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CLIENT: Dell STUDIO #: 8J53600 JOB #: PDL-COM-C34356 BILLING#: PDL-COM-C34356 SAFETY: 7” x 9.875”
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TEL URL ART

 N OVEMBER/DEC E M BE R 2 0 0 8 O R A C L E.C O M /O R A CLEMA GA ZI NE

EDITORS’ CHOICE AWARDS 2008

HONORING LEADERSHIP
AND INNOVATION
IN TECHNOLOGY

OUR CIOs OF THE YEAR

TOM LAMMING KONSTANTINOS KAPPOS RICHARD MARTINEZ BARRY LIBENSON CELSO GUIOTOKO
TELSTRA HELLENIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT INGERSOLL-RAND NISSAN
ORGANIZATION (OTE) OF EDUCATION

IN THIS ISSUE: HP ORACLE DATABASE MACHINE • HP ORACLE EXADATA STORAGE SERVER • KEEPING ACTIVE • NEED TO KNOW

ND08_Cover_new_R1.indd 5 10/14/08 12:04:45 PM

A L T E R N A T I V E T H I N K I N G A B O U T B U S I N E S S A N D T E C H N O L O G Y:

Move Ahead.
Alternative thinking is recognizing the proper role of technology in this
era is not just to be safe and steady and reliable, but to spur the
business to compete aggressively, imaginatively and daringly.

It is working with HP and Oracle to reduce risk and lower costs while
driving your business ahead.

hp.com/go/oracle

Technology for better business outcomes.

©2008 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

 CONTENTS VOLU M E XXI I , I SSUE 6

FEATUR ES

EDITORS’ CHOICE AWARDS 2008

ORACLE NEWS

HONORING LEADERSHIP ORACLE AND

HP PARTNER ON
AND INNOVATION IN HARDWARE OFFERING

TECHNOLOGY
From all corners of the globe, from all industries,
and all areas of technology—the winners of the
seventh annual Editors’ Choice
Awards reflect outstanding
leadership, innovation,
and commitment.
The editors of
Oracle Magazine are With partner HP, Oracle has released
pleased to honor the its first-ever hardware product, the HP
Oracle Database Machine. This high-
achievements of these
performance system promises to take
talented professionals. Oracle data warehouse performance to

RON SELLERS
—David A. Kelly extreme levels. —Jeff Erickson
/31 /19
Cover: I-hua Chen

D E PAR T M E N TS

10
From the Editor / 6
Better Partnering, More
Partnering—Tom Haunert
Oracle OpenWorld 2008 was
bigger and greener than ever
before. Here are some highlights
from the conference. / 8
AT OR AC LE
Events / 10
Find out about current and
upcoming industry events.
Oracle Resources / 13
Your guide to Oracle Webcasts,
podcasts, blogs, education
offerings, and more
Oracle News Briefs / 16
Interview / 21
Sushil Kumar, senior director of database
availability, manageability, and performance
at Oracle, talks about Oracle’s support for
cloud computing.
Interview / 22
Terry Olkin, vice president and chief architect
at Oracle, discusses Oracle Beehive, Oracle’s
next-generation collaboration platform.

ORACLE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 1

ND08_TOC.indd 1 10/8/08 2:46:28 PM

 CONTENTS

59 TEC HNOLOGY
HIGH AVAILABILITY
Keeping Active / 59
Use Oracle Active Data Guard to set up a physical
standby database for reporting and recovery.
—Arup Nanda

24
S QL DEV ELOP ER
Programming Productively / 63
C O MMU NI TY Use Oracle SQL Developer to work efficiently with
Partner News / 24 PL/SQL constructs. —Sue Harper
Zmanda, U&SLUNO, Helpstream,
Data Domain, Voltaire, nCipher, Accenture, INS IDE OC P
ArcSight, Capgemini New Ways to Flash Back / 67
Reverse transactions and track historical changes in
Book Beat / 24
Oracle Database 11g. —Sushma Jagannath
Education / 26
Oracle helps students prepare for AS K TOM
global challenges. On Separation and Counting / 69
Up Close / 27 Our technologist promotes more than one schema,
A user group leader helps members manage an counts partitions, and uses TKPROF. —Tom Kyte
expanding range of Oracle technologies.
Peer-to-Peer / 28
Ahmed Alomari, Gregory Rekounas,
Penny Cookson

73 C OMMENT

IN THE FIELD
Integration: It’s Coming Together / 73
Mergers, acquisitions, and growth present
opportunities for user groups. —Ian Abramson

ALL S EC UR E

50
Need to Know / 75
Getting better information is important, but some
D EVEL O PER
secrets are not for sharing.
F RA MEWO RKS —Mary Ann Davidson
Developing a Regional Accent / 50
Use task flows as regions to improve UI reuse. ANALY S T’ S C OR NER
—Steve Muench Application Server Convergence / 76
Customers gain new capabilities from the
PL / SQ L PRA CTI CES combination of Oracle and BEA technologies.
On Cursor FOR Loops / 53 —David Baum
It’s important to know when not to use cursor FOR loops.
—Steven Feuerstein

O D P.NET
Instant ODP.NET Deployment / 56
Deploy ODP.NET applications instantly with Oracle Data
Access Components. —Mark A. Williams

2 november/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

ND08_TOC.indd 2 10/8/08 2:46:53 PM

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 contents

e ditorial
editor in chief Tom Haunert
tom.haunert@oracle.com

Senior managing editor Caroline Kvitka

caroline.kvitka@oracle.com

Features editor Kay Keppler

kay.keppler@oracle.com

contributing editor and Writer

Blair Campbell

editor in chief, otn Justin Kestelyn

justin.kestelyn@oracle.com

technology advisor Tom Kyte

contributors
Marta Bright, Ed DeJesus, Kirk Donnan, Jeff Erickson,
Aaron Lazenby, Fred Sandsmark, Rich Schwerin, Leslie Steere

de Sign
Senior creative director Francisco G. Delgadillo
design director Richard Merchán
Production designer Kathy Cygnarowicz

e ditorial Board

WE LIVE IN THE
Ian Abramson, Karen Cannell, Andrew Clarke, Chris Claterbos, Karthika
Devi, Kimberly Floss, Kent Graziano, Taqi Hasan, Tony Jambu, Tony

HOUSE WE ALL
Jedlinski, Ari Kaplan, Val Kavi, John King, Steve Lemme, Carol McGury,

BUILD.
Sumit Sengupta, Jonathan Vincenzo, Dan Vlamis

re Source S
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oracle Press Books www.oraclepress.com

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copyright © 2008, oracle and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reprinted or other wise reproduced without our children run and play. We choose
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4 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

ND08_TOC.indd 4 10/8/08 2:47:27 PM

 P ubl ishing
Publisher
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adve rt ising sal e s

associate Publisher
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oracle magazine november/december 20 08 5

ND08_TOC.indd 5 10/8/08 2:47:52 PM

 f r o m t h e editor
Better Partnering, More Partnering
Oracle is not alone in the hardware business.
efore I started working at Oracle, I worked for a com-
puter hardware manufacturing company. During my
job interviews at Oracle, several of the interviewers
questioned how my experience working at a hardware
company would translate to working at Oracle—an enterprise
software company. I offered that my hardware experience
didn’t happen in a software vacuum, and that most of my
experience was actually with a variety of software that made
the computer hardware work.
I got the job, and either ironically or very deliberately, I
was hired into a porting group whose responsibility was to
make the base platform Oracle software run on other operating
systems and hardware platforms. This was one of many porting
groups at Oracle, and all of these groups worked closely with
the respective operating system and hardware platform compa-
nies in building their own ports of Oracle software.
out of the bag and into the Box
On September 24, 2008, at Oracle OpenWorld in San
Francisco, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison announced: “Oracle is
going into the hardware business, but we’re not going alone.”
Ellison then detailed Oracle’s entrance, with partner HP,
into the computer hardware market with the release of two
products designed to boost data warehouse performance: HP
Oracle Database Machine and HP Oracle Exadata Storage
Server. Ellison outlined the features and performance benefits
of these new HP Oracle hardware products, describing each
product as a grid—of database servers and storage servers,
respectively. The Oracle CEO also reported that beta testers
of the products had experienced astonishing results, includ-
ing performance improvements of 10 times or more over their
current data warehouses.
HP Oracle Exadata Storage Server is key to this speed
improvement. It reduces the amount of data traveling between
nextSTEPS
LEARN more about
HP Oracle Database Machine
oracle.com/solutions/business_intelligence/database-machine.html
HP Oracle Exadata Storage Server
oracle.com/exadata
JOIN Oracle PartnerNetwork
oracle.com/partners
FLASHBACK to Oracle OpenWorld 2008
ondemandpreview.vportal.net
6  N o v e m b e r / D E C EMBER 2 0 0 8   oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_EDNOTE_r3.indd 6
storage and database servers by doing much of the query pro-
cessing in the storage layer, and it increases the bandwidth
between storage and database servers. (For more information
on the hardware release announcements, see Jeff Erickson’s
“Data Warehousing Gets Extreme,” on page 19.)
GETTING BETTER
People have come to expect big announcements about the latest
Oracle enterprise software releases—database, middleware,
and applications—at each Oracle OpenWorld, and there were
plenty of those announcements this year as well, including
the launch of Oracle’s next-generation collaboration software,
Oracle Beehive. (For more on Oracle Beehive, see “Beyond
the Buzz,” on page 22.) And in the trade coverage leading
up to Oracle OpenWorld, there was the usual speculation on
announcements about the next releases of specific Oracle enter-
prise software components. But I didn’t see any speculation
about Oracle making a big partner announcement or, specifi-
cally, about Oracle going into the hardware business. I think it’s
safe to say that the HP Oracle Database Machine and HP Oracle
Exadata Storage Server announcement surprised a lot of people.
And while the hardware announcement meant that there
was both a solution for significantly faster data warehouses
and a significant addition to the business description of
Oracle, for me the theme of the day was partnership. Oracle
has developed and ported enterprise software to HP platforms
for decades, but with the latest announcement, Oracle has
taken its partnership with HP to a new, unprecedented level.
Oracle has developed and ported its software to more than a
hundred platforms, effectively partnering with the owners of
each platform, but information technology’s move to standard-
ized hardware and the Linux operating system means that,
among other things, Oracle can now partner more closely in
hardware than ever before.
GETTING MORE
Within an hour of the HP Oracle Database Machine and HP
Oracle Exadata Storage Server announcement, I received an
e-mail from a company I was not familiar with. The company
spokesperson informed me that the company’s hardware was
included in HP Oracle Database Machine and HP Oracle
Exadata Storage Server. Soon enough, I was corresponding with
a new hardware partner about coverage in Oracle Magazine.
Tom Haunert, Editor in Chief
tom.haunert@oracle.com
10/20/08 9:45:22 AM
 ures of
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 O r a c l e openworld 2008

The Oracle OpenWorld E

Annual conference is bigger, better, and greener tha
an Francisco was the place to be from September
21–25, 2008, when more than 42,000 Oracle customers,
partners, and enthusiasts converged on the city for the
largest Oracle OpenWorld yet.
The annual conference focused on helping enterprises
understand and harness the power of information and use
Oracle software to achieve better—and greener—business
results. Throughout the week, Oracle executives including
CEO Larry Ellison; President Charles Phillips; Executive Vice
President, Product Development, Chuck Rozwat; and Senior
Vice President, Oracle Fusion Middleware, Thomas Kurian

hartmann Studios
took the stage to discuss and demonstrate how organizations
can take advantage of Oracle’s complete, open, and integrated
technology stack to reduce complexity and increase profitabil-
During his keynote address, Oracle President Charles Phillips chatted with
ity. In his keynote, Ellison introduced Oracle’s first-ever hard- Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who won a record-breaking eight gold
medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Phelps discussed his rigorous
ware product, the HP Oracle Database Machine, which he said workout schedule and diet, and Phillips prompted laughs by comparing
Phelps’ training routine to that of an Oracle developer.
improves data warehouse query performance by a factor of 10
or more (see page 19 for details). Other major announcements included Oracle’s support for cloud
computing (see page 21 for more) and the release of Oracle Beehive, a new collaboration applica-
tion that gives customers a new way to communicate and work together (see page 22 for details).
In addition to nearly 1,800 breakout sessions and more than 300 live demonstrations, hundreds
of partners and vendors showcased products and services in the exhibition halls. Oracle Develop,
a special program for developers, returned to Oracle OpenWorld this year with
webLOCATOR
more days, more sessions, and more hands-on labs.
Oracle OpenWorld 2008
New to Oracle OpenWorld in 2008 was the Green Program, with 19 ses- oracle.com/openworld/2008

Oracle OpenWorld community

sions devoted to sustainable business practices and products. In the Green experience aggregator
otn.oracle.com/events/oracle-openworld-2008
Marketplace, attendees explored leading-edge technologies that could reduce
Oracle OpenWorld On Demand
their organization’s environmental footprint. This year’s conference was also ondemandpreview.vportal.net

the greenest Oracle OpenWorld yet, featuring reusable water bottles and Oracle Mix
mix.oracle.com
water stations; recyclable signage; nontoxic, biodegradable giveaways; and ThinkQuest
www.thinkquest.org
virtual collateral racks.

