1Z0-117: Oracle Database 11g Release 2: SQL Tuning is one of the latest Oracle certification exams currently available. This exam is part of the Oracle Expert series, and passing it will make the candidate an Oracle Certified Expert, Oracle Database 11g Release 2 SQL Tuning. The ability to maximize SQL performance on a database is an incredibly valuable skill. Being recognized as an expert will provide a boost to the marketability of any Oracle professional. However, I will point out that I have been taking Oracle certification exams for many years, and this test was probably the most difficult of all. The purpose of this article is to provide information on what is expected of you on the test to help guide your preparation.
Your first stop in preparing for this or any Oracle certification test should be the exam topics page on the Oracle Education website. All topics that will be covered in exam 1Z0-117 will be listed there. The SQL Tuning Expert exam has forty-seven topics in eighteen broad categories. The most important are the following:
- Interpretation of execution plans
- Tracking app
- Optimizer Operations, Statistics, and Tips
- Stellar transformation
- Link variables
- SQL Tuning and SQL Access Advisors
- SQL plan management
- Parallel processing
Neither of these topics is straightforward. Each contains enough detail to allow Oracle Education to create questions that require candidates to have a thorough understanding of the topic in order to provide the correct answer. Because this is an OCE level exam rather than OCA or even OCP level, most questions will require in-depth knowledge of the topic.
On the SQL Tuning exam itself, there will be 80 multiple-choice or multiple-choice questions with a time limit of 150 minutes and a passing score of 66 percent. Most of the test questions I took were multiple choice rather than multiple choice. With multiple answer questions, you will have to choose the correct two, three, or even four answers instead of just one. Since Oracle certification exams do not have partial credit, multiple-choice questions will always increase the difficulty. Not answering a question counts against your score as much as answering one incorrectly, so you don’t want to leave any questions blank, even if it means simply choosing an answer at random. One positive aspect of the 1Z0-117 exam is that the time limit is large and the number of exhibits is reasonably small compared to others such as the SQL Expert exam. You can (and should) take your time reading the questions to be clear about what is being asked. Be sure to look carefully at all of the responses. Often times, you can find at least one with an obvious flaw that you dismiss as a correct answer. Eliminating one or two of the answers in this way will allow you to focus your efforts on the remaining possibilities.
Like the entire Expert series, 1Z0-117 is designed to pass only those individuals who have a thorough understanding of the topics covered by the exam. I definitely found this to be very challenging and I think it is going to fail a significant number of people who take it. If you don’t want to be one of those, make sure you spend enough time preparing. You should be comfortable with all forty-seven topics before scheduling the exam. Good luck in the exam.