Oracle Tuning: The Definitive Reference (Oracle in-Focus Series) (Hardcover)

by Alexey B. Danchenkov (Author), Donald Burleson (Author), Don Burleson (Editor) "Purchase of this book provides complete access to the online code depot that contains the sample code scripts and a free copy of WISE software..." (more)
Key Phrases: timed events, kernel parameters, database reorganizations, Oracle Tuning, Tuning Advisor, Access Advisor (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Targeted at Oracle professionals who need fast and accurate working examples of complex issues, Oracle In-focus books target specific areas of Oracle technology in a concise manner. Plenty of working code is provided without a lot of theory, allowing database managers to solve their problems quickly without reviewing data that they already know. All code scripts are available for instant download from a companion web site.

About the Author

Alexey B. Danchenkov holds a master's degree in computer science from St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation He started work as an Oracle database administrator at Leaves Inc and worked for several years as a principal Oracle DBA at a large telecommunications company, where he managed very large database and billing systems. Alexey is also the creator of the STATSPACK Viewer software, a popular Oracle graphics package. Donald K. Burleson is one of the world’s top Oracle Database experts with more than 20 years of full-time DBA experience. He specializes in creating database architectures for very large online databases and he has worked with some of the world’s most powerful and complex systems. A former Adjunct Professor, Don Burleson has written 30 books, published more than 100 articles in National Magazines, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Oracle Internals. Don is a popular lecturer and teacher and is a frequent speaker at Oracle Openworld and other international database conferences.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Rampant Techpress; 1 edition (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974448621
• ISBN-13: 978-0974448626
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #218,045 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great but incomplete, March 26, 2008

By	L. Wick - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It would be easy to criticize any book on such a big topic for being incomplete. The problem here is that this book leaves out essentials that the authors have to know and just didn't bother writing down. Here's an example. "The parameter named optimizer_index_cost_adj controls the CBO's propensity to favor index scans over full table scans." Well, that's great and it's something I needed to know. So what are the values and what do they mean? You'll have to go look that up on the web. This happens over and over and suggests to me that no one bothered to read the book critically.

Now I've had the book for a few days and it keeps getting worse - if I were writing my review now it would be at 3 stars and heading down toward 2. There are SO many mistakes. There are sentences with extra words in the middle - no one ever read this stuff. There are scripts that just don't work, that have SQL errors. There are pompous bits that don't say much strewn here and there. In spite of the book's apparent top-level organization, the chapters themselves are pieced together carelessly with very little development of any ideas. Bits of a given concept are referred to here and there with no attempt to tie them together. One chapter cites one value for an init parameter, another mentions a second value, but nowhere are all the values explained or compared. There's still a lot of information but some of it is hardly usable because it's incomplete, or wrong. Maybe one star....

To add insult, each script contains a warning that it can't be used for a commercial purpose without licensing it from these folks! Who on earth do they imagine is buying these books? Schoolkids? If the scripts worked this would be really sad, but as they don't it's not much of a loss.

I like to think that if I get one really good idea or strategy from a book it will pay for itself, but "Oracle Tuning: The Definitive Reference" is causing me to re-think that philosophy, because it's such hard work wading through all the mess.

In contrast, I'm reading Jonathan Lewis's book on the cost-based optimizer. It's lucid, coherent, well developed, and very usable. Even his old book on 8i is far more useful to me than Burleson!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, July 1, 2007

By	Peter Whedbee - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had high hopes for this book but as I worked my way through it I kept finding myself attempting to puzzle out the author's meaning because of typographical errors, poor proofreading and poor editing. Sometimes I literally could not see the connection between what the text was saying the sample output was and the sample output that was printed on the page. I expect a technical book to be technically clear and this one let me down too many times to instill confidence. I also came away with the sinking feeling that it was at heart a grand advertisement for the WISE software; another confidence killer. This is my second Rampant book and I think my last.
To be fair, I learned some new things and will undoubtedly improve my skills because of this book, but I would say to the authors and publisher that you made me more mad than you made me smart. You have lost me.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read, November 27, 2006

By	Laine Campbell "Database Architect and Consul... (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Overall, I found this book well worth the read. As with most rampant books I've read, it has the following consistent issues:

Lack of organization and proofreading
Too bloated (redundant information, large fonts and too many pictures)

Additionally, I found numerous errors in the code depot scripts that required reworking for them to function properly. That being said, there are some really great nuggets of wisdom here as well as some key concepts that DBAs should be aware of. The methodologies are usually solid and the information is often, but not always correct.

One thing missing from this book that I find in the works of Tom Kyte and Lewis are the actual examples. There are so many good ideas here, but no before and after statistics to give the DBA a feel for the validity of the arguments. Strong test scenario scripts provide proof to the theory and give the learning DBA a chance to practice through example, not just study the concepts. And this is woefully lacking in this book.

Overall, I'm glad I read it and I did gain some insights, but it could have been much better. Take these theories and then dig into APress works for actual applications and some revisions. And take everything with a grain of salt until you prove it yourself.