8  november/december 20 08  oracle.com/oraclemagazine

ND08_OOW_r1.indd 8 10/16/08 9:53:57 AM

 d Experience
eener than ever before.

hartmann studios
Oracle Chairman Jeff Henley (front row, second from left) with recipients
of the 2008 Empower the Green Enterprise awards. Oracle recognized 16
global customers and their partners (for a list of winners, see page 49.)
Henley kicked off the Green Program at the Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts, where he said, “Green business practices aren’t just good for the
environment. They are good for business.”
hartmann studios

Oracle Executive Vice President Chuck Rozwat announces Oracle Beehive, a built-
from-scratch collaboration application that includes e-mail, calendaring, task
management, content sharing, desktop sharing, team workspaces, and more in a
single, fully integrated solution.

bengtson PhotograPhy

ThinkQuest, an international Web site–building competition for students sponsored

by the Oracle Education Foundation, brought 46 award-winning students from 10
countries to Oracle OpenWorld. Above, Math Movies, the first-place team in the
19-and-under age division, whose members hail from Australia, India, Tunisia,
Vietnam, and the U.S., is pictured with ThinkQuest award presenters including
Safra Catz, Oracle president and chair of the Oracle Education Foundation Board of
Directors (second row, fifth from left).
hartmann studios

Oracle attendees converged upon Moscone West, home of one of two

exhibition halls, the OTN Lounge, the Oracle OpenWorld Bookstore, the
Oracle Applications Lounge, conference sessions, and much more.

