RE: Oracle 9i Articles - self tuning, launch delayed to

From: Eric D. Pierce <PierceED_at_csus.edu>
Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 11:46:57 -0700
Message-ID: <F001.002FFE75.20010510115747@fatcity.com>

dude,

The article is not actually providing "details", it is just reporting that Oracle has provided "details". Who got them, when, how, where is a different story. :)

It is weird how the article doesn't cite any specific sources at Oracle. I even looked in www.oracle.com's press releases page (yuk), and so forth, and couldn't see anything. Although there is a "Press Portal" at www.oracle.com that seems to require registration prior to access.

In terms of general 9i product information, there is a lot of stuff (see below), but I couldn't find *anything* at the first or second level of the 9i info that jumped out at me as being focused clearly explaining "self tuning" details.

The "data sheet" on Oracle9i Manageability (URL below) refers

http://www.oracle.com/ip/deploy/database/9i/continuity/index.html?manageas.html

to startup/backup issues, and indicates that "a persistent INIT.ORA feature" is used to bring "self tuned" parameter settings "across shutdowns".

Sounds like an incredibly giant pile of cr*p to me. The assumption they are presumably arguing *against* is that self-tuned features would somehow be non-persistent. The circumstances under which a "self tuning" database would forget what it had done previously is unexplained. Apparently the people that produce the marketing drivel at Oracle either have no clue about this specific topic, or the material was presented to them in an incoherent maner (or both). At any rate it is exceptionally unhelpful to the reader (especially those without a lot of time to waste) to hae to attempt to make sense out of such garbage.

Moving right along...

In the "Resource Management" section (same URL):

self-managing rollback segments (some detail)
multi-block size db files for portability
memory management:
- SGA self tuning (buffer cache and shared pool)
- SGA "tuning advisories"
- "transparent management of working memory for SQL execution by self tuning the initialization runtime parameters controlling allocation of private memory"
"Oracle Managed Files" (auto creation of db files)
"control downtime ... specify mean time to recover (MTTR) ... in number of seconds ... coupled with dynamic initialization parameters ... improve database availability"

(which means ??????????, I don't know)

"new capability ... resumable statements ... temporarily suspend ... operation ... process encounters out of space errors ... fix problem ... resume the operation from the point of interruption ... without disrupting normal database operations"

[new section:]
"End-to-End Management of Oracle's Internet Infrastructure

... is continuous system availability, reliability, and performance ... important ingredient ... ability to comprehensively manage all system components. ... Enterprise Manager ... support[s] the new capabilities of the database ... integrated central console. "

...

(explanation follow about a variety of features and tools that make *MANUAL* tuning, *by the dba*, easier!!!)

"Summary

Self-tuning, self-managing Oracle9i monitors your system to provide high availability, reliability and minimized downtime. Whether you are a hosting service, in-house data center, or IT organization, you can rely on Oracle9i and its system management products to provide optimal quality of service to all users. "

While there is probably some good stuff in the above, the overall tone is rather hyped, especially seeing as how there appears to be far more empasis on providing more/better dba tools (for "manual" opreations) than "real" self-tuning features.

-
http://www.oracle.com/features/index.html?9ieconomy.html -
http://www.oracle.com/ip/index.html?content.html -
http://www.oracle.com/ip/deploy/database/9i/continuity/index.html?content.html -
http://www.oracle.com/ip/deploy/database/9i/continuity/index.html?availability.html -
http://www.oracle.com/ip/deploy/database/9i/continuity/index.html?manageas.html -

regards,
ep

Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Thu, 10 May 2001 08:41:04 -0800 To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>

Funny. The article says "Oracle details....." and there is not a single detail in the article.

Bad Journalism, or Great Marketeering?

|| Oracle details self-tuning pieces of 9i database -

http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/05/03/010503hndatabase.xml?p=br&s=2

||
|| Oracle Moves Back 9i Launch, Dribbles Out More Product Detail -

http://www.crn.com/Sections/BreakingNews/BreakingNews.asp?ArticleID=26312

End of forwarded message ------- -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Eric D. Pierce INET: PierceED_at_csus.edu

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