torsdag den 27. december 2007

Merry SQL Tuning Christmas....

I have spent the last week reading 'SQL Tuning By Dan Tow' and of course hosting Christmas Eve for my family. It has been a little hard to find the Christmas Spirit in between the chapters of this book. I have never been a real Champ in mathematical procedures, so you can imagine that this has been quite a challenge for me.
I can do the diagram, that Dan Tow teaches, but when it comes to getting the numbers to place into this diagram, I fail to see the logic and therefore comes to a dead end.

Today I am sitting in the Miracle Office in Ballerup. There´s not much to do and we are only 6 persons in the office.


I want to wish everyone, who has been following this blog, a Happy New Year.


Kind Regards


Jan Wigh

tirsdag den 11. december 2007

Workshop

Today I had a small workshop session hosted by Peter Gram, an extremely skilled Database Specialist at Miracle. We went through the Oracle Start Up Processes, the Backup procedures, the functions of RMAN, Archive Log Mode and we performed backup and restore/recover a couple of times. Also, we managed to squeeze in a little bit about security.

It was extremely nice to be able to do these exercises together with Peter, who was very good at explaining the scenarios and the course of action.

Also, Peter was very good at giving me little challenges during the Workshop.

This also gives me an idea of where I need to improve etc. My overall evaluation of the workshop is, that I have a fair understanding of how the database is set up and a lot of what Peter told/showed me, I recognized from Toms book and from the Oracle Concepts Guide.

However, I still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to the SQL commands and the whole process of actually doing the exercises, when you suddenly don´t have a book where the example is described for you into every detail.

I came up with the idea of this Workshop, because I thought that there was a lack of Practical exercises in this education programme. I really feel that a couple more of these workshops can help me improve a whole lot.

mandag den 3. december 2007

An eye opening weekend...

This weekend has been quite an Eye-Opener. This, due to the following chain of events.

1.) Miracle had their annual Christmas Party. This gave me the opportunity to finally meet the last handful of people that I hadn´t already met (among these, 'The Chosen One'- See point 2.). It also gave me the opportunity to taste the authentic Miracle Beer from our very own Brewery. Cheers!!

2.) I found out that 'The Matrix' wasn´t actually too far off. There really is a 'Chosen One' or a 'God', if you will, in the world of PL/SQL. But his name isn´t Neo, but Egan. Morten Egan. And he actually works for Miracle, right here in little Denmark. He can do everything in PL/SQL.
I was actually taken back by the fact, that he could even manage to speak to me in plain Danish.
He is going to be VERY tired of my e-mails and my phone calls during the next two months.
Mark my words, Mr. Anderson, Ehhh I mean Mr. Egan.

3.) I finished the first two books: 'Expert Oracle Database Architecture by Tom Kyte' and 'Mastering Oracle SQL and SQL*Plus by Lex de Haan'.

4.) I got to meet James Morle, one of the founders of the Oak Table Network.
A very nice guy whom I am going to get to know him even better, when I am to read one of his books later on in the programme.

5.) I spoke to Tom Kyte on the phone.
That gave me the opportunity to tell him about what I got out of reading his book. And also give him credit, for bringing down to earth, the most technical stuff in the book, so even an ignorant like myself, can actually learn a little something about Oracle.

Speaking of Tom. Mogens would like me to send Tom a question, which can challenge him a little bit. This is pretty hard for me, since all I know about Oracle, is what I have been taught out of this book.

Therefore, I need the help of you guys out there. If you can come up with a question for Tom, please leave a comment on the blog. It could be fun if we could challenge him just a little :-)

Well, from tomorrow I will start reading two Whitepapers; 'Building Robust Applications in a Database-Centric Way by Toon Koppelaars' and 'YAPP by Anjo Kolk'.
After reading these, I will start reading 'Oracle 9i Concepts Guide'. And just to make sure, that I won´t get bored, I will also read a chapter a day from the book; 'Oracle Insights - Tales from The Oak Table'.

The Oak Table book is written by eleven 'Gurus', I think it´s safe to say.

To qoute the cover from the book; 'Eleven leading authorities on Oracle´s database engine share their unique insights on how best to exploit the software'.

The eleven 'Gurus' are Dave Ensor, Tim Gorman, Kyle Hailey, Anko Kolk, Jonathan Lewis,
Connor McDonald, Cary Millsap, James Morle,
David Ruthven, Gaja Krishna Vaidyanatha

and of course Mogens Nørgaard.

Quite a list...

Jan

torsdag den 22. november 2007

Bringing MEEP to the Netherlands...

I have just spent a few days in Holland. I was invited to attend a session held by Jeroen Evers from the Company Fameus (soon Miracle Benelux), called MasterClass Sessions.

The Ordina MasterClass Sessions are actually trying to achieve the same as the MEEP, but over a longer period of time; To produce Database Experts by letting them read good books (at the moment they are reading ‘Cost Based Oracle Fundamentals’ by Jonathan Lewis) supported by using practical hands on exercises.

