Temporary tablespaces are used to store transient data, which Oracle defines as data that is only available for the duration of the session. The two main types of transient data is data stored in temporary tables and data that is generated by sort operations. Oracle provides temporary tablespaces that are optimized for storage of transient data.

Oracle10G allows administrators to group multiple temporary tablespaces together and assign them to users as a single unit. We'll begin our discussion on temporary tablespace groups by reviewing sort operations and temporary tablespaces, then continue with a discussion on 10G temporary tablespace groups.