Product Description

Cutting-edge techniques from leading Oracle security experts

This Oracle Press guide demonstrates practical applications of the most compelling methods for developing secure Oracle database and middleware environments. You will find full coverage of the latest and most popular Oracle products, including Oracle Database and Audit Vaults, Oracle Application Express, and secure Business Intelligence applications.

Customer Reviews (1)

Part 2 Oracle Security Explained
This is an excellent part 2 book for anyone looking to understand the overall Oracle security architecture.The book is easy to read and understand.Has plenty of examples that improved my understanding of the concept being discussed.I was happy that it didn't repeat the content of Knox's first book (Effective Security by Design) and was intentionally writtentotake the reader onto the next level of learning Oracle security.Would recommend this to any DBA and application server administrator. ... Read more

Product Description

Oracle Database 10g Insider Solutions is a must-have reference guide for all Oracle professionals. It provides much-needed information on best practices, tips, and techniques in debugging, installation, deployment, and tuning of the Oracle 10g database. You can draw upon the experience and knowledge of these authors to find creative ways to put your Oracle database to work. The authors will also address common and not-so-common installation concerns, database administration, development, and tuning. Oracle Database 10g Insider Solutions will bring you the insider information that you can't get anywhere else.

Customer Reviews (9)

Great book for Oracle DBAs supporting 10g
I have been an Oracle DBA for 15 years. So I know, no shop 'goes to the latest' release right away. And when they do move to it, they do it slowly.

Question - all of your production DBs on 11g (here in 1Q 2009)? Not likely, so I bet you have a lot of 10g in production. I bet its almost all still 10g. So, what book can help you with some features? This one.

Its a great book. I especially like the 'tone'. Its technical and not flowery. I like books that get to the point. I want to know how a feature works in real life - not a re-hash of the doc (read any of those types of books lately?).

It has 10gR2 stuff in it. I recommend you go to 10.2.0.4 ASAP.

The book has a nice flow, and fewer typos than most others. I hope other authors use this format/outline/flow/content as a model for new 11g books.

So, if you are supporting 10g, get this book. It is great.

Best "How to" book on Oracle
This is the best "How to" book on Oracle. I have read around 20 books on Oracle (I reviewed most of them on Amazon) and this one is the most practical Oracle book for intermediate to advance Oracle DBAs.

The book skips most of the architecture and goes directly on how to configure and use some of the most salient features of Oracle 10g.

Some of the examples are:

1)How to manually install RAC instance
2)How to migrate Non-ASM to ASM disks and vice versa.
3)How to collect AWR reports using builtin scripts.
4)How to install CRS
5)How to Flashback Database and Flashback Table.
6)How to Patch Dataguard Instances
7)How to use flashback in Dataguard Standby.
8)How to manually remove Oracle Instances.
9)How to upgrade RMAN Catalog.
10)How to use Wait statistics to measure and improve performance.

Not all the topics are advanced. But it still helps to get down to the fundamentals, even for the advanced DBA with decade or more of experience.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to expand/improve their Oracle 10G skillset.

Great Book to have
This is a really good book to have by an Oracle DBA for Oracle 10g reference. This book will help the Oracle DBA to identify and implement Oracle 10g new features. It has good tips for performance and tuning and setting up ASM. I give this book 5 star rating.

Presents Material in a great way
This book covers Release 2 of Oracle 10G. Concepts are presented in a clear manner. Each chapter can read in an hour or so. This is a great place to start for new DBAs. For experience DBAs, this a great book to get to know the New Features. Book is very easily read. Best book to learn Oracle 10g R2.

Excellent Book
Highly recommended reference book for DBA's that are familiar with previous version of Oracle and wants to find out the new features of 10g. ... Read more

Product Description
Attain real solutions for current availability challenges. Based on a "DBA-centric" approach to High Availability, Oracle Database 10g High Availability concentrates on explaining Oracle Database 10g technologies and practices to database administrators, covering general availability, real application clusters (RAC), disaster planning and recovery, and distributed database solutions. Hardware and application needs are also taken into account. While Oracle Database 10g is the main focus, many of the options discussed are available in earlier database releases. Organized to provide conceptual understanding of High Availability, included are "HA Workshops," step-by-step instructions to get you through certain implementations, plus real-world inspired case studies ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

10g High Availability
Unlocks the secret to keeping your Database available and running smooth.
Great buying experience

Great Book On HA
I like this book. It does not go into details but gives you at least the basic you need to deploy quickly RAC, DG, Flashback, and Streams. The author also spent time defining HA from the DBA point of view.
Overall, I recommend this book and gives 5 stars

Not detailed enough- lacks implementation coverage
I agree with one other poster that this book attempts to cover all major HA features in Oracle in one small book. It is ok for a very high level overview hence the 1 star but falls flat for major details on the individual HA features. Instead my advice is to get The Oracle 9i RAC book from Rampant Press, Oracle Streams book and Oracle Data Guard book all from Rampant Press and read the Oracle concepts manuals for these HA features.

Good book for intermediate DBA's
It is one of the few good books available in the market which covers RAC, DataGuard and Flashback features all in one.

One of the drawbacks of this book is the fact that too much has been packed into one single book and it seems to loose its focus and lacks in detail.

Overall, I still recommend this to my students who undergo my RAC and DG courses.


Arif Khan
Oracle Consultant, (...)

Just overview of Oracle HA technology
The writers like to subsitute the Oracle manual in OTN but make no difference . eg, I wanted to setup the Dataguard through EM10g Grid Control. In fact , the creation standby database wizard was filled of bugs and user can't make use of it till patching and huge manual works. It's no doubt that writers never tried on this features. The book is rather splotchy and winding. ... Read more

Product Description
Obtain the solid foundation you need to become an effective database programmer with this nuts-and-bolts PS/SQL book from Oracle Press. Step-by-step coverage includes storing, retrieving, and manipulating data, and a broad range of SQL and PL/SQL functions and tools. Real-life examples and hands-on projects help you see how to apply what you have learned. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Wrong title and fails to focus on a target audience
I don't know why they called it PL/SQL 101, given that only 2 out of 11 chapters actually are about or even mentions PL/SQL. What it actually is is a brief introduction to databases, Oracle 10g, and brief explanations of various parts of that.

