| Expert Oracle Exadata: book review [message #525299] |
Fri, 30 September 2011 14:14  |
John Watson
Messages: 8962
Registered: January 2010
Location: Global Village
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Senior Member |
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I'm opening this topic here because it seems as good a place as any for a book review. If anyone disagrees, please move it.
Expert Oracle Exadata (Apress) is by Kerry Osborne, Randy Johnson, and Tanel Poder (Tanel, sorry I've lost the accent in your last name.) In one sentence: you need to buy this, there is no alternative.
There is not much hard technical information available regarding Exadata other than the docs and the Oracle Uni course, both of which are restricted distribution. I have found that the book adds to these considerably: it is not a re-hash of already available material. There is some material that is perhaps not necessary. For example, about half of the chapters on parallel processing (chapter 6) and resource management (chapter 7) are devoted to describing these concepts in general before embarking on the Exadata specifics. Chapter 13 on migration isn't Exadata specific at all. But apart from this, the book is packed with useful information, though some of it is referring to Exadata V2, not X2. There are some editing errors (for instance, chapter 14 Storage Layout has backward references to chapter 8 Configuring Exadata that do not make sense) but I can live with these. As an author myself, I know that when you are under pressure to get a book out, these things can slip through.
As preparation for the OCP Exadata Certified Implementation Specialist examination, the book is probably not sufficient: it doesn't cover some of the hardware details that are given in the docs and the Oracle Uni course. Fair enough: it makes no pretentions to being an exam guide.
There is an errata sheet, on http://www.expertoracleexadata.com. The one item I've posted there so far is still (after 5 days) awaiting moderation. Ah, well.
Overall, it's a good read. I can't recommend it unreservedly, but I do think it is essential reading.
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