oracle magazine november/december 20 08 9

ND08_OOW.indd 9 10/6/08 2:54:41 PM

 a t O r a c l e EvEnts
Technology Events
Conferences and sessions to help you stay on the cutting edge
Oracle BIWA Summit 2008
December 2–3,
Redwood Shores, California
The only national conference devoted
exclusively to Oracle-based business
intelligence, warehousing, and analytics,
this event features more than 75 sessions
on three technical tracks, plus hands-on
workshops. Keynote speakers include
executives from Yahoo!, Accenture, and
Oracle. Sign up at www.oraclebiwa.org.
Gartner Identity and Access Oracle HEUG Alliance Down
Management Summit Under 2008
November 10–12, Orlando, Florida November 17–18, Brisbane, Australia
Data breaches lead to billions of dollars of The Oracle Higher Education User Group’s
losses each year, both reported and unreported. event in Australia features five tracks and
This summit is designed to help organizations 40 sessions targeted at higher education
address the exposure that identity and access and public sector professionals, an executive
management inefficiencies and lapses create. forum, and an exhibitor fair. Find information
Learn more at www.gartner.com/it/ at www.heug.org.
page.jsp?id=633107.
DOAG Conference and
Quest Southeast Conference Exhibition 2008
November 12–14, Atlanta, Georgia December 1–3, Nuremberg, Germany
More than 100 sessions and 60 exhibitors will Sponsored by the German Oracle User Group
cater to users of Oracle E-Business Suite and (DOAG), this conference features more than
Oracle’s Hyperion, JD Edwards, and PeopleSoft 250 practical lectures given by experts from
products. Quest Southeast will also feature a all lines of business, including technology,
forum on human capital management educa- finance, research and development, and man-
tion. Learn more at www.questdirect agement. The conference also offers ample
.org/questdirect/events/quest+southeast/ networking time and a large exhibition hall.
quest+southeast.htm. Learn more at www.doag.org.
Gartner Master Data UK Oracle User Group
Management Summit Conference and Exhibition 2008
November 17–19, Chicago, Illinois December 1–5, Birmingham, England
The second Gartner Master Data Management UKOUG 2008 is EMEA’s largest independent
(MDM) Summit features new content in two applications and technology event for the
main directions: helping organizations build a Oracle and Oracle’s BEA, PeopleSoft, JD
holistic, business-driven MDM program, and Edwards, Siebel, Stellent, and Hyperion com-
going deeper into the technology foundation munities. The conference features more than
that makes MDM work. Sign up at www 400 presentations and more than 80 exhibi-
.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=627609. tors. Get information at www.ukoug.org.
10 November/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_events.indd 10
Oracle user grOups
Zen and the Art of Database Tuning Class
November 6, Reston, Virginia
November 7, Dublin, Ohio
November 14, Irving, Texas
w3.ioug.org/ZenDatabaseTuning/
OracleMag
OAUG Advanced Planning and
Collaboration SIG Teleconference
November 11, online
apscollaborationsig.oaug.org
Grupo de Usuários Oracle RS Meeting
November 13, Porto Alegre, Brazil
www.guors.com.br
Indiana Regional User Group Meeting
November 13, Indianapolis, Indiana
questers.questdirect.org/index.php?
module=comm&op=index&gid=370
Northern California Oracle Users Group
Fall Conference
November 13, Pleasanton, California
www.nocoug.org
JD Edwards Southern California User
Group Holiday Social
November 19, Long Beach, California
www.jdescug.org
Nashville Oracle Users Group Meeting
November 19 and December 17,
Nashville, Tennessee
www.noug.net
Australian Oracle User Group Business
Analytics and Reporting Meeting
November 20, Adelaide, South Australia
www.ausoug.org.au
Michigan Oracle Users Summit 2008
November 20, Livonia, Michigan
www.mi-oaug.org
Ottawa Oracle User Group Meeting
November 27, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
www.oug-ottawa.org
Dallas Oracle Users Group Holiday Party
December 4, Dallas, Texas
www.doug.org/meetings2008.cfm
Eastern Caribbean Oracle Users Group
Breakfast Meeting
December 10, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
www.ecoug.org
New York Oracle Users Group General
Meeting
December 10, New York City
www.nyoug.org
eventsLOCAtOR
Oracle Events
oracle.com/events
roN sellers
Locate user groups
otn.oracle.com/collaboration/user_group
10/3/08 2:12:19 PM
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Oracle is registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
 a t O r a c l e resources
What’s New at Oracle
The latest Webcasts, podcasts, courses, and offers
WEBCASTS AND VIDEOS
Drive Competitive Advantage with Better
End-User Experience for Web Sites and
Applications
oracle.com/goto/realuserexperience
Rajiv Taori, director of product management
for Oracle, and Jean-Pierre “J. P.” Garbani
of Forrester Research, discuss the competi-
tive advantages of a quality end-user
experience in Web sites and applications.
Tour Oracle’s Austin Data Center
oracle.com/goto/adcvideo
Go behind the scenes at the 72,000-square-
foot Oracle On Demand data center in
Austin, Texas, and find out how the massive
collection of equipment there serves Oracle
and its customers.
Oracle Application Testing Suite: Deploy High-
Quality Applications Faster
oracle.com/goto/powerfultesting
Oracle offers powerful testing tools to
ensure that applications are reliable and
of high quality. Learn how these tools can
identify and correct errors before an appli-
cation is deployed.
Oracle Universal Online Archive
oracle.com/goto/emailarchiving
Oracle Universal Online Archive provides a
manageable, scalable, and compliant solu-
tion for e-mail archiving and offers fast, self-
service access to current and historical mail
to users and efficient, high-performance
storage for IT and compliance teams.
ORACLE UNIVERSITY
Choose Live Virtual Classes
oracle.com/education/lvc
Oracle Fusion Middleware 10.1.3: Overview
This one-day course for business ana-
lysts, project managers, sales consul-
tants, and other nontechnical personnel
covers service-oriented architecture and
the Oracle Fusion Middleware products
that support it, and highlights the business
intelligence, identity management, and Web
capabilities in Oracle Fusion Middleware.
ND08_Resources.indd 13
Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 Financial
Applications Overview
In this five-day course, learn about Oracle
General Ledger, Oracle Payables, Oracle
Purchasing, and the rest of the financial
tools in Oracle E-Business Suite. Find out
how the applications work together to suit
specific business needs.
PODCASTS
Oracle-BEA Fusion: Oracle’s New Strategic
Java Platform
oracle.com/techcasts
Steve Harris, vice president of application
server development at Oracle, discusses
Oracle’s vision and strategy for incorpo-
rating BEA’s WebLogic technology into
Oracle’s middleware product offerings.
Tooling Around: Where Do Oracle JDeveloper
and Oracle Workshop Go from Here?
oracle.com/techcasts
Duncan Mills and Greg Stachnick of the
Oracle development tools group discuss the
future of Oracle Fusion Middleware develop-
ment tools and Oracle’s plans and strategy
regarding Oracle JDeveloper and Eclipse.
Sustainability Reporting, Planning, and
Management
oracle.com/appcasts
John O’Rourke, senior director of product
marketing for Oracle enterprise perfor-
mance management solutions, discusses
the collection and reporting of environmen-
tal, social, and economic metrics. Find out
what’s driving the push for sustainability
reporting and how Oracle products can sim-
plify the data collection process.
SaaS Company Upgrades to Oracle
Database 11g Enterprise Edition to Power
Its Sales Compensation Applications
oracle.com/database/podcasts.html
Satish Palvai, founder and CTO of Xactly,
a provider of affordable, on-demand sales
compensation applications delivered in
a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model,
explains why his company chose Oracle
oracle magazine
Database 11g Enterprise Edition and Oracle
business intelligence tools.
Metro St. Louis Runs Oracle E-Business Suite
on an Oracle Grid
oracle.com/database/podcasts.html
Fred Linnenbrink, director of data architec-
ture for Metro St. Louis, the public trans-
portation agency of the St. Louis, Missouri,
area, discusses how Oracle E-Business
Suite running on Oracle Real Application
Clusters helps his agency save money, meet
performance requirements, and maintain
high availability.
Database Security for Database and
Security Administrators
oracle.com/database/podcasts.html
Rich Mogull, founder of Securosis and
a former Gartner analyst, discusses the
oracle Direct
For Oracle product information, call the number for
your region:
Country Phone Number
U.S. and Canada .....................................1.800.367.8674
Australia ....................................................1800.735.467
Austria .......................................................0800.29.7626
Belgium ........................................................0800.73280
Brazil .........................................................0800.901.985
China .........................................................800.810.0161
Denmark.........................................................8088.1068
Finland ......................................................0800.113.573
France .......................................................0800.905.805
Germany .................................................0800.1.810.111
Greece .................................................00800.353.12020
Hong Kong ......................................................3002.1246
India ..........................................................1600.44.6725
Indonesia ...........................................001.800.1.672.253
Ireland ........................................................1850.672253
Italy ..............................................................8008.74720
Japan ........................................................0120.155.096
Malaysia ....................................................1800.80.1837
Mexico...................................................01800.221.7321
The Netherlands .............................................0800.0827
New Zealand .............................................0508.555.215
Norway ...........................................................800.14411
Philippines ........................................................811.5831
Portugal .......................................................800.853.021
Singapore ................................................1800.6722.531
South Africa ...............................................0800.994.225
South Korea ...............................................080.2194.114
Spain ............................................................900.952900
Sweden ........................................................020.798798
Switzerland................................................0800.55.2574
Taiwan .......................................................0800.672.253
Thailand ..............................................001800.441.0545
Turkey .................................................00800.353.90014
U.K. .........................................................0870.5.332200
november/december 20 08 13
10/3/08 2:17:25 PM
 RESOURCES
overHeArD
“The Austin Data Center, to me, is the quintessential
coming together of all of Oracle’s key technologies. It’s
Oracle’s software, Oracle’s engineering experience, and
Oracle’s operational and process experience, brought
together under one roof.”
—Mike Beck, Senior Vice President, Oracle On Demand, in Tour Oracle’s Austin Data Center
(oracle.com/goto/adcvideo)
overlap between database and security
administration. He explores the role of data
security in companies’ partner relationships
and examines data breach reporting laws,
the criminal element, and the ways thieves
convert stolen data into cash.
Improving Quality of Service for
Oracle Database with Software
Configuration Manager
oracle.com/database/podcasts.html
Sean Bingham, director of customer Web
services at Oracle, describes Oracle
Software Configuration Manager and
explains how it can increase quality of
service for Oracle Database deployments
and improve integration with Oracle Support.
Actionable Business Insight from Semantic
Web Technology in Oracle Database 11g
oracle.com/database/podcasts.html
Learn how Metatomix, a provider of seman-
tics solutions, takes advantage of Oracle
Spatial’s semantic Web technology in its
applications to integrate information from
disparate applications and data silos.
TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Transforming BPMN into BPEL: Why and How
otn.oracle.com/pub/articles/
dikmans-bpm.html
Oracle ACE Director Lonneke Dikmans
discusses how Oracle Business Process
Analysis Suite can be used to model the
business architecture of an organization
with Business Process Modeling Notation.
TUTORIAL
Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3
otn.oracle.com/obe/fusion_middleware/
wls103
This Oracle By Example tutorial shows
how to perform a variety of tasks using
14 november/december 20 08
ND08_Resources.indd 14
Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3, including
installing Oracle WebLogic Server and
creating a domain, configuring managed
servers, and managing machines using the
administration console.
BLOGS
The Official Oracle Application Integration
Architecture Blog
blogs.oracle.com/aia
This is the place to go for Oracle Application
Integration Architecture news, views,
insight, best practices, and tips and tricks
from the team behind the architecture.
Social CRM Blog
blogs.oracle.com/socialcrm
Find out what’s happening with Oracle’s
social CRM applications from members of
Oracle’s social CRM team.
Oracle Certification Blog
blogs.oracle.com/certification
Paul Sorensen, group director of global
certification programs at Oracle University,
comments and answers questions on topics
related to Oracle certification.
WHITE PAPERS
Making the Case for Oracle Database on
Windows
oracle.com/goto/ovumwp
This Ovum Summit white paper discusses
how companies of all sizes can benefit from
deploying Oracle Database on Microsoft
Windows. Read about how Oracle ensures
interoperability with core Windows features
such as Active Directory.
Free White Paper Downloads
oracle.com/goto/whitepaper
Join Oracle’s e-mail community and
download Oracle’s top 10 white papers for
free. Topics include business intelligence,
oracle.com/oraclemagazine
contact center technology, customer rela-
tionship management, data warehousing,
Oracle on Windows, security, and service-
oriented architecture. Members of Oracle’s
e-mail community are among the first to
hear about upcoming events and Webcasts,
receive exclusive offers, and read customer
success stories.
RESOURCE KITS
Oracle Application Express Resource Kit
oracle.com/goto/apex
Learn how Oracle Application Express
addresses manageability, security, and
scalability challenges associated with
mission-critical data stored in spreadsheets
and personal databases. The free resource
kit includes the latest release of Oracle
Application Express, a link to related free
packaged applications, and more.
Oracle Database Security Resource Kit
oracle.com/goto/dbsec
This free resource kit includes technical
white papers, step-by-step tutorials, analyst
reports, expert Webcasts, and a database
security self-assessment tool.
GO GREEN
Help Save Paper—and Our Planet
oracle.com/goto/green
Sign up to receive Oracle communications
via e-mail to support Oracle’s commitment
to reducing paper consumption and postal
mailings. This helps the environment, sup-
ports Oracle’s social responsibility goals,
and ensures that Oracle marketing is
permission-based.
webLOCATOR
Oracle Blog Center
oracle.com/blogs
Oracle Consulting
oracle.com/consulting
Oracle events and Webcasts
oracle.com/events
Oracle Podcast Center
oracle.com/podcasts
My Oracle Support
metalink.oracle.com
Oracle Newsletters
oracle.com/newsletters
Oracle Support
oracle.com/support
Oracle University
oracle.com/education
10/3/08 2:17:58 PM
 Runs Oracle
Data Warehouses
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 d i d y O u KNOW
? a t O r a c l e briefs
IT ExEcuTIvEs sEE GrEEN DaTa cENTEr
as MIssION-crITIcal
Nearly 90 percent of 100 CIOs and senior
IT executives interviewed at the 2008 MIT
Sloan CIO Symposium said that green data
centers will be crucial to meeting business
objectives in 2009. 57 percent said that going
green gives them a competitive advantage,
76 percent do not have a committed
budget for going green, and 43 percent of
respondents will implement a green data
center in the next two years.
Source: Voltaire
www.voltaire.com/NewsAndEvents/Press_
Releases/press2008
MOsT OrGaNIzaTIONs rEquIrE ONly
PasswOrDs TO accEss crITIcal DaTa
52 percent of organizations require only
passwords for employees to access critical
data and do not augment passwords with
hardware tokens, digital certificates, or
risk-based scoring. 88 percent of enterprise
users have multiple work-related passwords
(averaging between five and six), 64 percent
of organizations never require users to
change their passwords, and 45 percent
of organizations allow standard dictionary
terms (such as “password”) to be used as
passwords. Nearly 150 organizations from a
diverse set of global industries were polled.
Source: Strong User Authentication, a study
from Quest Software and Aberdeen Group
www.quest.com/newsroom/news-releases-
show.aspx?contentid=7986
cIOs lIkE wEb-basED TraINING,
vIDEOcONfErENcING
When 1,400 CIOs in the U.S. were asked
which communication technologies their
companies use or anticipate using, the most
popular responses were online training
(60 percent) and videoconferencing (52
percent). Cited less frequently were Web
2.0 tools such as blogs (25 percent) and
wikis (21 percent). The telephone survey
contacted CIOs from a random sample of U.S.
companies with 100 or more employees.
Source: Robert Half Technology
www.roberthalftechnology.com/
PressRoom?id=2301
16 november/december 20 08
ND08_Briefs.indd 16
Oracle IntrOduces My Oracle suppOrt
O racle has unveiled My Oracle Support,
its next-generation customer support
platform, which integrates OracleMetaLink
with Oracle Software Configuration
Manager to deliver personalized, pro-
active support capabilities. To use the
new support portal, users download
the configuration manager and upload
their detailed configurations to Oracle to
enable the enhanced functionality.
My Oracle Support delivers service
request creation up to 30 percent faster
and service request resolution up to 40
percent faster than OracleMetaLink. It
offers personalized knowledge manage-
ment and guided search capabilities to
quickly locate relevant articles and infor-
mation. With proactive health checks
based on personalized system configura-
tion information, customers can avoid
unplanned system downtime.
A feature called My Oracle Support
PowerView offers a personalized dash-
board that allows customers to track,
manage, and support their systems in a
single, centralized location. In addition,
Oracle Support personnel can access
interactive reports about components,
deployments, and hardware to quickly
and efficiently fix problems.
My Oracle Support is included with
an Oracle Premier Support subscription.
“We are focused on delivering excep-
tional customer service to drive business
value for our customers and to enable
them to achieve maximum success with
their Oracle solutions,” says Juergen
Rottler, executive vice president, global
customer services, Oracle.
“Enterprise customers are demand-
ing more-proactive and more-simplified
support from their providers to improve
business agility and maximize perfor-
mance,” adds Elaina Stergiades, senior
research analyst, software support
services, IDC. “The new My Oracle
Support platform can deliver on this
promise, a sign of continuing trends in
software support services. With the My
Oracle Support platform, Oracle will
be able to provide a more personal-
oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ized experience and streamline support
delivery for its customers.”
Oracle WeblOgIc server 10g release 3
nOW avaIlable
O racle has released Oracle WebLogic
Server 10g Release 3, which features
a lightweight footprint, faster startup,
and optional service startup, for an
improved developer and end-user expe-
rience. A new FastSwap feature provides
seamless and rapid develop-debug-test
cycles, while a new HTTP publish-
subscribe feature enables improved
out-of-the-box capability for support of
dynamically updated Web 2.0–style rich
user interfaces.
This release works with a variety of
development environments, including
Eclipse, Oracle JDeveloper, and Oracle
WebLogic Workshop 10.3.
Oracle WebLogic Server 10g Release 3
supports Java Platform, Standard Edition
6, and Oracle JRockit Mission Control,
which allows developers and end users
to get more performance and insight
into application behavior and respon-
siveness. It also supports the SAML 2.0,
WS-Security 1.1, and WS-SecurityPolicy
1.2 security standards and JAX-WS
2.1, WS-Reliable Messaging 1.1, and
WS-Policy 1.5 Web services standards.
“The accelerated release of Oracle
WebLogic Server 10g Release 3 demon-
strates our commitment to BEA custom-
ers to quickly deliver new integrations
with Oracle Fusion Middleware,” says
Thomas Kurian, senior vice president,
Oracle Fusion Middleware. “As the
No. 1 middleware provider, we plan to
continue providing a complete and pre-
integrated middleware suite that allows
our customers to develop and deploy
applications on the internet.”
Oracle JdevelOper 11g and
Oracle applIcatIOn develOpMent
FraMeWOrk 11g released
N ow available, Oracle JDeveloper
11g, Oracle’s Java-based integrated
development environment, and Oracle
Application Development Framework
10/7/08 12:35:36 PM
 (Oracle ADF) 11g, Oracle’s Java develop-
ment framework, offer developers higher
levels of productivity by making it easier
for them to create and deploy Java
Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 5,
Web 2.0, and Ajax applications.
Oracle JDeveloper 11g and Oracle
ADF 11g provide advanced tooling and
a visual development environment that
includes adaptive rendering, which
targets applications for both desktop and
mobile devices using prebuilt rendering
kits optimized for a given client technol-
ogy. These new releases support more
than 150 Ajax-enabled, JavaServer Faces
1.2–based rich-client components, allow-
ing visualization of tabular, cubic, XML,
and spatial data into multidimensional,
interactive, portable user interfaces. These
tools also feature tight integration with
Oracle WebLogic Server, an optimized
debugging environment, and support for
JAX-WS-compliant Web services.
Oracle JDeveloper 11g and Oracle
ADF 11g also offer reusability features
including Oracle ADF task flows, JSF
templating, simple component creation,
and fully skinnable JSF components that
help streamline the development process
and boost productivity. Integration with
the Oracle platform security services
framework allows nonsecurity developers
to incorporate security services such as
authentication, authorization, audit, iden-
tity assertion, role mapping, single sign-
on, and many others into applications.
The framework also provides user-friendly
abstractions of critical security functions
that are required to protect sensitive data.
“Developers are faced with a mul-
titude of technologies and learning
curves for building Web 2.0, mobile,
