Creating different schemas in Oracle 9i

if i create different schemas, can i use this to mean that i have created different databases while using the same instance??

its for a college assignment that i have to do.

if i can create different schemas how can i differentiate different databases and how do i create the schemas themselves?

thanks in advance for the assistence

My understanding is that the hierarchy is:

An Instance contains
A database which contains multiple
Schemas/Users

Here is an informal instance definition from http://www.dba-oracle.com/art_tuning_instance.htm
"An Oracle instance consists of the memory region of the database, called the System Global Area or SGA, and the Oracle background processes. "

Another definition (very similar) is straight from the Oracle site (needs a login):
http://download-west.oracle.com/doc...rt.htm#CNCPT601
"Every running Oracle database is associated with an Oracle instance. When a database is started on a database server (regardless of the type of computer), Oracle allocates a memory area called the System Global Area (SGA) and starts one or more Oracle processes. This combination of the SGA and the Oracle processes is called an Oracle instance."

The database part can contain multiple Schemas. Each Schema is the data layout per user of the database.

Hope it helps,
Dan

BTW, how is the weather in Trinidad?

The weather here is good, sunny with some rain these days (its the rainy season). That does help, so the question is now, how can i create multiple instances??