One of the first areas of an Oracle database that a DBA learns to master is Archive Logging. Without proper care and feeding, the database can soon become unusable.
Does your database actually recognize that it's in archive log mode? Did you know that you can actually run Oracle database in two modes? The first is non-archive log mode; the second is archive log mode. Issuing a simple SQL*Plus command will quickly tell you which mode you are running.
Reading the Archive destination in the output can be a little tricky because the USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST parameter is a redirect for the DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST, which is the default location for Oracle's flash recovery area. If you looked on disk for the db_recovery_file_dest location, you'd quickly find a tree structure that shows where archive logs are on a daily basis.
Now before we venture any further, it is advantageous to know that the use of DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST is the default for Oracle. This is most assuredly a good thing when you start to take into consideration that Oracle will help manage all files that are located in the flash recovery area automatically-eliminating many of the tasks DBAs would normally perform to keep a database up and running.
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