OCM Questions and Answers

Overview

This page is a compilation of questions I have been asked about the OCM exam.

Other resources are:

Could you please let me know how I can contact Oracle University to hold the OCM exam as there are no 10g OCM exam planned in Australia?

The best option is to go on-line at http://education.oracle.com and search for "10G OCM".

Even there is no class scheduled, you can register an interest. Someone from Oracle University will eventually get back to you. Oracle University will run a class for one (1) student. I have done two (2) exams where I was the only student.

What virtualization technology do Oracle OCM use?

The machines are real. In fact, they are machines on the desks in the Oracle University classroom.

How is the RAC environment at Oracle University simulated, is it using NAS/DAS or SAN storage?

The honest answer is that I do not know. In the 11G OCM Upgrade Exam, there was no RAC involved. I cannot remember how it was done for the 10G OCM Exam.

Based on My Assessment of My Performance , does it mean (in your opinion) that Grid Control and Data Guard are not critical components (i.e. must pass elements) of the exam?

My failure to get Grid Control working made the following sections much more difficult because I had to use the commands to accomplish the tasks.

This was the primary cause of my failure in the Data Guard component. The setup of Data Guard using only commands is very difficult under normal conditions. The pressure of the exam made the set up almost impossible.

I would say that getting Grid Control working is very important. If I had done so, I probably would had passed all of the other components. And I would had certainly got Data Guard set up and working.

Remember that the exam is a cumulative set up. The environment from previous sessions carry over into the following ones. A mistake made early can affect your performance during the remainder of the exam. This means that failure in Data Guard is not as important as failure in Grid Control.

Would you consider the exam tough or do you think it is lengthy (but not that tough)? I know it is relative but assuming a DBA with above average skillset…

I would consider the exam to be very challenging. It is about knowing your own strengths and weaknesses.

There are more scenarios than one can reasonably complete in the time allocated. I only attempted scenarios that I knew I could complete and left the others until the end of the allocated time.

I think that some of the scanarios are outside of the skillset of the average DBA. This is why OCM candidates should practice all the topics in the OCM exam. This practice gave me confidence. Unfortunately, I was overconfident in the Grid Control part and this caused me problems. I rectified this for the 11G upgrade exam.

In the email about failing the exam, did they give a breakdown of scores?

This is not like the OCP or OCA exams where they give you the areas you need to improve on.

The main problem for me was that I was really only prepared for the first two (2) sessions. It would appear that the last two (2) undid me.

At least, I now know what the questions are, and can study for them.

How do I find out about which Training Courses are Approved?

The list of approved training courses can be found here .

In OCM 11upgrade exam Oracle DB was pre configured or you need to configure it, Is Oracle RAC installation and configuration part of 11g OCM Upgrade, it is not mentioned in topics.

If the topic is not mentioned in the list of topics, then that topic is not tested.

When I took the exam, there was a detailed list of topics. I have just checked the certification page and found the topics reduced to four (4) areas. The original list of topics can be found here .

However, there is assumed knowledge like:

stopping and starting databases;
backup and recovering databases;
diagnosing errors
finding and interpreting logs
using SQL*Plus
using Grid Control
using Linux commands

These are the same skills you would needed for the 10G OCM exam.