If Someone Says “I Think”; Tell Them to Prove It! – IOUG Real World Performance: A Review

Seems like an odd statement. We always hear people say “I think…” and then they go on to tell you what they have hypothesized. Now you wonder is this story factual? Does it REALLY work? It is then time that you need to ask them to prove it. We don’t often challenge our peers to “Prove It”. We accept thoughts and then experiment on our own to see if this thought proves to be correct.

This past Friday I had the chance to attend the IOUG’s Real World Performance seminar which was held in Toronto. It was at this seminar led by 3 of most knowledgeable Oracle people in the world, where the proof showed us how to change the way we think. As they say there is no reason for things to run slowly today, but that instead that people have made the choice to run this way and not take advantage of new technology and new methods.

Andrew Holdworth, Tom Kyte and Graham Wood, led this amazing day of proof.  The image below is a picture from my chair… of the 3 of them up front in the room(as they were all day)

It was a day where the 3 Oracle database performance gurus showed us a new way to look at performance. They discussed data warehouses and operational systems. So what were some of teh highlights:

• Showed today’s data warehouses have undersized CPU’s and insufficient I/O
• Improve data loading, as data size will continue to expand
• Stop using SQL*Loader, it’s time has passed. Consider external tables
• Read compressed data if possible
• Statistics are critical to success
• Make sure cardinality is accurate in table statistics
• Use SQL*Monitor to investigate performance of SQL
• Manage your database and system resources. Use Instance Caging if needed
• Used set-based operations as often as possible
• Check your SQL statements for issues

The biggest thing takeaways I came away with is that today we should try to achieve full CPU utilization, we should optimize how we transfer data into a data warehouse, we need to make sure our SQL statements work as expected and that indexes and partitions can be your friends and your enemies.

It is amazing to me to see how we things have changed over time. Today we need to manage our data better, our databases more effectively and the improve the process of loading and retrieval. The tools are there for you, we just need to use them. As Tom Kyte said, “Why would people choose to run their database slowly?” 

There are more of the IOUG Real World Performance being held this year. If you get the chance to attend, you should; as it can change your life or at least the life of your database.

What does a Test Mean?

I came to work wondering something. I wondered what the value of tests are. How does the act of taking a test evaluate how well you work or how well you could implement your knowledge? I think about this as someone in my household takes the all important test to become a driver, but we can discuss it at this point. This person understands how to drive and does a good job of basic driving skills. In some ways better than many drivers on the road today. The challenge is learning to deal with the things that are out of the ordinary, like a senior citizen who was slowly crossing the road on the red light and your stuck in the intersection. And the car behind you is honking and your light is now red. I am not sure if they covered that in the driver’s manual. The test provides the basic skill evaluation, but not the value of experience.

Today we put considerable stock in a degree or certification. In the Oracle community we have the Oracle Certification Program. I think it is a great opportunity for people to get validation of the knowledge that they have acquired, much like an exam in school. The missing component is the practical aspect. I think that hands-on real experience is the logical next step. This is where you have your hands deep in your hard drive and you worry about I/O in your sleep. This is the hands-on DBA who does more than back ups and the very occasional recovery. These are the people who use the database. So what does testing mean then?

The IOUG has often discussed whether or not to offer certification to our members. We have always said that the cost versus the benefit did not justify it. Or that Oracle has OCP; so why do we need to add a competing offering. Is OCP perfect? No. Would a certification from the IOUG be meaningful? These are the constant questions we ask in the Board and at this point we will not be offering another Oracle database/middleware/BI certification program.

As I said testing is great. With a test you have proven that you learned how to “correctly” operate and manage a database….of course we are talking OCP….or is that OCD….I digress. How good is a DBA that has never worked a day, but has certification? Look at tests as a start. Look at tests like a yardstick to measure how well you have acquired the information. Then take the information and turn it into knowledge but do not depend on your testing success.

So take your tests today, but look to the future when you can take these building blocks and use them together to solve challenges that will be new to you each day. A great man named Carl Dudley, a professor in the UK, told me that children who go to grade school are taught what to learn and that those in College and University are taught how to learn.

Team Win is Everyone's Win

This past weekend has been one that has given me a lot of time to think. Why do I have all this time? Turns out that on Friday I played my final game of Friday hockey which I play with a great bunch of friends. The fact that that my team won that day was lost on most of us, at least on me, my friend Chris did seem to have a great memory of a 3 goal game, but as a result of an injury that occurred 10 minutes before the end of the game, my memories are not as sweet. My back has always been a fragile thing and last Friday it failed me again. I could not continue and I had to sadly abandon the game and my team. It is very rare for me to ever leave a game due to injury and this being the final and deciding game of our imaginary Champion’s cup, I wanted to play, but I realized I would be of little help. Luckily my team playing with an extra player held on to win the “Rusty Nails Cup”, for me it was a great team victory but a personal defeat.

