To pass this test, you need to be familiar with all the new features and improvements Oracle9i introduces.

Be familiar with all the new security features 9i introduces, including security application roles, global application context, partitioned fine-grained access control, and fine-grained auditing. Know what the new optional security products are and what they are used for.

Since Server Manager and CONNECT INTERNAL are deprecated, how do you start and stop Oracle? What does this mean for any scripts at your site that perform these functions?

Understand the new recovery improvements: minimal I/O recovery and fast-start time-based recovery limits. How do you set up these new features?

Be familiar with all the operations that can now be performed online: online index rebuilds, online Index Organized Table (IOT) management, online table redefinition, and online configuration parameter control.

Know about other high availability improvements, including Oracle Flashback, resumable space allocation, new Import/Export features, and Data Guard. Data Guard is a complex product: for the upgrade exam, you only need a conceptual understanding of it, plus the specific details introduced in 9i.

Understand LogMiner and its use. 9i introduces some key improvements to this product, including DDL tracking, the new LogMiner Viewer GUI interface, and dictionary extraction.

How have backup/recovery and RMAN been enhanced in 9i? Describe trial recovery, block media recovery, the RMAN CONFIGURE command, and other RMAN command enhancements.

Be familiar with the wide range of manageability improvements in 9i: Oracle Managed Files (OMFs), default temporary tablespaces, multiple blocksizes in one database, automatic global index management, list partitioning, the new metadata API, bitmap join indexes, automatic segment space management, the Data Resource Manager, scalable session management, workspace management, external tables, replication enhancements, and Real Application Clusters. As with Data Guard, the complexity of the replication enhancements and Real Application Clusters can be overwhelming – the exam expects you only to have a high-level understanding of these areas, plus knowledge of 9i specifics.

Know about 9i’s new performance enhancements, including index monitoring, skip scan access, first rows optimization, system statistics, and improved cursor sharing.

Be familiar with 9i’s SQL enhancements: SQL-99 syntax for joins, CASE expressions, new functions, and globalization improvements.