backup of the same file, and create and manage virtual catalogs.	Security Learn about Tablespace Encryption, case-sensitive passwords, data masking, and other features.
Automatic Storage Management Learn about new SYSASM role, variable extent sizes, and other ASM improvements.	Manageability Explore automatic memory management, multicolumn statistics, online patching, and more features.
Caching and Pooling Explore SQL Result Cache, PL/SQL Function Cache, and Database Resident Connection Pooling.	SQL Operations: Pivot and Unpivot Present information in a spreadsheet-type crosstab report from any relational table using simple SQL, and store any data from a crosstab table to a relational table.
SecureFiles Explore next-generation LOBs: LOB encryption, compression, deduplication, and asynchronicity.	Resiliency Explore Automatic Health Monitor, Automatic Diagnostic Repository, and other new resiliency features.
Data Guard Query the physical standby database in real time without shutting down recovery, just for starters.	PL/SQL Performance Explore in-lining of code, "real" native compilation, PLS timer, use of simple integer, and more.
Data Warehousing and OLAP Get a tour of new features in these areas, including Cube Organized MVs.	And Don't Forget... COPY command, Export/Imports, Data Pump improvements, and more.