Re: Should I study Oracle 8i/9i or 9i directly/

"Richard Foote" <Richard.Foote_at_oracle.com> wrote in message news:3D57A457.4AC42446_at_oracle.com...
> Hi Howard,
>
> I meant learning 9i, not just the 9i only features. I don't think Terry
> was suggesting just learning new features introduced in 9i but whether
> he should be 8i "literate" before becoming 9i literate.

And where in the 9i DBA curriculum (and the guy is talking attending training somewhere) will he learn Workspace Management or Advanced Replication or RACs?

>
> If I was to put it into Oracle University/Education terms (which I
> wasn't, I took the training to be a generic term) this would mean doing
> the 9i DBA course, the 9i Backup Recovery/Networking course, the 9i
> Performance Tuning Course then perhaps to fill in the gaps, the 9i NF
> course. It's somewhat redundant to start learning 8i at this stage if
> you have a choice. Once you learn 9i, you implicitly learn 8i or the
> bits in 8i worth learning. Learning 9i means knowing LMT, knowing MVs,
> etc.
>

Oh well, we're allowed to disagree. The 9i Networking course is (I think the phrase I want is...) a crock (ie, 4 measly chapters at the beginning of (naturally!) the Backup and Recovery material). No mention of Names Server (which is still supplied and works with 9i, whatever its future might be). Lots and lots of mentions of something called Oracle Internet Directory -and not an explanation or tutorial in sight. Learning RMAN in 9i stands you in no good stead for learning how to script it in 8i, where such things as stored configuration settings don't even exist. The 9i treatment of export and import is poor compared to the 8i material. What's a rollback segment? Er, well you won't actually find out unless your instructor feels like dipping into Appendix A of the 9i DBA I course material, and then you'll find the old chapter 10 lifted straight out of the Oracle 8i material. Otherwise, if he's having an off day, all you'll learn is automatic undo.

And I was never comfortable that the only 8i course that mentioned partitioning (as an example) was the New Features one... why anyone who has sat through the core 8i DBA material should then have to attend a 'New Features' course to learn the missing bits, I couldn't say. The same applies to 9i: the core stuff won't teach you about AR or WM or RAC, but the 9i NF course will (to mention just three).

> I believe if you are 9i "literate" and you have an 8i database put in
> front of you, you'll get by (just as someone who knows 8i would survive
> looking after an Oracle7 database).

We'll agree to disagree again! The 8i-to-7 therefore 9i-to-8i analogy doesn't work. If you know 8i, you will know about dictionary managed tablespace, rollback segments, PCTFREE and PCTUSED, all of which are alive and well in version 7. If you only know 9i, it is not impossible that you will think the world only contains locally managed tablespace, automatic undo and Automatic Segment Space Management -and will therefore have a rather rude shock awaiting you when you meet your first 8i database.

Don't forget that 8i is still a supported version, and remains so for quite some time. And for quite some time after *that*, most of the world will still be running 8i whatever "i" Oracle itself might be pushing by then. As a basis for working confidently and competently with all Oracle installations, 9i training by itself is no way to go.

This is,of course, the same theory that got us to abandon all 8i training earlier this year to "encourage" people to switch to 9i -which I always thought was the height of lunacy, not to mention arrogance. "Oh, they're basically the same systems" I was told (mentioning no names, but the word "Brisbane" springs to mind). Funny then that we've now just re-instated the 8i curriculum, because so many 7, 8.0 and 8i users were fed up with learning stuff that is wildly different to what they can actually use.

Until nearly everyone uses LMTs, automatic undo, auto-tuned PGA, the one-line 'backup database;' RMAN command, and so on, 9i training on its own is no preparation for the real world.

Regards
HJR
>I don't believe the same would
> necessarily be the case the other way around and so my suggestion to
> 'read' the 9i Concepts manual in preference to the 8i and then read
> through the 9i one as well.
>
> Then again, I could be wrong. Either way, it's get boring agreeing with
> you all the time, this is more like it ;)
>
> Cheers
>
> Richard
>
> "Howard J. Rogers" wrote:
> >
> > Personally, I would recommend the 8i->9i route.
> >
> > There's a hell of a lot of new features in 9i, and many of them develop,
or
> > expand on, stuff that was introduced in 8i. Cut out 8i, and a lot of 9i
is
> > going to seem a bit mysterious. (For example: "Locally Managed
Tablespaces
> > are now the default". Great... but what's a locally managed
tablespace??!
> > "Materialized Views now Fast Refresh more readily than in 8i". Lovely...
but
> > what's a Materialised View, and what's Fast Refresh when it's at home?
> >
> > I can't speak for what other training organisations do (and I don't
speak
> > for Oracle, either), but the official Oracle 9i New Features course
> > *assumes* familiarity with 8i new features.
> >
> > As was discussed here some weeks ago, too: going from 8i to 9i means
that
> > you are required to know about things like Advanced Replication and
> > Workspace Management. Doing 9i direct would not require that level of
> > knowledge. If you want an easy time of it, therefore, direct 9i is the
way
> > to go. But if you actually want to know, understand and use the product
> > competently, the 8i -> 9i upgrade route is more thorough, and ultimately
> > more productive.
> >
> > Regards
> > HJR
> >
> > "Terry H" <LYYLAM_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:196e2f63.0208112207.70bccfbf_at_posting.google.com...
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > Please give me some advice.
> > >
> > > Should I study 8i -> 9i or study 9i directly?
> > > Do you know any good Oracle training school in South bay of
California
> > > (alameda county or Santa Clare county)?
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > >
> > > Terry H.
Received on Mon Aug 12 2002 - 17:03:08 CDT