The 1Z0-084 exam has 55 multiple choice questions, a 90-minute limit and a 60% passing score, which is about 33 correct answers. It is the second exam on the path to the Oracle Database 19c: Performance Management and Tuning OCP, so you sit it after you already hold a database administration professional credential.
This guide is for the question people search as "1Z0-084 exam": what is on it, how to read a topic list that Oracle publishes without percentages, which areas to study first, and how the diagnostic tools fit together. Then come the certification path, a five-week plan, a worked example and five short answers. Every exam figure here was read on Oracle's own pages on 5 November 2026.
What is on the 1Z0-084 exam?
1Z0-084 is the exam for the Oracle Certified Professional, Oracle Database 19c: Performance Management and Tuning credential. It is a proctored online, multiple choice exam with 55 questions, a 90-minute limit and a 60% passing score.
Those figures come from the official 1Z0-084 exam page on Oracle MyLearn, which describes the certified professional as someone who can apply a database tuning methodology with the right tools to monitor, diagnose and tune both instance and SQL performance problems, with a working knowledge of SQL, its execution plans and the statistics behind them.
Two numbers set the pace. At 60% you can miss about 22 questions, if every question counts the same. And 90 minutes for 55 questions gives you a little under 1.7 minutes each, which is enough to read a scenario carefully but not to reason one out from a blank page.
Why does 1Z0-084 not publish topic weights?
Unlike some newer Oracle exams, the 1Z0-084 page lists topic areas without a percentage next to each one. That is a real difference in how you prepare. When weights are published you can skip the small topics; here you cannot tell which area is heavy, so you have to cover all of them to a working level.
Oracle groups the content into sixteen topic areas:
- Basic Tuning Methods and Diagnostics: methodology, tuning lifecycle, the time model, wait events, V$ views.
- Using Statspack: installing and configuring it, diagnosing problems with it.
- Using Log and Trace Files: the alert log and trace files.
- Using Metrics, Alerts and Baselines: metric thresholds and alerts, AWR baselines.
- Using AWR-Based Tools: ADDM, ASH reports, automated maintenance tasks.
- Oracle Database Application Monitoring: Real-Time Database Operation Monitoring, services.
- Identifying Problem SQL Statements: SQL processing phases, execution plans, SQL Trace, adaptive plans, SQL plan directives.
- Influencing the Optimizer: how statistics and parameters steer it.
- Reducing the Cost of SQL Operations: segments, chaining and migration, index and table options, compression, space.
- Using Real Application Testing: SQL Performance Analyzer, Database Replay.
- SQL Performance Management: optimizer statistics, the advisors, SQL Plan Management.
- Tuning the Shared Pool: shared pool problems, the Result Cache.
- Tuning the Buffer Cache: buffer cache problems, I/O, Big Table Caching, Flash Cache.
- Tuning the PGA: PGA problems, temporary tablespace.
- Using Automatic Memory Management: ASMM and AMM.
- Using In-Memory Features: the In-Memory Column Store with other features.
Which 1Z0-084 topics should you prepare first?
Group the sixteen areas into four blocks and study them in order. The first block is the one every other block leans on.
- Diagnostics and the AWR toolchain: the time model, wait events, V$ views, AWR baselines, ADDM and ASH, and Statspack. This is how you find a problem before you fix it, so it comes first.
- SQL and the optimizer: execution plans, SQL Trace, statistics, the SQL Tuning and SQL Access advisors, and SQL Plan Management. Most real tuning work lives here.
- Memory and caches: the shared pool and Result Cache, the buffer cache and I/O, the PGA and temporary space, and automatic memory management.
- Testing and advanced features: SQL Performance Analyzer and Database Replay for safe change testing, and the In-Memory Column Store.
The Oracle Database 19c Database Performance Tuning Guide is the single reference that covers all four blocks, and it is the book to read alongside a test database rather than on its own.
How do AWR, ADDM and ASH fit the exam?
They are the core of the diagnostics block, and questions often hand you a report and ask what it tells you. It helps to know what each tool does and when it runs.
The chapter on automatic performance diagnostics describes ADDM as a tool that "analyzes the AWR data on a regular basis, locates root causes of any performance problems, provides recommendations for correcting the problems, and identifies non-problem areas of the system." An ADDM analysis runs each time an AWR snapshot is taken, which is every hour by default, and it looks at the period between the last two snapshots. ADDM measures DB time, the cumulative wait and CPU time of all non-idle user sessions, so a recommendation is really an answer to "where did the database spend its time?"
Two more details are worth carrying into the exam room. Real-Time ADDM runs automatically every three seconds on in-memory data to catch sudden spikes, so it is the tool for a hang you cannot wait an hour to analyze. And AWR itself only stores the statistics; Statspack is the older, manual alternative you install yourself, which is why it is a topic in its own right.
