Preface

This manual provides an architectural and conceptual overview of the Oracle database server, which is an object-relational database management system. It describes how the Oracle database server functions, and it lays a conceptual foundation for much of the practical information contained in other manuals. Information in this manual applies to the Oracle database server running on all operating systems.

This preface contains these topics:

• Audience

• Documentation Accessibility

• Related Documentation

• Conventions

Audience

Oracle Database Concepts is intended for technical users, primarily database administrators and database application developers, who are new to Oracle Database. Typically, the reader of this manual has had experience managing or developing applications for other relational databases.

To use this manual, you must know the following:

• Relational database concepts in general

• Concepts and terminology in Chapter 1, "Introduction to Oracle Database"

• The operating system environment under which you are running Oracle

Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible to all users, including users that are disabled. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/.

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.

Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation

This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.

Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/support/contact.html or visit http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/support.html if you are hearing impaired.

Related Documentation

This manual is intended to be read with the following manuals:

• Oracle Database 2 Day DBA

• Oracle Database 2 Day Developer's Guide

For more related documentation, see "Oracle Database Documentation Roadmap".

Many manuals in the Oracle Database documentation set use the sample schemas of the seed database, which is installed by default when you install Oracle Database. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you can use them.

Conventions

The following text conventions are used in this manual: