Tuesday, May 25, 2010

April CPU 2010 updated 12-May due to 239 invalid OLAP objects.

Ian Jones, Sr. Staff Consultant


On 12th May Oracle updated the 11.1.0.7 April CPU 2010 security patch (9369783) on all platforms.  The original April 13th patch causes 239 invalid objects in the database if the OLAP option is NOT installed.  So, if you were planning to apply this patch you should download the 12th May version.  You can find out the details in metalink note 1060969.1 “Critical Patch Update April 2010 Known Issues”

The presence of the invalid objects does not cause problems however ending up with an extra 239 invalids at the end of the patch that are not discussed in the patch notes would be a concern.  Of course, that is why Oracle have  document 1060969.1 to catch these things. 

If you applied the patch between its original release on April 13th and the update of the known issues on 12th May you should check for the presence of these invalids.  Metalink note 1091952.1 lists them and says ”As long as OLAP was not in use it is safe to drop all of the above objects”. 

I have not tested the April PSU patch (9352179), at the moment it has no similar update in its known issue document, which is note 1061315.1.

Read more here.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Load Your Data Faster


At OracleWorld 2002 I participated on the DBA User Expert panel, and a person in the audience asked the following question: "I am designing an application that will need to load 10 to 12 million rows of data per hour into Oracle tables from flat files. What Oracle features and techniques should I be looking at to achieve this performance requirement?" I thought this was an excellent question–one that DBAs and developers on almost any project could relate to.

In this paper, we will look at some of the Oracle features and techniques that can be employed to speed up data loads from flat files into Oracle tables. Which method is ideal for a particular situation will depend on many factors–factors we will discuss throughout this paper. To demonstrate and compare data loading methods, we will load a sample data set using each of the techniques we discuss. We will compare elapsed time, CPU time, and caveats of each method, but please note that timings can vary from one run to the next and are provided for illustrative purposes only.

A few of these techniques require Oracle 9i, but most work with Oracle 7.3 and later. One tip requires the Enterprise Edition of the database software, but the rest can be used with Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition. We will be looking at a few popular ways to load data into Oracle, but remember that there are many other tips and tricks available–this is not an exhaustive list!

Read the rest of the white paper here.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Protect the Core of Your Technology Infrastructure— Protect Your Oracle Database



A Better Approach
Data acquisition, storage, analysis, and retrieval requirements have exploded in recent years. This explosion is placing a heavy burden on your company to ensure data integrity, high availability, and scalability. With data being central to every business decision, the Oracle database is at the core of your technology infrastructure and it must be protected around the clock.

With an understaffed and overstretched IT Department, the potential for burnout is at an all-time high while the demand for qualified DBAs is on the rise.

Finding the right level of expertise, support, and cost-effectiveness for database administration is an ongoing challenge for any company using Oracle technology. We have found that the myriad of technology and business issues are all too often forcing IT executives to either:

(a) Dedicate one or more high-priced and experienced Oracle database administrator(s) (DBAs) to the system; or
(b) Assign an inexperienced staff member as a part-time DBA.

Because managing your database system is critical to the success of your business, you are increasingly looking for solutions to better manage these environments. IT executives are now choosing a third option—

(c) Partner with a firm that specializes in Remote Database Administration (Remote DBA) or managed services.

Vendors and customers generally view Remote DBA services as outsourcing a core service. Database Specialists views this type of service as “Resourcing.” Our intent and approach is substantially different than Outsourcing. Outsourcing is where you often relinquish control and day-to-day responsibility of your database systems to a third party provider. With Resourcing, we are acting as your resource partner—an additional resource and extension of your technical team.

By developing a partnership with a well-respected Remote DBA services firm, you can augment your team with a firm that provides you with the services of highly qualified, certified, and hands on Oracle professionals. These technical experts work side-by-side with your staff in any number of capacities such as part-time, high demand/overflow, vacation, and full-time. Just as with full-time employees, the right partner working with your company gets to know your team, mission, clients, and IT infrastructure. They focus on what they do best—maximizing availability and performance while guiding your organization on database, technical, and strategic issues.

Here is a white paper that covers how we can help you solve the problems you may be facing with your Oracle database.

Cost-Effective Alternatives for Supporting Mission-Critical Oracle Databases.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Is There a Better Approach to Supporting Your Oracle Systems?



IT executives have seen an explosion in the amount of data their companies must store and manage, increasing the administration burden and the pressure to make sure data and systems are properly supported. Because managing these database systems is critical to the success of the company as a whole, you are increasingly looking for solutions to better support your production environments.

Today you are facing a perfect storm of factors that are making your job increasingly difficult. There is more work to do than ever before without the budget or resources to do it. In an October 2006 survey conducted by CIO Magazine, 66% of respondents reported their departments as understaffed, up from 59% the prior year.

This staffing strain combined with the increasing amount of time needed to manage and support databases has resulted in numerous costly and challenging problems.

Here is a white paper that covers how we can help you solve the problems you may be facing with your Oracle database.

Cost-Effective Alternatives for Supporting Mission-Critical Oracle Databases.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

About Database Specialists

Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Database Specialists, Inc. serves clients nationwide with remote DBA support and Oracle database consulting services including: implementing new database systems, tuning Oracle databases, maintaining large production systems; security and version upgrades and patches; installing Oracle RAC as well as performing 10g and 11g upgrades. All of this is done with by our senior Oracle DBA's whose primary goal is to keep your Oracle systems running at peak performance with high availability.

Oracle database technology and remote DBA services is all we focus on—which is why we can offer such a high level of experience in offerinjg remote DBA support and other Oracle services. Our stellar client list is a testament to our consistent delivery of results-driven, cost-effective, high-satisfaction remote Oracle DBA services.

The company was established in 1995 and provides in-depth expertise, experience, exceptional teamwork, and custom-built database optimization tools through our proprietary Database Rx® agent and portal and our DBA Pro Remote DBA Services.

Each member of our team has dedicated their career to excelling in Oracle technology. Our Oracle Certified Professionals each have many years of Oracle database-specific experience. They are also dedicated to sharing their knowledge by presenting at Oracle-related conferences and writing numerous technical white papers. Please browse the Resource Library of our site for the many useful tips, tools, and publications we offer related to Oracle technology.

In addition to our experience our proprietary portal and agent which we call Database Rx®, helps us be very efficient and precise in the Oracle remote DBA work that we do. We discuss this in a white paper on Oracle remote DBA tools and methodologies and how the proactive tools available in the market today compare to Database Rx® (which is supplied free as part of our DBA Pro service), as well as Database Specialists' methodology of approaching remote DBA solutions.