February 1, 2008 at 8:11 am
Well after 10 years of working on SQL Server I have been asked to move to the Oracle group and become the new core DBA.:pinch: Don't ask why.. I still get paid.
Now all I have to do is learn it. This should be really interesting. No formal training until 2nd quarter. So does anyone have any tips on sites that will help me get a basic understanding until then. Any help or comments would be great.
Words to the wise be carful saying things like " I will never work on that" They come back to bite you!
Stacey W. A. Gregerson
February 1, 2008 at 9:26 am
http://technet.oracle.com is a good start. There are app and code downloads, doc, and training. I've used it to keep up with Oracle 7 thru 11.
February 1, 2008 at 11:05 am
I haven't worked with Oracle since we moved to SQL Server, but I got a lot of info from these sites. I recommend getting the classroom training as soon as you can, too.
http://www.lazydba.com/ - good forums
http://www.orafaq.com/ - used to be pretty active
https://metalink.oracle.com/ - Oracle's own support site
Oh, and books. Oracle DBA Survival Guide (SAMS), Oracle DBA Handbook (Oracle Press), Oracle Backup and Recovery Handbook (Oracle Press). Good Luck!
Greg
February 1, 2008 at 11:23 am
Thanks for the replies. I feel a little like a fish out of water these days.
Stacey W. A. Gregerson
February 3, 2008 at 3:22 pm
You can check my Oracle wiki article describing basic documentation and giving some basic resource links in internet:
http://wiki.oracle.com/page/Troubleshooting+-+Database
Gints Plivna
Gints Plivna
http://www.gplivna.eu
February 3, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The little interaction I've had with Oracle was made a LOT easier by using the product TOAD for Oracle - there's a free copy for you to try. Do a google search for it. It makes working with Oracle DBs a bit more familiar to us MS SQL folk 🙂
February 4, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Do any of the books mentioned above dig deep into the innards of Oracle, along the lines of the Inside SQL Server series? I will probably need to re-port an application from SQL to Oracle in the near future, we already support Oracle to a degree and I'm familiar with the basics of PL/SQL and maintenance but I see it as an opportunity to bring it in line with best practices and optimal performance.
February 4, 2008 at 2:24 pm
matt stockham (2/4/2008)
Do any of the books mentioned above dig deep into the innards of Oracle, along the lines of the Inside SQL Server series?
Hmm cannot see any mention of book above at least in it's traditional paper form. All these above are internet resources and most of all have various levels of complexity for example any site having forums have both very basic as well as complex questions and answers.
I will probably need to re-port an application from SQL to Oracle in the near future, we already support Oracle to a degree and I'm familiar with the basics of PL/SQL and maintenance but I see it as an opportunity to bring it in line with best practices and optimal performance.
If you'd like to get real books I suggest you get books by Thomas Kyte especially
- Expert Oracle Database Architecture: 9i and 10g Programming Techniques and Solutions and
- Effective Oracle by Design (Osborne ORACLE Press Series)
If you want to dig deep into Oracle cost based optimizer then you have to get Cost-Based Oracle Fundamentals by Jonathan Lewis.
If you want to understand how to find with real guarantee what slows down your db then get Optimizing Oracle Performance by Cary Millsap.
Not to say that all other books are bad, but these definitely are good 🙂
Gints Plivna
Gints Plivna
http://www.gplivna.eu
February 5, 2008 at 6:23 am
Be sure that you are given access to Oracle's Metalink, and create a Metalink Account. This is Oracle's version of patches, Knowledge base articles, and being able to log issues (TAR's ... Technical Assistance Requests). You will need to ask for the ability to see all TAR's, and TAR creation.
For Oracle performance issues and to get a good baseline of your systems, I would recommend you look into StatsPack, and get all of the objects installed on each Oracle system you are now "wrangling". There is a performance site that is excellent formerly known as Oraperf, has been renamed to http://www.sanperf.com/ ... You need to create a free account, but you can post your StatsPack reports to the site and you get a more distilled and readable output from your Statspack output, as well as recommendations on how to get numbers within tolerable ranges.
This site should get you started with Statspack:
Oracle Statspack Survival Guide
http://www.akadia.com/services/ora_statspack_survival_guide.html
I also recommend getting a login for Oracle's Technology Network (OTN). It is all of the publicly available source for documentation, white papers, forums, etc.
http://www.oracle.com/technology/index.html
Tom Kyte has a portal and is also a great resource on how to do things, there are literally hundreds of hours of reading his postings of folk writing in about all types of Oracle issues.
If you will be doing any Oracle programming, Mr. Kyte has authored several books on the topic:
Expert Oracle Database Architecture: 9i and 10g Programming Techniques and Solutions by Thomas Kyte
Effective Oracle by Design (Osborne ORACLE Press Series) (Paperback)
by Thomas Kyte (Author)
Definately look into OCP (Oracle Certified Professional) Certification when your training budget becomes available.
Oracle is a very large product and it is easy to feel overwhelmed, take small doses!
