Oracle DBAs are inundated with constant work and it’s becoming more difficult to keep up with it all. Sometimes, in the rush to balance the workload, an Oracle DBA can forget some fundamental steps which actually might help them stay ahead of the game.
Some are tasks to perform just once when the database is initially deployed, others are routine tasks that should be scheduled at regular intervals, and still others are tasks outside the database itself.
DBTA recently held a webinar with Bert Scalzo, senior product manager at DB PowerStudio, IDERA, who provided a list of common items to consider when creating a DBA to-do list.
Many DBAs are in critical roles and it’s not an easy job, Scalzo said, who presented 10 ideas to help make DBAs’ lives easier.
Some of these tips include diagramming the environment a DBA is working on. “You can’t always assume that the event is because of the database, it could be because of the hardware—and it helps to have this picture in place,” Scalzo said.
It’s also important to diagram the cloud environment to catch errors before they become bigger problems—and being able to see cost up-front is just as important.
Having an application architecture diagram allows DBAs to monitor delayed response times so they don’t try to tune or optimize what’s not broken, according to Scalzo.
Creating a data model for each application is helpful because without a roadmap of the database it is difficult to compare the execution plan to the SQL statement and make improvements.
Other tips include running Oracle’s free ORAchk Utility, cleaning up track files regularly, and managing alert log files.
An archived on-demand replay of this webinar is available here.