Storage for DBAs: My last post in this blog series was aimed at dispelling the myth that dedupe is a suitable storage technology for databases. To my surprise it became the most popular article I've ever published (based on reads per day). Less surprisingly though, it lead to quite a backlash from some of the … Continue reading Storage Myths: Storage Compression Has No Downside
Author: flashdba
Storage Myths: Dedupe for Databases
Storage for DBAs: Data deduplication - or "dedupe" - is a technology which falls under the umbrella of data reduction, i.e. reducing the amount of capacity required to store data. In very simple terms it involves looking for repeating patterns and replacing them with a marker: as long as the marker requires less space than … Continue reading Storage Myths: Dedupe for Databases
Understanding Disk: Over-Provisioning
Storage for DBAs: In a recent news article in the UK, supermarket giant Tesco said it threw away almost 30,000 tonnes of food in the first half of 2013. That's about 33,000 tons for those of you who can't cope with the metric system. The story caused a lot of debate about the way in … Continue reading Understanding Disk: Over-Provisioning
Understanding Disk: Mechanical Limitations
Storage for DBAs: The year 2000. Remember that? The IT industry had just spent years making money off the back of the millenium bug (which turned out not to exist). The world had spent even more money than usual on fireworks, parties and alcohol. England failed to win an international football tournament again (some things … Continue reading Understanding Disk: Mechanical Limitations
Understanding Disk: Superpowers
Storage for DBAs: It's a familiar worn-out story. A downtrodden and oppressed population are rescued from their plight by a mysterious superhero. Over time they come to rely on this new superbeing - taking him for granted even, complaining when he isn't immediately available to save them and alleviate their pain. As the years progress, memories … Continue reading Understanding Disk: Superpowers
The Most Expensive CPUs You Own
Storage for DBAs: Take a look in your data centre at all those humming boxes and flashing lights. Ignore the storage and networking gear for now and just concentrate on the servers. You probably have many different models, with different types and numbers of CPUs and DRAM inside. My question is, which CPUs are the most … Continue reading The Most Expensive CPUs You Own
OOW13: The Future Is Here (Just Don’t Mention “Legacy”)
Last week I attended Oracle OpenWorld 2013 in the stunning city of San Francisco, along with 60,000 other attendees. At times it felt like we'd taken over the entire city, with every street, bus, billboard and hotel plastered in Oracle logos and pictures of engineered systems... although apparently there was some other stuff going on … Continue reading OOW13: The Future Is Here (Just Don’t Mention “Legacy”)
The Real Cost of Oracle RAC
Storage for DBAs: In my previous article (in this mini-series on database economics) I explained how to calculate the cost of a mid-range Oracle database system. My motive was a concern that many people working either directly or indirectly with database software are uninformed about just how expensive it is - particularly in comparison to … Continue reading The Real Cost of Oracle RAC
The Real Cost of Enterprise Database Software
Storage for DBAs: The strange thing about enterprise databases is that the people who design, manage and support them are often disassociated from the people who pay the bills. In fact, that's not unusual in enterprise IT, particularly in larger organisations where purchasing departments are often at opposite ends of the org chart to operations … Continue reading The Real Cost of Enterprise Database Software
Storage Myths: Put Oracle Redo on SSD
Storage for DBAs: "My database is slow"... "Well then why not put your redo logs on SSDs?" Gaaaah. I still hear people having this discussion and it drives me mad. "Nobody got fired for putting Oracle redo on ...<flash vendor>". Yeah right, but does that mean it was worth the investment? I'm bored of this … Continue reading Storage Myths: Put Oracle Redo on SSD
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