I am in training all this week (FEB 4, 2008 to FEB 8, 2008), and can give more information if you wish, just send me a private message, and I can go into more detail.
Hope This Helps
"Key"
MCITP: DBA, MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, OCP
February 5, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Thanks for the information, plenty to investigate now.
February 6, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I'll would like to just second the use of ask tom (Tom Kytes site). Tom Kyte, while short tempered, arrogrant, Oracle biggot (Not really that bad :)), he is a fantastic resource for Oracle best practice.
February 7, 2008 at 9:17 am
Like Stacey, I'll be working a lot with Oracle databases as of this month - but as a developer, rather than a DBA.
I've been unsuccessfully looking for what I would call "ORACLE for SQL Server Developers."
In other words, a reference that approaches the subject like this:
"In SQL Server, in order to do X, you do A, but in ORACLE, you need to take approach B."
For example, in SQL Server, I'll often be able to speed up a procedure by caching a small set of data in a temporary table or table variable near the beginning, then using that object for joining to later on, rather than the base table. Is this a viable way to do things in ORACLE, and if so, how... and if not, what is the "ORACLE way" to accomplish the same end.
there are lots of other situations like this:
- using variables in PL/SQL vs variables in T-SQL
- using resultset from a stored procedure (I understand that in ORACLE, you have to create a cursor to use the resultset)
... and what does that mean for the equivalent of
INSERT INTO Foo EXEC mySproc
anyone who can enlighten me by approaching ORACLE in this manner will earn my eternal gratitude.
Regards,
SteveR
Arnold, MD
February 13, 2008 at 7:13 am
Although a lot of this information is several years old, the "basics" still apply. There are several companies that will perform the migration for you, but that does not teach you how to work with Oracle syntax. I have several links for you to investigate on your own, and I recommend that you get an Oracle Technology Network (OTN) account, and begin reading through the forums as well. If you have access to your Metalink Account, there may be more Documentation and White Papers that are not publicly available.
--
Migrating from Oracle to SQL Server
http://members.tripod.com/~vyaskn/oracle_sql_server_differences_equivalents.htm
A place to start to see some differences between Oracle and SQL Server
--
Migrating from SQL Server to Oracle Series
http://www.devx.com/dbzone/Article/20715
A series of articles on SQL Server to Oracle conversion and/or learning.
See the web site for the links below ...
Oracle Has SQL Server Beat in Stored Procedure Programming
Oracle9i and SQL Server 2000 add enhancements to the standard SQL language that enable you to use the database to implement your business rules and processes—SQL Server with Transact-SQL and Oracle with PL/SQL. Find out why the Oracle database engine is better suited for this role.
Concurrency Handling in Oracle: Preventing Locked Data
SQL Server and Oracle each have very different methods for maintaining data constancy when accessed by concurrent users. Oracle maintains a snapshot of the data, which prevents queries from hanging without stooping to "dirty reads." Find out how it works.
Storing Your Data in Oracle
Compared to SQL Server, Oracle allows a DBA to go much further under the hood to properly manage data space requirements. However, space allocation in Oracle is complicated. Joe Lax shows you how locally managed tablespaces can let the database engine make most of the decisions for you.
Oracle Basics: Querying an Oracle Database
Oracle's SQL*Plus is no SQL Server Query Analyzer, but with a little practice you'll get the hang of it. Joe Lax shows you how to survive your first Oracle query with your dignity intact.
Oracle Concepts: The Instance and the Database
The complexity of how information is stored and where it is retrieved from is hidden from the casual user who queries a database. But if you plan on administering Oracle, you need to become familiar with how Oracle handles both resources. In this article, Joe Lax discusses two basic, but important, concepts with regard to memory and disk—the "instance" and the "database."
--
Oracle SQL Developer Migration Workbench
Oracle SQL Developer Migration Workbench is a new, redeveloped tool that greatly extends the functionality and usability offered by the original Oracle Migration Workbench to migrate Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL databases to Oracle.
http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/migration//workbench/index_sqldev_omwb.html
A tool set as well as documentation for migrating from SQL Server to Oracle.
See links for: Documentation
See links for: Forums
--
Migrating Applications from Microsoft SQL Server to Oracle9i Database
http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/migration/ama/docs/ama_wp.pdf
This 52 page document discusses how to migrate your application and underlying database from Microsoft SQL Server to Oracle9i.
--
"Key"
MCITP: DBA, MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, OCP
February 13, 2008 at 7:20 am
Andrew,
I would be an "Oracle biggot" too if I had been working with the technology since 1998, been an Oracle employee since 1993 and is currently the Vice President of Core Technologies. It is rare for someone of his position to be able to keep his technical edge, as well as willing to share to any who ask/post.
"Key"
MCITP: DBA, MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, OCP
February 13, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Hello Damon,
I have already read the very good first article you mentioned by 'Vyas', but the rest of your list is gold - exactly what I was looking for in terms of advice for where to look -- thank you so very much for taking the time and the effort!
Best regards,
SteveR
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