newbie: multiple databases

Coming from a Sybase background, I find Oracle really hard to grasp.

I'm trying to set up three different databases on one host. I want them all to be accessible and running at all times.

In Sybase this would be very easy because there is just one database server in which I create the three databases. As long as the server were running, I would be able to access any database I wanted or all three simultaneously.

With Oracle it seems that only one database can be running at any one time within one "server" or "instance". So does that mean that I must have 3 servers running? And how do I create these other servers? Do I have to install each server or is there an easy way to replicate the servers?

I don't understand Oracle's concept of a database server even though I've been reading the dba handbook on the architecture. Maybe it's because I keep trying to relate it to Sybase and it doesn't fit.

Help would be much appreciated. Thank you,

kim Received on Wed Sep 24 1997 - 00:00:00 CDT