Oracle AWR Reports: Understanding I/O Statistics

One consequence of my job is that I spend a lot of time looking at Oracle Automatic Workload Repository reports, specifically at information about I/O. I really do mean a lot of time (honestly, I'm not kidding, I have had dreams about AWR reports). One thing that comes up very frequently is the confusion relating … Continue reading Oracle AWR Reports: Understanding I/O Statistics →

Oracle Fixes The 4k SPFILE Problem…But It’s Still Broken

As anyone familiar with the use of Oracle on Advanced Format storage devices will know to their cost, Oracle has had some difficulties implementing support of 4k devices. Officially, support for devices with a 4096 byte sector size was introduced in Oracle 11g Release 2 (see section 4.8.1.4 of the New Features Guide) but actually, if the … Continue reading Oracle Fixes The 4k SPFILE Problem…But It’s Still Broken →

Playing The Data Reduction Lottery

Storage for DBAs: Do you want to sell your house? Or your car? Let's go with the car - just indulge me on this one. You have a car, which you weren't especially planning on selling, but I'm making you an offer you can't refuse. I'm offering you one million dollars so how can you … Continue reading Playing The Data Reduction Lottery →

Oracle Exadata X4 (Part 2): The All Flash Database Machine?

This article looks at the new Oracle Exadata X4-2 Database Machine from Big Red. In part one I looked at the changes made from the X3 model (more stuff) as well as the implications (more license bills). I also covered some of the confusing and bewildering descriptions Oracle has used to describe the flash capacity … Continue reading Oracle Exadata X4 (Part 2): The All Flash Database Machine? →

Predictions for 2014: DataBase-as-a-Service

It's that time of year again where lots of people write articles which begin with the words "It's that time of year again..." and make endless references to crystal balls, tea leaves and the benefits of hindsight. But not me, I'm not descending into cliché. Apart from that first sentence, which with the benefit of … Continue reading Predictions for 2014: DataBase-as-a-Service →

Oracle Exadata X4 (Part 1): Bigger Than It Looks?

One of the results of my employment history is that I tend to take particular interest in the goings on at a certain enterprise software (and hardware!) company based in Redwood Shores. I love watching Oracle's announcements, press releases, product releases and financial statements to see what they are up to - and I am … Continue reading Oracle Exadata X4 (Part 1): Bigger Than It Looks? →

Storage Myths: Storage Compression Has No Downside

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 →

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 →

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”) →