Customer Reviews

Oracle8 DBA: Network Administration Exam Cram (Exam: 1Z0-016)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 !

Got this book 1 week ago. At that time i scored about 50 % on the Self Test software test. Today I passed the real thing, scoring 82 %, the only difference having read this book. In addition to covering everything you need to know about Oracle Networking to pass, it also contains invaluable hints about test-taking-strategies. Too many typos, though

I bought this book as a complement to Couchman's Oracle 8i DBA Certification Guide (from Oracle Press), because the latter's networking coverage was clearly a rushed effort. The Exam Cram book does an admirable job covering the bases needed for the Oracle networking exam. In general, the material is explained well and concisely. Overall the test questions in the book matched the breadth of those on the real test. There are a couple of notable exceptions. My test had FOUR "fill in the blank with the name of the parameter or view" questions. (Giving V$SHARED_SERVERS instead of V$SHARED_SERVER is wrong). There are no questions of this type in the book. Additionally, the actual test generally asked more demanding questions regarding CMAN and MTS than are in this book (in my opinion).

If you're taking the 8i exam, be sure to look over the Oracle docs on load balancing, which is not fully covered in this volume (which is designated for 8).

This book loses a star due to the sheer volume of silly typos and cut-and-paste errors. A look at Coriolis's errata page (on their web site) for this book reveals over 50 reported errors. I found many more, about one every other page. And on the web site errata page the utility "lsnrctl" is spelled, in multiple places, as "1snrct1" (digit 1 instead of letter l)! Doesn't anyone proofread this stuff? (The author works at the Washington Post!)

Finally, a book that even I could understand! Bravo! The author was down-to-earth and even added a bit of humor to keep things interesting! I scored an 86%! I only hope more authors take the time to explain things as readily as this book has! Some typos, but even I could figure them out!

This book has everything you need to pass the Net8 exam. The practice questions, on average, are harder than the real exam questions.

An added plus is that the author is also a good writer. This book is well organized and the material flows nicely.

Just after reading this only book for two weeks, I passed the test at 92%. It covers all information you need to pass the test, and it is clearly written, without any ambiguous sentence. I really thank the author for her excellent job.

Miss Pascavage does a good job of organizing the material, pointing out what needs to be memorized and tips on Oracle lore that will not be found outside of the Oracle classes. The practice questions were excellent and if you put the time into the material and follow her guide you will pass the test for sure.

My only negative comment is there are numerous typos, spelling errors and publishing errors that could have been caught before going into publication. These are obvious and will not effect your results.

Good luck

Prior to going into the Oracle8 Network Administration test I knew it was hard. So, I bought this book and passed! Besides downloading the software (from technet.oracle.com) and playing with Net8. You need to know "how the test works" and what is important and not important. Just make sure you know how to apply the concepts. Not just memorize the facts!

It is a good stuff. Actually it is enough for ocp test, not only "first and last thing you need".

I read this book and Couchman's Oracle 8 DBA Certification Guide (from Oracle Press). The Exam Cram book did a great job covering the bases needed for the Oracle networking exam. It is very concise and to the point. If you ignore the number of silly typos, the book attacked the topics very well from examination point of view. I think it was a very poor proofreading effort!
I gave a 5 star because the topics are laid out well and details are to the point.