Path: text.usenetserver.com!out04a.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!in04.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nlpi057.nbdc.sbc.com!prodigy.net!flpi088.ffdc.sbc.com!prodigy.com!flpi107.ffdc.sbc.com!flpi149.ffdc.sbc.com.POSTED!73fe1710!not-for-mail From: "Bob Jones" Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle.server References: <3bb75ae1-2407-4b03-b7f9-8c2b622ad092@1g2000prd.googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: Policy on Oracle Versions and Patches Lines: 70 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3138 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3350 X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 76.215.137.154 X-Complaints-To: abuse@prodigy.net X-Trace: flpi149.ffdc.sbc.com 1223684745 ST000 76.215.137.154 (Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:25:45 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:25:45 EDT Organization: at&t http://my.att.net/ X-UserInfo1: Q[R_@SVG\RU]BQYXOJHD]_\@VR]^@B@MCPWZKB]MPXH@ETUCCNSKQFCY@TXDX_WHSVB]ZEJLSNY\^J[CUVSA_QLFC^RQHUPH[P[NRWCCMLSNPOD_ESALHUK@TDFUZHBLJ\XGKL^NXA\EVHSP[D_C^B_^JCX^W]CHBAX]POG@SSAZQ\LE[DCNMUPG_VSC@VJM Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:22:32 -0500 Xref: usenetserver.com comp.databases.oracle.server:448580 X-Received-Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:23:02 EDT (text.usenetserver.com) wrote in message news:3bb75ae1-2407-4b03-b7f9-8c2b622ad092@1g2000prd.googlegroups.com... > What would be your policy on Oracle versions and patches in an > environment > with 500 - 1000 databases and 20 - 50 databases per DBA? > > Let me clarify the question. Oracle states that Patch Sets include > only > bug fixes and no new functionality. However reality is a bit > different. > For example: > 9.2.0.1 contains new functionality, fixes for 9.0.1 bugs, and new bugs > 9.2.0.2 contain some new functionality that didn't make it into > 9.2.0.1 (for example related to Streams), > new "behaviour", more bug fixes, and a few new bugs > ... > 9.2.0.8 (terminal patch set) mostly has bug fixes, although some bugs > are fixed only in 10g > Well, 9.0 and 9.2 are 2 different releases. Of course new features can be introduced in the later release. > > So the questions are: > 1. What version/patch level should be used for implementing brand-new > application assuming that: > - Is it critical > - Application vendor didn't provide any recommendation regarding > version > - Schema is simple, it does not use any advanced features > - Main priority is stability and absence of unplanned outages > > It seems to me that the safest option would be to use version that has > a terminal > patch set which is 9.2.0.8. Yes I know that it is "unsupported" but > does it really matter? > When you have "supported" hardware HP/Sun/IBM/EMC will replace broken > part typically withing 24h. For "supported" version Oracle may produce > patch in a month or two. > Yes, only go for the terminal releases. Forget about whether it is supported or desupported. Oracle wants you to upgrade to the latest ASAP. > 2. Let's say you implemented new application using 10.2.0.3 as per > vendor recommendations. > During implementation the application functionality has been > extensively tested. > Would you automatically apply 10.2.0.4 even if nothing seems broken? > Extensive > application testing isn't possible. > That would depend on whether you will introduce new application functionalities. The best thing to do is to review the bug list. > 3. Let's say you are running 10.2.0.3 and your database is hitting > specific bug causing instance crash. Oracle Support tells you that > there is one-off patch for this bug > and it is included in 10.2.0.4 Patch Set. You are not able to conduct > extensive application testing. > Your ORACLE_HOME does not have any other one-off patches. > Would you apply one-off patch or Patch Set? > Yes.