It starts out with explaining what a database and a spreadsheet is, and then goes on to try to teach you a bit about everything in only a few pages. If I

would have to guess, the target audience for this book would have to be not too technical management, to establish a brief understanding of what Oracle is so that they can actually talk with the database administrators. Still it sometimes delves into technical details that is of no use to that
audience.

For people who actually know what Oracle is (and are likely buyers of a title like this), it is mostly a waste of time.

Still giving it 2 stars, since most people reading this book would probably at least pick up one or two things they didn't know...

Good for beginner
This book is good for beginner. It introduces most of the basic pl/sql fundamentals.

So far so good
I bought this book as a compliment to a current course I'm taking on DB systems. Knowing nothing about Oracle and very little about SQL, I've found this book to very informative thus far. Though I'm still reading this book, it is the perfect companion for someone new to Oracle PL/SQL and SQL.

Don't waste your money.
Trys to review all of Oracle 10G and basic SQL commands in less than 360 pages. Too high level and contains very little PL/SQL included.

Excellent book, but title misleading
With all the many Oracle Press books I have been able to review, I have not yet been disappointed by one of them.They have consistently been written clearly, been relevant, and valuable in real-world Oracle development.This book is of course no exception.It is written as a beginning guide to not only Oracle development but as an entry-level text to SQL syntax and concepts as well.

After a good introduction to what a database is, the author begins into a tutorial on basic SQL syntax.In this introductory section, the reader learns how to create tables, write INSERT statements, and then select the data back out via the SELECT statement.The author quickly moves to more advanced techniques, illustrating the use of the WHERE clause, and discusses use of the UPDATE statement.

Practical use of the techniques just discussed will likely be implemented in SQL*Plus, so the author begins a very thorough discussion of this tool.Many of the potential problems a user might experience with SQL*Plus are covered and solutions are provided.I was quite pleased with how extensive this chapter covers the topic of SQL*Plus.It is an excellent introduction to this tool.

The author then begins to discuss more advanced database techniques, including the use of indexes and constraints.Finally, the author begins a discussion of basic PL/SQL syntax.This is really my only problem with the book: the book is called PL/SQL 101, yet only the last chapter is dedicated to discussing the subject.Sure, the proceeding material is necessary to have the framework to discuss PL/SQL.I just think the title is a bit misleading.
... Read more

Product Description
Starts with very simple Oracle SQL concepts and slowly builds into more complex query development and PL/SQL. Covers SQL as it is invoked via SQL Plus, a command-line system to launch interactive queries. Provides an appendix for UNIX users of Oracle. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great Book for Beginners
Thie is a great book for beginners, taking you from a background of SQl through an introduction of terms right into developing simple queries.

This book is outdated
i bought this book to learn SQL two year ago. The SQL table that comes with the book was meant for Oracle 8 and when i started learning SQL the version was 9 , so this book did not serve any purpose to me.

Very Good, But Commits One Cardinal Sin
Yes, this book is outdated.But, given its stated mission, that's really not a problem.From page xv in the Preface, under the Audience and Coverage section:

"Overall, although this book does not discuss advanced features such as performance tuning issues or advanced PL/SQL, it is ideal for a beginning Oracle user to get an overview of what SQL and Oracle entails.The book gives a very good "feel" for what Oracle is and the many ways Oracle can be used.It certainly can be considered a starting point for what Oracle has to offer."

I was very impressed with how the authors wrote to this goal.The book starts from the premise that the reader has barely heard the word "database" and works up from there.It was really designed to be used in conjunction with an actual database theory course.So, the assumed level of knowledge seems to creep up a bit as the book progresses.But, even so, anyone even vaguely familiar with database theory should have no problem reading this book.It's very well done.

But, you wonder, why do I only give it an OK rating of 3 stars out of 5?Because the authors do one unforgivable thing:they teach new material in the Exercises.Exercises are supposed to measure how well people have learned the material taught in the book.They're not for teaching new material.If it hadn't been for that, I'd have given the book a Very Good 4 stars out of 5 rating.Still, if you don't really need the theory behind a database and just need to get by with a bit of SQL under Oracle, I do recommend this book.

Not up-to-date!
I bought this book to refresh my knowledge of SQL, especially the new stuff that has been added in the past few years, such as GROUP BY ROLLUP.THIS BOOK DOES NOT COVER RECENT CHANGES TO SQL FOR ORACLE.

Great Book for beginners!
This is a really good for a beginner to learn SQL using Oracle. The authors have very clearly explained the complicated terms and concepts, in a fashion we are used to learn in class rooms.

It can also be used as a reference book or as a quick refresher course for someone who have not used SQL in a few years or so.

I strongly recommend this book to everyone interested to learn SQL using Oracle. ... Read more

Product Description
Oracle has the largest market share in database management software and is the world's second largest software company.With the release of Oracle8, it has delivered software that goes well beyond normal database functionality.This book addresses some of the most common and complex issues facing database administrators.The questions in this book have been compiled from a variety of sources including Oracle forums, the Internet, and the author's personal experiences.It covers the technical details and new features available in Oracle8 such as Partitioning, Oracle8 objects, PL/SQL8, Net 8, Parallel execution and much more.It also contains hundreds of tested scripts that can be customized and reused to address the specific needs of any database environment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Excellent!
I already read many Oracle books from Oracle Press & other publications. They are very good. This book takes different approch of How-to Style content which is very much practical & solves day to day administrative needs. Topics are covered in detail. Most importantly examples given are from grounds up. Excellent! This book is also helpfull for all who know a little bit of Oracle Database & want to know more in depth

The book pays itself many times
We all know, especially here in Brazil, the money that one pays to have a good Oracle trainning. If you already have a little knowledge of Oracle and its jargon and are self estimulated, this book will take you to high level of expertise without a pain . Want to know Oracle ? Start with it.

Most useful DBA book I've read so far
As an Oracle Instructor and DBA I've had the opportunity to review numerous Oracle texts for DBA's and have to say I've been quite disappointed with most of them.Mr. Yuhanna's book however is an exception.Out of the many DBA texts I have on my shelf this is the one I goto most frequently.Unlike other texts which spend excessive amounts of time covering uncommonly used features and little to no time covering commonly used features this books covers almost all the basics in a hands on approach.The book is setup in a step by step how-to format.Although it doesn't discuss concepts much that is not its purpose and the best concepts book is the Oracle Documentation anyway.I've have yet to see a good how-to DBA book until I came across this one.As a consultant/instructor I recommend it quite frequently.

