Planning for Database Creation

Prepare to create the database by research and careful planning. Table 2-1 lists some
recommended actions:
Table 2-1 Database Planning Tasks
Action
Plan the database tables and indexes and estimate the amount
of space they will require.

Additional Information
Part II, "Oracle Database
Structure and Storage"
Part III, "Schema Objects"

Plan the layout of the underlying operating system files your

database will comprise. Proper distribution of files can improve
database performance dramatically by distributing the I/O
during file access. You can distribute I/O in several ways when
you install Oracle software and create your database. For
example, you can place redo log files on separate disks or use
striping. You can situate datafiles to reduce contention. And
you can control data density (number of rows to a data block).
If you create a Flash Recovery Area, Oracle recommends that
you place it on a storage device that is different from that of the
datafiles.
Consider using Oracle-managed files and Automatic Storage
Management to create and manage the operating system files
that make up your database storage.

Select the global database name, which is the name and

location of the database within the network structure. Create
the global database name by setting both the DB_NAME and
DB_DOMAIN initialization parameters.
Familiarize yourself with the initialization parameters
contained in the initialization parameter file. Become familiar
with the concept and operation of a server parameter file. A
server parameter file lets you store and manage your
initialization parameters persistently in a server-side disk file.

Oracle Database Performance

Tuning Guide
Oracle Database Backup and
Recovery User's Guide
Your Oracle operating
systemspecific
documentation, including the
appropriate Oracle Database
installation guide.
Chapter 15, "Using OracleManaged Files"
Oracle Database Storage
Administrator's Guide
"Determining the Global
Database Name"

"About Initialization
Parameters and Initialization
Parameter Files"
"What Is a Server Parameter
File?"
Oracle Database Reference

Select the database character set.

All character data, including data in the data dictionary, is
stored in the database character set. You must specify the

Oracle Database
Globalization Support Guide

Action

Additional Information

database character set when you create the database.

If clients using different character sets will access the database,
then choose a superset that includes all client character sets.
Otherwise, character conversions may be necessary at the cost
of increased overhead and potential data loss.
You can also specify an alternate character set.
Caution: AL32UTF8 is the Oracle Database character set that is
appropriate for XMLType data. It is equivalent to the IANA
registered standard UTF-8 encoding, which supports all valid
XML characters.
Do not confuse Oracle Database database character set UTF8
(no hyphen) with database character set AL32UTF8 or with
character encoding UTF-8. Database character set UTF8 has
been superseded by AL32UTF8. Do not use UTF8 for XML data.
UTF8 supports only Unicode version 3.1 and earlier; it does not
support all valid XML characters. AL32UTF8 has no such
limitation.
Using database character set UTF8 for XML data could
potentially cause a fatal error or affect security negatively. If a
character that is not supported by the database character set
appears in an input-document element name, a replacement
character (usually "?") is substituted for it. This will terminate
parsing and raise an exception.
Consider what time zones your database must support.
Oracle Database uses one of two time zone files as the source
of valid time zones. The default time zone file is
timezonelrg.dat. It contains more time zones than the other
time zone file, timezone.dat.

"Specifying the Database

Time Zone File"

Select the standard database block size. This is specified at

database creation by the DB_BLOCK_SIZE initialization
"Specifying Database Block
parameter and cannot be changed after the database is created. Sizes"
The SYSTEM tablespace and most other tablespaces use the
standard block size. Additionally, you can specify up to four
nonstandard block sizes when creating tablespaces.
Determine the appropriate initial sizing for the SYSAUX
tablespace.

"About the SYSAUX

Tablespace"

Action

Additional Information

Plan to use a default tablespace for non-SYSTEM users to

prevent inadvertent saving of database objects in the SYSTEM
tablespace.

"Creating a Default
Permanent Tablespace"

Plan to use an undo tablespace to manage your undo data.

Chapter 14, "Managing

Undo"

Chapter 10, "Managing the

Develop a backup and recovery strategy to protect the database Redo Log"
from failure. It is important to protect the control file by
multiplexing, to choose the appropriate backup mode, and to
Chapter 11, "Managing
manage the online and archived redo logs.
Archived Redo Logs"
Chapter 9, "Managing
Control Files"
Oracle Database Backup and
Recovery User's Guide
Familiarize yourself with the principles and options of starting Chapter 3, "Starting Up and
up and shutting down an instance and mounting and opening a Shutting Down"
database.