Oracle Performance Troubleshooting: With Dictionary Internals SQL & Tuning Scripts (Oracle In-Focus series) (Paperback)

by Robin Schumacher (Author), Donald Burleson (Editor) "Each availability component is comprised of several sub-modules that must be measured..." (more)
Key Phrases: output from the above query, maximum extent limit, alloc blocks, Oracle Performance Troubleshooting Page, Performance Area, Avoiding Database Downtime (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
If you're a DBA who's looking for real world Oracle tuning techniques, Oracle scripts, and advice on how to get to the heart of critical Oracle performance problems, then you've come to the right place. Written by one the world's top DBAs and Oracle internals experts, Robin Schumacher focuses his incredible knowledge of the Oracle data dictionary into a superb book that show how to quickly troubleshoot and correct Oracle performance problems.

As a Vice President at Embarcadero Technologies, Robin Schumacher has written the internals for some of the world's most powerful Oracle performance software and now he shows you how to use the most recent advancements in Oracle8i and 9i to make your Oracle database run as fast as possible.

About the Author
Robin Schumacher is the vice president of product management with Embarcadero Technologies. He has worked as a senior database administrator and developer for many different industries, including systems integration, insurance, health care, and utilities. He has experience in DB2, Teredata, Oracle, SQL Server, and other database engines. He has been a writer and software reviewer for such publications as DM Review, Database Programming and Design, and Oracle Internals. He lives in Prospect, Kentucky.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Rampant Techpress (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972751343
• ISBN-13: 978-0972751346
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,732 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars POWERFUL WAYS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE, October 16, 2003

By	C. W. Lawson "OracleMagician" (SF East Bay, California: United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is another in the series of technical volumes published by "Rampant Techpress," published by Don Burleson. The purpose of this book by Robin Schumacher is to suggest and illustrate a robust, comprehensive performance tuning methodology.

With this methodology in hand, the author then provide examples and scripts to show how this works in practice. Robin points out the importance of proactively monitoring a database, and modeling database performance. He shows the difference between two key ways to approach performance tuning: Ratio based versus Bottleneck Analysis. Each have their place, he shows.

For instance, he notes that Ratios are good for getting a quick "bird's eye" view of the performance. He correctly cautions the reader, in the section entitled "The Dangers of Blanket Ratios," about overly simplistic reliance on simple ratios.

I found the discussion of the V$Sql_Plan view especially helpful. I admit that I have not used this in my own performance troubleshooting. After reading this book, I see that I have really missed out on a powerful tactic! Robin shows how to use this view to best effect. He includes numerous scripts, which are available from the Rampant website (I successfully downloaded all the scripts without a hitch).

For example, in the script "9iCartSql" Robin shows how easy it is to find completed queries that used Cartesian Products as part of the execution plan. He points out that this could be an indication of improper join syntax. In another script, he shows how to get a list of the exact SQL that caused scans of large tables. In another example, he introduces the new view V$Sql_Plan Statistics, and illustrates a way to obtain the exact statistics for each step in the execution plan for all SQL executed on the instance.

Do you get the idea? A lot of good ideas, along with the exact scripts to use. All in all, an impressive volume to add to your DBA "Tool Kit." I found the discussions clear and to the point, and intend to use many of the the numerous, practical scripts provided with this book.

As Mr Schumacher points out in Chapter 1, "The IT consultants who make the really big money are the ones who can take a lethargic system and quickly turn it into one that runs as fast as greased lightning." Thank you, Robin, for heading us in the right direction!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great when problems happen, October 4, 2003

By	"pharfromhome" (England) - See all my reviews

I was happy to see a book on Oracle troubleshooting because I have been in trouble before and had no scripts to run to detect poblems or troubleshoot the Oracle problem. After downloading the scripts I now have an arsenal of tools to run whenwher I have problems.

The text itself is easy to read and clear, and Schumacher has done an excellent job in explaining the concepts and troubleshooting areas. I highly recommend this text for Oracle DBA's who need to keep their systems running during emergencies and who lack troubleshooting experience.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love the code scripts, September 10, 2003

By	Ted Crissman (Bay area, CA) - See all my reviews

I admit that I don't fully understand Oracle tuning, but this books has made my life easier. This author clearly explaines the problem and them shows working scripts that I was able to run on my own system. The code was easy to run and, aling with the explainations, I have been able to troubleshoot sevral performance problems. I also like the price. At half the cost of other Oracle tuning books, this was a good value. I have not yet read it cover-t-cover, but I plan to, so I can start to understand the whole picture.