Charles Kim

Chapter 1: Getting Started

Database administrators (DBAs) are crucial members of every information technology team. They are responsible for mission-critical tasks such as the following:

Chapter 8: Analyzing Server Performance

The separation of tasks between a SA and a DBA is often blurred. This blurring of roles can be especially true in small shops in which you wear multiple hats. Even in large organizations with established roles and responsibilities, you’ll still experience an occasional “all-hands-on-deck” fire drill in which you’re expected to troubleshoot server issues. In these scenarios, you must be familiar with the OS commands used to extract information from the server. An expert DBA does not diagnose database problems in a vacuum; you have to be server-savvy.

Chapter 7: Shell Scripting

Shell scripting is an important skill that every professional DBA must possess. Most DBAs use this coding technique to automate many critical database administration tasks such as backups and monitoring. As part of your job, you’ll be asked to maintain scripts that prior DBAs have written, and you’ll also be required to write new shell scripts as required. The better you are at scripting, the better you’ll be able to perform your job. To be effective at shell scripting, DBAs minimally need to be familiar with four types of tools:

Chapter 18: Server Log Files

Server log files contain informational messages about the kernel, applications, and services running on a system. These files can be very useful for troubleshooting and debugging system-level issues. DBAs often look in the system log files as a first step in diagnosing server issues. Even if you’re working with competent SAs, you can still save time and gain valuable insights into the root cause of a problem by inspecting these log files.

Chapter 14: Working Securely Across a Network

Secure communication is a concern, particularly when sharing confidential and vital information between people. For example, English Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt shared critical military information, such as troop movements, during World War II. To secure their voice conversations through the telephone, the SIGSALY (aka Green Hornet) was devised to encrypt and decrypt using cryptographic keys.

Chapter 12: VirtualBox for Oracle

Oracle VM VirtualBox, formerly known as Sun VirtualBox or Sun xVM VirtualBox, is a hypervisor for x86 computers from Oracle Corporation. Oracle VM VirtualBox is a cross–platform virtualization software that allows you to run multiple OSs at the same time on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Oracle Solaris OSs. Many IT professionals heavily leverage VirtualBox to learn new and emerging technologies. VirtualBox allows IT professionals to test, develop, demo, and deploy their applications and databases on virtual machines (VMs) on their local desktops or laptops.

Chapter 6: Archiving and Compressing Files

Most people who work with computers realize that the task of copying many files from one location to another is more efficient if the files can be bundled together and copied as a single unit. This is especially true when copying hundreds or thousands of files from one location to another. For example, in a Windows environment, if you have hundreds of files in a folder, it is fairly easy to click and drag the folder (containing the files) and copy it to a different location. This copy task would be time-consuming and error-prone if you individually copied each file within the folder.

Chapter 15: Managing X Window

Many DBAs argue that most Linux/Solaris servers don’t need an X Window System, even when hosting an Oracle database. In fact, previous chapters of this book show that you can manage your Oracle database on a Linux/Solaris server using a text console; you really don’t need a graphical console. In recipes 10-11 and 10-12, you learned how to install the Oracle RDBMS software and how to create an Oracle database without running the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) that requires a graphical display.

Linux and Solaris Recipes for Oracle DBAs

Linux and Solaris Recipes for Oracle DBAs, Second Edition is an example–based book on managing Oracle Database under Linux and Solaris. The book provides fast solutions for DBAs who need to get a job done “right now”. Coverage is taskoriented with each chapter broken down into sections corresponding directly to tasks that busy database administrators might need to perform. The book is written for database administrators who need to get work done and lack the luxury of curling up fireside with a stack of operating-system documentation. Find the right chapter. Look up the task to perform. See the solution. Implement the solution in your own environment. Get the job done. New in this edition is coverage of Oracle’s own Solaris operating system. Oracle Corporation has been working diligently to bring commonality between Solaris and and Linux, and this book takes advantage of those efforts by providing task-oriented solutions that work on common distributions of Linux, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Oracle Enterprise Linux, while also accommodating the growing number of Oracle Solaris customers. Examples in the book match the tasks DBAs perform daily, even hourly. Solutions come first in the book, but always are followed by close explanations of the details. Database administrators won’t go wrong with Linux and Solaris Recipes for Oracle DBAs. It’s the book to buy if you’re after clear and reliable examples to help in getting the job done, and getting home to your family. It’s a book that takes you directly from problem to solution. It covers the right mix of operating-system and database-system tasks that DBAs frequently perform. This new edition includes coverage of Solaris in addition to common Linux distributions.

Chapter 17: RAID Concepts

In the not too distant past, a 1TB-sized database was considered to be pretty big. Currently, 1PB–2PB defines the lower boundary for a large database. In the not too distant future, exabyte, zettabyte, and yottabyte will become commonly bandied terms near the DBA water cooler.