Oracle DBA 101 [Paperback]

James Viscusi (Author), Marlene L. Theriault (Author), Rachel Carmichael (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2000 | Series: Oracle Press

-- Fine-tuning one's Oracle database administration skills is smart; certifying those skills is lucrative. But what about the aspiring Oracle database administrator (DBA) who needs to know what it takes to become a DBA and what to expect with regard to the day-to-day duties they will face?
-- At a time when high demand for DBAs is prompting more people to choose this profession, there are no books that provide this kind of entry-level information. Additionally, to meet this demand, corporations are increasingly asking their application developers to perform DBA tasks without providing them with information on what a DBA should do to ensure a smooth-running database.
-- Enter DBA 101. With Oracle DBA 101, Oracle Press is offering the first-of-its- kind tutorial for becoming an Oracle DBA. The book will provide prospective DBAs information about what is required to qualify as an entry-level DBA -- such as college courses, training, and so on. Written in a friendly tone, the book moves on to discuss effective performance in the DBA position and day-to-day chores that ensure a smooth-running database.
-- Unlike any other book in the Oracle Press line. Written in a light and friendly tone -- often in the first person, Oracle DBA 101 provides unique and valuable information to aspiring Oracle DBAs. The book's many selling points include:
-- Content employs the authors' proven and accessible instructional techniques from their popular "Oracle DBA 101" workshops and presentations.
-- Self-contained DBA Toolkit section with beginning and advanced scripts that are tied into the CD-ROM.
-- CD-ROM with ready-to-run and fully explained scripts (DBA Toolkit section)
-- Quickreference charts of Oracle views on the inside front and back cover
-- Glossary with practical definitions of the most common DBA terms. This glossary resists defining technical terms with more technical terms.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Oracle DBA 101 offers a friendly place for budding Oracle professionals to learn critical database management skills. Refreshingly, the book's entertaining style doesn't preclude the authors from discussing advanced concepts.

The text opens with a discussion of everything an Oracle DBA is expected to do. It moves quickly into the particulars of the Oracle architecture, all the while maintaining a comfortable writing style that makes easy reading of material that is, because of its technical nature, very dry. It also includes excellent discussions of the valuable inner workings of Oracle such as the V$ views and tools such as the Optimizer and Explain Plan. This section, along with a later chapter on performance, provides techniques for diagnosing the causes of even mysterious performance symptoms. A chapter on backup and recovery is included, but it is fairly brief.

Oracle is a very complex product, and this book doesn't attempt to make a seasoned pro out of the reader. But it does provide a fine balance of big picture perspective and internal details to enable new DBAs to hit the ground running. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Database layout, installation and configuration, tablespaces, System Global Area, monitoring, DBA and V$ views, SQL*Plus overview, Optimizer, Explain Plan, TKPROF, Autotrace, performance tuning, backup and recovery.

Review

"...I like this book because it is very different than all the other technical books on the market." -- Steve Vandiver, MAOP newsletter, April 2000

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 563 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 1st edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072121203
• ISBN-13: 978-0072121209
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #759,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Oracle

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DBA 101 is a great read !, January 5, 2000

By 

Stephanie Gonos (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oracle DBA 101 (Paperback)

Oracle is not an easy product to master - You can not just read about the product - you need to understand and USE the commands that you read about and run the system.

This is the first book that starts at the beginning and asks the user, why one wants to be a DBA and then goes on to layout what some of the job requires. The authors use enough detail to illustrate how commands are used, but the user ultimately must determine the "correct" command parameters that will be used. This does help the reader understand what the command and it's parameters really mean and do. You just can't cut and paste the commands. (See Oracle Scripts for this type of detail).

The authors have made good use of basic examples as they attempt to explain how Oracle is structured and used. Users need an open mind to understand this - because it's not like other products. Each Oracle environment is unique and the DBA needs to know how to handle their environment and users.

I don't think that this book is meant to be "a complete DBA reference". There are other more detailed books that do this.

From the tasks identified, a DBA can easily create their own check list as to what duties they need to perform.

I own over 30 Oracle Press and related Oracle books, DBA 101 is the first one to explain in laymans terms, why something is done. The book doesn't do the DBA job for me, but it helps me understand the job I must do - which is why Oracle DBAs are in great demand.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last a book for beginners,Oracle DBA 101, January 4, 2000

By 

George Gosta (New York, America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oracle DBA 101 (Paperback)

Of all the books on the market Oracle DBA101 helps the people who trully need help, the beginner. There are few books on the market that help the beginner get started on the right foot. Most books are geared toward the Oracle Guru and totally bypass the novice. Most authurs expect you to have years of experience, this is the only book on the market that helps you get started right, learning Oracle is no easy task and this book pulls no punches. I have read books that say they are for the beginner but leave you more confused and fustrated then when you started. Oracle DBA 101 is the only book on the market that will help you de-mystify the wonderful world of Oracle DBA. I have found the book to be worth it, it has personaly helped me on my way to becomming an Oracle DBA and I KNOW IT CAN HELP YOU! There is no doubt in my mind that this book will be the standerd that all Oracle DBA books will be judge on.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Concepts, not details, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Oracle DBA 101 (Paperback)

This book explains Oracle concepts very clearly and conversationally. But it doesn't actually tell you how to *do* much. It tells you what some of the steps of creating a database are (for example), but not what the commands to do them are. It reminds you what parameters you need to set to appropriate values, but doesn't tell you how to determine what an appropriate value might be. Examples are erratic -- sometimes it gives you a script and doesn't show you what the output will be, or shows you a table and doesn't explain what it means.

This might be a useful companion to a syntax-oriented class, or for a junior DBA who's been performing steps by rote for a few months and wants to understand what's really going on. It's a pleasant read, very friendly, uses lots of analogies (some of which are not really useful enough). But it will *not* help you get started actually doing Oracle DBA work, nor would it make a good reference book in my opinion.