The most useful and practical Oracle8i Reference Book
Among all the Oracle reference books, I found this one to be the mostuseful and practical book.This book is very well written and has an easyto read format.The detailed step-by-step instructions in Q&A sectionhelped me solve problems quickly.This saved me much time and effort thangoing through piles of other reference books and trying to pull pieces ofinformation here and there together to get a complete picture.I highlyrecommend this book to Oracle DBA's in all levels.

The best DBA book for new and experienced DBAs
The book is very useful for both new and experienced DBAs because it has alot of practical examples.I especially like its Q&A format withscripts which makes reading very interesting. ... Read more

Product Description

Design and Deploy Highly Responsive Data-Driven Web 2.0 Applications

Deliver next-generation user capabilities and client-side services in your Oracle-based Web applications by combining the powerful features of AJAX and PHP. Written by Web 2.0 programming experts, Oracle Database AJAX & PHP Web Application Development shows you how to design faster, lighter, more responsive Web applications while reducing code support and creation time. You'll learn how to develop modular AJAX and PHP code, add dynamically updated content, and implement click-to-edit and drag-and-drop functionality. You'll also get details on incorporating cutting-edge mashup, reporting, and communication features. 

• Build robust Web applications that utilize the latest AJAX, PHP, and modularity techniques
• Construct AJAX and PHP objects, controllers, iframes, and models
• Simplify programming with reusable modules, open-source libraries, and templates
• Optimize scalability, availability, performance, and security
• Auto-refresh Web pages and execute XML calls using the HttpRequest object
• Add HTML drill-down tables, DOM drag-and-drop, and click-to-edit features
• Retrieve data from external sources using Remote Procedure Calls and Pear-based services
• Solve browser navigation button, bookmarking, and history tracking issues
• Allow end users to customize Web pages using tracking, JSON, and mashups
• Facilitate client-side communication with VOIP, IM, targeted reporting, and file sharing

Product Description
Oracle PL/SQL Interactive Workbook, Second Edition is the only integrated book-and-Web learning solution that teaches all the Oracle 9i PL/SQL skills you need, hands-on, through labs, exercises, projects, and a complete Web-based training site! Master syntax, iterative and conditional control, scoping, anchored datatypes, cursors, triggers, security, tables, packaging, exceptions, cursors, collections, records, and more. Free Web training module includes Virtual Study Lounge: interact with other learners, work on new projects, and get updates. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Great book for a beginning SQL user
This book is very easy to follow, and you can learn SQL very quickly.Just remember, you do need access to an Oracle database to do the exercises.

An exercise in frustration
I bought this in hoping to find a PL/SQL book that could give me a real life lab exercise. I gave up on this book. The examples would sometime refer to advanced topics not discussed. There were errors. The exercises did not appear to be kitchen tested before the book was published. I am still looking for a good PL/SQL book that has good interactive lab exercises, if you find one please let the rest of us know.

Awful
This book is awful. Elena, the author, mostly read from the textbook. Anyone can read from the textbook. Why buy this book if the author is just going to read from the text? My suggestions is to go to Oracle and buy their CBT. It is worth it.

Poorly structured
If you like a structured lesson, then you will find this confusing. Usually you expect a lesson then examples and labs. In this book the lessons are mixed in the labs. Lessons often use something that isn't covered until a later chapter, but they don't mention this. This book looks to be rushed too early to publishing. If you are OK with a scattered instruction method, then this is the book for you. Unfortunately there aren't many alternatives to this book.

BEST Intro to Intermediate PL/SQL Book on the Market
With over twenty years in large scale IT development using Java/C++/C/Assembly languages on Unix/Windows 2000/NT platforms, but a neophyte with PL/SQL, I needed a PL/SQL package that would assume no background knowledge in PL/SQL, get me up to speed fast, and at the same time be comprehensive.In other words, I wanted everything.This package no only satisfied this need, but opened up new avenues of thought concerning approaches to database programming.The book is simply matchless (it should get 6 stars--an extra star for the terrific exercises that incorporate hidden pearls of IT wisdom), and yes I have perused others on the market.Ms. Silvestrova demonstrates that she is a consummate professional.The flow of the book, depth of the hands-on exercises, and scope of material is an inimitable combination.This so far may sound over-glowing, but a workman is worthy of her hire.I would recommend this package to any introductory or middle level PL/SQL student.If you desire to be a competent PL/SQL professional, look no further.If you desire to have a guide that provides you with a solid answer to specific types of PL/SQL problems, look no further.However, if you seek a slick product that spoon feeds you programming palaver (under the guise of teaching), fly you fool:you have many under-performing options available. ... Read more

Product Description
From the authorized Oracle Press comes a complete guide to developing robust PL/SQL applications. The book contains new information on development tools, datatypes, SQL commands and functions, and much more. The CD-ROM contains sample code plus a sampling of development environments covered in the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

good book but the new edition is even better
Its a very good book. covers all the finincial modules very well. Gives the whole flow of data in them. but the newer edition is even better it covers extra modules as well. wil help u in getting a wider view. So i would recomend u to go for the newer edition if u need a wider idea of diff modules

Recommended if you are new to PL/SQL
The book is good and is recommended for someone new to PL/SQL. For someone who is already familiar to PL/SQL, you can save money by going through the Oracle Online Manual to read about the new features of PL/SQL in Oracle 9i. Since I already had a previous version (Oracle 8) of this book, I consider buying this book as waste of money. But if you are just getting into the world of oracle and you want to learn PL/SQL, this book is for you. One nice thing about the book is it comes with a CD that has some trial version of some development environments. Nice to explore those.
I give 4 stars.

A very helpful book to pass the exam.
This is, indeed, a great book to pass this exam(1Z0-147). Actually, there is no prescribed book(as of now!!), for this exam. This book fairly covers most of the topics that are specified in the official exam syllabus. However, topics on Large objects are not covered in this book extensively. I suggest to search on google for LOBS(This is how i got some notes on LOBS). This book is good to study functions, procedures, packages, triggers, and some DBMS packages, but it doesn't cover LOBS, managing dependencies. Overall, I can give 4 stars to this book, as it helped me to pass the exam.

