Oracle Exam 1Z0-084 Topic 1 Question 20 Discussion

When MEMORY_TARGET is set to a nonzero value, Oracle automatically manages the memory allocation between the System Global Area (SGA) and the Program Global Area (PGA). If MEMORY_MAX_TARGET is not explicitly set, Oracle will behave in the following manner:

MEMORY_MAX_TARGET will default to the value of MEMORY_TARGET, assuming the platform allows for the value of MEMORY_TARGET to be increased dynamically. This means that MEMORY_TARGET represents both the initial allocation and the maximum limit for the dynamically managed memory unless MEMORY_MAX_TARGET is specified differently.

If MEMORY_TARGET is set to a value that is less than the sum of the current values of SGA_TARGET and PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET, Oracle will use the higher sum as the default value for MEMORY_MAX_TARGET to ensure that there is adequate memory for both areas. The database instance will not start if MEMORY_TARGET is not sufficient to accommodate the combined SGA and PGA requirements.

Reference

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide 19c: Automatic Memory Management

Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide 19c: Using Automatic Memory Management