Re: Oracle 911 Article

Bizarre though it may seem to you, I think this
is probably the best article that Don has ever
written.

True, there are literally dozens of errors and
questionable details. And this is the third
article for dbazine where he's trotted out his
pathetic sneer at the scientific approach.

BUT - there are several of his case studies where
he makes the points:
    Listen to the end user
    Observe the symptoms
    Select (his opinion of ) the most appropriate solution
    Monitor the effect.
    Document what you've done and WHY

This is far better than the usual "do this because it's
a really good tweak and it will make the database
go faster" type of claim that he puts out without
context or proof.

With this article, readers have the chance to say things
like:
    That's not what my system looks like, so it's not
    necessarily relevant.

    Symptom A might mean problem X, but it might
    mean problem Y - what did you do to eliminate
    problem Y as the critical issue.

    The sample data you also shows symptoms for a
    completely different problem. What did you do
    about that.

    Your fix may introduce another problem further
    down the line - why was it safe to apply the fix

I think it's a step in the right direction, and I think
he should be encouraged to work on the approach
that he's used in the good bits of this article.


Regards

Jonathan Lewis
http://www.jlcomp.demon.co.uk

The Co-operative Oracle Users' FAQ
http://www.jlcomp.demon.co.uk/faq/ind_faq.html

March 2004 Hotsos Symposium - The Burden of Proof
  Dynamic Sampling - an investigation
March 2004 Charlotte OUG (www.cltoug.org) CBO Tutorial
April 2004 Iceland
June  2004      UK - Optimising Oracle Seminar


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Wagoner" <dwagoner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "ORACLE-L (E-mail)" <oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 10:29 PM
Subject: Oracle 911 Article


: You guys are going to enjoy this :-).
:
: I just read a very interesting article that managed to insult some of my
: favorite Oracle authors and the entire state of Alabama!  Now I've heard
Mr.
: Burleson speak before, and I must admit that I thought he was a dynamic
and
: entertaining speaker.  But do you really think that Oracle Support has
ever
: told anyone to call HIM to solve their performance problems (his article
: makes this claim)?  Does anyone else find the tone of this article
: unbefitting of an Oracle professional with such extensive credentials?  I
: honestly can't believe that DBAzine.com published this, especially
: considering that Oracle is listed as one of their sponsors.
:
: http://www.dbazine.com/burleson20.shtml
:
:
: Best regards,
:
: David B. Wagoner
: Database Administrator
:
:


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