How long does it take to prepare for the Oracle Database Administration II?

Our record puts the exam at 120 minutes, which tells you how much is at stake in one sitting. Preparation time is usually measured in weeks rather than days for a professional exam of this size, and this one scores 2.1/10 for difficulty in our bank.

Which Oracle Database Administration II domain should I study first?

Backup and Recovery, at 20% of the exam. It carries the most weight, so it is where your preparation effort returns the most points.

Should I do practice questions or read a book?

Do practice questions first for any domain you are weak in, and read for the ones you understand but cannot apply. Reading everything twice is the most common way to fail: it feels like progress and it is not. Certilum has 68 questions for this exam, scored per domain against the official weights.

What score should I have on a mock before booking the exam?

At least 67% on a timed mock in the real format. Our 57% benchmark leaves very little margin.

What is the single best way to find my weak domain?

Take one full mock, then look at the per-domain breakdown rather than the total. The total tells you whether you passed; the breakdown tells you which domain to study next, and that is the only actionable number in the result.

Study plan

How to Pass the Oracle Database Administration II Exam

1Z0-083

A study plan for the Oracle Database Administration II certification exam, built from the official domain weights instead of a generic template. Focus heavily on RMAN command syntax and Multitenant management workflows. Use hands-on labs to practice Flashback operations and tuning scenarios to build muscle memory for real-world troubleshooting.

8 domains

68 questions

120 min

57% to pass

certilum

Study in weight order, not topic order

The plan below follows the official blueprint weights, so the order of study is the order that returns the most points.

1
Backup and Recovery
20%
- RMAN configuration and backup strategies
- Full and incremental backups
- Compress and encrypt RMAN backups
- Restore and recovery concepts
- +1 more topics in the blueprint
14 practice questions tagged to this domain.
2
Performance and Tuning
18%
- Monitoring and tuning database performance
- AWR and ADDM
- SQL Tuning Advisor and SQL Access Advisor
- Optimizer statistics
- +1 more topics in the blueprint
12 practice questions tagged to this domain.
3
Multitenant Architecture
18%
- Creating CDBs and Regular PDBs
- PDB structure and seed
- Managing CDB and PDB lifecycle
- PDB service names and connections
- +1 more topics in the blueprint
12 practice questions tagged to this domain.
4
Patching and Upgrades
12%
- Installing Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Database
- Patching Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Database
- Upgrading Oracle Database
- Transporting data
8 practice questions tagged to this domain.
5
Application PDBs
10%
- Application root and application seed
- Application PDB creation and administration
- Cloning, plug/unplug operations
- Local Undo vs Shared Undo mode
7 practice questions tagged to this domain.
6
Multitenant Security
8%
- Security in multitenant databases
- PDB lockdown profiles
- Auditing in CDBs and PDBs
6 practice questions tagged to this domain.
7
Flashback Technologies
8%
- Configuring flashback support
- Flashback operations
- CDB and PDB flashback
5 practice questions tagged to this domain.
8
Database Duplication
6%
- Duplicate an active PDB
- Duplicate a database
- Database cloning
4 practice questions tagged to this domain.

Three phases, in order

Most failures are process failures, not knowledge failures.

Step 1

Phase 1 — Learn the high-weight domains

Start where the points are. The first domains on this plan carry the most weight, so a gap there costs the most. Cover the objectives, then close each topic with practice questions you actually get wrong.

Step 2

Phase 2 — Close the mid-weight domains

The middle of the blueprint is where most candidates plateau. These domains are worth less per topic than the first phase, but they add up fast, and they are the usual difference between a near miss and a clear pass.

Step 3

Phase 3 — Timed full mocks

Stop reading new material at this point. Run full-length exams under the real time limit and the real format, and use the per-domain breakdown to find which domain is still costing you the pass.

Where we put the emphasis

Practical application of advanced DBA tasks, specifically recovery scenarios and architectural transitions in container databases.

The order matters less than the loop. Every domain you finish should end with questions you got wrong, because the mistake is the only thing you actually needed to study. On the Oracle Database Administration II that loop is worth 10% of the exam in the first block alone.