process vs sessions

[PaulH]

1 select
2 resource_name,
3 current_utilization,
4 max_utilization,
5 limit_value
6 from
7 v$resource_limit
8 where
9* resource_name in ( 'sessions', 'processes')
SQL> /

RESOURCE_NAME CURRENT_UTILIZATION MAX_UTILIZATION LIMIT_VALU
------------------------------ ------------------- --------------- ----------
processes 28 33 750
sessions 36 43 830


Are processes referring to the number of Oracle process "dbwr, lgwr.." where
sessions mean the number of connections?

Also would select count(*) from v$session give me an accurate count of the number of connections at any given time.

Thanks in advance to all who answer

[PAVB]

processes init parameter specifies the max number of O/S processes that can connect to the target instance, this includes background processes as well as user initiated processes.

sessions init parameter specifies the max number of user sessions allowed in the target instance.

in regards to counting sessions... it all depends on what you want to count, check the status of the sessions.