Oracle Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) rules are a set of configuration guidelines created to ensure well-organized Oracle installations, which simplifies administration, support and maintenance.

• About the Optimal Flexible Architecture Standard
  Oracle Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) rules help you to organize database software and configure databases to allow multiple databases, of different versions, owned by different users to coexist.
• About Multiple Oracle Homes Support
  Oracle Database supports multiple Oracle homes. You can install this release or earlier releases of the software more than once on the same system, in different Oracle home directories.
• Oracle Base Directory Naming Convention
  This section describes what the Oracle base is, and how it functions.
• Oracle Home Directory Naming Convention
  By default, Oracle Universal Installer configures Oracle home directories using these Oracle Optimal Flexible Architecture conventions.
• Optimal Flexible Architecture File Path Examples
  This topic shows examples of hierarchical file mappings of an Optimal Flexible Architecture-compliant installation.