One of the better IT books that I have seen
This is a well written, fast reading book that provides the reader with the information needed but not with the fluff that we do not need.I used this book to pass the Oracle Certification Exan 1Z0-147 : Oracle9i: Program with PL/SQL.If you own this book and 'Oracle PL/SQL' by Steven Feuerstein and Bill Pribyl (published by O'reily), you probably have what you need (for understanding PL/SQL) ... enjoy

Only for newbies
I must say it is not what I expected. Basically, if you know nothing about PL/SQL, that is, the Oracle extension of the SQL, and you need to grasp its general concept in a very short time, this is the book for you.

But the subtittle of the book is definitely misleading. When it comes to advanced topics, the book simply copies from the online documentation from Oracle, but only the brief summery. Say, function DECODE, one of the most powful feature in PL/SQL, is covered in half a page! Just the official definition. Nothing to read about. If you bought Oracle 9i The Complete Reference, you'd find a whole chapter devoted to that function.

The author didn't do much work with this book. If you're a serious programmer, don't bother with this book. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Poorly written, and confusing
Probably the worst Technical book I have ever read. It is poorly formatted, and some paragraphs just do not make sense. Examples are weak, and not explained leaving you to toil over it to figure what the writter is trying to accomplish. I highly recommend avoiding this book. Do not make the costly mistake I did.

ADavanced Oracla SQL
I found most of the book to be a rehash of other material Oracle published.Most of the SQL I would not consider advanced.I felt if a intermediate at best.I bought this book about 6 months ago and after reading I have only used it once or twice as reference.There is some stuff in one of the middle chapters, but overall I was disappointed.

Decent book on advanced SQL but much to be desired
I am an ardent reader of Laurent Schneider's blog: http://laurentschneider.com/. His deep understanding of databases is unparalleled. The tips he provides are very practical and handy. That's probably what raised my expectations from his book: "Advanced Oracle SQL Programming". I have just finished reading through this book and I can clearly say that I am a bit disappointed with the book.
- It feels more like a collection of Laurent's notes on various Oracle SQL topics.
- There is a disconnect between one topic and the next one.
- Topics are very brief, often not exceeding 3-4 sentences. Much more detailed discussion/analysis of each concept would have made the book more readable.
- More tips/tricks (like the ones in boxes with an explosive symbol) would have made me go back to this book often.
- This may sound trivial, but the formatting of the code unnecessarily takes up too much space. e.g, in the first chapter itself, all the "INSERT" statements run to 8 pages! They could have easily been arranged 2 columns/page. They are not even required because it is available for download anyway at the book's website.
Nice things I found in the book:
- Exercise problems are really good, will make you think.
- Explanation on Joins, Subquery and Hierarchical queries are so far the best I have read.

Best SQL Reference for Oracle
After few month of writing SQL, everyone has a good grasp of the language basics - you can use joins, where, group by and nested queries and 99% of the time, this is enough.

But sometimes, this is not enough, or maybe it does the job, but its slow or ugly. And you wonder - is there a better way to select data?

This book will show you a better way. Laurent Schneider is an Oracle developer with over a decade of experience. He shows you all the tricks and techniques that real experts use when writing queries.

"Advanced Oracle SQL Programming" covers every advanced function and feature that Oracle has to offer and gives plenty of real-life, business relevant examples of how these advanced features should be used. You'll find yourself writing better code almost immediately, and the book even contains exercises that will allow you to practice your new skills as you learn. ... Read more

Product Description

What makes seasoned IT professionals run for cover?Answer: Forecasting Oracle performance! Craig Shallahamer is an Oracle performance expert with over 18 years of experience. His book is the first to focus, not on the problem of solving today's problem, but squarely on the problem of forecasting the future performance of an Oracle database. Other Oracle performance books are good for putting out fires; Craig's book helps you avoid all the heat in the first place.

Application over mathematical proofs…

If you’re an IT practioner who appreciates application over mathematical proofs than you’ll be pleasantly surprised!Each chapter is filled with examples to transform the theory, mathematics, and methods into something you can practically apply.Craig's goal is to teach you about real-word Oracle performance forecasting.Period.There is no hidden agenda.

A practical and hands-on training course in a book…

This book is a kind of training course.After reading, studying, and practicing the material covered in this book, you to be able to confidently, responsibly, and professionally forecast performance and system capacity in a wide variety of real-life situations.

How to avoid being on the Wall Street Journal’s front page…

If you are more management minded (or want to be) you will be delighted with the service level management focus.Forecasting makes good business sense because it maximizes the return on IT investment and minimizes unplanned down time.To those who think forecasting is a waste of money.Well…obviously they’ve never been on the evening news because their company lost millions of dollars in revenue and brand destruction because of poorly performing or unavailable systems.

It’s about equipping you…

Without a doubt you will be equipped to deal with the realities of forecasting Oracle performance.But this book gives you more.Not only will you receive a technical and mathematical perspective, but also a communication, a presentation, and a management perspective.This is career building stuff and immensely satisfying!

What you’ll learn

This book is a “how to” book filled with examples to transform theory and mathematics into something you can practically apply. You will learn how to use a variety of forecasting models, which will enable you to methodically:

• Help manage service levels from a business value perspective,
• Identify the risk of over utilized resources,
• Predict what component of an architecture is at risk,
• Predict when a system will be at risk,
• Develop multiple risk mitigating strategies to ensure service levels are
• maintained
• Characterize a complex Oracle workload.

Who is this book for?

I.T. professionals who must ensure their production Oracle systems are meeting service levels, in part, through forecasting performance, identifying risk, and developing solutions to ensure systems are available without wasting budget.Readers include database administrators, I.T. managers, developers, capacity planners, systems architects, systems integrators.

Customer Reviews (5)

delivery to italy
I ordered 2 of these books at end of may, they arrived this week. Everything was ok even after a long trip to italy.
Thanks

Fantastic!
A fantastic book.Not one of those that you'll be able to get through over a weekend but is one of those books that you constantly go back to for reference or validation.Some of the techniques take the mystery out of capacity planning and forecasting performance.Excellent.

