When migrating an Oracle database to another platform, there are the common indicators and discussion topics around PL/SQL conversions, data types, application rewrites, etc., as being roadblocks to refactoring, but being successful also has to do with the SIZE of the workload coming from Oracle. I find this is often dismissed, even though this is one of the quickest ways to identify if an ENTIRE Oracle database, (not even by schema or a subset of the Oracle database) can run on a Platform as a Service, (PaaS) solution. The following post involves limits for each Azure PaaS solution and how…
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I just finished an interview with a friend for a blog post where he was surprised how differently I was viewed in the Oracle community, (a multi-platform DBA who wasn’t very loyal to Oracle like she should be) vs. the Microsoft community, (that odd Oracle girl.) The truth is, I’ve always enjoyed database technology and few know that my first database (MSSQL 6.5) as well as my first book was in Microsoft SQL Server (Pro SQL Server 2012 Practices). I’m not platform centric at all, work mostly in Oracle, SQL Server/Azure SQL and MySQL, but I’m just CUSTOMER centric. Azure…
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Three years ago today, I walked into Microsoft HQ in Redmond, WA and started my journey with onboarding. After a flurry of directions, presentations and shock at the diverse individuals in the process with me, I returned home and started as the lucky person taking over Patrick LeBlanc’s previous position in a specialized group in the EDU. I always hate starting a new job and this was no different. I had no idea what I was doing, was drinking from the fire hose, (which at Microsoft is always the case with how much is constantly evolving in the technology) and…
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I’ll be speaking along with a slew of fantastic other presenters on mental health and wellness as part of the Women in Tech Data Platform on May 7th, 2021. This is a day we all come together to recognize the importance of self-care in our lives, but especially during this unprecedented time of the pandemic. I’ll be presenting a session titled, “Turning ADHD into “Awesome Dynamic Highly Dependable” It’s a long time coming, as I’m so often asked how I make ADHD look so easy. As most folks know, I don’t consider ADHD a disorder, but a unique wiring of…
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Disclaimer: I’m not a big fan of benchmark data. I find it doesn’t provide us as much value in the real world as we’d like to think it does. As Cary Milsap says, “You can’t hardware your way out of a software problem” and I find that many folks think that if they just get the fastest hardware, their software problems will go away and this just isn’t true. Sooner or later, it’s going to catch up with you- and it rarely tells you what your real database workload needs to run most efficiently or what might be running in…
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I’m about simplifying anything for customers as we bring over complex environments into Azure and Oracle databases running on Exadata is a big part of these challenges. Decoupling the database from the engineered features is a crucial part of my work and with Oracle 19c, having customers running on the terminal release isn’t the only reason to upgrade if the database is on an earlier release. As I’ve discussed in other posts, blogs and articles, I have numerous ways to address latency when losing cell node offloading, hybrid columnar compression (HCC), thin cloning with sparse clone, flash cache, flash logging,…
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With my upcoming session on “Migrating Oracle Workloads to Azure IaaS” this week at PASS Virtual Summit 2020, I wanted to take some time to dig deeper onto the performance side. The last thing you want to have happen is to migrate your database to the cloud and have it just screech to a halt. The truth is, its often a combination of database and infrastructure issues that are the cause. Although many of you may want me to dig into database performance data, I’m actually going to first focus on infrastructure, as it’s the area that most aren’t privy…
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It’s not uncommon for different recommended practices to arise in technical sizing and optimization practices. For many, it’s a compromise between most optimal data and ease of access vs. impact on production environments, which is no different from what we face when sizing Oracle on Azure. As we know it’s important to lift and shift the workload vs. moving the hardware, we must have as simple way to perform this task. The question comes up repeatedly as to our preferred method of working with a one-week Automatic Workload Repository, (AWR) report to do so. This post will be focused on…
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I barely have enough time to breathe let along blog these days, but lucky for me, I am taking some downtime today, so I can come out here and write! Anyway, since I’m so busy, I volunteered to help judge the Azure SQL Championship that you can be part of! This is a great opportunity to level up your skills from onprem to be more cloud-centric and you’re not too late! The competition is from Oct. 12th-30th and there will be new contest challenge each week and daily quizzes that offer you the chance to win badges and prizes, including…
