what is your math background? what level of math would you recommend performance specialists to have? ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 3:49 PM
> Michael, I've responded by preceding your questions with "MM:" and my > answers with "CVM:". > > > MM: ...can you please tell me if your new book, of which I've heard good > things, is different in any way than other Oracle Performance Tuning > books out. Does it take a different approach? > > CVM: Drastically different. Probably the most important difference is > that it's the first Oracle book that doesn't espouse a method that > consists of just trying things until you find something that helps. It > prescribes a step-by-step process, which is the same every time, for > diagnosing your performance problem. The method works for finding > performance problem causes whatever in the technology stack they may be. > I didn't do it this way for the sake of being different. I did it this > way because the traditional ways of "tuning" don't work. > > I think some other things like the queueing chapter make it different, > too, but I feel that there's been too much focus placed upon the > apparently deep mathematical nature of this chapter. The point of the > chapter is to show people how to use a model (one that's already > completely worked out for you) to gain insight into your real Oracle > performance problems. At the end of the chapter is a 14-page, fully > worked example. No other book does this. There are a lot of formulas in > this chapter, but I show them only to help people recreate (or test) my > results. For every formula, there is an Excel spreadsheet function that > automates the use of that formula (some of the Excel formulas took years > to develop, by the way). The chapter is all about showing the reader why > performance behaves in the surprising ways that it sometimes does. It's > not about showing you how "cool" math can be. > > > MM: Does it teach different methodologies? > > CVM: It teaches a single method that is radically different from the > ones most Oracle professionals are taught. You can get a drift of what I > mean by reading the sample chapter at > http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/optoraclep/index.html. (By the way, I > distinguish carefully between the words "method" and "methodology." I > have a note about this in the book's Glossary, and at > http://www.hotsos.com/e-library/oop.html as well.) > > > MM: Is it more readable? I'd be very interested in your own assessment. > > CVM: There are three parts to the book, and the "readability" varies by > design across those three parts. Parts I and III are meant to be read > front-to-back by DBAs and analysts, and also their managers. Part II is > reference material that I hope technical people are reading, but Part II > is definitely too much to swallow in a few sittings. There's just too > much detail. You can see more information about the structure of the > book at http://www.hotsos.com/e-library/oop.html. > > There are some tricky concepts you have to understand before you can > optimize an Oracle database, so it can be difficult to write about these > concepts in a manner that people can understand. I find virtually > nothing more offensive in technical literature than the author who tells > you that something is so complicated that you would never understand it, > even if he bothered to explain it to you. I think it should be the > reader's right to see the facts and decide whether to skip them or dive > into them. > > I think that most authors who try to complicate things are really just > afraid to admit publicly that they don't know something. It's fine not > to know some things. We all don't know a lot of things! But it's not > helpful when an author's ultimate goal is to look authoritative instead > of trying to help the reader understand what we know and what needs > further study. > > I know I've scared a lot of people with all the arithmetic in the > queueing chapter, but here I've been especially careful to explain how > to use what our good mathematical forefathers have worked out for us. > You can read the entire chapter without having to know what any of the > formulas mean. I've focused on what the models *mean* and how to use > them, not on why they work. > > So, how readable is it? There's a lot of stuff out there that I hope > we're much, much better than. But it would be difficult to be more > readable than, for example, Ensor, Kyte, Lewis, Morle, > Vaidyanatha/Deshpande, or Lawson, who, in my opinion, write beautifully. > So far, much of the feedback I've received is that the book is fun to > read, which was definitely a principal design goal of the project. > > > MM: What did you try to accomplish with this book? > > CVM: I covered much of this in the preface. Our whole company was borne > of deep frustration with some of the very popular "tips & techniques" > work out there that I consider to be absolute garbage. One of the > principal motives of the book was to create a better classroom > experience for our students (see > http://www.hotsos.com/courses/PD101.php, for example). > > With the book, Jeff and I have tried to lay out a system that enables a > reader to determine whether the performance information he's getting at > conferences, classes, books, magazines, etc. is valid or not. We have > tried to raise the bar for what people consider to be an acceptable > standard for an Oracle performance analyst to meet. We have tried to > further stimulate the revolution of Oracle performance methods from the > very weak and inefficient checklist-based methods to a more efficient > scientific approach. > > > Cary Millsap > Hotsos Enterprises, Ltd. > http://www.hotsos.com > > Upcoming events: > - Performance Diagnosis 101: 10/28 Phoenix, 11/19 Sydney > - SQL Optimization 101: 12/8-12 Dallas > - Hotsos Symposium 2004: March 7-10 Dallas > - Visit www.hotsos.com for schedule details... > > > -----Original Message----- > Michael Milligan > Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 12:45 PM > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L > > Cary, > > I don't mean to ask you to brag, but can you please tell me if your new > book, of which I've heard good things, is different in any way than > other > Oracle Performance Tuning books out. Does it take a different approach? > Does > it > teach different methodologies? Is it more readable? I'd be very > interested > in your own assessment. What did you try to accomplish with this book? > > TIA, > > Michael Milligan > Oracle DBA > Ingenix, Inc. > 2525 Lake Park Blvd. > Salt Lake City, Utah 84120 > wrk 801-982-3081 > mbl 801-628-6058 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > This e-mail, including attachments, may include confidential and/or > proprietary information, and may be used only by the person or entity to > which it is addressed. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended > recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is hereby notified > that > any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. > If > you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by > replying > to this message and delete this e-mail immediately. > -- > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net > -- > Author: Michael Milligan > INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com > San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message > to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in > the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L > (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may > also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). > > -- > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net > -- > Author: Cary Millsap > INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com > San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message > to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in > the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L > (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may > also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net -- Author: Ryan INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services --------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
