Hi,

I am trying hard to understand the Oracle database architecture. It is mainly due to my lack of knowledge, I suppose, that I cannot seem to understand the need for the Extent logical storage structure. Is it cumbersome to talk directly in terms of data blocks? Does dealing with extents vs dealing with data blocks directly reduce the storage management overhead for Oracle? What is the rationale behind having this intermediate storage structure between the segment and the data block? Please clarify.

Thanks,
Karim