and rich enterprise applications, adding
complexity and cost to the development
process,” says Ted Farrell, chief archi-
tect and senior vice president, tools and
middleware, Oracle. “Oracle JDeveloper
and Oracle ADF address these complexi-
ties by abstracting developers from the
underlying technologies, providing a
productivity boost for standards-based
application development.”
ND08_Briefs.indd 17
Oracle TOplink 11g available
O racle has released Oracle TopLink
11g, the latest version of its advanced
object-relational persistence framework
based on the open source EclipseLink
project. Oracle TopLink 11g enhances the
industry standard Java Persistence API
(JPA) with advanced object-relational fea-
tures for flexibility, performance, cluster-
ing, and scalability required for enterprise
application deployments.
The new release features a JPA-
enabled data grid that provides seam-
less integration with Oracle Coherence,
allowing applications to leverage in-
memory data grid capabilities through
the standard JPA programming model,
and allowing developers to leverage
extreme performance without having
to learn a new programming model.
Another key feature is flexible object-
XML binding, which supports efficient
manipulation of XML through a Java
domain model using Java Architecture for
XML Binding and supports interaction
with unstructured data through service
data objects to reduce the need to inte-
grate multiple point solutions.
Oracle TopLink 11g offers out-of-
the-box compatibility with Oracle
WebLogic Server and Oracle Application
Development Framework 11g.
“Oracle continues to demonstrate its
commitment to Java and open source,
while recognizing that support services
and commercial extensions can make
a strong, positive impact on enterprise
adoption,” says Dennis Leung, vice
president, software development, Oracle
Fusion Middleware, Oracle. “With its
enhanced persistence features and com-
patibility with other key infrastructure
software, Oracle TopLink 11g helps
developers significantly ease the devel-
opment process.”
Oracle enTerprise pack fOr eclipse
nOw available
O racle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse is
a new component of Oracle Fusion
Middleware that delivers a certified set
of Eclipse plug-ins to accelerate data-
oracle magazine
base development; Java development;
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java
EE) development; and Oracle WebLogic
Server development. With Oracle
Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, customers
using Eclipse 3.3, Eclipse 3.4, and Oracle
WebLogic Server can develop, debug, and
deploy applications to Oracle WebLogic
Server 10g Release 3, in addition to earlier
versions, either locally or remotely.
“Continuing to enhance Oracle’s
Eclipse developer tools for Oracle Fusion
Middleware demonstrates our commit-
ment to providing developers productiv-
ity with choice,” says Ted Farrell, chief
architect and senior vice president, tools
and middleware, Oracle. “The Oracle
Enterprise Pack for Eclipse helps to
expand our offerings for the Eclipse and
open source developer community.”
Oracle Delivers Oracle vM release
2.1.2 anD Oracle vM TeMplaTes
O racle has unveiled the latest version
of its server virtualization soft-
ware, Oracle VM Release 2.1.2, which
offers built-in high-availability fea-
tures and provides secure, encrypted
live migration capabilities. This new
release is also certified with Oracle Real
Application Clusters.
Oracle VM Release 2.1.2 features
Oracle VM guest high availability to
enable customers to minimize or elimi-
nate planned and unplanned downtime.
It also offers secure live migration with
SSL encryption to eliminate outages asso-
ciated with planned downtime by allow-
ing quick and easy migration of running
Oracle VM virtual machines from one
physical server to another. Other new fea-
tures include a clustered high-availability
Oracle VM manager and physical-to-
virtual/virtual-to-virtual machine conver-
sion to quickly convert existing Linux
physical servers or VMware virtual
machines to Oracle VM virtual machines.
Oracle has also released the first
Oracle VM templates, which provide
preinstalled and preconfigured images
of enterprise software to enable custom-
ers to reduce installation, configura-
november/december 20 08 17
10/7/08 12:36:04 PM
 briefs
tion, and ongoing maintenance costs.
Oracle VM templates are available for
Oracle Database 11g, Oracle Enterprise
Manager, Oracle’s Siebel Customer
Relationship Management 8, and Oracle
Enterprise Linux.
“Customers are experiencing
increased challenges as the volume
of information in their data centers
continues to grow rapidly, leading to
added hardware and energy costs and
a depletion of server resources,” says
Wim Coekaerts, vice president, Linux
engineering, Oracle. “The combination
of Oracle VM templates and Oracle
VM offers customers the full benefits
of server virtualization, including opti-
mized resource utilization, and energy,
power, and space savings, in addition
to faster, easier, and more-cost-effective
software deployment—leading to further
lowering the cost of data center opera-
tions and contributing to green IT.”
Oracle Delivers Oracle applicatiOn
testing suite
O racle Application Testing Suite, now
available, provides an integrated solu-
tion for load testing, functional testing,
and test management. Part of Oracle
Enterprise Manager, Oracle Application
Testing Suite enables customers to thor-
oughly test packaged, Web, and service-
oriented architecture (SOA)–based
applications and their underlying infra-
structures to ensure optimum quality,
scalability, and availability.
Three key components of the
suite are Oracle Load Testing for Web
Applications, Oracle Functional Testing
for Web Applications, and Oracle Test
Manager for Web Applications. Oracle
Load Testing for Web Applications
simulates tens of thousands of virtual
users accessing the application simul-
taneously to measure the effect of the
load on application performance. Oracle
Functional Testing for Web Applications
enables comprehensive functional
testing of applications and Web ser-
vices. Its transaction engine simplifies
automated test script generation and
enables the automation of complex Web
applications and associated technologies
out of the box to validate the end user’s
18 November/December 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_Briefs.indd 18
experience. Oracle Test Manager for
Web Applications helps users manage
the Web application testing process,
enabling full test coverage by allowing
them to define testing requirements,
specify and execute manual or auto-
mated tests to validate requirements,
and then manage the defects that those
tests uncover.
Oracle Application Testing Suite also
provides a common scripting environ-
ment between functional testing and
load testing to help simplify the test
process and accelerate completion of
tests by as much as 50 percent.
“With Oracle Application Testing
Suite, Oracle has delivered a compre-
hensive testing solution for SOA and
Web applications to help customers
deliver high-quality, mission-critical
applications faster and with less effort,”
says Leng Leng Tan, vice president,
applications and systems management,
Oracle. “With this unique testing plat-
form, customers can tackle small to very
large testing projects and save time in
both functional and load testing efforts.”
Oracle tO acquire glObal KnOwleDge
sOftware
O racle has agreed to acquire Global
Knowledge Software (GKS), a leading
provider of self-service training automa-
tion software. Longtime Oracle partner
GKS offers products that improve end-
user competency using enterprise appli-
cations through simulated transactional
training and testing, as well as autogen-
erated step-by-step instructions.
GKS’s OnDemand Personal Navigator
product is resold as a core component
of the Oracle User Productivity Kit,
currently deployed at more than 2,000
Oracle customers. GKS products are also
complementary to Oracle Tutor, Oracle’s
role-based process documentation and
training software.
The combination of GKS products,
Oracle Tutor, and Oracle’s learning
management software is expected to
provide customers a comprehensive,
end-to-end enterprise solution for cre-
ating and deploying business process
documentation, interactive system
training, and just-in-time embedded
support for all applications.
“With this acquisition, customers will
have access to a single technology for end-
user training and process documentation
that spans applications across their enter-
prise,” says Ed Abbo, senior vice president
of Oracle application development.
Oracle tO buy clearapp
O racle has agreed to acquire
ClearApp, a leading supplier of
application management solutions
for composite applications. ClearApp
addresses the increasingly difficult task
of managing composite applications
built on service-oriented architecture
(SOA) platforms by providing visibility
into business services across all related
application components.
“As customers deploy more
SOA-based applications, the task of
effectively managing them becomes
paramount,” says Leng Leng Tan, vice
president, applications and systems
management, Oracle. “With the addi-
tion of ClearApp’s technology to the
Oracle Enterprise Manager product
family, our customers are expected to
get continuous and uninterrupted top-
down views of their business services
and applications, helping them maxi-
mize service availability while reduc-
ing IT operations costs.” ■
webLOCATOr
My Oracle support
metalink.oracle.com
Oracle WebLogic server
oracle.com/appserver
Oracle JDeveloper
otn.oracle.com/products/jdev
Oracle ADf
otn.oracle.com/products/adf
Oracle TopLink
oracle.com/tools/toplink_adf.html
Oracle enterprise Pack for eclipse
oracle.com/tools/enterprise-eclipse-pack.html
Oracle VM
otn.oracle.com/products/vm
Oracle Application Testing suite
otn.oracle.com/products/oem/prod_focus/etest.html
Oracle and Global Knowledge
software
oracle.com/gks
Oracle and ClearApp
oracle.com/clearapp
10/7/08 12:36:40 PM
 a t O r a c l e NEWS
Data Warehousing Gets Extreme
Oracle delivers the HP Oracle Database Machine and the HP Oracle Exadata Storage Server.
racle is moving into the hard-
ware business with partner HP
to deliver a performance boost
to Oracle data warehouses. The
move, says Oracle CEO Larry Ellison,
is a reaction to a trend that has seen
databases triple in size every two years.
While processor speed and disk storage
capacity have grown to keep up, disk
throughput has not. In traditional data
warehouse configurations, this creates a
bottleneck between storage and database
servers that limits query performance.
“Our customers’ disk storage systems
can store 10, 100, 200 terabytes of data,
but they can’t move that data off the
disks and into the database servers fast
enough,” says Ellison.
With the introduction of the HP
Oracle Database Machine and its key
component, the HP Oracle Exadata
Storage Server, Oracle has engineered a
way to overcome this bottleneck.
The HP Oracle Database Machine is
a high-performance system that includes
a grid of eight database servers featur-
ing 64 Intel processor cores, and Oracle
Enterprise Linux. The machine also
includes a storage grid of 14 HP Oracle
Exadata Storage Servers with 112 pro-
cessor cores of its own. The storage grid
provides up to 168 terabytes of raw
storage and delivers 14GB-per-second
data bandwidth between the storage
servers and the database servers.
INTELLIGENT STORAGE SERVERS
A traditional database query that uses
a large table scan moves all data blocks
from the storage array to the database
servers for processing. Moving data off
storage disks, through a network, and into
database servers can be a slow process. At
RON SELLERS
large data volumes, the process creates a
bottleneck that slows query performance.
There are two ways to solve this problem,
ND08_News_r.indd 19
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison unveils the HP Oracle
Database Machine.
explains Ellison: “One is to reduce the
amount of data moving from the storage
to the servers; the other is to increase the
bandwidth between them. The HP Oracle
Exadata Storage Server does both.”
First, the HP Oracle Exadata Storage
Server reduces the amount of data travel-
ing between storage servers and database
servers by doing much of the query pro-
cessing in the storage layer. Each server
includes two Intel quad-core processors
and runs the Oracle Database fast paral-
lel query software. “We’ve taken capa-
bilities you would normally find in the
database server and moved them into the
storage server right next to the storage
disk drive,” says Ellison. The HP Oracle
Exadata Storage Server “doesn’t pass disk
blocks back to the database server; it
passes only query results,” he adds.
“Next, we added wider pipes and
more of them,” says Ellison. Each HP
Oracle Exadata Storage Server includes
two InfiniBand connectors, which allow
the storage server to move 1GB of data
per second between storage and servers.
ORACLE MAGAZINE
BY JEFF ERI CKSO N
SCALE-OUT ARCHITECTURE
The HP Oracle Database Machine pro-
vides a fault-tolerant, scalable architecture
based on Oracle Grid technology. The
database servers are preconfigured with
Oracle Database 11g and Oracle Real
Application Clusters running on Oracle
Enterprise Linux. The HP Oracle Exadata
Storage Servers are preloaded with Oracle
Automatic Storage Management for
dynamic load balancing and data mirror-
ing. Because each storage server comes
with its own processing, cache, and
network bandwidth, customers can add
storage while keeping the data warehouse
in balance. “With this architecture, as
your database gets larger your perfor-
mance stays the same,” says Ellison.
In almost a year of beta testing the HP
Oracle Database Machine, Oracle and its
customers in the finance, retail, and tele-
communication industries experienced
performance improvements of 10 times
and more over their current data ware-
houses. “Beta testers have experienced
astonishing results,” says Ellison.
The HP Oracle Database Machine is
a complete system preinstalled and pre-
configured to deliver extremely fast query
performance for business intelligence and
data warehousing applications. “If you
don’t want to configure your own grid,
your own interconnect, and your own
hardware and software,” says Ellison,
“we’ve got it all in a package for you.” ■
Jeff Erickson is a senior editor with Oracle Publishing.
nextSTEPS
LEARN more about
HP Oracle Database Machine
oracle.com/solutions/business_intelligence/
database-machine.html
HP Oracle Exadata Storage Server
oracle.com/exadata
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 19
10/8/08 2:03:11 PM
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 a t O r a c l e interview
Support for Cloud Computing
Oracle licenses database, middleware, and management software for deployment in the cloud.
ith Oracle’s recent
announcement that cus-
tomers can license Oracle
software to run on Amazon
Web Services’ Elastic Compute Cloud
(Amazon EC2) environment, Oracle
Magazine Senior Managing Editor
Caroline Kvitka sat down with Sushil
Kumar, senior director of database avail-
ability, manageability, and performance
at Oracle, to learn more. The follow-
ing is an excerpt from that interview.
Download a podcast of the full interview
at oracle.com/magcasts.
Oracle Magazine: What is cloud comput-
ing and how is it being used today?
Kumar: Cloud computing enables users
to tap into a virtually infinitely scalable
pool of computing resources that reside
somewhere on the internet and that can
be provisioned programmatically from
within an application and consumed on
a global basis. In the cloud, you provi-
sion resources typically using Web ser-
vices APIs, and you simply pay for what
you use, when you use it.
Today’s cloud users consist mostly
of developers and Web startups. So far,
enterprises have been mostly sitting on
the sidelines trying to figure out how they
can benefit from cloud computing. Unlike
developers and Web startups, enterprises
need a more-robust cloud infrastructure
in terms of security and availability. They
also need enterprise software, something
that they’re already using in their data
center, to be available on the cloud from a
licensing and support perspective.
Oracle Magazine: What cloud computing
solutions is Oracle offering?
Kumar: Customers can now use their
existing licenses for Oracle Database,
Oracle Fusion Middleware, and Oracle
Enterprise Manager on Amazon EC2—or
they can buy new licenses—and get
support. EC2 allows users to license
ND08_interview.indd 21
virtual machines by the hour, with the
prices ranging from 10 to 80 cents.
Oracle is providing virtual machine
images tailored for Amazon’s environ-
ment and preconfigured with our
software. This allows our customers to
provision new servers and get Oracle
software deployed, configured, and
ready to use within a matter of minutes.
Sushil Kumar, Senior Director of Database Availability,
Manageability, and Performance, Oracle
Oracle Magazine: How can developers
benefit from Oracle’s cloud offering?
Kumar: Enterprises have a lot of test,
development, and QA operations that
need to be performed, as well as short-
term proof-of-concept projects. Such
projects typically get bottlenecked in IT
because those departments don’t necessar-
ily have the flexibility to rapidly respond.
Enabling developers and departments
to directly provision a fully configured
Oracle server to the cloud within a
matter of minutes will expedite the
application development process.
oracle magazine
By C a roli ne KvitKa
Oracle Magazine: How can DBAs benefit
from this offering?
Kumar: We have announced Oracle
Secure Cloud Module, based on Oracle
Secure Backup, which allows our cus-
tomers to use Amazon Simple Storage
Service (Amazon S3) as their off-site
backup destination. Users pay by giga-
byte of storage on a monthly basis. There
are no up-front capital expenditures.
There are a number of benefits to
using the storage cloud for backup.
First, when you store something in the
storage cloud, it’s a lot more accessible
than on the tape. DBAs can therefore use
backups stored in the cloud to restore
data anytime, anywhere, without having
to call anyone to ship the tapes. In many
cases, it could significantly speed up the
restore process. The on-demand acces-
sibility opens up avenues for a lot more
things. If you have your backup stored in
the cloud, you can restore it to an EC2
machine and quickly create your test or
development environment. Your data is
not locked behind an iron curtain—it’s
actually usable. And because storage
clouds are based on disks, the disk-based
backups are a lot more reliable than tapes.
Oracle Magazine: What role will cloud
computing play in the enterprise?
Kumar: I expect the cloud infrastructure
to become more and more robust and
to see more enterprise-ready solutions
made available on the cloud. ■
Caroline Kvitka is senior managing editor of
Oracle Magazine.
nextStePS
LiSten to the podcast
oracle.com/magcasts
BoB adler
LeArn more about cloud computing
otn.oracle.com/tech/cloud
novemBer/deCemBer 20 08 21
10/3/08 2:15:15 PM
 a t O r a c l e interview
Beyond the Buzz
Oracle Beehive platform provides context and enables collaboration.
ith the introduction of
Oracle Beehive, Oracle’s
next-generation software
platform for enterprise col-
laboration, Senior Director of Product
Marketing for Oracle Fusion Middleware
Greg Crider sat down with Oracle Vice
President and Chief Architect Terry
Olkin to discuss the features and ben-
efits of this new software platform.
The following is an excerpt from that
interview. Download a podcast of the
full interview at oracle.com/products/
middleware/ofmradio.html.
Crider: What is Oracle Beehive?
Olkin: Oracle Beehive is Oracle’s next-
generation software platform for enter-
prise collaboration. It provides all of
the familiar features and functions users
expect in a collaboration platform—such
as e-mail, calendaring, task manage-
ment, content sharing, desktop sharing,
online meetings, instant messaging,
presence, voice, voice mail, fax, discus-
sions, and team workspaces in a single,
fully integrated solution.
Crider: How does Oracle Beehive impact
collaboration?
Olkin: Oracle Beehive simplifies col-
laboration among individuals, teams,
and organizations. It makes it easier
to generate new information, make
timely decisions, and take action. Oracle
Beehive delivers integrated collabora-
tive services through familiar desktop
tools, such as Microsoft Outlook and
other standards-based clients, as well as
Oracle Beehive–specific clients.
Collaboration means having a place
to gather, organize, discuss, and share
information. Oracle Beehive offers teams
a workspace to collaborate across dif-
ferent channels in which the context of
the resulting information is captured for
others. Because all the information is
captured in the workspace as it’s being
22 November/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_Beehive.indd 22
developed, it is possible to derive not
only what decisions were made but also
how and why they were made. This
context is extremely valuable. It is also
what differentiates Oracle Beehive from
other solutions.
Crider: How does Oracle Beehive meet
enterprise application requirements?
Terry Olkin, Vice President and Chief Architect, Oracle
Olkin: We’ve developed Oracle Beehive
for companies that must run on a
secure, scalable, and available platform.
We designed the product from the
beginning to support robust security and
compliance needs with respect to collab-
oration, but it also integrates all of the
collaborative functions that previously
required purchasing a variety of partial
solutions. Oracle Beehive applications
are integrated and centrally managed as
part of a secure, compliant, and scalable
environment built on Oracle technology.
Crider: Do organizations have to get rid
of their old e-mail and calendaring tools
to take advantage of Oracle Beehive?
Olkin: Absolutely not. We designed Oracle
Beehive to coexist with legacy solutions.
Oracle Beehive complements missing or
underperforming functions with its func-
tionality. Over time an organization can
migrate from existing products to Oracle
Beehive to get the benefit of a completely
unified architecture on a unified platform.
Crider: Does Oracle Beehive support
open standards?
Olkin: Oracle Beehive supports every
open standard that’s relevant in the
collaboration space. As an example,
one of the newer standards, which we
authored, is the CalDAV standard—a
new protocol for talking to calendar
servers. Oracle Beehive is the first pro-
duction product that supports CalDAV.
Crider: How does Oracle Beehive fit into
Oracle’s Enterprise 2.0 strategy?
Olkin: Oracle Beehive is an enterprise-
class collaboration platform that
integrates with and supports Oracle’s
Enterprise 2.0 products. For example,
it works with Oracle Universal Records
Management for full records management
and accommodates Oracle Information
Rights Management to enforce the rights
associated with collaborative artifacts
such as e-mail, documents, and instant-
messaging transcripts. It also supports
the Oracle Universal Online Archive to
archive content; the Oracle Universal
Content Management product to
access documents remotely; and Oracle
WebCenter, which provides a means for
building Web-based or portal-like
applications on top of Oracle Beehive. ■
nextStePS
reAD more about Oracle Beehive
oracle.com/products/middleware/beehive
bob AdLer
LiSten to the podcast
oracle.com/products/middleware/ofmradio.html
10/7/08 11:42:10 AM
Project2 10/9/08 1:44 PM Page 1

