Re: Automatic Shared Memory Management needs Diagnostics Pack license?

From: Mark Townsend <markbtownsend_at_comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 2006 06:59:05 -0700
Message-ID: <gN2dnZ9f8_y2_LvYnZ2dnUVZ_rKdnZ2d@comcast.com>

Thanks to pointing out this follow up to me

hpuxrac wrote:
> Mark Townsend wrote:

>> That would be me. The contribution was the Oracle Database Licensing
>> Information - see
>> http://www.oracle.com/pls/db102/to_toc?pathname=license.102%2Fb14199%2Ftoc.htm
>>
>> It should pretty much answer any questions you have. You may not always
>> like the answers however.

>
> So what happens in the case where someone is running standard edition?

They cannot use the Diag and/or Tuning packs (or any of the other packs)
>
> Do they even have the ability to navigate thru the GUI to the
> "Management Pack Access" and remove and apply access even though
> standard edition people cannot purchase those options packs?

Probably not. I can get that fixed. It will take awhile.
>
> Part of what you have included seems to me at least to be more
> marketing boilerplate than helpful technical information. For instance
> "Oracle Database Standard Edition One delivers unprecedented ease of
> use, power, and performance for workgroup, department-level, and Web
> applications. From single-server environments for small business to
> highly distributed branch environments, Oracle Database Standard
> Edition One includes all the facilities necessary to build
> business-critical applications."

There is some 'marketing' content in the doc. It has been minimized.
>
> Ok well how about the "ease of use"? How does one get that ease of use
> if oracle does not supply ways to access critical oracle system
> information?

The general belief is that in a workgroup, departmental or branch environment on a 2 to 4 CPU machine there is no need for the advanced tuning capabilities that Diag and Tuning provide, and often no-one that could make the changes anyhow. It's a tenuous belief, but one that has been discussed repeatedly at all levels within Oracle, and is the one that prevails.
>
> It includes "all the facilities to build business-critical
> applications?" ... as long as you don't need to monitor or make changes
> to them once they are operational?

You do not need to license a pack to monitor a database. Just to tune it.

>
> I was under the impression that what you were going to research with
> your customers was if oracle had made some bad design ( or pricing )
> decisions in terms of the types of monitoring 10g does, the access and
> control of that monitoring thru the GUI, etc.

Correct. This was done, and the decision was made. Then it was done again, and the decision was made again.

>>From looking at the document you produced it to me at least appears as

> if you have accepted and tried to put a pretty face on all the current
> limitations and restrictions without regards to impact, useability, and
> the ability of administrators/developers to do their jobs?

As I said, the doc reflects the decisions that were made. I also indicated that you may not like the decision. But they are what they are.

>
> Or are there other things you are working on that are not included in
> this document?

Oracle continuously evaluates it's products, how customers use them, the market etc etc. So other things are always being worked on. If you are asking me if the current set of decisions are likely to change in the future, then my frank answer would be probably not. Received on Fri Oct 06 2006 - 08:59:05 CDT