They have to finish the whole thing in 18 months. The final goal is to make all the DBA´s from Ordina (one of the largest and best Oracle consultancy companies in Holland) skilled in the art and science of maintaining a real life system in a proactive way, based on the understanding of the logic of the Oracle Database.

The Technical level in the MasterClass session was a bit too high for me to participate, but the good thing was, that I every once in a while recognized things that I had read in the Tom Kyte book.



So I guess that, if I was to go through the Tom Kyte book again in a few weeks, I would benefit even more. So I guess I will be doing just that :-)

During the session, I realized that throwing in a few sessions like this, into MEEP would be a good idea. A full day, where you go through relevant topics and where you can work with the stuff you have read about.

The idea requires that one of the skilled consultants from Miracle would be able to take the time to prepare a few exercises and would have the patience to teach and help.
This is not meant as a test, but more as a kind of Workshop, where the student would have the opportunity to develop his skills and also ask all the stupid questions.

Anyway, I gave a small presentation about the Miracle Extreme Education Programme to the class, consisting of about 20 DBA´s.
I spoke about how Mogens Nørgaard came up with the idea and how the programme is set up, which books are going to be read etc. I also spoke about my own background and how I go through the material and finally a little bit about the expected outcome of the programme.
After the presentation the DBA´s had the opportunity to ask questions, and many of them did.




It was a very good experience for me. I wish to thank Jeroen and all the Ordina guys for giving me the opportunity to participate.

From next week, it´s back to the Tom Kyte book again. By then, I will have finished the Lex de Haan book about SQL. But I have a strange feeling, that I´m not quite done with that book. And I will keep it close to do the excellent exercises once in a while.

torsdag den 15. november 2007

Day 14 in Miracle Extreme Education Programme

Book 2: 'Mastering Oracle SQL and SQL*Plus' by Lex de Haan.

Finally the SQL is starting to make sense. I had some help running the script, installing the seven tables that Lex de Haan uses in this book. The seven Tables are the basis for all the exercises and examples in the book. After doing this, I have been running through the first 4 Chapters, doing all the examples.
And the nice thing is, that most of it makes sense so far. I have always been a better learner if I could mess with the stuff at the same time.

Not that I couldn´t do any of the examples in the Tom Kyte book. The big difference is, that in this book, I learn about the SQL that I put in, before I execute it. In the Tom Kyte book, you just put in a lot of code to proove a point in Oracle, but not going into details about what is the meaning of the SQL (which, of course, isn´t the objective with the Tom Kyte book either).

tirsdag den 13. november 2007

Day 12 in Miracle Extreme Education Programme

Book 2: 'Mastering Oracle SQL and SQL*Plus' by Lex de Haan.

Today I had a status-meeting with my 'mentor' Lenn Mikkelsen. He is the one who helps me through this programme. He helps me if I have difficulties understanding somethings or if I have suggestions to the Programme. He has listened to me, regarding my problems with the SQL. Therefore, I will start reading the Lex de Haan book: 'Mastering Oracle SQL and SQL*Plus'.

This means that the Tom Kyte Book is on Standby. I have read Chapter 1 - 11. This has given me an overall understanding of Oracle. What it Constists of and how it works on a very basic level. There will surely be a lot of things which I haven´t understood also. But I will get back to this book after learning some SQL.

mandag den 12. november 2007

Day 9 - 11 in Miracle Extreme Education Programme

Book 1: 'Expert Oracle Database Architecture' by Tom Kyte.

Finally, I feel better again. I have now read chapter 10 about Database Tables again. Apart from the bit about Object Tables, it was OK.
Today I´m starting up on chapter 11: Indexes.
On the 22nd of november, I will join Anjo Kolk and Jeroen Evers in Holland where I will attend a training session. I will also do a small presentation of MEEP and my Experiences with the programme.

torsdag den 8. november 2007

TimeOut...

Book 1: 'Expert Oracle Database Architecture' by Tom Kyte.

The last few days, I have been forced to take a little TimeOut from the education. I have been pretty sick, caughfing and fewer and I have even lost my voice. I can only whisper.

But since I´m getting pretty bored, just staying in bed the whole time, I have decided to start up on the reading again tomorrow. I will re-read chapter 10, since I couldn´t really focus on it when I read it the first time.

I will write again soon, when I have read a little more and hopefully feel better.

onsdag den 31. oktober 2007

Day 6-8 in Miracle Extreme Education Programme

Book 1: 'Expert Oracle Database Architecture' by Tom Kyte.

Sorry I haven´t updated for a while. I am sick at the moment, so all my reading, for the time being, is done from bed. Thank God for WLAN and laptops :-)
The plan now is to read chapter 8 and 9 before friday.

Today I had a small session with Michael Möller. We went through chapter 6 and 7 and finished of with a small intro of Redo & Undo. After the session, I went back home to bed.

