by Howard Fosdick © 12/2005
Oracle has
introduced their DBA certifications for Oracle 10g. This article describes the new 10g certification
requirements. We’ll talk a bit about
what’s it like to take the tests. And
we’ll discuss the resources you can use to prepare for the exams. I emphasize free materials. Not only do these hold down your
certification costs, they’re really useful to ensure a “pass” -- yet many
candidates are unaware that they are available.
Oracle’s New
Certifications
With 10g, Oracle
continues its tradition of three levels of DBA certification. The requirements for the levels have changed
drastically, however, from those of Oracle 9i.
Here are the three levels of 10g DBA certification and their
requirements, listed in the order that you pursue them:
|
Level: |
Abbreviation: |
Requirements: |
|
|
|
|
|
Oracle Certified
Associate |
OCA |
1. Pass 1 exam |
|
Oracle Certified
Professional |
OCP |
1.
Pass 1 exam 2.
Take 1 Oracle-approved course |
|
Oracle Certified
Master |
OCM |
Oracle Corp. has
not yet announced the requirements for this level (as of November 2005) |
The first DBA
certification is the Oracle Certified Associate or OCA. To achieve this certificate, you just need
to pass one exam, number 1Z0-042, entitled Oracle Database 10g:
Administration I. You’ll have 120
minutes to take this test and face roughly 75 questions. You’ll need to get about 65% correct to
pass. Get the list of objectives for
this exam and more information about it from Oracle Corp. here.
If you pass the OCA
exam, Oracle Corp. will mail you your OCA certificate (suitable for framing)
and other “in club” goodies. You can
continue, if you like, to the next certification level, the Oracle Certified
Professional or OCP. This
is sometimes referred to as the OCP-DBA or Oracle-certified DBA. This is the most important, “standard” DBA
certification for Oracle DBAs. To
attain it you must pass one exam, number 1Z0-043 entitled Oracle Database
10g: Administration II. This exam
gives you 90 minutes to answer about 66% of its 70 questions correctly. You can find the exam objectives and other
information about the exam here.
You must also take
one Oracle Corp- approved course to fulfill the OCP requirements. This course can either be taken in a
classroom or online. For most
candidates, the online class is cheaper -- it avoids travel and hotel expenses. After you take the Oracle-required course
you have to fill in their completion
form and send it in to Oracle Corp. in order to get credit for the class.
Oracle Corp. gives
you a wide range of courses from which to choose in order to fulfill the OCP
course requirement. Most candidates
will want to take Oracle Database 10g: Administration Workshop II
because it directly prepares you for the OCP exam. But if you have other interests you have many alternatives. View a list of the approved courses you can
take here. Find information about the OCP exam and its
course requirement here.
Oracle’s most
advanced DBA certification is the Oracle Certified Master or OCM. In Oracle 9i this certification required
taking two Oracle-approved courses, plus passing a rather grueling hands-on
exam or “practicum” only given on-site at Oracle Corp. As of November 2005 Oracle has not yet
released the details of what the 10g database OCM requires. Here’s
where to look for more information on the OCM certification as it becomes
available.
Vendors reserve the
right to change their certification programs at any time, so double-check
Oracle’s web site before putting in the time and effort to certify. Make sure you agree with the terms specified
in their certification
agreement. Oracle’s certification
home page is here,
while their home page for Oracle 10g DBA certification is here. Oracle posts certification announcements at
their web site. It’s also your access
point to free goodies and certification study aids.
Upgrading Your
OCP-DBA to 10g
If you’re new to
certification, understand that you will have to take an “upgrade test” each
time a new database version comes out in order to keep your certification
current. For example, if you are
currently an Oracle 9i OCP-DBA, to upgrade your accreditation to 10g you need
to pass one exam, number 1Z0-040 Oracle Database 10g: New Features for
Administrators. Oracle also allows
8i-certified DBAs to upgrade to 10g by passing the single exam, 1Z0-045 Oracle
Database 10g: DBA New Features forOracle8i OCPs. Get information from
Oracle Corp. on these upgrade tests here.
New Special
Accreditations
Beyond the three
standard DBA certifications, Oracle offers “special accreditations” on
individual topics. These are new in
Oracle 10g. At the time of writing
Oracle has not released information on exactly what special accreditations will
be offered or their specific requirements.
If you attain an Oracle certification you may wish to visit Oracle’s DBA
certification home page in the future to see if any of the special
accreditations interests you.
What the Tests
are Like
If you have never
taken a certification exam before, understand that the tests are rigorous. While Oracle Corp. does not publish
“pass-rates,” it is widely believed that between 65% and 75% of the candidates
pass each test. Put another way, this
means your chances of failing any one exam are between 1 out of 4 and 1 out of
3! How could the tests be so difficult?
The questions are
detailed and involved. Even if you
consider yourself an “Oracle guru” you will have to study to pass. These tests don’t necessarily measure how
good you are at your job; they measure how well you can analyze and answer
high-detailed, involved questions on the test topics. You’ll need to study a book written specifically to help
candidates pass the exam you take.
All test questions
are multiple-choice. Some have a single
answer. Others ask you to pick several
correct answers for each question. Some
even have one answer that is technically correct but another answer the vendor
considers better.
To succeed, read
each question and all the possible answers in their entirety before
answering. Reading the questions and
answers very carefully is critical. In
many cases, you won’t know what the correct answer is. Eliminate answers you know are incorrect,
then take your best guess from the remaining options. This increases your chances for a correct answer. Answer every question, since correct
guesses count in your favor and there is no penalty for guessing. Use all the time available to you in taking
the test and be sure to check your answers.
