Customer Reviews

Configuring and Tuning Databases on the Solaris Platform

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book doesn't belong on your bookshelf it belongs on your desk beside your workstation. Mr. Packer's clarity, conciseness and comprehensiveness in his coverage of a complex topic is a tour de force that few technical writers are able to achieve these days. Written for an intelligent reader in mind, the subject matter is explained simply, directly and elegantly. No profusions of analogies, this author knows what he's talking about and he can explain it.

The organization of the chapters is first-rate. You can get to the heart of the matter with a quick glance at the table of content. The indexing is excellent. I'm amazed that I can find an entry for most of the topics I'm looking up. It has become my first point of reference for configuration and tuning issues.

Do yourself a favour, BUY IT! I'm already looking forward to the second edition of this masterpiece.

it's about time for a new edition. Since 2002 there is Solaris 10, ASE 15.0.2, Oracle 11g, etc. I agree with all of the 5 star reviewers and there were no print quality issues with my copy. Biggest problem would be for Mr. Packer to assimilate and digest all of the information from the new RDBMS software available now. If I could I would give this book 6 stars. (By the way, many of the chapters would still be relevant for specific RDBMSs running on AIX, HP, Linux, etc.)

This book is a MUST for anyone involved in Solaris performance management.

Not only does Alan Packer provide incredibly useful information regarding how the Orcale, Sybase, Informix and DB2 databases work but he also gives many hints and tips on Solaris-related issues.

From process management to data storage, there is something here for anyone involved in administering performance on Solaris servers.

Also, the content is very much up-to-date with coverage of Solaris 2.6, 7 and 8.

An excellent read, very informative and well written

I bought this book thinking that i would get some good ideas in order to get a little bit more performance from our servers, however once i started reading i could not put it down until 5 hours later.
It cuts all the small talk, and it breaks down every topic in an understandable format and teaches you what you really need to know.
The section on how to improve DISK performance was great, i implemented many things that i learned from reading this book.
Just buy it, you wont regretit.
Its a small price to pay for a good piece of mind.

This books answers the questions that most others do not. A very technical approach, with great editing and no errors. The books covers architectural issues, Oracle tuning but scores really big in optimizing the Solaris environment (OS and hardware/disk).

Don't be deceived by the title. Although this gem focuses on Sun's Solaris operating system, which is a widely used flavor of Unix, much of it is applicable to AIX, HP-UX, Linux, etc. Packer's considerable breadth and depth of knowledge and experience show on every page. He shares a discipline with his readers that enables them to configure and tune their databases and operating systems.

A sampling of headers illustrates the broad, ambitious scope of the book. Topics include SMP, NUMA, Clusters, tuning the buffer cache, database optimizers, OLTP, DSS, memory management, logical and physical storage, system sizing and capacity planning, high availability, performance troubleshooing, measurement tools and analysis, database and system tuning guidance, scalability, strengths and weaknesses of the TPC benchmarks, etc. Packer successfully covers his material by focusing attention on what he has found to work and has a significant performance impact. Many of these are found in rules of thumb that are generously sprinkled throughout the book.

Packer shares a layered approach to a complex subject. He builds an architectural foundation (operating system fundamentals and RDBMS internals). His database discussion is limited to Oracle, DB2, Sybase, and Informix. If one uses another product, his discussion should highlight architectural areas that should be understood by system administrators or database administrators (who all too frequently understand their domain but not the other's). The same level of product understanding is necessary to configure and tune other products for performance. Packer builds on a architectural foundation with metrics and analysis. He presents a methodology that is pragmatic and efficient.

Experts might quibble over minor details; of course, it is impossible to gather a group of seasoned Oracle DBA's to discuss performance without heated arguments. I have much the same approach to performance analysis. I differ from Packer in the order that I approach performance problems; nevertheless, I do the same things.

For such an ambitious book, Packer is to be applauded for scoring a series of solid bull's eyes. I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned with configuring and tuning complex applications. You will learn a methodology that will serve you for years to come.

The content of the book is very good; with information not found elsewhere.

The print quality is horrible. Some of the pages are visibly crooked, and illustrations with grayscale detail look like they are photocopies of photocopies. The gradient on the chapter headings suffer from this too.