Blog Aggregator - Amardeep Sidhu

The ICT division at my employer has just announced a number of Job Vacancies including one in my team. You can read about all of the vacancies here. I am particularly looking for people from a SQL Server background (since we are taking on responsibility for that technology) with an exposure to, or looking for exposure to, Oracle technologies. The job ad for for the DBA position reads as follows

Our DBA/Developer team support the technology that underpins some of the council’s key business applications, including housing services, social care and internal finance, HR and procurement, across Oracle and MS SQL platforms. As well as supporting packaged ‘off the shelf’ solutions, you will also be responsible for developing and supporting some of the key integrations that enable us to deliver services that are genuinely joined-up and customer focused.

We are particularly looking to build the SQL Server skill set within this important team. You will need to demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of SQL Server databases and the tools which are used to develop and support database technologies. You will have experience in using these skills to provide appropriate support, advice and guidance to business users as well as delivering solutions for complex business requirements

The closing date is March 17th.  You can apply online and see the full details here

It looks like interest for my Oracle Index Internals Seminar has just gone crazy, really really crazy and it’s been a rather hectic couple of weeks trying to keep on top of it all. From the success of this Blog and the reaction to the seminar in general, the whole subject of indexing in Oracle is obviously one […]

Yesterday somebody called Pradeep posted a question in the OTN PL/SQL forum asking for careers advice. He is a VB programmer working in a Microsoft code factory (in India I would guess). He wanted to know what the Oracle job market was like, because he wanted thinking of training as an “oracle developer”.

The reaction from some of the forum regulars was dismissive. Here is a sample:

“There are so many career/job opportunities in IT that to ask on a forum like this for career direction advice is just … Well, just not a good idea.

But put yourself in Pradeep’s position. (Note the following is an extrapolation: I don’t really know his circumstances). A combination of the commoditization of IT and outsourcing has produced software sweatshops, where you, the developer equivalent of a sharecropper, churn out code chunks to be assembled into systems elsewhere. It’s repetitive, stultifying and without much room for personal growth. Even if you do hear of a better job you know you are surrounded by dozens of other sharecroppers who stand just as much chance of getting it as you.

So Pradeep has thought to himself, Oracle is a famous company but he doesn’t know anybody who works as an Oracle developer. That means he is going to face much less competition for any Oracle job which might arise. You might find this optimistic but it is thinking outside of the box. He then shows further initiative by posting a question about Oracle careers on the OTN forums. Because he thinks that the people who answer questions there will be helpful - which they are - and they will have the relevant knowledge - they all have careers in Oracle development.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that quite so many people regard the PL/SQL forums as a suitable place for rehashing Monty Python jokes and discussing antiquated programming languages but not for offering careers advice. It’s a funny old world.

Some time ago, I wrote a note about using the packaged function dbms_xplan.display_cursor(). 
I’ve just seen a note on Rob van Wijk’s blog where he inestigates many more parameters that can be used with the function.
When I tried to add a comment to the blog listing a couple more of the options that I knew, I […]

Change hostname on HP-UX without reboot:

HP-UX 11iv2 and v3 allows you to change the hostname on the fly, so if you want to change the hostname on HP-UX 11i server you can do it without rebooting your server. I have documented here several steps to change the hostname on your HP-UX 11i server.

Steps to change the hostname on HP-UX:

1. First run the hostname command to HP-UX server to change the hostname on HP-UX 11i server:

I am changing hostname on Integrity Itanium rx6600 running HP-UX 11iv2 from hpuxdev to hpuxdev11

2. Next execute uname command to set the nodename like hostname:

running uname with –S option changes the nodename to required hostname value on HP-UX 11i server

3. Change network configuration file (netconf) to make the change permanent during reboots. The netconf files exists

under /etc/rc.config.d direcotory on HP-UX servers :

Open the netconf file using vi editor and search for HOSTNAME variable, replace the old hostname value to new hostname value. It is recommended by HP to keep the value enclosed in double quotes (” “)

After changing the HOSTNAME , the netconf file portion with HOSTNAME directives looks like this :

5.Restart the network configuration settings on HP-UX server by running following command .Make sure you run these command from the CONSOLE or MP (Management processor) , sometimes ui have noticed network timeout for few seconds while restarting network settings :

Verify changes hostname on HP-UX:

Finally run following commands to make sure hostname and nodename is changed to newer name :

In addition to Hotsos Symposium this week, I will deliver my Advanced Oracle Troubleshooting presentation and demos at NYOUG DBA SIG this Thursday (06. March 2008) in Oracle’s Park Avenue office in Manhattan, NYC. If you are interested, see the details at http://www.nyoug.org/upcoming_events.htm#dbaname
Also, I will be speaking at Trivadis Performance Days in Zurich  23.-24. April 2008. I […]

I have uploaded the presentations I did at Hotsos Symposium this week to here
Both of my presentations are in that file, along with my TPT scripts, Snapper, Sesspack and PerfSheet.
I delivered two presentations:

Advanced Oracle Troubleshooting: No magic is needed, systematic approach will do

Oracle Performance Trending and Charting using Sesspack and Excel

If you have any follow […]