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I'm learning Oracle & SQL and I'm doing a project. I'd like it if someone could check the conclusion I've come to as a result of my research and tell me if I'm doing this right.

TL;DR question: i'm using Windows 10 and i want to build a (small) database on someone else's computer that I can access remotely. Do i need to install Linux in order to do this?

My goal: to set up a database on a computer that multiple people (like 3 max including me) can access. I would access it from a different computer that it's installed on.

My reading of the Oracle documentation has lead me to think that I need to do the following steps:

  1. DL Oracle using the Real Application Cluster installation rather than the single instance installation. This is because I want to be able to access the database remotely and possibly use it while another user is using it.

  2. To click that setting, I need to install the Oracle Grid Infrastructure. In order to do that I need to configure the user's environment (source: https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E18248_01/doc/install.112/e16763/pre_install.htm#BABIBGFA) and in order to do that i need X Windows. To use X Windows on my Windows 10 system i need to install X Server.

Am i understanding this right? Why can't Oracle run on Windows?

ellie-lumen
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1 Answers1

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Uh, I'm certainly not a DBA (perhaps you'd rather ask this question on SE for DBA), but - I think you overcomplicated it.

In my opinion, you don't need anything of what you mentioned. Not a single thing. No RAC / Grid Infrastructure / Linux / X Server. That's just a HUGE overkill.

Any Oracle database would do, even Express Edition (XE) which has the smallest footprint and would serve your needs. Documentation describes how to share your database with other people on the network, but - this short walkthrough will give you idea of what you should be paying attention to.

Littlefoot
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    I _am_ a DBA and @Littlefoot is 100% correct. For your needs, use Oracle 18c XE for Windows. RAC is only for High Availability solutions and runs on _multiple_ cluster nodes; most people never have to deal with it. GI is needed for RAC, but overkill for you. Linux is best for production installations (IMHO), but Windows is fine for what you're doing. – pmdba Jun 22 '20 at 19:43
  • @pmdba, thank you so much. So just to clarify, when I install the Oracle database, the "single instance database installation" option will allow multiple users to access the database even if they are on different computers? I'm a beginner so i just want to make sure i understand. I thought this option meant that the database can only be used for one person. Also, would you mind explaining at what point one would need RAC? I've been reading documentation all day and I guess I've been misunderstanding it for the past 4 hours lol. – ellie-lumen Jun 22 '20 at 20:05
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    In Oracle's language an instance is a set of running processes on a server, a database is the set of files that are accessed by the instance, and an individual schema is a collection of database objects like tables, views, etc. Oracle generally equates schemas & users. Most DBs are "single instance", meaning they only run on a single server. You can run multiple instances on a server, but they would support different databases (files) and not share data. Any single instance can support as many users as the host has the resources (memory and cpu) to support. – pmdba Jun 22 '20 at 20:44
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    RAC allows you to put your DB files on shared storage and access them from multiple instances running on different cluster nodes at the same time. It adds horizontal scalability, load balancing and high availability to the database. Grid Infrastructure is required for RAC and can also be used for single instance setups, but would definitely be more than you need to deal with for your situation. – pmdba Jun 22 '20 at 20:45