By the way, the new setup; small sessions with Michael Möller, before and after reading a chapter, is working very well. I can ask questions or ask him to go through pages or examples in the book. It gives me a lot.
My biggest problem remains to be the SQL. So I have decided to focus a lot on that in the next couple of weekends. I have gotten to the point where I, very slowly, can work my way through small and mid-size examples. But I don´t have it 'under the skin' yet, meaning that, if I am to do even the easiest little exercise on my own (without a specific To Do list), I feel like 'Bambi trying to skate on Ice'.
So any comments in how to achieve working skills in SQL in 'no time' and how to approach learning it, are more than welcome. :-)

fredag den 26. oktober 2007

Day 4-5 in Miracle Extreme Education Programme

Book 1: 'Expert Oracle Database Architecture' by Tom Kyte.

The last two days, I´ve spent reading chapter 3-5. Under normal circumstances I should´nt have finished these chapters before monday, but since Michael Möller isn´t available on monday to go through the stuff with me, I decided to speed up a little bit and go through the stuff today with Michael.
The chapter about memory structures, especially the part regarding PGA and UGA, was a bit confusing. Well, actually it was very confusing. I hope that Michael can do his magic today and make me understand this better. :-)

I have seen all the comments on both this and on Mogens´ blog and I appreciate them very much.
I will try to get the time to update my profile, so you can all see a little bit about my background, but the short story is, that I have no experience, what so ever, in Oracle. I have been working with support and process optimization but not in regards to Oracle.

onsdag den 24. oktober 2007

Day 3 in Miracle Extreme Education Programme

Book 1: 'Expert Oracle Database Architecture' by Tom Kyte.

Just had the much anticipated status meeting with Mogens, where we discussed my views of the programme so far.

My primary point were:
1.
I felt the programme was missing oportunities to discuss the homework after reading it.
Kind of a 'Teacher function' who could go through the chapters, ensuring that the students didn´t misunderstand or even understand the stuff all together. Of course I can always ask my fellow colleagues. They have all been very supportive of me. Thank you guys!
But I think it needs to be in a more structured way. Preschedulled two days ahead and so on.

That way you need to commit yourself even more to these sessions.

2.
An intro to the chapters, just before reading them, would also give a lot of benefit.

The first day, Mogens introduced chapter 1. This made it a whole lot easier to read the text, since I already knew a little bit about what it was about. It certaintly helped me a lot.

Mogens agreed with me, and now the changes will be implemented.

Michael Möller, who has helped me several times already, has agreed to take the role of the 'Teacher function'. I couldn´t have wished for a better teacher.
Not only is Michael an 'Oracle Certified Master', credited as Technical Reviewer on the book but is on the same time a very experienced teacher of Oracle. I´m very happy to have Michael on my side in this project. :-)

The next three days will be spent on reading chapter 3 - 5. I´ll be back with comments as I plough my way through the pages.

tirsdag den 23. oktober 2007

Day 2 in Miracle Extreme Education Programme

Book 1: 'Expert Oracle Database Architecture' by Tom Kyte.

I got through the first chapter last night. The text was fairly easy to understand.
Mr. Kyte is very good at getting his points across, by implementing real life examples. I like that :-)

However, the SQL is very hard for me to understand, due to my lack of knowledge of this language. Especially I had dificulties on page 20, where he also uses PL/SQL, which is even harder for me to grasp.

We have had a very busy day at the office today, therefore I didn´t get a chance to talk to Mogens about my experiences, but I will tomorrow.

Since this is all very new to me, and since I´m the first one to try out this education, I find it very important to make sure that all the pro´s and con´s are debated with Mogens. Maybe the education plan is not perfect, maybe the books should come in a different order, maybe it should be '120 days in Hell' instead of 90 etc. etc. Time will tell...

Anyway, I have just finished chapter 2 (todays homework).
Luckily, chapter 2 is a very short one, more like an introduction to chapter 3 - 5. This gives me a little time to read up a little bit more on the SQL language, which is starting to make a little sense (at least the basic part of it).

By the way, thank you all for your comments!


mandag den 22. oktober 2007

Day 1 in Miracle Extreme Education Programme

Book 1: 'Expert Oracle Database Architecture' by Tom Kyte.

I spent the last few days going through the foreword and doing the setup of the environment.
Suffered a bit due to my lack of basic knowledge in SQL and SQLplus, but it turned out OK.

One thing puzzled me a bit, though: On page XXXV, you are supposed to use a table called 'big_table', but it doesn´t exist. Later on, it turns out that it´s described further on in the book (on page XLII) how to create the table. It took some time to figure that out!

Luckily I had great help in my colleague from Miracle, Jesper Lykke Thomsen, who has been an invaluable ressource for me. Jesper will probably get very tired of all my questions during the next few months. :-)

Today, I will start the Miracle Extreme Education Programme (MEEP), by reading chapter one of the book mentioned above. On the fly, I will try to catch up on some basic SQL. Learning the most common statements etc.