What is the certification path for 1Z0-084?
1Z0-084 is a second step, not a first certification. The MyLearn page sets it out as two steps.
- Step 1: hold a prerequisite professional credential. Any one of the Oracle AI Database Administration Certified Professional, the Oracle Database Administration 2019 Certified Professional, or the retired Oracle Database 12c Administrator Certified Professional satisfies it.
- Step 2: pass the 1Z0-084 exam.
So this exam assumes you already run databases day to day. If you do not yet hold one of those credentials, earn it first; the performance exam will make much more sense once general administration is familiar.
How much does 1Z0-084 cost and how is it delivered?
The exam is delivered proctored online, and one attempt costs US$245. Oracle's certification FAQ on exam attempts describes a purchase as "an exam attempt valued at US$245 that is deposited in a learner's MyLearn account and used to register" for the exam.
On the day, plan to check in 30 minutes before your appointment, and have government-issued identification ready. Your result appears on screen as soon as you finish, and a detailed score report follows in Oracle CertView. If something comes up, you can reschedule up to 24 hours before the appointment.
What does a five-week study plan look like?
Five weeks at about six hours a week suits a working DBA. Put diagnostics first, because you use those skills in every other week.
- Week 1: diagnostics. Read the tuning methodology, the time model and wait events, then generate and read an AWR report and an ADDM report on a test database.
- Week 2: SQL and the optimizer. Read execution plans, turn on SQL Trace for one query, gather statistics, and run the SQL Tuning Advisor on a slow statement.
- Week 3: memory and caches. Watch the shared pool, buffer cache and PGA under a small load, and compare automatic shared memory with full automatic memory management.
- Week 4: testing and in-memory. Use SQL Performance Analyzer to test a statistics change, try a short Database Replay, and load one table into the In-Memory Column Store.
- Week 5: review and Statspack. Install Statspack and compare its report with AWR, then redo week 1, the block everything else depends on.
Worked example: one slow query, five topic areas
A nightly report that used to finish in minutes now runs for an hour. This is not an exam question, but it shows how one problem touches five topic areas at once.
You start in diagnostics: an ADDM report points at a single SQL statement as the top consumer of DB time (AWR-based tools). You pull its execution plan and see a full table scan where an index scan used to appear (identifying problem SQL). The cause is stale statistics after a large load, which changed what the optimizer thought the table looked like (influencing the optimizer). You gather fresh statistics and the plan improves, then use SQL Plan Management to lock the good plan so it cannot drift back (SQL performance management). Finally you confirm the fix is safe for the rest of the workload with SQL Performance Analyzer before you call it done (Real Application Testing). One slow query, five objectives, and no guessing.
Which mistakes make 1Z0-084 harder than it needs to be?
Most lost marks come from habits rather than missing knowledge. These five are the most common.
- Treating a tuning problem as a guessing game. The exam rewards method: measure DB time, find the top consumer, then act.
- Learning tools by name only. You need to have read an AWR report and an ADDM report, not just know what the letters stand for.
- Skipping Statspack because AWR exists. It is a listed topic, and the exam can ask you to tell the two apart.
- Ignoring the testing tools. SQL Performance Analyzer and Database Replay are how Oracle expects you to prove a change is safe.
- Spending too long on one scenario. At under 1.7 minutes a question, mark the hard one, move on, and come back.
Which video helps you warm up?
The DBExam channel has no video for this exam yet, so the closest one is a SQL study walkthrough of about six and a half minutes. Because so much of 1Z0-084 turns on SQL, execution plans and statistics, it is a useful warm-up before week 2.
Frequently asked questions
1. How many questions are on 1Z0-084 and what score do I need?
The exam has 55 multiple choice questions, a 90-minute time limit and a passing score of 60%, which is about 33 correct answers if every question counts the same.
2. Does 1Z0-084 publish topic weights?
No. Oracle lists sixteen topic areas on the exam page without a percentage next to each, so you cannot tell which area is heaviest and have to cover all of them to a working level.
3. Do I need another certification before 1Z0-084?
Yes. It is the second step on a two-step path. You first hold a database administration professional credential, such as the Oracle AI Database Administration or Oracle Database Administration 2019 Certified Professional, then pass 1Z0-084.
4. How much does the 1Z0-084 exam cost?
Oracle's certification FAQ values one exam attempt at US$245. The attempt is held in your MyLearn account and used when you register for the exam.
5. Do I need hands-on practice to pass 1Z0-084?
Yes. The exam is built around using tools such as AWR, ADDM, SQL Trace and the tuning advisors, so reading and then running those tools on a test database matters far more than memorizing definitions.