Customer Reviews

Oracle DBA Exam Cram: Test 3 and Test 4: Exam: TEST 3 & TEST 4

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I am an IT consultant and Oracle DBA with 8 years of experience in high-end technology, working for a large international bank in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I have decided to become Oracle certified because it would certainly give me more visibility in my work. Now, I am an Oracle8 OCP DBA with an average score of 97% in the five exams of the Oracle8 DBA track.

I must admit it was very difficult at first to find out what the best way would be to prepare for the tests. It took me some time to understand that the exams are entirely based on the original Oracle course books and that the practice tests offered by Self Test Software are a superset of the real exams. Now I have a keen perception of what the whole process is all about. The real trick to get a 90+% score is to attend the Oracle classes and cram with the STS practice tests. However, this is a rather expensive way to study, since each course costs around US$ 1,000 and each practice test costs US$ 99, not to mention the exam price itself (US$ 125).

When I fist set off my study, I bought Mr. Jason Couchman's Oracle8 DBA Certification Guide by Oracle Press. Bad choice... It was completely out of synch with the real exam contents and had a lot of typos and gross conceptual errors. I do feel sorry for those people who were caught unawares buying the big red book. I wonder how Oracle signed off on it.

I also bought the 'Oracle 7 Exam Cram Tests 1 and 2' by Mr. Michael Ault and 'Oracle 7 Exam Cram Tests 3 and 4' by Mr. Ault and others. They were both better than Mr. Couchman's, but a bit confusing, especially because they mixed two tests in each book. Besides, they did not cover Oracle8.

As a last resort, I borrowed the original course materials from an acquaintance, with the exception of the Network Administration book. I read the reviews on Mrs. Pascavage's 'Oracle8: Network Administration', and decided to order it from Amazon.

I was surprised. This book is really great ! It was evident that the author was careful to study the original oracle course material and practice test, giving priceless tips and accurately separating the chapters according to those of the course books and the exams sections. Also, the questions in the book are very close to the real ones one would encounter. Congratulations, Mrs. Pascavage !

Better organized than the first Exam Cram book (Tests 1 & 2). Plus there are fewer mistakes/typos.

I didn't feel that the chapters on Backup & Recovery prepared you adequately for the test. However the author does admit that this book is intended as a "pocket guide".

My recommendation is that you combine this book with other study material. The practice questions, sample tests and cram sheet are the best aspects of this publication.

Although this was an easier read than Oracle's DBA Certification Exam Guide, I expected that it would be more up to date. Oracle has had RMAN since version 8 and there is not even a reference to its existence in this book! Exam 3 is heavily weighted on RMAN and understanding it is critical to your success on the test along with your sucess as a DBA. This book needs to be updated!

It was real improvement on the first book. More precise and with fewer errors. The part about tuning is very close to the exam's contents. But do not count on it for getting broad knowledge on the subject. If you really want to study, read the Oracle on-line books and only then use the cram series. On the whole, it serves its purpose.

The book delivered. I passed both exams at the first time. Much is covered quickly. The numerous tests in the book uncovered weak areas, so then you can go find in depth material - like Oracle online docs. I couldn't make it through the Oracle Press 5 inch tome, too tediously detailed, but this series worked for me. Book #1 was weak in the sql/plsql area, but DB Admin in it was fine. Overall, a useful Exam Cram.

The book is very well organized. It's an excellent reference book and the questions on tuning resemble the actual exam questions. Highly recommended!

I didn't find sufficient information about backup and recovery. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't as user friendly as I had hoped.

This is an excellent book for OCP aspirants. The contents are so well organized and are so much upto the point that even a novice can clear it in one shot. It helped me a lot in getting my DBA Certification in 2 months. Though there are a few spelling issues but overall it is an excellent book which every certification aspirant should go for.

The questions given in this book are very similar to the ones you see on the test. Even otherwise , this book serves as a good reference. It has some errors but they don't make the book any less useful.

If you read reviews here you can be amazed how different they are. Some people put 5 stars and other just 1. Wonder why?

I used this book as the only tutorial for both exams and I passed them with a good score. The book really helps you to prepare. It's pretty slim but it contains all required information. Test examples are very good and very similar to real ones.

But there are some bad things. In a few places it has mistakes and some of them maybe confusing. It's not very important for exams preparation but probably it's annoying enough for some people to put 1 star. Another reason is a book structure. It's not supposed to be a general Oracle tutorial. It's just the exam cram. You can easily pass exam using this book but it's also true that you won't have complete Oracle vision in your head. I guess, some people don't like it too. But according to me it's a plus, not minus.

And don't forget that these exams will be retired at August, 2000!