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b o o k Beat
Refactoring SQL
Applications
By Stephane Faroult
and Pascal L’Hermite
O’Reilly Media
www.oreilly.com
ISBN: 9780596514976
When database performance doesn’t meet
your expectations, reach for Refactoring SQL
Applications. This book provides a set of
tested options for making code modifications
to dramatically improve the way your
database applications function. Backed by
real-world examples, the book offers quick
fixes for simple problems, in-depth answers
for more-complex situations, and complete
solutions for applications with extensive
problems. The book teaches you to recognize
and assess code that needs refactoring,
and to understand the crucial link between
refactoring and performance.
Coauthor Stephane Faroult has been
working with the relational model and the SQL
language since 1983. Pascal L’Hermite has
extensive experience working with relational
databases in online transaction processing and
production and development environments.
Oracle
Modernization
Solutions
By Jason Williamson
and Tom Laszewski
Packt Publishing
www.packtpub.com
ISBN: 1847194648
Oracle Modernization Solutions provides
detailed guidance on how to implement
two well-known mainframe modernization
approaches: service-oriented architecture
(SOA) integration and rearchitecture. The
authors explain when and why to choose
SOA integration, a noninvasive approach
that allows legacy components to be reused
and integrated quickly and safely. They also
explain when to choose rearchitecture to
engineer legacy components and preserve
business knowledge in a modern, open, and
extensible architecture.
The book includes a thorough discussion of
modernizing to a process-driven SOA based
on Java Platform, Enterprise Edition; Oracle
Database; and Oracle Fusion Middleware.
Real-life scenarios with detailed hands-on
examples are provided.
Coauthor Jason Williamson is product
manager of modernization solutions at Oracle.
Tom Laszewski is the director of the Oracle
modernization solutions team.
Look for Oracle books at otn.oracle
.com/bookstore.
24 November/december 2008
ND08_Partner.indd 24
c o m m u n i t y partner news
ZMANDA’S AMANDA ENTERPRISE SUPPORTS
ORACLE DATABASE ON LINUX
manda Enterprise, the flagship
A product of Oracle partner Zmanda,
a provider of open source backup and
recovery software, now supports Oracle
Database running on Oracle Enterprise
Linux. In addition, Amanda Enterprise
is now part of the Oracle Unbreakable
Linux Support Program.
Scalable, heterogeneous, and secure,
Amanda Enterprise uses open formats
and a built-in backup scheduler that
shortens backup windows and reduces
storage and bandwidth consumption.
Amanda Enterprise is the only backup
and recovery solution certified by the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security as
being free from security defects.
Amanda Enterprise includes Oracle
agents that allow IT administrators to
perform backups of Oracle Databases
on many platforms. The Zmanda Oracle
Agent for Linux and Solaris leverages
Oracle Recovery Manager capabilities
such as block-level corruption detection,
file multiplexing, and backup compres-
sion to ensure backup integrity while
optimizing performance.
U&SLUNO INTRODUCES JWASP FRAMEWORK
FOR ORACLE FORMS IN JAVA
racle Certified Partner U&SLUNO
O has introduced JWasp Framework, a
tool that allows processing and develop-
ment of Oracle Forms in Java.
JWasp Framework was launched in
cooperation with Oracle in the Czech
Republic. It provides direct migration
of Oracle Forms to Java; the ability to
create new Oracle Forms in Java; and
parallel functioning of new, migrated,
and existing Oracle Forms. Because of
JWasp’s user-friendly environment and
utilization of Java WebStart technology,
U&SLUNO estimates that it delivers
an 80 percent cost reduction and a 66
percent time savings when compared
with manual Oracle Forms migration.
JWasp’s various user-manageable set-
tings include dynamic setting of table
column width, dynamic sequencing
oracle.com/oraclemagazine
of columns, hiding and displaying of
random table columns, and data sorting
according to one or more columns. It
also provides a variety of data export
capabilities, including Microsoft Excel
and XML.
HELPSTREAM INTEGRATES CUSTOMER
SERVICE SOLUTIONS WITH ORACLE
CRM ON DEMAND
elpstream, a provider of on-demand
H collaborative customer service solu-
tions, has integrated its service with
Oracle CRM On Demand.
The combined solution is intended
to address one of the most difficult
challenges facing companies today: con-
necting customers to information—and
to each other—in order to resolve prob-
lems quickly and effectively. The Oracle-
Helpstream solution lets companies
link their user communities, self-service
options, and agent-assisted support pro-
cesses into a single integrated workflow.
Together, Helpstream’s service and
Oracle CRM On Demand enable cus-
tomers to search for relevant informa-
tion across a knowledgebase, post and
answer questions in online commu-
nities, use interactive checklists that
provide step-by-step instructions, and
submit cases needing additional assis-
tance. Customer service representatives
using the combined solution will have
instant access to cases within Oracle
CRM On Demand and will be able to
track histories for both agent-assisted
and self-service cases.
DATA DOMAIN ENHANCES ITS VIRTUAL TAPE
LIBRARY SOFTWARE
racle partner Data Domain, a pro-
O vider of deduplication storage
systems, has enhanced its Data Domain
Virtual Tape Library (VTL) with a GUI
and support for 4GB Fibre Channel
fabric interfaces. The software is also
certified for Oracle Secure Backup.
Data Domain’s virtual approach is
intended to make it easier for storage-
area-network customers to take advantage
of Data Domain’s high-performance inline
10/3/08 3:45:57 PM
 deduplication storage. The browser-based
user interface in Data Domain VTL is
used for configuration and management
of virtual tape libraries and simplifies the
provisioning and administration of tape
library–like artifacts.
Voltaire receiVes oracle real
application clusters and oracle
enterprise linux certifications
V oltaire, a provider of grid backbone
solutions and an Oracle partner, has
announced that its InfiniBand products
have achieved Oracle Real Application
Clusters (Oracle RAC) 11g and Oracle
Enterprise Linux certifications using
OpenFabrics Reliable Datagram Sockets
(RDS) over InfiniBand.
OpenFabrics RDS is an open source,
high-bandwidth, low-latency communica-
tion protocol created by Oracle’s Linux
development group to improve the per-
formance of cluster interconnect–intensive
applications. The Voltaire solution lets
organizations run larger clusters and
improve performance and efficiency of
large-scale data sets.
ncipher proVides encryption Key
ManageMent for oracle database 11g
O racle partner nCipher’s nShield and
netHSM key management solutions
are now integrated with the transpar-
ent data encryption feature in Oracle
Database 11g’s Oracle Advanced Security
option. The combination of Oracle trans-
parent data encryption and nCipher’s
secure key management systems provides
high data security and enables compli-
ance with regulations and industry
standards including the Payment Card
Industry Data Security Standard.
An established best practice for key
management includes use of hardware
security modules such as nCipher
netHSM. Hardware security modules
are platforms within which keys can
be securely created, used, and stored.
They are used to establish strong
authentication rules for administra-
tors and dual-control mechanisms for
shared responsibilities.
ND08_Partner.indd 25
accenture introduces oracle-based
WorKforce analytics
O racle Certified Advantage Partner
Accenture, a global management
consulting, technology services, and
outsourcing company, has introduced
Accenture Workforce Analytics, an
Oracle-based solution that provides tools
and metrics to manage the workforce as
a competitive asset.
Accenture Workforce Analytics
taps into the data in enterprise human
resources management systems such as
Oracle’s PeopleSoft Human Resources and
transforms that data into useful, action-
able business intelligence. It provides
key performance indicators and ready-
made metrics for recruitment, reten-
tion, training, HR costs, contact center
performance, and other HR functions. It
also helps managers to forecast potential
human capital–related shortcomings,
uncover their root causes, and take cor-
rective actions that can increase employee
productivity, control workforce costs, and
manage employee turnover and retention.
arcsight integrates identity and
security ManageMent technologies
A rcSight, a provider of compliance
and security management solutions
and an Oracle partner, has released
IdentityView, a product that connects the
user- and role-management functions of
identity management products with the
activity monitoring and correlation func-
tions of security information and event
management products. IdentityView
includes connectors to Oracle Identity
Management and provides improved
understanding of who is on a network,
what data they’re seeing, and what
actions are being taken with that data.
IdentityView correlates multiple user
identities into a single identity key. It then
uses that key to collect and analyze all of
a user’s activity information to determine
whether the user is performing unauthor-
ized activities. IdentityView ships with a
set of reports and dashboards, including
activity-based role modeling and compre-
hensive activity reporting.
oracle magazine
capgeMini and oracle launch hosted
transportation ManageMent solution
O racle and Oracle Certified Advantage
Partner Capgemini are offering TMS
NOW, a hosted implementation of Oracle
Transportation Management combined
with Capgemini’s expertise in logistics
assessment, distribution network optimi-
zation, and warehouse management.
TMS NOW was designed to over-
come three obstacles to adoption of a
transportation management solution
(TMS): some companies cannot commit
necessary resources for a full-scale
TMS purchase and implementation,
many companies want to start with a
small-scale TMS and grow it, and many
emerging companies need a TMS but
lack the necessary technical resources.
TMS NOW allows companies to lever-
age the economies of scale that result
from multiple organizations sharing TMS
infrastructure and connectivity costs. ■
webLOCATOR
Zmanda
www.zmanda.com
U&SLUNO
www.u-sluno.cz
Helpstream
www.helpstream.biz
Data Domain
www.datadomain.com
Voltaire
www.voltaire.com
nCipher
www.ncipher.com
Accenture
www.accenture.com/oraclebi
ArcSight
www.arcsight.com
Capgemini
www.us.capgemini.com
Certified Advantage Partner (CAP) is Oracle
PartnerNetwork’s highest membership level.
CAPs consistently demonstrate superior
product knowledge, technical expertise, and
commitment to Oracle and receive advanced
levels of service, training, benefits, and
resources. To find a CAP, please visit
solutions.oracle.com/CAP.
November/december 20 08 25
10/3/08 3:46:37 PM
 c o m m u n i t y education
Elementary Workforce Readiness
Oracle helps students prepare for global challenges.
ive clocks hang high on the
wall in Deb Austin Brown’s
“communications center” at
Alban Elementary School in St.
Alban’s, West Virginia. They show the
time in Berlin; New Delhi; Beijing;
Tokyo; and Santiago, Chile. “These
clocks reflect places our students have
lived or visited,” explains Austin Brown.
“Giving the global time gets the kids
thinking about the rest of the world.”
Promoting a global view is only one
strategy Austin Brown delivers to her
fifth-grade leadership class—a class
structured around 21st Century Learning,
an approach to education developed by
the Partnership for 21st Century Skills,
an advocacy group founded in 2002
by business, education, and govern-
ment leaders. Emphasizing lessons that
help students operate in an increasingly
wired, flat world, this approach promotes
collaborating, complex problem solving,
and using computers for research, com-
munication, and schoolwork through
project-based, multidisciplinary curricula.
Combined with rigorous performance
standards and a strong professional
development commitment from teachers,
21st Century Learning goes a long way
toward preparing students to excel in the
modern workplace.
The West Virginia Department of
Education sent Austin Brown and
13 other educators to California in
November 2007 to attend the launch of
the Oracle Education Foundation’s 21st
Century Learning Institute. Recognizing
that a prepared workforce is critical
to the ongoing success of innovation-
dependent technology companies,
Oracle created the institute to train
teachers in creating and implementing
AAroN lAzeNbY
project-based online learning curricula
with the modern workplace in mind.
Clare Dolan, vice president, Oracle
26 November/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_education.indd 26
Student Ryan Broderick stands with drawings of some
of the famous people studied in the Success Project.
Education Initiatives, agrees that work-
force readiness is a top priority for edu-
cators. “If one of the goals of education
is preparation for the workforce, it seems
obvious that the private sector must
support schools—not only through gifts
but also by helping educators understand
what industry expects of future workers,”
Dolan says. “The institute is one of the
ways Oracle is doing just that.”
One requirement for institute partici-
pants was the successful implementation
of a project that helps students advance
vital new “soft” skills—such as promot-
ing global awareness through the use
of foreign language, civic responsibility
through projects with local charity orga-
nizations, and fair competition through
a market simulation. Austin Brown
responded with the Success Project, a
program to help students understand the
various forces that influenced some of
the world’s greatest thinkers and leaders.
Students picked a quote from notable
intellects (Albert Einstein, Thomas
Edison, or Ralph Waldo Emerson, for
bY A A roN lAzeNbY
example) or successful contemporary
figures (such as Oprah Winfrey, Larry
Bird, or Tony Robbins) and used Oracle’s
ThinkQuest internet learning platform
to research how the axiom reflected the
speaker’s ability to succeed. Guided by the
twenty-first century skills Brown empha-
sizes in her class—self-direction, creativ-
ity, innovative thinking, collaboration, and
communication—the students worked
alone and together to do research online.
Excited by the freedom and high expecta-
tions placed on them by this approach to
education, many students came to school
early or stayed late to develop their proj-
ects, building relationships that enhanced
learning. Once the projects were com-
plete, students gave presentations, report-
ing their findings to their peers.
Ryan Broderick, a student who
selected Dale Carnegie as his focus,
extended his project into the local busi-
ness community by connecting with
Verizon President Keith Fulton as a
private-sector mentor. Fulton spoke at
Success Night when the projects were
presented and met with Broderick to
give him some pointers. This intersec-
tion between the worlds of education
and employment is critical to Austin
Brown, who sees preparing her students
for the world of work as one of her
highest priorities in the classroom.
“The skills developed through the
project will empower students,” says
Austin Brown. “And if they learn them
now, the skills will become habits.” ■
Aaron Lazenby is a director with Oracle Publishing.
webLocatoR
oracle education Foundation
oraclefoundation.org
thinkQuest
www.thinkquest.org
10/6/08 1:58:23 PM
 c o m m u n i t y UP CLOSE
Growing with Oracle
A user group leader helps members manage an expanding range of Oracle technologies.
he trip from the Seattle airport to
the Oracle Days conference held
by the Puget Sound Oracle User
Group (PSOUG) takes you past
the headquarters of Amazon and Boeing
before you veer east toward
Microsoft and into Bellevue, a
city in the throes of a Shanghai-
like building boom. I pulled
up to the conference hall
determined to ask Dan Morgan,
Oracle ACE director and
PSOUG education chairman,
how his group helps members
from these large strategic part-
ners keep up as Oracle grows
its product line and continues
to integrate new technologies.
Soon enough I got the chance.
“We look for niches where
we can share expertise,” said
Morgan, who teaches at the
University of Washington.
“We focus not on things that
Oracle teaches, such as how
to manage a RAC [Oracle Real
Application Clusters] cluster, Dan Morgan, PSOUG Education Chairman and Oracle ACE Director
but on specific installation and
configuration techniques.”
It’s a strategy that works. In the past
five years, PSOUG’s membership has
grown from 700 to more than 4,000.
Along the way, the group has opened a
first-class computer lab with donated
equipment, instituted weekly classes, and The last two days of the conference were
built its Web site into an online resource
with almost two million hits per month
from 183 countries. “We’re in a commu-
nity where a lot of very large companies
use multiple database products from
multiple vendors or multiple generations open conference,” said Morgan.
of them,” said Morgan. “We get people
who are experienced at [Microsoft] SQL
Server who need to learn Oracle and
BOB ADLER
come to the Oracle user group as a way
of getting that cross-training.”
ND08_UpClose_R1.indd 27
When Morgan and PSOUG President
Jack Cline took over PSOUG in late 2003,
there were no meetings scheduled, no
facilities, no Web site, and no telephone
number. But go to Oracle Days and you’d
never guess it. This year, the five-day con-
ference offered three days of paid classes
with experts such as Joe Celko, formerly
of the American National Standards
Institute committee; Cary Millsap, of
Method R; and Oracle’s own Tom Kyte.
free and open to anyone who wanted to
attend. “We’ve got about a half dozen
members of the OakTable Network and
about a half dozen Oracle ACEs and ACE
directors providing classes during the
Now that the conference is over,
PSOUG members have other activity
options. “We’ve put together our own
training lab and facilities,” said Morgan.
“Vendors know it can’t hurt future sales
ORACLE MAGAZINE
BY JEFF ERI CKSO N
to have people learning on their equip-
ment, so we’ve been able to equip the
lab with top-tier hardware.” The group
has developed its own training materials
independent of Oracle Corporation. “A
lot of members are with Boeing and
other strategic partners of Oracle,”
said Morgan. “They provide advice
on how to make our classes as real-
world as possible. So a lot of things
we teach are practices that have been
proven over the years to work.”
PSOUG is branching out from
the database to other Oracle tech-
nologies. “The traditional view of an
Oracle user group was: either you
are a database user group, or you are
an apps user group,” said Morgan.
“But that no longer reflects Oracle
and its product line. We are main-
taining our focus on the database,
but at the same time we’re trying
to provide support for middleware,
the application server, identity man-
agement, and [Oracle’s] Hyperion
[applications].” PSOUG now sup-
ports Oracle E-Business Suite and
has plans to help members with
Oracle’s Siebel products in the future. ■
Jeff Erickson is a senior editor at Oracle Publishing.
His blog is at techspectator.com.
nextSTEPS
LEARN more about PSOUG
psoug.org
EXPLORE
Tahiti search engine for documentation
and syntax
tahiti.oracle.com
Oracle Scratchpad
jonathanlewis.wordpress.com
WATCH Up Close
Dan Morgan video
oracle.com/oramag/upclose
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 27
10/14/08 11:29:18 AM
 c o m m u n i t y PEER-TO-PEER BY B la ir CampBell

