Oracle controls serial access to memory using latches and mutexes. When a serialization issue develops, Oracle DBAs feel it in their gut, because they know they will need to go deep-sometimes very deep-into Oracle internals.

Even the most seasoned Oracle performance specialists shudder at the thought of dealing with Oracle latch contention. I have heard some of the most respected Oracle performance specialists say that once you get latch contention, there really isn't a whole lot you can do about it. As you will learn, this is absolutely wrong!

Why do even the best performance specialists' knees buckle in the face of latch contention? Because it means understanding a great deal about not only latching, but also about specific Oracle architecture internals and some queuing theory. You also must take risks, like suggesting bold application changes or implementing hidden instance parameters that few have actually tried in a real production environment. If you like technical challenges, then you're in for a treat!