We have a Java client talking to the database using JDBC.

I have noticed that after we run heavy traffic on our database using the client for a while, I get "Max Cursors Exceeded" error. Increasing the "processes" parameter in init.ora to about 300 will postpone this problem. We are able to run more traffic, but then after some more time, the same error occurs.

This error also occurs if many users talk to the database at the same time using the java clients on their machines.

Can anyone please tell me what the processes parameter in init.ora does ? Is there a way to resolve this problem ? I am at a dead end.