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There’s so much I need to get written down these days, but there’s only so many hours in a day and days in a week and I’ve totally failed in this area. Well, I have a little time right now, so going to try to get something down. It only took me four times to get this published! 🙂 I’m often asked how I migrate an Oracle database to Azure and although each database is unique, there are some things that are pretty consistent that need to be identified and some that should be resolved before migrating to the cloud.…
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In two hours I am honored to be the guest of the CSME Women’s Book Club event at Microsoft to discuss my book, “Crushing the IT Gender Bias.” In celebration of this, I want to discuss the importance of Women in Technology, (WIT) initiatives and the mistake many groups continue to make these days consolidating them into Diversity and Inclusion, (D&I) groups. A few years ago, when Women in Technology, (WIT) initiatives were the newest, coolest thing for business to be a part of, I was awarded an annual WIT award from the state’s tech organization. I was quite humbled…
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This is commonly the time at any company I discuss how I’m about to move on… Nope, not planning on going anywhere… I know, it’s odd for everyone involved, but we’ll all get used to it. Where I’ve Been I joined Microsoft two years ago, to take on the role that Patrick LeBlanc left so that he could accomplish all that we’ve observed with Adam Sexton on Guy in a Cube. It was just a bit intimidating, as I’d never done analytics or AI before, nor had I really any experience in Azure. I hadn’t even thought about the big…
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As the flood gates open up on Oracle for Azure IaaS, working in an efficient manner has become a necessity. We’re building out partners to help, but there are ways to empower our customers and those doing this work to make us all successful- hopefully this post will assist. After I posted the Estimate Tool for Sizing Oracle Workloads on Azure, I realized more guidance around AWR reports would be beneficial. These tips will provide help to any migration, not just one to Azure, so read and reap the rewards! Separate and Conquer A sizing estimate isn’t the same thing…
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A week ago, Friday was my 13 year-old Cattle Dog/Jack Russell mix, DaVinci’s time to go to doggo heaven. He was a great flurry of tri-color energy, wrapped up in a small package. DaVinci at 4 Yrs Old I adopted him from a rescue that has discovered him during a Meth lab bust in Colorado. I liked to call him “My Little Crack-Puppy” and he was known for losing his little doggy mind around any animal that called to his prey drive,…
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A DBA is only as good as their last backup…or more so, their last recovery. To celebrate #WorldBackupDay on Twitter, I’m blogging on how to backup an Oracle database directly to Azure Blob storage. Yes, you could backup on a managed disk directly connected to the VM, then copy it off, but Azure Blob Storage is inexpensive and provides considerable speed and opportunity to create an NSF mount to use the backups with other Oracle hosts for cloning, recovery, etc. Configure Blob Storage in the Azure Portal In this example, we have an Oracle database running on an Azure IaaS…
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Use the following shell script to create your Oracle VM. I chose the following parameters to create mine: Using Azure Cloud Shell and with persistent storage, which are linked on the github page, I uploaded the mk_oravm.sh script and run it after changing the permissions. chmod 744 mk_oravm.sh Provision the VM Run the script: ./mk_oravm.sh Anwser the questions from the script: What is the name for the resource group to create the deployment in? Example: ORA_GRP Enter your Resource Group name: orabkup_grp Here's the installation version urns available, including Oracle and Oracle Linux Urn ----------------------------------------------------------- Oracle:Oracle-Database-Ee:18.3.0.0:18.3.20181213 Enter the urn you'd…
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Just like with other UI’s, the Azure portal may not show you the wealth of offerings that can be found in the Azure catalog. For those Oracle DBAs hoping to build an IaaS VM image from a certified OS version, this means they need Oracle Enterprise Linux and are frustrated when they can’t locate it in the portal. Empower with the Cloud Shell Oracle DBAs rarely are fascinated with user interfaces or portals, so when you offer us something like the Azure Cloud Shell, it’s something we should embrace. I’ve spoke about it before and I will rave about it…
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As often as I use the Automatic Workload Repository(AWR) data in my day-to-day job at Microsoft, I think most can imagine how often I’m explaining its value, along with tracing to my Microsoft peeps. Its time to write a post dedicated to the Microsoft crowd who want to understand a bit more about AWR, so hopefully its helpful! What is the Automatic Workload Repository? The Automatic Workload Repository, (AWR) had been around since Oracle 10g and requires the diagnostic and tuning management pack licensing to use all of its features in Oracle’s Enterprise Edition database. Versions before 10.2.0.4 had limited…