Very good
This is not a book about Oracle Performance tuning.This is a book about Oracle Performance Forecasting.This should be evident after carefully reading the book.

Good books, like good professionals, are rare.This is why I have developed a tendency to choose carefully before buying one and, in the Oracle area in particular, I can smell the author's intellectual honesty and trustworthiness from the first page.

Forecasting Oracle Performance is one of those.I enjoyed the fluid style and closeness of the author.I enjoyed the simplicity and clarity, almost reminding me of Wittgenstein's famous quote ("everything that can be said can be said clearly").I also enjoyed these short touches of humanism (cf Erlang Krarup's life).
On the forecasting subject, I liked the book construction and the quality of the examples.

Chapter 1 gives a landscape picture of Oracle forecasting and puts the reader in scope and context.
Chapter 2 introduces the reader to the basics of forecasting and the basic concepts over which the book is built: Transactions, response time, arrival time and basic formulas are described here.
Chapter 3 shows the limits of basic forecasting (essential formulas) and the problem of baseline and model selection.It shows how to increase forecasting precision with ErlangC or weighted averages.Most importantly, it shows why it is essential to understand the concepts and implications of the application of a given formula, model or method.The author is very careful in the choice of terms and always clears potential ambiguities.Those who know how difficult it can be to forecast will appreciate it.
Chapter 4 introduces to statistics applied to forecasting.
Chapter 5, on practical queuing theory, is probably the biggest chapter of the book.After a brief introduction to queuing theory, Little's law and Kendall notation, this chapter provides such a diverse set of examples (27!) making the topic very intuitive to non-specialists.
Chapters 6 & 7 describe forecasting methodology and workload characterization.The first describes the steps across a solid performance forecasting methodology, from the initial question to the actual forecast.The second deals with workload characterization: how to get system and Oracle data, how to choose the source and peak.It describes the workload modelling and the risks of data collection.
Chapters 8 and 9 are about models: ratio and linear regression models.They describe their respective foundations, limitations and advantages.Each chapter also contain several examples and case studies to illustrate the subject.
The last chapter deals with scalability models and their relationship with forecasting models.

Overall, I found this book very useful.You will find additional resources at the author's website (there is also a discussion forum on forecasting).The errata page is always up-to-date and some examples have even been extended.Great work!

Outstanding coverage of an important topic
I've always been a fan of Craig Shallahamer, an author who explains complex concepts in plain English.

This is not a trivial book, but it's an excellent book for performance tuning, a worthy book for the worthy scholar.

Oracle STATSPACK and the automated workload repository have provided a gold mine for the Oracle DBA to forecast future performance, and this is a great "get started" book to the statistical techniques that are required to perform performance forecasting.

Not a tunning book
This is a great book to do FORECASTING, that is, if you already have a tunning problem you will not find the solution here. If you are in calm times regarding your application speed, this is when you have to do Performance Forecasting, for which this book is excelent. Very practical and just enough technicall to grasp the priciples. ... Read more

Product Description
A Fully Integrated Study System for OCP Exam 1Z0-050 Prepare for the Oracle Certified Professional Oracle Database 11 New Features for Administrators exam with help from this exclusive Oracle Press guide. In each chapter, you'll find challenging exercises, practice questions, a two-minute drill, and a chapter summary to highlight what you've learned. This authoritative guide will help you pass the test, and serve as your essential on-the-job reference. Get complete coverage of all OCP objectives for exam 1Z0-050, including: Installation and upgrades Partitioning and storage Intelligent infrastructure Diagnostics and fault management Performance Oracle Recovery Manager and Oracle Flashback Security Oracle SQL Performance Analyzer SQL plan management Automatic SQL tuning On the CD-ROM: One full practice exam that simulates the actual OCP exam Detailed answers and explanations Score report performance assessment tool Complete electronic book Bonus exam available free with online registration. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

good structure, bad contents
Buy this book. It's not good, but buy it anyway. If you want to pass the exam and not to loose too much time, it is worth the money.

Mister Alapati is already known from his book "10g New Feautres for Administrators" as someone who makes enormous number of errors. The number of errors in this book (11g) is gigantic. Not only in the text, but also in the example codes, that obviously never has run. Even in the answers of the Self test questions you see errors.

So, you don't buy this book for its contents. Without additional source of information you don't have a chance on the exam. You buy it for its structure. It covers the most of the exam topics (watch out the release 2 new features!), and it gives you an idea how you should plan your work.

And most of all... there isn't any other exam prep book on the market for 11g. Sybex doesn't publish exam preps any more, so Mr. Alapati can enjoy his monopole position.

Worst technical book ever.
So many have said it, but after using or trying to use this book myself, I have to concede, this is by far the worst technical book I have ever, ever read. It is absolutely loaded with mistakes. Unfortunately if you plan to upgrade then this is the only book out there to use at the moment, so if you decide to buy it you'll need to verify absolutely everything against the Oracle documentation and a 11gR1 database . This in itself might not be a bad thing, but if you're pressed for time it can be very frustrating... and who wants to pay top dollar for a book full of mistakes!

Further to this the author struggles to explain complicated subject matter and I had to refer to Oracle's documentation time and again to clarify concepts.

This proofed to be extremely frustrating. I will not buy a book from this author again.

Ps. The errata only covers a small set of mistakes and still has mistakes in it!

Horrible Book
I had to read Sam Alapathi's earlier book to upgrade my Oracle Cert to 10g.This most recent book takes one to new levels of frustration.Not only is the book riddled with errors, he constantly repeats the same verbiage/points to fill up the pages to make it look like you are getting something for your money.Unfortunately not a lot of alternate books are available to cover the material so I am stuck.Can someone else write the 12g book next time who can actually compose sentences in English?

What was the author thinking ?? !!!
I had read this authors (Sam Alapati) new features guide on Oracle 10g, and it had helped me a great deal with my OCP certification.
The 11g new features guide on the other hand falls short on expectations. As some previous reviewers have stated, the book can be best described as inaccurate. I was lucky to have taken the 11g new features class shortly after, where I was able to validate some of the inaccuracies in the book.

