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Re: Recent reports on outages caused by DB2 and 9iRAC issues

From: Steve Perry <sperry_at_sprynet.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 13:48:53 -0500
Message-Id: <25956.338499@fatcity.com>


my 2¢ is it all depends on who you are.
A few good ones I'm aware of.

Confessors
within the last 9 months, I know of one company where a DBA (unknown to mgt.) inadvertently dropped something and was able to fix it within a few minutes. I'm not sure if anyone other than operations noticed. Mgt. response: his mistake would be recognized on his yearly bonus.

A couple months later at the same company, a well known DBA (one of the boys) brought down the web database for a couple of hours. Nothing was said. Mgt. response "We all make mistakes. Be more careful".

Cowards
A few years earlier at the same company, I remember a DBA who was doing maintenance and messed up. He never confessed to creating the problem, but did take credit for fixing it.
Mgt. response: he was awarded a certificate for "Going the Extra Mile"... :)

Steve

> I've only made one mistake in my life and that was the time when I
> thought I was wrong. ;-)
>
> OK, getting serious... I've found it's best to QUICKLY be 100% truthful.
> If you get crucified for it then it may be that damagement needs to
> lighten up. Unfortunately the fear of damagement causes wheel spinning
> work-arounds to compromises of the facts. ;-)
>
> I once inadvertently brought a 24X7 production system down by shutting
> down a test database that was "managed" by Veritas Cluster Server junk.
> A hands on type director had added it to the cluster without telling me
> so when I shut down the test database the cluster stuff tried to fail
> over and everything came crashing down. I got the blame so it was a real
> "cluster-f***" because the damager wouldn't accept any responsibility
> for this episode. Later he decided to change some Unix stuff all on his
> own and the result was that the system was down quite some time. He as
> rather cavalier about the outage and danced around the truth. Ultimately
> his prevarications caught up with him and he was "dismissed" on the
> spot. "Justice" was served.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 11:59 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> Importance: High
>
>
> I always admit when I make a mistake. Gives me much more credibility
> when I say "this time it ISN'T me"
>
>
> --- "Goulet, Dick" <DGoulet_at_vicr.com> wrote:
> > I prefer my bosses attitude on the subject of mistakes:
> >
> > Admit that you did it & then go fix it. We'll crucify you
> later, if
> > we have the time.
> >
> > For some reason, known only to the Devil himself, they never find the
> > time.
> >
> > Dick Goulet
> > Senior Oracle DBA
> > Oracle Certified 8i DBA
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 1:14 PM
> > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> >
> >
> > This reminds of watching the Indy 500 a couple of years ago.
> >
> > One of the drivers managed to spin in turn 4 of the first lap of the
> > race, and subsequently was unable to finish the race.
> >
> > Before continuing, you need to know that when in a corner, one thing
> > you should *never* do is take your foot off of the gas pedal.
> >
> > The resulting weight transfer will greatly reduce the amount of weight
> > on the rear tires, and could easily cause you to spin.
> >
> > Back to the story: The driver was interviewed shortly afterward in
> > the pits, and put the blame squarely on the car. "It was something
> > with the
> > car".
> >
> > Technology in the form of an onboard camera told another story. He
> > let off the gas twice in turn 4. The first time the rear of the car
> > squirmed a bit and he recovered. The second time it sounded like he
> > completely
> > released the accelerator, and the spin came shortly afterwards.
> >
> > He could have been a smart guy too, if he had remembered the camera.
> >
> > Too bad there wasn't a camera on the smart guys at Orbitz, maybe it
> > would tell a different story. ;)
> >
> > None of us are immune to making mistakes, and about the time you
> > start feeling invincible, watch out.
> >
> > Jared
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Goulet, Dick" <DGoulet_at_vicr.com>
> > Sent by: ml-errors_at_fatcity.com
> > 07/18/2003 09:44 AM
> > Please respond to ORACLE-L
> >
> >
> > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> > <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
> > cc:
> > Subject: RE: Recent reports on outages caused by DB2
> > and 9iRAC issues
> >
> >
> > Interesting quote in eWeek. We may all be "smart guys", but how often
>
> > do we like to admit to causing a problem.
> >
> > Dick Goulet
> > Senior Oracle DBA
> > Oracle Certified 8i DBA
> > -----Original Message-----
> > Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 11:55 AM
> > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> >
> >
> >
> > Reports on "Bugs" in IBM's DB2 which led to "a critical operational
> > situation"
> > http://theregister.co.uk/content/archive/30095.html
> > and
> >
> http://www.danskebank.com/link/ITreport20030403uk/$file/ITreport20030403
> uk.pdf
> >
> >
> > Report on Orbitz blaming an outage on Oracle's 9iRAC [and Orbitz going
>
> > out of 9iRAC]
> > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1196879,00.asp
> > and
> >
> http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/software/story/0,10801,
> 83186,00.html
> >
> >
> >
> > Hemant K Chitale
> > Oracle 9i Database Administrator Certified Professional
> > My personal web site is : http://hkchital.tripod.com
> >
> > -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net --
> > Author: Hemant K Chitale INET: hkchital_at_singnet.com.sg Fat City
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Received on Fri Jul 18 2003 - 13:48:53 CDT

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