Tonight my team the Remax All Stars plays our Championship game. Our chances are very good this week to beat our opponents but we also know that we would need to be at our best. I believe in my team and I believe that we will win. There is a quiet confidence that has been growing all season and people where playing “playoff” quality hockey. We are a truly cohesive unit and best of friends. These are 12 of the best people you will ever meet and I would do anything for as I expect they would do for me. Now enter my bad lower back. It has still not fully recovered from Friday so I will not be playing this evening and this causes me the feeling that I am abandoning the team, and this really bothers me. I have worked hard as the rest of team has to get here, but now I can’t be part of it on the ice. I know I have to do what is best for the team and I will help by ensuring that the beer is cold and that we stay focused during the game. I have been given the responsibility of coaching the herd of cats that is my team, but I will not be able to affect the game’s outcome directly. As the goalie I know and accept the accountability for my team and to be a defensive foundation. I and my defensemen (Marshall, Jimmy, Terry and Kevin) are a solid unit; we know what to expect of each of us and how to best use it to help the team. It will be difficult to watch them play without me, but for me it will be more difficult to talk about game afterwards. The time when we get the cold beer and reminisce about the game and with some luck the victory that was, this is what I will miss most. I will have been an observer; a fan. I will be the outsider looking in.

I know that this is what I will try not to take away from tonight. I am there for my team. We are here in some way based on what I had done up until this unfortunate and untimely injury. What I will do is that I will bring the lock for the dressing room door. I will provide insight to the team as the game progresses and will not dwell on what could have been. Myself and another injured player, Shep, will support the team and provide the motivation when they need it. Although we won’t be contributing directly on the ice, we will do our part. The past few weeks the team feels a sort of destiny to this season, which is one of a reaffirmation of our passion for the game. Good luck boys! One more win and we can complete what we all started.

As with my team; the passion for the user community was reaffirmed to me again on Friday (The Day The Back Went Out). The IOUG, OAUG and Quest Presidents got together to discuss the status of IOUG Forum and the rest of COLLABORATE09, and it was such a cooperative experience. We are a team that is working towards the greater good of the user community. Considering the fact that the economy is beginning a slow recovery we must be ready to pounce upon opportunity to be the best and most innovative people in our chosen Oracle specialty. This event is one that should not be missed; your future may depend on it.

Making the Right Software Choices

Organizations today must wrestle with the challenge of technology that is changing on an ever increasing pace. The result of this change is often technology that becomes outdated or new offerings provide more value than previous products. So what is an organization to do in this situation?
The scenario is one that organizations are facing. I had a client who needed their data warehouse to attain much higher performance then their existing platform. As a result of this need they purchased and implemented a Netezza data warehouse appliance solution. It was a successful implementation and achieved the information goals that they had identified. This happened 2 years ago and if the same requirement occurred today would their approach have been the same? Today we have options from database vendors that compete directly in this marketplace. So would the organization have chosen the Oracle Database Machine if the option was available then?

This raises the question of what and when to buy. Generally I would recommend that people look at how the industry is developing and future direction of products. When selecting products to support your organization you will consider how well it meets your needs of today but how well will the product develop in the future to changing approaches and architectures. These factors must weigh into your decision and why we generally look to the vendors to define their product roadmaps. These roadmaps will aid your decision to ensure that both your vision and the product can be supported. Think about anyone who purchased the Red Brick database, where are they now?

This is another reason to attend the IOUG Forum at COLLABORATE09 this coming May. You must know what the Oracle product set can deliver today and what you will be able to achieve in the future.

Working at Teamwork

On a fine Friday in Toronto, I wanted to discuss teamwork. Last night; my team The Steel Blades, won its first playoff game. The score was 2-1 but it was a game that exhibited a great need for teamwork to ultimately win. It is interesting for me to think that at the one moment of the game where we stopped playing like a team the other team was able to score on a breakaway, our teamwork had broken down. We were able to re-group and focus on the greater goal of the win rather than personal ambitions.
I work in teams all the time and I find it my most rewarding work and personal experiences. I think that being part of teams is critical for our success. I think of all the great teams I get to work with and each has its own dynamic and provide different value to me.

The IOUG is one of those great teams. We work with a great group of staff and volunteers. Each contributes a different component to the success of the user community. The volunteer Board provide strategic direction, as Mark Thorsby who advises the IOUG says, we are the front wheel of the bicycle and must steer the bike, the back wheel provides the power. This power for the IOUG comes from Carol McGury who provides great support and is a great advocate of the community. Carol along with the staff provides the IOUG with a great and powerful back wheel and are part of the greater IOUG team.