Spotlight on Performance
Expert tips on everything from syncing to identifying performance problems and breaking into the biz

Ahmed Alomari Name one unique use of Oracle prod- peerSPECS

ucts at your company. We’ve created Company: OAO Technology
What’s your favorite tool or Solutions, an IT solutions and
one of the largest implementations services firm
technique on the job? Oracle
of Oracle Database Lite. We’re syn- Job title/description: Oracle
Enterprise Manager is one solutions architect, designing
chronizing more than 350 tables,
of my favorite tools, because solutions with a focus on Oracle
700 indexes, 60 sequences, and Database Lite and Java Platform,
of its continued evolution Enterprise Edition (Java EE)
a full-blown OC4J application to
and rich feature set. It not Location: Moncton, New
field users’ laptops.
only allows you to monitor Brunswick, Canada
What would you like to see Oracle, Length of time using Oracle
the entire Oracle technology
as a company, do more of? Oracle products: 8 years
stack, but it provides capa-
has many great technologies. What oracle ACE
bilities including drill-down and otn.oracle.com/community/
I find most customers have a hard
trending. The database control component of Oracle Enterprise oracle_ace
time with is visualizing the integra-
Manager lets DBAs quickly identify performance-problematic
tion of those technologies into their businesses. More in-depth
areas, and it provides drill-down infor-
peerSPECS case studies of solutions requiring multiple products would help.
mation to help isolate the root cause. Company: Cybernoor, a provider
What advice do you have about how to of products and services with a
focus on improving application
get into application development? Java, performance Penny Cookson
Ajax, and XML are key components Job title/description: How did you get started in IT? I worked for 13 years as a medical
being used to build next-generation Performance specialist, diagnosing technologist in a bacteriology laboratory, but I was getting bored
and resolving system and
business applications, so it’s impor- application performance issues so I did an Open University degree
tant for aspiring developers to under- as well as helping customers with in IT part time. In 1987 I was lucky
upgrades and implementations
stand and eventually master them. Location: Pleasanton, California
enough to get an entry-level posi-
What technology has most changed Length of time using Oracle tion at Hampshire County Council,
your life? Java profilers have made a products: 17 years a large Oracle site in the U.K. with
big impact. The Java platform has oracle ACE a great training program. I’ve since
otn.oracle.com/community/
evolved, but a good Java profiler is oracle_ace taken on several staff who have
still just as important to a Java devel- studied IT as mature students. Their
oper as the SQL trace capability is to a SQL developer. On the real-world business skills are a great
code front, Java profilers provide detailed insight into the Java benefit in a consulting environment.
applications running within the Java virtual machine. What’s your favorite tool or technique
on the job? Oracle’s 10046 trace.
Gregory Rekounas It’s amazing how many people try to tune applications without
Which new features in Oracle technolo- having a clear idea of what the real problem is. The trace may
gies are you currently finding most not be pretty, but it provides the information you need to tune.
valuable? Oracle Database Lite’s What advice do you have for aspiring Oracle technologists? Do the
automatic sync allows high reli- formal education courses, even if it
peerSPECS
ability in mobile applications, while has to be part time, and then join Company: Sage Computing
at the same time keeping users your local Oracle user group—and Services, a consultancy specializing
in Oracle’s core technologies
working instead of interrupting talk to anyone who’s a potential
Job title/description: Managing
their current applications to retrieve employer. Most employers will be director, providing Oracle training
new applications. Prior releases impressed by people who put in and consulting
Location: Perth, Australia
relied on manual synchronization, the effort. If you don’t get work
Length of time using Oracle
and for an organization this caused issues because users’ data immediately, offer to volunteer for products: 21 years
could be stale if they waited too long between syncs. Now, an a few days. If you have the apti- oracle ACE
organization can set thresholds around data modified, network tude for the job, an employer will otn.oracle.com/community/
oracle_ace
connectivity, and even low battery power to sync information. want to hang onto you. ■

28 novemBer/deCemBer 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

ND08_PEER.indd 28 10/6/08 1:59:32 PM

 Outstanding
Partners!
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Momentum Solution Solution

E-Business Suite Edge Applications Enterprise Performance Financial Services

Solution Solution Management Solution Industry Solution

Grid and RAC Identity Management Industry Solution Integration and SOA
Solution Solution Solution

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Solution Industry Solution Applications Solution Solution Momentum

Special Thanks to the Oracle North America Titan Award 2008 Winners

Win More With Oracle

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or call 1.800.323.SELL

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 Is your revenue stream at risk?

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 EDITORS’ CHOICE AWARDS 2008

HONORING LEADERSHIP
MANOJ BOHRA
AND INNOVATION IN
PAUL CITARELLA TECHNOLOGY
ALEX DE VERGORI
Each year the editors of Oracle Magazine present Editors’
BILL EVJEN
Choice Awards to extremely accomplished candidates—
CELSO GUIOTOKO
people who best reflect the highest achievements and
LYNN HERSEY-MILLER
vision in their areas of expertise. Nominated from all
KONSTANTINOS KAPPOS corners of the globe, these candidates represent the most
MARK KNIGHT advanced, forward-thinking, and experienced people work-
DENES KUBICEK ing with Oracle technology today.
TOM LAMMING Selecting the award winners from a pool of such candi-
BARRY LIBENSON dates, all of whom are worthy of recognition, is a difficult
DEBRA LILLEY yet rewarding task. Our deliberations completed, we are
RICHARD MARTINEZ honored to announce the winners of our seventh annual

JIM MCKENNEY Oracle Magazine Editors’ Choice Awards. Together they

TORSTEN MINKWITZ
represent a diverse and vital force bringing innovation and

BRYAN A. MJAANES
leadership to the workforce every day.
–THE EDITORS OF ORACLE MAGAZINE
HIMANSHU PARIKH

NATHALIE ROMAN

PHIL SANT

JAN SHOOK

MARK TONNESEN

HANNES VAN ROOYEN

HAI WANG

JOHN YOUNG

PLAMEN ZYUMBYULEV

BY DAVID A. KELLY

oracle magazine november/december 20 08 31

ND08_ECAwards_v2.indd 31 10/8/08 3:54:09 PM

 2008 TOM LAMMING
CIO OF THE YEAR, ASIA PACIFIC

Technology should serve customers and business goals,

Telstra CIO says.
For Tom Lamming, Oracle Magazine’s CIO of the Year for Asia Pacific, IT
isn’t about technology—it’s about the business and its customers.
“Our systems and applications are here to enable the business to serve
our customers better,” says Lamming, CIO of Telstra, the largest telecom
in Australia and the 11th largest in the world. “Our customers don’t buy us
because of IT. Our job is to make the business efficient and effective.”
Lamming, a former global managing partner at Accenture, came
out of retirement three years ago to manage Telstra’s IT-related
transformation processes, part of the company’s AU$11 billion
transformation program that covers the entire business, from IT to
sales. Although the program is a multiyear process, it is on
schedule, with completion of significant migrations of its custo-
mer bases expected by the end of 2008.
“Everything we do in the transformation program is focused
on creating a fundamentally differentiated customer experi-
ence—from new networks to new systems, everything we’re
doing is about the customer,” says Lamming. “In addition,
everything is interlocked. When we make changes in the
network, we’ve got to make changes in the systems
and the products and services. We need to have a well-
orchestrated program.”
To help accomplish that orchestration, one of Lamming’s
key goals for IT has been to consolidate and integrate dis-
parate systems such as individual operational support and
billing systems. The company uses Oracle products across
the technology stack, from the database to middleware
and applications. winnerSPECS
“Oracle is a strategic partner that we work closely with Name: Tom Lamming
to help drive product road map decisions,” says Lamming. Job title/description: CIO
“Telstra is using Oracle’s world-class solutions in our Company: Telstra
environment to retain a good total cost of ownership Location: Melbourne, Australia
by optimizing our out-of-the-box experience through Award: CIO of the Year, Asia
a strong partnership with Oracle.” Pacific, 2008

The partnership is about both products and

people. “Oracle has been a tremendous partner,
from Charles Phillips on down,” says Lamming.
ROBERT EDWARDS

“It’s been important to our relationship to have that

range of connections, from senior Oracle manag-
ers down to the folks on the ground who use
their skills to help support us on the delivery and
support of the software.”

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 32 10/14/08 10:36:44 AM

 2008 KONSTANTINOS KAPPOS
CIO OF THE YEAR,
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AND AFRICA

CIO leads transformation, adding products and

improving customer service.
Konstantinos Kappos, CIO of Hellenic Telecommunications Organization
(OTE) and Oracle Magazine’s CIO of the Year for Europe, Middle East,
and Africa, thinks that a good CIO should be able to use data to help
grow the business and improve service.
“The real challenge for a CIO is to turn internal and external data
into customer insight,” says Kappos. “The goal is to achieve higher-
quality customer service and avoid customer churn.”
OTE, with revenues of €6.3 billion in 2007, is the main provider of
fixed-line services (voice, broadband, data, and leased lines) in Greece.
The company’s subsidiaries provide services that range from broad-
band to mobile voice and entertainment to six countries in southeast
Europe, serving about 24 million customers. As CIO of OTE, Kappos is
responsible for planning, developing, and operating all of the IT systems
of the company.
“As the transformation leader, my challenge is to find a way to sup-
port the launch of a new generation of
products and services across different winnerSPECS
areas,” says Kappos, “while at the same Name: Konstantinos Kappos
time to help the company transform its Job title/description: CIO
customer service processes and stream- Company: Hellenic
line the service fulfillment processes.” Telecommunications Organization (OTE)

To achieve these goals, Kappos (and Location: Athens, Greece

OTE) have increasingly relied on products Award: CIO of the Year, Europe, Middle
East, and Africa, 2008
from Oracle, including Oracle Database,
Oracle OLAP, Oracle Warehouse Builder,
Oracle SOA Suite, and Oracle E-Business Suite. With these prod-
ucts, Kappos’ leadership, and his team’s efforts, OTE is successfully
reconstructing itself from a traditional telecom company to a forward-
looking content and services provider—all while using technologies
such as business intelligence to keep closer to their customers and
their customers’ needs.
“Business intelligence is critical to address our business challenges
because it allows us to better understand our customers,” says Kappos.
“We use business intelligence to enable the company to develop value-
added services and deliver them at the right time, based on our deeper
understanding of customer needs and trends.”
GETTY IMAGES/ORESTIS STAVROPOULOS

The company achieves its goals with help from Oracle.

“Oracle is a very important strategic partner,” says Kappos. “Oracle
has been committed to helping us, even when it was necessary to inte-
grate their solutions with other vendors’ software. Their commitment
and people were always there for us, and the fact that they’ve devel-
oped a broader strategy for telecommunications is very positive.”

