Carlos Sierra's Tools and Tips

The RMOUG Training Days are over now. Yesterday was the 3rd and last day. What an experience! I enjoyed great sessions and learned a few things, like how to gather System Statistics for Exadata (thanks to Karen Morton). More important, I had the opportunity to appreciate the value of networking. When I hear that an Oracle User Group (OUG) is a great place for networking, I usually shrug since I am not someone looking for business opportunities, fame, or name building. Well, networking is a lot more than that. Let me explain:

During my first presentation yesterday, my laptop crashed and with it my local database. I needed my local database  for both of my presentations, but kind of crucial for the second. Of course I had plan B and even plan C, but that was not the point since I wanted to stick to plan A, which was the best. My database needed a recovery and I do not do core Database Administration (DBA) work on a daily basis. In fact I have never recovered a database myself! So there I was, between conferences and struggling to recover my database. As a self-sufficient seasoned Oracle guy, I tried myself but I was walking in circles. Having established a friendly relationship with Oracle’s partner Enkitec (an Oracle-centric consultig firm), I felt comfortable reaching for help. So I asked Veronica Stigers if she knew who may assist me to recover my database. She joked with me and immediately referred me to Alex Fatkulin, who was working on his laptop sitting on the floor right there at the Enkitec kiosk. Alex learned that I was lost when he asked me if my database was in archive-mode and I just stared back to him… Nevertheless, he took control of my laptop and did his magic. Alex recovered my database in less than 2 minutes! So Alex made my day and I owe him big time. My lesson learned here is that events like the RMOUG really facilitate networking. And that networking means a lot more than business opportunities. It meant to me to have the courage to reach for help, and to actually find someone willing to help. I thank Enkitec’s awesome resources, in special I thank Veronica and Alex for extending a helping hand and by doing this as good old friends! I know that yesterday we established a lasting relationship, which I treasure already. So, to me, networking means: making new good friends!

Now that RMOUG is over, my attention moves to the Norther California Oracle Users Group (NoCOUG), which is next week! Looking forward to have the opportunity to share some knowledge there and to do some more “networking”…

As time permits, I will be writing more about Execution Plan Stability, and SQL Tuning tools.