My company Thoughtcorp is another example of team work. We are a consulting company, but we work in a very cooperative way. We support each other and provide expertise in situations that complement each other’s skills. We work together on projects as well as on the growth of the company. They say there is no “I” in team, but I say that a team is a bunch of “I” each with their own skill which must be leveraged.

And finally how the IOUG and Oracle work together is another team example. We provide each other support to help each achieve our goals. I know that my discussions with Mark Townsend and Willie Hardie, who both a very senior and very smart people at Oracle in server technology, have worked with the IOUG to help to get out the word on COLLABORATE09 and the user community, to the greater customer base. So the next time you call support and they mention that a user group may provide you some benefits to learn more about Oracle, you will know that the IOUG and the Oracle teams worked together to evangelise the user community.

A team break down can happen quickly so you always need to be on your toes. You need to encourage communication and dialogue within the team. When people stop talking they tend to stop working as part of the team. Being part of a team is hard work, but is also the best way to ensure your success.

Security Risks and Protecting Your Data

This morning I read about a SQL Injection that may be impacting up to 450,000 people each day. A SQL Injection is a “viral” program that runs and could exploit vulnerabilities in SQL to access data that may not be for public consumption. Of course this should be a serious concern for everyone who runs applications on the Internet and for all of us who use it. It brings up the question of security and how secure is your data.

We often focus our security on perimeter defences but this is not always enough. We need to also secure our data within our database. As you can see by the news of today that hackers have found a new way to into your data and they are exploiting database access via the middleware. This is why the IOUG Forum at Collaborate is hosting a SANS institute session on security. The session covers these security topics and provides guidance on how best to implement security and help you in understanding why you need to take better care of your data. This is also another reason for you to keep your software up to date and install security patches as required.
I am not sure that a SQL Injection hurts or not, but I know that the results of a security breach can last for a significant amount of time after it occurs.

The Economy...Time to Recover

This past weekend the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, who was on 60 Minutes and said that the economy was on the road to recovery and it was possible that we may see the results of this in the second half of 2009. He also warns us that we are “not out of the woods”. He mentions that the Fed is working on averting the risk of anything more serious. The issue of course is that there is a need to rebuild the financial industry and this could be difficult. Consider that Bernanke has a PhD. in Economics from MIT and has specialization in the Great Depression, seems like he might be the right choice for our times. His key strategies are to not repeat the major fiscal failures of that time, such as the tightening of the money supply as well as the failure of the banking system and banks. If you consider the reaction to this crisis; it is completely opposed to that approach, they have reduced interest rates to all time lows and saved banks (although some would question how it has occurred). This approach is learning upon the lessons of the past.

The user community is similar in your Oracle economy. The IOUG user group and the COLLABORATE09 event are the places to spend your limited funds to get the greatest return on investment. From other experienced Oracle technology professionals you get the chance to learn from the past. You are generally not the first person to experience challenges with your Oracle investments, learning from what others have done can save you time, money and productivity. And at a time like this it is more important than ever to reach for those goals.

Get ready for the economic turn around and make sure you have the skills you will need in the coming years.....it’s going to be a challenge.

We all need some Support

There are times when we all need some help. Sometimes we ask for help, other times we don’t. How does one become a good decision maker around help? How can we know when the right time is to ask or not? It seems like an obvious problem, but without an obvious solution.

The basic answer is; it depends. If you think about your everyday activities at your job you are often placed in new situations that you may have never encountered before. At times you are asked to take your game to another level and show leadership in the activity. Each of these situations will require you to ask for help. Whether you ask from a mentor or more senior person who you can ask how they would approach the scenario. There is a lot to be said about learned from others. As a member of the team it is all important to know when you can look to your team to help. You can provide the motivation and the direction, and the team can them rally behind you. Just like the goalie (me) that makes the big stop at the right time, I still need the help of the rest of the team to win. Which we did last night...so on to the semi-finals!

The IOUG helps you by enabling you to network with the best Oracle minds in the world. This is an cooperative environment and I encourage people to reach out and become a part of the IOUG. At some point everyone needs help that is independent and very knowledgeable; this is where we can reach out to the community to solve issues.

Over the past few months Oracle has been launching the new support platform My Oracle Support. This platform provides customers with a single interface for all supported products. Oracle expects it to help solve problems by providing more sharing between customers and Oracle. We have been told that it will be rolling out in a staged approach so products and technologies will be added. Sorry but I don’t have the exact timetable, but the IOUG will be sending out notices when we this will be happening for database and middleware. It does look like an exciting facility. Oracle is also running some support seminars around the world that will help you in your transition.

So know when to ask for help. Nobody likes a know-it-all, unless they know something you don’t.