This Book Did Serve Its Purpose
I found that this book did serve the purpose - Idid pass the test.There are a few typo's, but as a experienced DBA, I was able to spot them.The author did an adaquit job in covering all of the required subject matter for the test.As with any professional certification test, it is important to use many resources to prepare. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by members of the Oracle XML group, this is a must-have reference for all IT managers, DBAs, and developers who want to learn the best practices for using XML with Oracle's XML-enabled products. Includes real-world case studies based on the authors' experience managing Oracle's XML Discussion Forum--a community of 20,000+ XML component users. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Sloppy editing
Got the book a few days ago.I've been going through the examples.You can download all the source code from the Oracle Press web site, which is nice.But the examples in the book aren't given names or numbers, and the web site (although it does at least separate them by chapter) uses a cryptic and unexplained naming convention, so finding the code you want is confusing.

And it gets worse.The very first example in the book (and the downloaded code) won't compile; it calls a method that doesn't exist. I was able to work-around it.The second example wouldn't compile either; it has a typo.The fixes are easy enough so far, but it's frustrating.I guess they didn't have enough time to actually edit the book.Hopefully the online code will eventually be fixed.Disappointing so far. :(

Typos
I guess I am rushing to judgement - but in the first 10 pages I read, there were about 8 typos - so I am giving this a 2 stars for now. Will update my review/rating as I go along.

Does not start the job well
This book does not do a good job of getting the small experiments running. And w/o that, it is difficult to get any handle over the big picture. If you haven't done XML and Oracle integration before, this book definitely is not what you are looking for.

a must-have book for XML developers
This book covers everything on how to develop XML applications based on the Oracle XML infrastructure. It also provides the readers with a lot of samples on how to utilize the technology. No matter you are an advanced professional or a fresh graduate, if you are interested in XML-related Oracle application development, personally I think this is a must-have book.

An excellent work
I wish more books were written like this. When you read it you understand that a team of high professional people have worked on it. The book is organized to be useful for developers, DBAs, managers. You'll find here everything you need: XML & SQL,XSQL , XSLT, XML in PL/SQL, Java, C, C++. I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description

The fastest way to get up and running on Oracle Database XE

Take full advantage of all the powerful features available in Oracle Database 10g Express Edition with help from this easy-to-follow Oracle Press guide. Hands-On Oracle Database 10g Express Edition for Linux shows you, step by step, how to set up, administer, tune, troubleshoot, and secure a robust database system. You will also learn to use PL/SQL and Oracle Application Express to build custom database applications. Get started today with the Oracle database that's free to develop, deploy, and distribute.

Customer Reviews (2)

Good Book Nice seller
Though I am DBA from long years but I like the way this book talk about new product for new Oracle DBA's.

Can't believe Learn Oracle was so easy....
If you try to Learn Oracle, this is the way to go. the book introduce you to basic Relational Database concepts also provide you with the Application Express Web Development.

Learn and start with Oracle is a snap with the Book, the samples work great and the Book can be bought for your OS [ Linux or Windows ].

For a while I feel intimidated for so many books on Oracle this surely is the book that will make you start working and administering your first Oracle Database. Medium and Expert users can use it as Freebie and Development Tool.

... Read more

Product Description
This book provides a concise reference to the enormous storeof information an Oracle database administrator needs every day.It's crammed full of quick-reference tables, task lists, and othersummary material that both novice and expert DBAs will usetime and time again. For both Oracle8 and Oracle7, it covers:

DBA tasks--chapters summarizing how to perform critical DBAfunctions: installation, performance tuning, preventing dataloss, networking, security and monitoring, auditing, queryoptimization, and the use of various Oracle tools and utilitiesDBA reference--chapters providing a quick reference to theOracle instance and database, the initialization (INIT.ORA)parameters, the SQL statements commonly used by DBAs, the datadictionary tables, the system privileges and roles, and the SQL*Plus, Export, Import, and SQL*Loader syntax

Customer Reviews (23)

Oracle, The Essential Reference Review
I've worked on Oracle before, but I certainly wished I had this handy
book back then.It helped that I had an Oracle project to work on so I
could apply what I read.It was also helpful using the book as a
reference to troubleshoot during my project.

Assuming the reader has a solid understanding of database principles,
this text is a great tool to have handy in your shop.The focus of the
book is squarely on Oracle 7 and 8.Those looking for help with 8i and
above need to look elsewhere.

The book is a great companion to Oracle's Metalink site and is not
intended on replacing any existing references. Any Oracle
troubleshooting should start with this companion to get a general
understanding of the issue with followup requiring other resources.In
terms of troubleshooting, I doubt many will find solutions in this text,
however it will provide some background and insight into most issues.

The text is written in a concise manner and does a good job in
explaining the many Oracle tools without being too wordy.An area I
found sorely lacking was the installation chapter which glossed over
options and made assumptions that did not always apply to real-world
situations.However to be fair, an accurate coverage of Oracle
installations and all the pitfalls would probably take several books.

The first part of the book serves it's purpose in getting anyone with
some DBA knowledge up and running on Oracle.Practice is vital to
understanding the concepts explained in this section.I highly
recommend executing the queries and peeking into the INIT.ORA files when
necessary or else most of the concepts will escape you.

The second part of the book consists of DBA Reference chapters.
Particularly valuable is the SQL syntax and Oracle Data Dictionary
chapters.Again, very concise and does a good job of explaining the
subject without being confusing.

All in all, a useful book to have around, especially for those
supporting older Oracle installations.Relies heavily on other
resources, although it does help in navigating the Oracle course.

--------------------- ...

An excellent reference book!
This is an excellent reference book.I am an experienced Oracle DBA and I use it as a quick reference.The topics are well organized and to the point.David Kreines and Brian Laskey have done an excellent job.

How can 130pages for 7 chapters clearly explain DBA's work?!
Can't understand why someone gives it 5*, ... worse than handbook and document came together with cd.

I have this book at my hand, it used only 130 pages (p1-p130) to cover all OCP test contents except SQL. unbelieveable....

A very useful reference book. Keep it to hand !
This book serves it purpose very well. As the title says, it is an essential reference, and that is exactly what I use it for.

As some other reviewers point out, there is a lot of copy-and-paste work in it. ButI think that is not a problem.