ORACLE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 33

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 33 10/14/08 11:27:28 AM


winnerSPECS
Name: Richard Martinez
Job title/description: CIO
Company: Puerto Rico Department
of Education
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Award: CIO of the Year, Latin
America, 2008
ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 34
2008 RICHARD MARTINEZ
CIO OF THE YEAR, LATIN AMERICA
CIO gets an A+ for using technology to solve
complex problems in education.
For most people, a mention of Puerto Rico conjures up picture-
postcard visions of the perfect tropical vacation.
But to Richard Martinez, Oracle Magazine’s CIO of the Year for
Latin America, Puerto Rico looks a lot different. As CIO of the island’s
Department of Education, Martinez recognizes that Puerto Rico is
about buildings, schools, people, and processes. He has more than
1,523 schools, 520,000 students, 70,000 employees, and 42,000
teachers to worry about—and then the U.S. Department of Education
(USDE) required the island to bring its primary schools and systems
into regulatory compliance.
“Our challenge was moving from a paper-based system to
digital,” says Martinez, noting that until this initiative, all record-
keeping and administration was done manually.
In conjunction with Oracle and other partners, the department
undertook a massive transformation effort to deploy an IT infra-
structure and student information system. At the same time, the
department also deployed Oracle’s PeopleSoft Financials for better
administration control as well as improving the purchasing, requisi-
tion, and budgeting across its multiple entities. An important part of
the solution included using Oracle On Demand for its student infor-
mation and financial systems.
“What’s really impressive about Oracle On Demand is that its
provisioning is only 21 days,” says Martinez. “It would have taken us
months or even a year to do the same thing, in addition to the time
to mature the support organization and security aspects. I would
seriously consider using the Oracle On Demand model with any
implementation I’m involved with.”
The results have been amazing, Martinez says. The system,
which went into place in February 2007, has enabled the agency to
have precise inventories of information about demographics, student
enrollment, student achievement, teacher qualifications, groups
impacted, and school needs. The new system’s data mining and
reporting also drive improved decision-making.
And the Department of Education finally has the information
systems to support its educational goals and USDE compliance
requirements. For programs requiring data to be submitted during
the school year, for example, the submission rate had hovered at less
than 20 percent. Since the new system has been operational, “We
have made a quantum leap to a 97 percent mark, which is a stun-
ning achievement in such a short time,” Martinez says.
It’s also been a satisfying process for Martinez. “The best part of
the job has been working with a team of people across the agency
GETTY IMAGES/RICKY ARDUENGO
that became part of the solution by wanting to get things done and
having the tenacity to see it through,” says Martinez. “By pulling
together people from different areas within the agency and other
sectors, we could make it happen. Now we’re starting to realize the
impact it will have on our schools, students, and teachers—and it’s
very satisfying.”
10/14/08 10:41:40 AM
 2008 BARRY LIBENSON
CIO OF THE YEAR, NORTH AMERICA

CIO says technology leaders need organizational and

change-management skills.
Ingersoll-Rand has experienced rapid changes. It divested itself of its
Bobcat division and acquired air conditioning leader Trane, starting as
a US$12 billion company, shrinking to a US$8 billion company, and
then growing to a US$18 billion company. Making that kind of huge
corporate change efficiently requires a CIO with more than technical
skills—as Barry Libenson, CIO of Ingersoll-Rand and Oracle Magazine’s
CIO of the Year for North America, knows.
One thing that has made Libenson so successful at Ingersoll-Rand
is his ability to hire bright people and delegate responsibility.
“We help by setting the IT direction for the company and defining
tight roles around software architecture, hardware infrastructure, and
operations,” says Libenson. “Those roles give a clear delineation on
who’s responsible for what’s inside the enterprise, and they help keep
us grounded.”
Libenson says it’s not just about the technology anymore.
“The role of the CIO isn’t just about understanding and rolling out
technology,” says Libenson. “The job has taken on new dimensions—
it’s about change management, the organizational aspects of doing
integration, and helping to make sure that we’re using IT resources
effectively to get the most value out of an acquisition like Trane. It’s a
different skill set than just being a pure technology guy.”
Throughout these changes, the company has stayed on course
with a more than US$300 million project to convert more than 90
global enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to a consolidated
Oracle E-Business Suite implementation.
The company is evaluating what it will take winnerSPECS
to expand the project to include the Trane Name: Barry Libenson

business unit. Job title/description: CIO

“Having a world-class ERP platform like Company: Ingersoll-Rand

Oracle E-Business Suite is critical to being Location: Stamford, Connecticut

able to do this type of M&A [merger and Award: CIO of the Year, North
America, 2008
acquisition] activity,” says Libenson.
“If you have a strong ERP environment,
you can gather information more easily,” he says. “The data is more
current, it’s more detailed, and you can get a lot of important analyti-
cal information from it, slicing and dicing in ways that you can’t with a
hundred different systems.”
Oracle’s growth and Ingersoll-Rand’s strategic relationship with
Oracle have facilitated Ingersoll-Rand’s IT strategy.
“Our relationship with Oracle has grown because of Oracle’s
acquisition strategy and the products they’ve added to the portfolio,”
says Libenson. “We’ve gone from being purely an [Oracle] E-Business
Suite and database customer to one that’s using Oracle business intel-
ligence, CRM [customer relationship management], HRMS [human
resource management systems], and transportation and logistics appli-
BOB RIVES

cations, and the [Oracle] Identity Management platform. My life has

gotten significantly easier because of Oracle’s acquisition strategy.”

ORACLE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 35

ND08_ECAwards_v2.indd 35 10/8/08 3:56:20 PM

 2008 CELSO GUIOTOKO
CIO OF THE YEAR, JAPAN

Planning ahead and providing clear goals help this

CIO achieve success.
For Celso Guiotoko, corporate vice president and CIO of Nissan
and Oracle Magazine’s CIO of the Year for Japan, one aspect of
success comes from making himself obsolete.
“I always tell my staff not to expect that I’ll be sitting in my
office forever—that one day any one of them might have the
opportunity to be taking my place and driving this organization,”
says Guiotoko, who oversees information services (IS) strategy for
automotive giant Nissan.
Like any good car company that comes out with ever-more-
successful models, Guiotoko has a solid plan in place for creating
his own winning replacement.
“We spend a lot of effort managing and developing talent
within Nissan,” says Guiotoko. “Providing clear goals and a
high level of transparency helps give our employees a sense
of achievement.”
In addition to developing talent, Nissan relies on Oracle
software, including Oracle E-Business Suite, Siebel Customer
Relationship Management, PeopleSoft Human Resources, Oracle
Essbase, and Oracle Database, to help achieve its goals and
deliver positive business results.
Creating strong leadership and an effective IS organization
is critical for the continued success of US$95 billion Nissan. The
company, which grew almost 12 percent in FY 2007 by selling
more than 3.77 million cars, has more than 200,000 global
employees and strong growth in international markets. Most of
the company’s growth is based on investing in new capacity, new
sales companies, and new models.
As part of its continued drive to increase the efficiency and winnerSPECS
effectiveness of its IT solutions, Nissan will continue a strong cen- Name: Celso Guiotoko

tralization model—although flexibility is still important. Job title/description: Corporate

Vice President and CIO
“If our business leaders want a solution to be centralized, we
Company: Nissan
work toward that goal. If they want to have more flexibility for
Location: Tokyo, Ja pan
their users, perhaps on a regional basis, we follow their lead,”
Award: CIO of the Year, Japan,
says Guiotoko. “The business solution should follow the busi- 2008
ness strategy.”
Nissan’s latest corporate strategic plan is ambitious, including
taking a leadership role in zero-emission vehicles; achieving lead-
ership in brand, management, and service quality; and achieving
5 percent revenue growth over five years. This growth will be sup-
ported by the launches of 60 new models within five years.
“Having a strategic road map makes my job easier because
GETTY IMAGES/ROBERT GILHOOLY

we’ve got a clear direction from the business,” says Guiotoko.

“My team can work with each global function so that we can
make sure that whatever IT is working on is synchronized and
aligned with what the business needs to deliver.”

36 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 ORACLE.COM/ORACLEMAGAZINE

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 36 10/14/08 10:44:05 AM

 2008 MARK TONNESEN
CTO OF THE YEAR

For this manager, adaptability and flexibility mean

success on the bottom line.
For Mark Tonnesen, Oracle Magazine’s CTO of the Year, the new
yardstick for IT is adaptability.
“The more highly integrated your architecture and technology
platform is, the easier it will be to adapt and meet the rapid busi-
ness changes in your company,” says Tonnesen, vice president of
information technology and CIO for Logitech. The company designs
technology interface products such as keyboards, mice, and
Webcams that connect consumers to the digital world.
Logitech had previously used a best-of-breed approach, inte-
grating and deploying individual solutions for different business
needs. But rapid changes in business requirements, an increased
global presence and more widely distributed organization, and
a greater need to facilitate information accessibility drove the
company to reconsider.
“The need for flexibility, the need for change—and the ability
to adapt to change quickly—is great, so you need to have as
much of an integrated platform as possible to provide flexibility
on the delivery of needed information or different business pro-
cesses,” says Tonnesen. “You can’t have multiple solutions and
platforms and be successful anymore.”
Tonnesen and his team put together a distributed but highly
integrated architecture that supports all of Logitech’s global busi-
ness regions. Key components of the platform include Oracle
Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle E-Business Suite,
Oracle SOA Suite, Oracle Business Process Analysis Suite, and
Oracle’s PeopleSoft, Agile, and Hyperion applications. “When we
considered total cost of ownership, support, and adaptability, an
integrated technology platform with Oracle was much better for
our business,” says Tonnesen.
Getting the right information to the right people in a timely
manner is also a critical success factor.
“We’ve embarked on a program to improve our ability to get
information to decision-makers at the right time,” says Tonnesen.
“To do that, we’re leveraging Oracle’s highly scalable technology
platform. By leveraging the architecture, we’ve put together a con- winnerSPECS
Name: Mark Tonnesen
solidated business view of our business processes—from sales
Job title/description: Vice
cycles to shipping cycles—that enables our users to correlate
President, Information Technology,
information in an immediate fashion to make real-time decisions and CIO
in our business.” Company: Logitech
From Tonnesen’s perspective, IT leaders need to make sure Location: Fremont, California
they’re not just focused on day-to-day operations but on identify- Award: CTO of the Year 2008
ing technologies and solutions that can help drive new business
value. “The days of reacting and working off a project list are over.
Instead, I focus on the strategic set of business capabilities that
BOB ADLER

IT needs to deliver that will help move the company forward and
achieve its goals,” says Tonnesen.

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 37 10/14/08 10:47:23 AM

 2008 HAI WANG
IT MANAGER OF THE YEAR

IT manager uses Oracle grid technology to

manage data and support treasure seekers.
Although Hai Wang’s official job is director of data platforms for
China’s Taobao.com, his real job is to enable Taobao.com’s users
to buy and sell “treasure.”
Taobao.com, whose motto is that there is no treasure
that cannot be found and no treasure that cannot be sold, is
the largest consumer-to-consumer auction and business-to-
consumer e-commerce Web site in China. With more than 62
million registered members, market share of 70 to 80 percent,
and transaction turnover of US$6.2 billion for 2007, buying and
selling treasure is big business for Taobao.com.
Facilitating the buying and selling of treasure also translates
into the need to manage huge amounts of data effectively.
Wang, Oracle Magazine’s IT Manager of the Year, led the data
platforms team that designed and implemented the data ware-
house and business intelligence platforms, based on an Oracle
grid stack including Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle
RAC), Oracle Automatic Storage Management (a feature of Oracle
Database), and Oracle Clusterware, that power the site.
“Our biggest challenge is managing hundreds of terabytes
of data,” says Wang. “On one hand, we need to ensure system
performance and stability, while on the other hand, we need to
be able to mine intelligence from the data.”
All of Taobao.com’s systems are built on a combination of
Java- and Oracle-based architecture, with the main data ware-
house running on a 12-node Oracle RAC system.
With a huge number of registered users, transaction volume
already comparable to eBay, and annual growth of 50 percent,
scalability and high availability were important design criteria for
Wang and a key reason Taobao.com chose Oracle RAC for con-
structing its data warehouse solution.
Taobao.com is also using Oracle data warehouse technology
to offer personalized recommendations to every auction bidder,
as well as analysis tools to the sellers—features that help to
increase transaction volumes significantly as well as improve winnerSPECS
Name: Hai Wang
customer retention.
Job title/description: Director of
Wang is an Oracle ACE and an active advisor on the Oracle Data Platforms
forum at www.itpub.net, the largest independent IT community Company: Taobao.com (an Alibaba
in China. He continues to sharpen and share his technical knowl- Group company)
edge with others, and he believes that successful IT managers Location: Hangzhou, China

need to work closely with business leaders. Award: IT Manager of the Year 2008

“Today’s IT managers need to have a sharp business sense,

understand ROI [return on investment] analysis, communicate
GETTY IMAGES/QILAI SHEN

using business language, and have strong technology innovation

capabilities,” says Wang. “But they also need business creativity.”

38 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 ORACLE.COM/ORACLEMAGAZINE

ND08_ECAwards_v2.indd 38 10/8/08 3:57:55 PM

 2008 JAN SHOOK
GREEN IT ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR

Architect shows how making good business decisions leads

to “green” success.
Jan Shook, Oracle Magazine’s Green IT Architect of the Year, didn’t set out to
create one of Verizon Wireless’ greenest IT projects. But somewhere along the
way on a recent upgrade project, he and his team reduced power requirements
by well over 90 percent.
“We didn’t start off as a green project,” says Shook, principal architect on
the fraud team at Verizon Wireless. “We were simply trying to make good busi-
ness decisions.”
Shook and his team were responsible for redesigning Verizon Wireless’
FraudPlus application, which scans 2.5 billion phone records daily to identify
fraudulent activity.
The solution uses Oracle SOA Suite, Oracle Containers for J2EE, Oracle
Database, and a custom alarm engine. “We’re now process-centric with Oracle
winnerSPECS
BPEL Process Manager and policy-based with the [Oracle] Business Rules engine, Name: Jan Shook
which is important from a business perspective,” says Shook. “Instead of every- Job title/description: Principal
thing being hard coded, it’s now very flexible.” Member, Applications Staff

Shook’s redesigned Oracle-based system uses about 95 percent less power— Company: Verizon Wireless

from about 200,000 watts per hour to about 5,000—as a result of migrating from Location: Orangeburg, New York
CATHERINE GIBBONS

roughly 6 tons of legacy hardware to about 150 pounds of new equipment. The Award: Green IT Architect of the
Year 2008
system “significantly reduces power consumption and lowers capital require-
ments while still supporting huge volumes that grow year after year,” Shook says.

