instance
The combination of the System Global Area (SGA) and Oracle background processes. When a database is started on a database server (regardless of the type of computer), Oracle allocates a memory area called the SGA and starts one or more Oracle processes. The memory and processes of an instance efficiently manage the associated database's data and serve the database users. You can connect to any instance to access information within a parallel server database.
Related Topics
Copyright © 1996, 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.
Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
