Re: spfile vs pfile in 9i

Howard J. Rogers wrote:

>
> In summary: don't over-sell the spfile. It is merely a binary version of
> the init.ora, and intrinsically has no advantages over the init.ora at
> all.

The one aspect of SPFILE that I like is that it remains on the server, regardless of where the DBA is who is 'editing' the parameters. Which means that changes to the dynamic params that need to survive a shutdown are "guaranteed" to be in place, regardless of the mechanisms used to make those changes.

IOW, I think the big single advantage of SPFILE comes in a multi-dba shop that uses OEM and OMS as a centralized management environment. In that environment, the DBAs don't need to coordinate their personal init.ora files during 24x7 hand-offs, or remotely log in when restarting database. (And yes, I do know that NFS, etc can work around that issue assuming security permits that.)

Which allows for a centralized remote-DBA service, remote management service, technology hostng and things like Oracle On Demand.

But in general I agree with your assessment. /Hans Received on Fri Oct 22 2004 - 15:59:35 CDT