Associate : vt. 把…联系在一起；交往 n.合伙人 a. 副的

Promotion : n. 提升；促进

institutional: a. 制度的,公共团体的,学会的

logo: n.图形,商标 n.徽标

Chapter 1 Introducing Oracle

One of the problems in comprehending a massive product such as the Oracle database is the difficulty of getting a good sense of how the product works without getting lost in the details of implementing specific solutions.

comprehend:  v.了解,领会;包含包括

massive:  a.巨大的，大量的，大规模的，魁伟的，结实的

We've tried to write a book for a wide range of Oracle users, from the novice to the experienced user. To address this range of users, we've focused on the concepts and technology behind the Oracle database. Once you fully understand these facets of the product, you'll be able to handle the particulars of virtually any type of Oracle database. Without this understanding, you may feel overburdened as you try to connect the dots of Oracle's voluminous feature set and documentation.

Groundwork 基础

Oracle has grown from its humble beginnings as one of a number of databases available in the 1970s to the market leader of today. In its early days, Oracle Corporation was known more as an aggressive sales and promotion organization than a technology supplier. Over the years, the Oracle database has grown in depth and quality, and its technical capabilities now are generally recognized as the most advanced. With each release, Oracle has added more power and features to its already solid base while improving the manageability.

Oracle Database 10g, released in 2003 and the current release, enables grid (the g in 10g) computing. A grid is simply a pool of computers that provides needed resources for applications on an as-needed basis. The goal is to provide computing resources that transparently scale to the user community, much as an electrical utility company can deliver power to meet peak demand by accessing energy from other power providers' plants via a power grid. Oracle Database 10g further reduces the time, cost, and complexity of database management through the introduction of self-managing features such as the Automated Database Diagnostic Monitor, Automated Shared Memory Tuning, Automated Storage Management, and Automated Disk Based Backup and Recovery. One important key to Oracle Database 10g's usefulness in grid computing is the ability to provision CPUs and data.

就像是电力供应商在用电高峰期间，可以通过供电网络从其它的供应商那里获取电力一样。