Oracle Database Administration for Microsoft SQL Server DBAs part 20 takes the administration topics with which the SQL Server DBA is familiar, translates them into Oracle terms, and then expands on Oracle functionality. Definitions and comparative terms run throughout the book so the SQL Server DBA can easily leverage existing knowledge. This Oracle Press guide also expands on some of the features in Oracle that do not match up directly with SQL Server, and looks at other processes often performed on an Oracle database that would not typically be a standard practice in SQL Server environments | 172 Oracle Database Administration for Microsoft SQL Server DBAs f there were no database users data growth or business modifications the database could be installed and left alone. But as we all know there are constant changes application upgrades new business requirements different access needed by users and just more data. So installation isn t enough and there is a constant need for monitoring databases and running maintenance jobs to maintain stable systems. In the previous chapter we looked at one big part of database maintenance running backups and making sure you are able to recover from failures and errors. In this chapter we will look at maintenance that can prevent some issues or serve as a warning to help you avoid problems about to happen. Maintenance Tasks As a SQL Server DBA you ve planned database monitoring and set up maintenance jobs. With various versions of SQL Server some tasks may be more important than others something that was a must for SQL Server 2000 might still need to be run in SQL Server 2008 but not as frequently because it s not as crucial. Oracle versions make a difference as well especially if your database has older features such as dictionary-managed tablespaces. In large database environments it is not possible to spend all of your time logging in to every database and validating logs and jobs. Automated tasks need to be developed to perform these tasks and you will want to generate a report or summary to let you know that all systems are looking good. I do tend to do a manual check occasionally not that I don t trust the automated jobs but a verification every now and then is reassuring. Generally it s easier to develop maintenance jobs for a new database that you create because you understand that database s setup. It may be more difficult to make sure that the maintenance jobs are running against existing systems because jobs might be named differently or scheduled another way. However you can use the database tools to verify
