2 The database writer is more correctly called the dirty buffer writer, since it writes only dirty buffers from the buffer cache to disk. But it is nearly always referred to as the databse writer (DBWR for short). In fact, if you said "dirty buffer writer," you would get some blank stares.

3 Speaking as a buffer, it's my goal to remain in the cache. Being a popular buffer will increase my likelihood of remaining in the cache. And being a popular dirty buffer, well, that carries a certain mystique.

4 My sources related to the touch-count algorithm were an Internet posting by Steve Adams of Ixora, an internal Oracle source, and hours and hours of testing and experimenting. That was enough to allow me to perform my research and publish a paper entitled All About Oracle's Touch-Count Algorithm in 2001. From what I can tell, James Morle made the first public hint of the touch-count algorithm in his 2000 book, Scaling Oracle8i (Addison-Wesley).