Re: Oracle 10g RAC performance

Mladen Gogala wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 01:10:30 +0200, The Boss wrote:
>

>> There will be some companies moving from Oracle to PostgreSQL, others
>> will start with PostgreSQL and afterwards maybe will come to the
>> conclusion they need Oracle (or DB2 or whatever). In both cases they
>> might have a need for someone with skills in both databases.

I really don't think our fellow DBAs are that dense. You don't give enough credit where credit is due. I think everyone understands that there is an added layer, clusterware, of technology. And possibly two if you throw in ASM.

But the decisions are not being made by DBAs they are being made by CTOs. And the fault, if I can find any, is that those CTOs are willing to invest in the RAC licenses but not in training their team so that they will be successful.

> I have a lot of experience with Oracle and
> I needed a lot of help from Gopal when I did my first Oracle 10G/ASM
> installation. I am very grateful for his help and his book has been of
> immense help, but RAC is a very complex product. Essentially, RAC
> makes a good DBA a must.

You will get no argument from me on that. Nor would I argue that training, or a mentor, are essential for a successful design and deployment. But that has been true of every major technology advance I have witnessed in the last 30 years.

Of course there are self-taught DBAs that are very good. But lets be honest and acknowledge the majority couldn't describe how an Oracle transaction works if given a snap test.

> Very few small companies are willing to hire
> a full time DBA just to manage a database.

Our here in Seattle that is not true but it may be the case where you are located. Here if they are willing to step up to the plate for Oracle ... they are willing to step up to the plate for a DBA or 500.

That said there is still a problem with their willingness to invest in that person's training though some companies out here are extremely good at taking care of their people.

We have companies in Seattle and Portland that, literally, sent their entire DBA team to take Jonathan Lewis' classes when he has been here. Amazon.com is extremely supportive of their employees and has gone so far as to contract the University of Washington to teach classes for them.

> In addition to that, I once worked for a company that went from Oracle to
> Postgres, just because they felt that Oracle is too big, too complex and
> too expensive for them.

No doubt. I know companies that have gone bankrupt making bad decisions. One or ten or fifty examples does not make a trend.

> Wang Trading was a small hedge fund in Norwalk,
> CT that got rid of both Oracle and me. That sort of things tends to catch
> my attention. Now, they're out of business, I have no idea why.

I could hazard a guess ... and I will ... bad decision making. A better management team likely would have kept both Oracle and you.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace x with u to respond)
Puget Sound Oracle Users Group
www.psoug.org