Thanks guys.<br><br>I'm running the database on HP-UX. <br><br>I'm trying to get a handle on this whole connection/process. In SQL Server you open a connection to a database - fair enough, and SS can handle around 65000 of these. With Oracle, as listener22 pointed out, a process can have thousands of threads. So having a hunderd processes can give you hunders of thousands of "pipes" to send query down (which is a equivalent to a SQL server "connection". <br><br>How can I get the kernel parameters - what is the UNIX command?<br><br>How come when I connect via JDBC to the database, I'm getting a new Process rather than using an existing process and getting one of its "threads"?<br><br>Is this correct, or does it read like the last journal entry from a doomed artic explorer? <br><br>Thanks in advance <p>Cal<br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href= > </a><br>