For more test-taking advice, see my previous DBAZine article DBA
Certification: Test-taking and Study
Tips.
After you complete
the exam, press the Done button and you’ll immediately see your score
and whether you passed. If you run out
of time before pressing the Done button, the screen freezes when time is
up and you’ll be taken to the same results screen. You can print your test results on the LAN-attached printer. This is a good idea so that you have
evidence that you passed the test.
Oracle Corp. sends you a formal certificate and other certification
materials a few weeks later in the mail.
If you fail a test, you can opt to re-pay the exam fee and take it again
at a later time.
Oracle Corp.
outsources administration of the exams to a company called Prometric. Sign up to take a test through the Prometric web site. Oracle exams currently cost $125, which you
can pay by credit card online. While at
the Prometric web site you’ll choose from a list of local companies with facilities
where you can take the exam. You’ll
have to present two forms of picture identification when you show up to take an
exam. The testing site provides a PC
running the test-taking software. You
may not take anything with you into the exam.
What to Study
My previous article
DBA
Certification Secrets: How to Pass the Tests describes how following
these four steps gives you the best chance to pass:
We’ve already
discussed step (1). Beyond this you
need to get hands-on product experience. Get this at work and you’ll save
time. Otherwise you can freely download
Oracle 10g database for your Windows or Linux PC from the the
downloads page at the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) web site. Oracle’s
OTN web site
is a great source of free study resources including a download
of the 10g manual set and articles from Oracle Magazine. You can even fill out their online subcription
form and get Oracle Magazine delivered to your door free.
To find a good certification
book, go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and search on the
keywords “10g certification.”
Presently this search yields Oracle DBA certification books from two
competing publishers: McGraw-Hill/Oracle
Press and Sybex. The 10g
certification books from these publishers include:
Oracle
Database 10g OCP Certification All-In-One Exam Guide (McGraw-Hill
Osborne),
by John Watson and Damir Bersinic, ISBN: 0072257903. This book covers both the OCA Administration I test material and
the OCP Administration II test material.
OCA
Oracle 10g Administration I Study Guide : Exam 1Z0-042 (Sybex), by Dawes, Bryla et
al, ISBN: 0782143679.
OCP:
Oracle 10g Administration II Study Guide : Exam 1Z0-043 (Sybex), by Doug
Stuns, Tim Buterbaugh, Bob Bryla, ISBN: 0782143687.
The
two previous books can be purchased as a two-book set (with minor savings), as OCP:
Oracle 10g Certification Kit (1Z0-042 and 1Z0-043) (Sybex),
ISBN: 0782143695.
OCP:
Oracle 10g New Features for Administrators Study Guide: Exam 1Z0-040 (Sybex), by Bob Bryla, Biju
Thomas, ISBN: 0782143555.
OCP
Oracle Database 10g : New Features for Administrators Exam Guide (Oracle Press),
by Sam Alapati, ISBN: 0072258624.
Read the book
reviews at Amazon to see which books you prefer: you’ll be spending a lot of
time studying them. Or flip through the
books at a local bookstore to get a feel for them.
You can save some
money by buying used books online. If
you do, be sure the seller includes the CD(s) that came with the book. These include “practice tests,” sets of exam
questions that mimic the real thing. You’ll want to work with some practice tests to prepare for the
real exam.
Supplement your certification book with the Oracle
10g manuals. You can freely download
the entire Oracle 10g manual set from Oracle Corp. here. The manual set also ships with Oracle
database and is installable from the 10g database CDs.
You can also study
brief “study guides” available from CramSession. Download their free Oracle study guides here. Several vendors sell audio CDs you can
listen to in your car or on the commuter train, including PrepLogic and AudioWhiz. (Full disclosure: the author has developed Oracle DBA
certification materials for CramSession, PrepLogic and AudioWhiz in the past).
While all the
certification study books come with practice tests, some candidates buy tests
from 3rd parties. Oracle
Corp. iteself advertises the practice tests from Self Test Software. Other popular vendors include Transcender and PrepLogic. Our biggest single
recommendation for passing the Oracle exams is to study some top-notch practice
exams. Good practice
tests give you the advantage of understanding answers to a handful of the most
difficult or obscure questions. Given
that most candidates pass or fail by just a few questions, this ensures a
“pass” for the well-prepared candidate.
Do you need to take
courses to pass the exams? New or
inexperienced DBAs will find these useful.
Good providers of courses include Oracle Corp.,
TUSC, and the Database Domain. Experienced DBAs should be able to pass
without taking courses. If you want to
keep your certification costs down, be aware that courses are the most
expensive single cost in certification.
Instructor-led classes cost up to $500 per day, not including airfare
and hotel costs if travel is required.
If you are an experienced Oracle DBA, you probably do not need classroom
training to pass the certification tests.
Online forums are a
great place to ask technical questions and seek certification advice. Among the web sites covering Oracle are DB Forums, the
Quest
Software Pipelines, and Oracle
Corp.’s own forums. Other useful
web sites for Oracle professionals include DBAzine, Database Journal, Database Trends,
Database
Toolbox and DBA-Village.
The Independent Oracle Users
Group (IOUG) web site offers technical articles in its SELECT Magazine
and hosts active Web forums. IOUG also runs conferences (just as
Oracle Corporation does with its Oracle Open World
and Developer Days conferences).
I’ve given you some
objective advice on Oracle’s 10g DBA certifications and how to get started
towards obtaining them. Follow the
links to other resources to continue your quest. Good luck!
-------------------
Howard Fosdick has been an OCP-DBA since version 7. His new book Rexx Programmer’s Reference covers everything about Rexx including database programming, interfaces, interpreters, and object-oriented Rexx.