November 12, 2003 at 2:04 pm
Have any of you DBAs started working with Oracle after having some experience with MSSQL? or currently being DBA on both? I'm curious to know how difficult the transition was. How difficult was it to learn Oracle and what kind of differences should one expect on a day-to-day basis?
JM
November 13, 2003 at 12:35 pm
I started working with SQL Server after being an Oracle DBA for a couple of years. My Oracle responsibilities have declined over the past 3 years as our databases have been migrated to MSSQL, so I'm currently babysitting the Oracle databases until we get the word to shut them down for good.
I had a much easier time learning the ins and outs of SQL Server than I did learning how to administer Oracle. I recommend getting some formal Oracle training if you can. It's pretty daunting to try to learn it on your own.
Oracle allows the dba to have a lot more control over configuration and tuning (also, more ways to screw it up!).
Working with database objects i.e. tables, views, indexes is not much different in either.
Recovery from backups is more difficult in the version of Oracle that I administer because it doesn't allow tablespace restores like the newer versions.
That's all I can think of right now. I'll post again if more occurs to me.
Greg
Greg
November 14, 2003 at 11:33 am
Thanks Greg. What version of Oracle are you working with?
I am planning on taking some online courses from Oracle University. That should help me get started.
Do you have tools equivalent to SQL Server agent to manage jobs, alerts, and so forth or is all that done at the OS level?
JM
November 14, 2003 at 2:02 pm
Oracle has a lot more configurations to play with and parameters that could be watched than sql server i.e it is not as self tuning.
Try to have as much hands on as possible.
Or take a class,whatever will put you in the drivers seat
Oracle in my opinion is a little bit more demanding in terms of what you need to know for basic administration skills than sql server.
All said and done your interest and the time you put in will also play a big role
Mike
November 17, 2003 at 2:46 pm
Yeah, the online courses should get you started. Some good books to consider are "Oracle DBA Survival Guide" (SAMS), "Oracle DBA Handbook" (Oracle Press), and "Oracle Backup & Recovery Handbook" (Oracle Press0.
I work with Oracle 7, specifically v7.1 and v7.3, on Netware. I have to use the OS utility CRON to schedule everything and manually check the database alert log and trace files, which are written to a network drive, to see errors.
Good luck,
Greg
Greg
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