MyComputer

This chapter contains an overview of, and installation instructions for, Oracle Database 10g
Express Edition (Oracle Database XE). The installation instructions are given for Linux,
Windows, Debian, Ubuntu and Kubuntu.

Oracle Database Editions

There are a number of editions of the Oracle database, each with different features, licensing
options and costs. The Oracle database edition names are:
* Express Edition
* Standard Edition One
* Standard Edition
* Enterprise Edition
All the editions are built using the same code base. That is, they all have the same source
code, but different features are implemented in each edition. Enterprise Edition has all the
bells and whistles, whereas the Express Edition has a limited feature set, but still has all the
reliability and performance of the Enterprise Edition.
You could start off with the Express Edition, and, as needed, move up to another edition
as your scalability and support requirements change. You could do this without changing any
of your underlying table structure or code. Just change the Oracle software and you’re away.
There’s a comprehensive list of the features for each Oracle edition at
http://www.oracle.com/database/product_editions.html.
This book discusses working with Oracle Database XE. This is the free edition. Free to
download. Free to develop against. Free to distribute with your applications. Yes, that is free,
free, free!

Oracle Database XE

Oracle Database XE is available on 32-bit Windows and Linux platforms. Oracle Database
XE is a good choice for development of PHP applications that require a free, small footprint
database.
Oracle Database XE is available on the Oracle Technology Network
(http://otn.oracle.com/xe) for the following operating systems:
* Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 or later
* Windows Server 2003
* Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 or later
Installing Oracle Database 10g Express Edition
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* Red Hat Enterprise Linux RHEL3 and RHEL4
* Suse SLES-9
* Fedora Core 4
* Red Flag DC Server 5.0/MIRACLE LINUX V4.0/Haansoft Linux 2006 Server
(Asianux 2.0 Inside)
* Debian 3.1
The following libraries are required for the Linux-based operating systems:
* glibc release 2.3.2
* libaio release 0.3.96
There are some limitations with Oracle Database XE:
* 4GB of data
* Single database instance
* Single CPU used, even if multiple CPUs exist
* 1GB RAM used, even if more RAM is installed
Oracle Database XE has a browser-based management interface, Oracle Application Express.
Support for Oracle Database XE is through an Oracle Technology Network
(http://otn.oracle.com/) discussion forum, which is populated by peers and product experts.
You cannot buy support from Oracle for Oracle Database XE.
If you need a fully supported version for the Oracle database, you should consider Oracle
Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition. You can download all the editions of the Oracle
Database from the Oracle Technology Network, and use these for application development
and testing, but when you go production, you’ll need to pay Oracle for the license costs.