In fact, very often it is much practicalthan navigating the bulk of on-line books, when you have to wait for thebrowser to load,search for a word or topic, or even when there's nocomputer at hand. Not to mention I can carry it around in my bag whennecessary.

I especially would like to emphasize the coverage of SQLcommands, init.ora parameters, data dictionary views and utilities.

Although I agree there are some inconsistent topics in this book andsome mistakes as well, I think the people who complain about it eitherexpected something very different or did not understand how useful it canbe.

Sometimes useful companion
I really didn't like this book in the beginning. Why? Most of the time I'm using an on-line documentation for quick reference and original Oracle documentation set for studying material larger than a few pages. In the old days (do you remember Oracle Book ? ;-) this kind of reference guide wouldbe a rescue for any DBA. Now days?Perhaps... The organization of the bookis quite good, index is excellent and some chapters aremore than justreference on the subject. When I'm not working on the site where I caneasilyreach on-line documentation or paper manuals then this book goeswith me. One drawback at the time of writing this review is that thisedition doesn't cover Oracle8i so you should at least wait for the secondedition. ... Read more

Product Description

A practical guide for developers working with the Oracle Data Provider for .NET and the Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2005

• Application development with ODP.NET
• Dealing with XML DB using ODP.NET
• Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio .NET

In Detail

The Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) features optimized data access to the Oracle database from a .NET environment and allows developers to take advantage of advanced Oracle database functionality, including Real Application Clusters, XML DB, and advanced security. It can be used from any .NET language, including C# and VB.NET.

This book is a practical guide that will give you the in-depth information you need to work with the Oracle 10g v10.2 database from Visual Studio .NET 2005, using the Oracle Developer Tools and ODP.NET.

After introducing ODP.NET, we move on to dealing with SQL, PL/SQL, and XML DB using ODP.NET. Next we look at application development with ODP.NET: Web Applications, Web Services, and Mobile Applications. The last chapter covers Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio .NET. All the code examples are in Visual Basic.NET 2005.

What you will learn from this book?

• Different ways of Connecting to Oracle databases using ODP.NET (including Single Sign-on)
• Executing SQL queries and commands using ODP.NET
• Working with PL/SQL blocks, stored procedures, stored functions, packages, and REF CURSORs
• Working with Large Objects like BFILE, BLOB, and CLOB using ODP.NET
• Working with XML and XMLDB
• Application development using ODP.NET
• Database change notifications and Asynchronous programming
• Developing Web Applications using ASP.NET and ODP.NET
• Reporting (including charts) using ASP.NET and ODP.NET
• Developing XML Web Services using ODP.NET
• Developing applications for Smart Client devices (like Pocket PC)
• Using Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2005
• Creating and debugging PL/SQL stored procedures from Visual Studio 2005
• Creating and Deploying .NET CLR stored procedures in Oracle database using Visual Studio 2005

Approach

This book uses many hands-on examples to show you how to use ODP.NET and Oracle Developer Tools from within Visual Studio 2005 to access Oracle Database 10g.

Customer Reviews (2)

OOP missing
I read all of the book.There are some missing parts of the book.
1.There almost no object oriented example(actually only 1) example in the book
2.Creating reports using Oracle &asp.net &crystal report is missing.There is no parametric report example which using OracleDate datatype.Since using of this datatype is problematic.If you using the date in the format of 'dd/mm/yyyy' ,you will get error.There is no solution to this problem.

Simple and Good book for learning step by step
Oracle Database 10g Development with Visual Studio 2005 and the Oracle Data Provider for .NET is a book written by Jagadish Chatarji Pulakhandam and Sunitha Paruchuri although their name is relatively unknown, they have been working in the IT field for more than a decade. Their specific experience in Oracle has also been extensive and this book has shown their expertise on the field. Although unrelated, their management experience in web development has also led them to observe the general practice of web development from a distance and write generalizations about application development.

The book is divided into nine chapters, each of them discussing a specific topic developed in stages. The book starts out with simple concepts and slowly builds up by providing additional concepts for application development.

ODP.NET Developer's Guide: Oracle Database 10g Development with Visual Studio 2005 and the Oracle Data Provider for .NET is a very simple book smartly written for budding developers who wanted to know more about ODT.NET. Every aspect of database management is shown in this book. Each function in ODB.NET is discussed with the actual coding so that developers will have the first hand understanding regarding the specific function.

The developers are also given a glimpse of a quick review of ODP.NET's integration with Visual Studio 2005. Although it is not extensively discussed, the information provided is the very basics that it could be translated to other scenarios easily.

Because of the outline behind ODP.NET and the philosophy that works with Visual Studio 2005 is efficiently discussed, the ODP.NET Developer's Guide: Oracle Database 10g Development with Visual Studio 2005 and the Oracle Data Provider for .NET is a good book for any developer to start with. Anyone who wants to start developing an application should check this book as a great reference. Even those who are already experienced but need to brush up on their basics will also re-learn things through this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is an invaluable overview of all the cutting-edge features of Oracle's latest database release, Oracle Database 10g. Includes expert commentary throughout from world-renowned Oracle guru Jonathan Lewis. This is an ideal resource for decision-makers and IT staff preparing for upgrades or migration. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Useful general information
This book provides a good overview of the changes in Oracle 10g. It does not drill down into detail, that is left for other publications, but is an easy starting point for a DBA to migrate from earlier versions of Oracle.
The book is easy to read and the diagrams are clear and add to the text.

Lot of information packed into a small book
What I like most about this book is that it is ony 230 pages long and almost none of those pages are wasted. Too often, the authors of technical books such as this are pressured to write XXXX number of pages to justify exorbitant cost of a book. Such was clearly not the case with this book.

Aside from being informative, I felt the author did a great job of providing an overview of the all the topics new in 10g. If you already have a strong knowledge of Oracle 9i, this book will provide the neccessary coverage to manage 10g.

As usual, no single Oracle book will provide ALL the information on any single topic, but this book is as good as any I have read and it does in mere 230 pages.

Take an overview, that's the purpose
Yes, this book gives you only an overview over the 10g new features. But that's enough for me to download the free official and detailed guide on the argument of my interest from otn.oracle.com
Good for a quick reference.
Recommended.

Oracle Database 10g New Features
Nice and useful DBA's book, skilled on Oracle 9i and starting with the upgrade on Oracle 10g.

Only for a First Overview
This is the first book on Oracle 10g New Features that was out from Oracle Press. It only gives a condensed overview of the topic, so for OCP exam preparation or for a deeper coverage of the new features you should rather turn to Sam R. Alapati's book. I would recommend Freeman's book as a supplement to Alapati as it covers some features which are not part of the OCP exam. It also contains some very useful comments by Jonatan Lewis.

As usual for books like this the binding is so poor, that my copy started to fall apart after I read a few chapters. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Expected more advanced topics inside for the book's title
Received item in excellent condition but it arrived longer than expected.

For the book itself, I was expecting a more advanced tuning topics to be
covered in it. The title is a bit deceiving. Other than that, everything
else was good.

GOOD BUT TOO EXPENSIVE FOR THE FEW TOPICS INCLUDED
very useful for many things but, it's not a programming book so, at the end of the book you've focused your attention only on few things that you should learn and keep in mind.

That's it...

I'm happy with it but in my opinion it's a bit too expensive for what it gives.

good advice
I found some very good advice in this book for PL/SQL tuning.Using some of the examples on bulk loads and forall..inserts I was able to get hundredfold improvements in some row at a time loads.The examples were easy to understand and showed techniques for verifying performance effects.They could use a better proofreader, but on the whole, I think this is a good book for a PL/SQL developer.

PL/SQL Secrets revealed
This book has been a great resource for me as I get acquainted with various Oracle assets, including many things that I was not aware of concerning PL/SQL. Expect to learn improved ways of handling Oracle, knowing that this book is for the advanced and eager Oracle user.Dr. Hall obviously has experience in Oracle, to the point where he can exemplify these complex concepts in an easy to follow format.From one Oracle professional to another, I highly recommend this book.

sql tuning
This book sucks; they should call this book useless way to try to improve the performance of oracle. For instance the author simulates a slow sql statement by using example of a state that counts the time for a number of seconds, like of like a sleep command. Doing this for a number for year I never came across a sleep or wait command for slow query. The authors also never say why or go into detail about his suggestion. It is like he does not really know what he is talking about but gives you example of the problem and solution but never really goes into why. ... Read more

Product Description
Oracle security expert David Knox explains how to design and develop an integrated, secure Oracle environment. In my experience in the security world, including 32 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, I've not found anyone with more experience in the theory and practice of protecting your data than David Knox. --Dave Carey, former Executive Director of the CIA ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Good book if you use Enterprise flavor of Oracle
This book is simple and complete security book for Oracle, but it is necessary to use Oracle Enterprise solution and Oracle Identity Management components.
50% of these book it is not possible to use with Oracle Standard DBMS

THE book to get !!!
This is much better than the Oracle Documentation. Easier to read and presents the information in a clear and concise manner. If you can't take the Oracle Security class from Oracle Education this is the next best thing. The only thing bad that I could say about this is . . . . Pete Finnigan could of been brought in to get a different perspective.

Chapter 12 on Oracle Label Security alone is worth the prices of this book.

Not too helpful for the security beginner
I'm trying to set up proxy authentication and the book made a lot of assumptions about what I know. The author uses the SCOTT, BLAKE and APP_USER accounts and assumes that we know exactly how these accounts where set up. It would seem that the APP_USER account seems to be the schema owner, or is it the SCOTT and BLAKE accounts. Am I to assume that the SCOTT account is the defualt demo account that is setup by oracle? Being new to high level Oracle security I would have preferred a step-by-step approach to solving my security problems. I noticed that all other reviews where by people that seem to have a handle on this and just needed hints. Even the setting up of an LDAP sever was confusing, we never got it to work and even after following the steps did not get the same things that the author got. Even though I have not been a DBA for too long I have been using Oracle for 20 years now, so I'm not a novice.

Fantastic!
Buy this book if you haven't already... it's wonderful!

An easy/enjoyable read full of everything you need to know about locking down a 10gDB install!

Excellent Oracle help
Effective Oracle Database 10g Security by Design is sooo helpful.

There is a lot of good info in the Oracle documentation, but David Knox fill in a lot of the blanks. ... Read more

Product Description
This easy-to-read book provides quick lessons on relational database terminology and normalization with very little effort. Updated for Oracle 9i, its thorough coverage of Oracle's SQL and PL/SQL and introduction to advanced SQL topics makes this a must for busy professionals. The many examples, with output shown as screenshots, provide ample opportunity for the reader to easily understand and learn to use Oracle and SQL.First introducing relational database concepts, the book covers SQL (Structured Query Language); Programming Language (the extension to SQL); and then proceeds to advanced topics, which include Oracle architecture and database administration with enterprise tools.For any IT professional who needs to understand SQL or Oracle database systems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful learning tool
This book is remarkablefor the clear manner in which it explains the basics of relational databases in general and Oracle in particular. I am currently in training for Oracle Certified Professional and had been using study guides and class material to learn Oracle.These are fine for passing the OCP exam, but they leave many gaps in the finer points which lead to thoroughly understanding Oracle.

Since this book's goal is to explain Oracle's SQL Plus and PL/SQL languages instead of getting you through an examination with a passing grade it goes into details that my training missed. I especially like the way that database concepts, design and modeling are covered in the first chapter, and the step-by-step approach to teaching SQL and PL/SQL by actually performing useful tasks such as creating tables and working with tables.

In addition to the basics, this book covers advanced topics such as row locking, performance and joins and set operations.PL/SQL is given the same thorough treatment as SQL Plus and as you read through the book and actually perform the tasks on a real Oracle instance your understanding and skill level increases greatly.Since PL/SQL is rich in features and programming constructs the care with which the author explains the basics and how to apply them in a real environment made learning fun and builds your self confidence.

I also liked the attention given to database administration tasks in the final part of the book, and found the SQL Plus and PL/SQL quick reference in the back of the book useful on many occasions.

If you don't have the luxury of attending Oracle training this book is an excellent substitute, and even if you're going through OCP training this book will fill in the gaps that will surely arise since the course is fast paced.Note that this book uses Oracle 8i as the example environment, but the material works with the newer 9i version too. ... Read more