2008 BRYAN A. MJAANES

SOA GOVERNANCE ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR

SOA governance ensures standards for infrastructure,

technical services, and data elements, architect says.
Implementing any new technology can get sticky—but that doesn’t mean you
don’t need glue. In fact, the Zurich Financial Services Group, which operates in 170
countries with 58,000 employees, relies on service-oriented architecture (SOA) gov-
ernance and Oracle Enterprise Repository as the glue for its SOA implementation.
“SOA governance is the critical glue between our technical services architecture
and our business architecture,” says Bryan A. Mjaanes, vice president, Zurich, and
Oracle Magazine’s SOA Governance Architect of the Year. “It makes sure the ser-
vices we implement are using the standard infrastructure and standard technical
service contract, as well as supporting standard service design and data elements.”
winnerSPECS
Oracle Enterprise Repository provides visibility into the company’s SOA
Name: Bryan A. Mjaanes
infrastructure and facilitates reuse and IT/business alignment. The result? Faster
Job title/description: Vice
time to market, reduced costs, increased flexibility, and improved business and President
IT alignment. Company: Zurich Financial
Services Group
Implementing SOA and SOA governance correctly takes more than technol-
Location: Schaumburg, Illinois
ogy—it also takes knowledgeable professionals who can build effective SOA
ANDREA MANDEL

Award: SOA Governance Architect

solutions. “Everyone’s been very pleased with the quality of the products and
of the Year 2008
the professionalism of the staff from Oracle,” says Mjaanes. “That’s one of the
reasons Oracle is an emerging key supplier for Zurich globally.”

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 39 10/14/08 10:50:17 AM

 winnerSPECS
Name: Alex De Vergori
Job title/description: Database
Architect
2008 ALEX DE VERGORI
PL/SQL DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR
Company: Betfair
Location: London, England
Award: PL/SQL Developer of the
Year 2008 Developer works with 250,000 lines of PL/SQL code that
deliver success.
Successful PL/SQL developers require more than just good technical knowl-
edge, according to Alex De Vergori, Oracle Magazine’s PL/SQL Developer
of the Year.
“They also need fine attention to detail, a passion about what they’re
doing, and a high degree of pride in the software that they’re producing,”
says De Vergori, a database architect who channels those skills at Betfair,
an online gaming company that pioneered the concept of betting exchanges
in 2000.
To manage customers’ bets, De Vergori and the Betfair team have
created a core betting engine and business logic that encompass more than
250,000 lines of PL/SQL code. The Betfair solution runs on Oracle Database
using distributed databases around the world and an Oracle data warehouse
running Oracle Real Application Clusters. Betfair also uses Oracle Coherence
for its in-memory distributed data caching requirements, Java for its middle
tier, and Ajax for its front-end applications.
“We take in excess of five million transactions a day, and they all go
straight through to the database, where those bets match with other trans-
actions in real time,” says De Vergori. “At peak, we can easily see something

JOHN BLYTHE
like 1,000 bet transactions per second. With Oracle, our growth has been
exponential, so that has enabled us to succeed in our market.”

2008 JOHN YOUNG

ORACLE ENTERPRISE MANAGER
ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR

Architect uses Oracle Enterprise Manager to improve

winnerSPECS
Name: John Young
Job title/description: Lead DBA,
Systems Management Team
Company: Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Award: Oracle Enterprise Manager
Architect of the Year 2008
efficiency, consistency, and service.
If you think it’s tough keeping your car clean, maintained, and serviced cor-
rectly, try managing about a million cars.
That’s essentially what John Young and his team at Enterprise Rent-A-Car
have to do. As lead DBA and Oracle Magazine’s Oracle Enterprise Manager
Architect of the Year, Young heads a team responsible for managing the data-
bases for applications and systems that facilitate buying, moving, maintain-
ing, insuring, renting, and eventually selling the approximately 1 million cars
in the Enterprise Rent-A-Car fleet. He relies on Oracle Enterprise Manager.
“Oracle Enterprise Manager is helping us keep track of our software
and systems, including managing what’s installed,” says Young. “Instead of
going to each server, we can easily go to Oracle Enterprise Manager and run
reports.” When you’re managing more than 400 systems and applications,
including most of the company’s core business systems such as its car rental
application and internet reservation application, consistency and efficiency
are important.
CHRIS WILBORN

“Oracle Enterprise Manager enables us to deliver increased uptime and

better service for our application users and the business,” says Young.

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 40 10/14/08 10:52:19 AM

 winnerSPECS
Name: Lynn Hersey-Miller
Job title/description: Chief
Program Officer
Company: State of Delaware
Department of Technology and
Information
2008 LYNN HERSEY-MILLER
Location: Dover, Delaware SECURITY ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR
Award: Security Architect of the
Year 2008
Architect finds that better security improves IT
administration and enhances the user experience.
Maintaining centralized control of security, governance, and compli-
ance while also empowering individual departments to take manage-
ment responsibility for their own applications is difficult. But because
of Lynn Hersey-Miller and her team, the State of Delaware doesn’t
have that problem. That’s because Hersey-Miller, Oracle Magazine’s
Security Architect of the Year, implemented an Oracle Identity and
Access Management solution.
“While we have many centralized applications, their administra-
tion is decentralized,” says Hersey-Miller, who as chief program officer
manages the Office of Major Projects at the Department of Technology
and Information (DTI) for the State. The combined budgets of the initia-
tives managed by the office exceed US$200 million.
“Using Oracle Identity and Access Management is a win/win,
because the individual applications can be administered by our agen-
cies at the same time that we implement standardized security pro-
cesses across the entire enterprise infrastructure,” says Hersey-Miller.
Hersey-Miller and her team implemented a centralized identity
management system to facilitate moving more than 15,000 state
employees to an online open enrollment application for the selection of
healthcare plans and benefits. Oracle Identity and Access Management
was chosen, both as the basis for the project and for future access and
identity management needs.
Since the system went live in February 2007, the State of Delaware
has expanded its use of Oracle Identity and Access Management. Now
approximately 35,000 users across multiple systems use it. The result
has been not only an enhanced user experience but also much easier
IT administration, which is especially important because the DTI part-
ners with different agencies that manage individual applications.
Although Hersey-Miller and her team considered the huge project
cutting-edge when it started, the State was able to go live with its
identity and access management solution in just over six months.
“Part of our success with this project is attributable to our partici-
pation in Oracle’s customer relationship program and the very good
working relationship we have with Oracle,” says Hersey-Miller. “It’s
been very beneficial. Another part of our success was the outstanding
teamwork across our department.”
The results have been impressive—especially when it comes
to compliance.
“Oracle Identity and Access Management has helped us to increase
our security standards and address a major governance issue,” says
Hersey-Miller. “Now we have set a standard for all applications, with a
centralized and robust governance structure.”
In addition, there’s the benefit of reduced complexity of applica-
tion security. “Before, each application used to have its own security
CATHERINE GIBBONS

table and management processes,” says Hersey-Miller. “But now we

have a centralized and standard way to manage users and security. It
reduces redundancy.”

ORACLE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 41

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 2008 PLAMEN ZYUMBYULEV
DBA OF THE YEAR

DBA finds new ways and new technologies to

solve old problems.
When it comes to solving tough IT and business problems,
Plamen Zyumbyulev, Oracle Magazine’s DBA of the Year, looks
to Albert Einstein for guidance. Zyumbyulev, the lead DBA for
Bulgaria’s Mobiltel telecommunications company, agrees with
the physicist’s statement, “We cannot solve our problems
with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
For Zyumbyulev that means using new approaches to solve
increasingly complex business problems.
Mobiltel, part of Mobilkom Austria Group, is the biggest
telecommunications company in Bulgaria, with more than 5
million customers who expect advanced mobile services such
as mobile internet access and content management systems.
Zyumbyulev’s three critical business needs are flexibility, effec-
tiveness, and providing better service, and he has aggressively
leveraged new technologies such as Oracle Database 11g and
Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) to achieve these
goals and help keep up with the rapid rate of business change.
“The pace of business growth has become faster and faster,
and we’ve had to create more and more databases and, of
course, take care of them,” Zyumbyulev says. “But in the last
four years, we have not had an increase in DBA staff. I real-
ized that we could not keep working with the same concepts winnerSPECS
and be effective and efficient. So that’s when we decided that Name: Plamen Zyumbyulev
we would embrace the idea of grid computing and automation Job title/description: Lead DBA
simplification—we would think of the whole infrastructure as if Company: Mobiltel
it’s one virtual environment grid.” Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
The change has fundamentally shifted how Zyumbyulev’s Award: DBA of the Year 2008
team approaches IT. “We’ve heavily invested in knowledge,
understanding, and new technologies,” Zyumbyulev says. “The
result is that today we spend less time in day-to-day activities
like checking file systems and monitoring resources, and more
time in preserving the performance of the applications and
anticipating the future.”
Grid computing allows Mobiltel to consolidate a lot of
services onto a smaller number of databases. “It’s similar to
using virtual machines, but with this approach we only have to
GETTY XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

manage one database instead of many operating systems—

there is no additional memory overhead, and one service can
GETTY IMAGES/PETAR PESHEV

run simultaneously on more than one physical machine,” says

Zyumbyulev. “With Oracle Database and Oracle RAC, we can
serve the business much faster than before, from weeks down
to half an hour. It’s that real.”

42 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 ORACLE.COM/ORACLEMAGAZINE

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 2008 TORSTEN MINKWITZ
APPLICATIONS IMPLEMENTER OF
THE YEAR

Applications implementer succeeds—in a hurry.

Torsten Minkwitz, Oracle Magazine’s Applications Implementer of the Year and
head of IT solutions for customers and products at T-Home, a fixed-line division
of Deutsche Telekom AG, had to make a big fix quickly. Deutsche Telekom was
moving rapidly to expand and transform its business by revamping its infra-
structure, bundling new services, and providing world-class customer service.
But succeeding in those areas required a flexible customer relationship manage-
ment (CRM) system. That’s why T-Home implemented Oracle’s Siebel Call Center
(now Oracle’s Siebel Contact Center) running on Oracle Database and Oracle Real
Application Clusters. Although the implementation of the new CRM system was
one of the company’s most complex IT projects, it was completed quickly. winnerSPECS
Name: Torsten Minkwitz
“From the moment we switched on the system, we had to be able to accom-
Job title/description: Head of
modate 20,000 concurrent users,” says Minkwitz. “Since we’re in such a competi- IT Solutions for Customers and
tive environment, we needed to move quickly. We had to invest more in testing, but Products
I believe we saved one to two years compared to traditional approaches.” The new Company: T-Home, a fixed-line
division of Deutsche Telekom AG
system manages 40 million customer data records, is used by 25,000 concurrent
Location: Bonn, Germany
users in call centers and points of sale, and has 500,000 business transactions
TON HENDRIKS

Award: Applications Implementer

per day. “The first time I saw 90,000 orders being processed, I sent an e-mail to of the Year 2008
the project team saying, ‘We did it.’ It was a satisfying moment,” Minkwitz says.

2008 HIMANSHU PARIKH

SOA ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR

Director saves time and overcomes legacy integrations with SOA.

For Himanshu Parikh, Oracle Magazine’s SOA Architect of the Year, the key ben-
efits of SOA are scalability, reliability, and time to market.
Parikh, director of enterprise architecture and compliance at Ross Stores,
has more than 12 years of experience in retail functional and technical domains.
Using his experience in retail IT, Parikh applied a service-oriented architecture
(SOA) to drive the maturity of Ross’ retail systems.
Before SOA, Ross found itself deploying more point-to-point integrations
among its applications and systems. “The solution,” determined Parikh, “was a
service-oriented-architecture approach to help modernize our legacy integration
architecture and provide an application platform to help with future growth.”
Ross has successfully deployed two SOA-based solutions. “We leveraged the
entire Oracle SOA Suite, including Oracle BPEL Process Manager, Oracle Service
winnerSPECS
Bus, Oracle Data Integrator, and more,” says Parikh. “Using those solutions, we Name: Himanshu Parikh
have built what we call a set of composite application integration patterns.” Job title/description: Director
“Oracle support of SOA architecture has been really great,” Parikh says. of Enterprise Architecture and
Compliance
“Through SOA our systems’ scalability, reliability, and time to market have
Company: Ross Stores
improved, since we’re not starting from step one all the time. We are able
Location: Pleasanton, California
BOB ADLER

to reuse previously developed services and save time by adopting a design

Award: SOA Architect of the
pattern–based approach and central governance for architecture.” Year 2008

ORACLE MAGAZINE N OV E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8 43

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1aa.indd 43 10/14/08 1:00:37 PM

 winnerSPECS
Name: Nathalie Roman
Job title/description: Software
Consultant
Company: iAdvise
Location: Heist-op-den-Berg,
Belgium
Award: Oracle Fusion Middleware
Developer of the Year 2008
winnerSPECS
Name: Bill Evjen
Job title/description: Technical
Architect
Company: Lipper, a subsidiary of
Thompson Reuters
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Award: Enterprise Developer of the
Year 2008
ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 44
2008 NATHALIE ROMAN
ORACLE FUSION MIDDLEWARE
DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR
Developer finds that integration opens a new world
for customers.
For Nathalie Roman, Oracle Magazine’s Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer
of the Year, integration is everything.
“One technology solution that’s made a big difference to me and my cus-
tomers is Oracle SOA Suite,” says Roman, who is head of the iAdvise Oracle
Fusion Middleware Competence Team. “Now we can integrate everything, so
we have a wide-open world to connect with. It’s great.” When governing SOA
projects, Roman suggests that developers think about business processes
and services instead of custom or siloed applications.
“For a successful project, we create a team of motivated and skilled
people from IT, as well as the business, to kick off a center of excellence,”
says Roman. “Using this center of excellence, we create a proof of concept
to show how service-oriented architecture can offer an enterprisewide solu-
tion using a standardized approach.” Although learning how to master new
technologies can be overwhelming for some people, Roman, who is also an
Oracle ACE director, says it’s not that hard—especially when you’re using
solutions like Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle Business Process Analysis Suite.
“You can start with the demos and tutorials, picking and choosing what
TON HENDRIKS
solutions you want to use,” says Roman. “That’s one of the reasons that
Oracle’s so great—all the tools are integrated.”
2008 BILL EVJEN
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR
Developer fights segmentation and brings Microsoft .NET
and Oracle together.
Sometimes two great things are better when put together. For Bill Evjen,
Oracle Magazine’s Enterprise Developer of the Year, that’s especially true for
database and development teams, or .NET and Oracle.
“People make a tremendous mistake by segmenting database teams and
development teams,” says Evjen, technical architect at Lipper, a subsidiary
of Thompson Reuters that provides news, information, and analytical tools
to the financial industry. “By doing that, productivity wanes and you’ll see
solutions that aren’t exactly what you’re looking for. When you’re doing
enterprise-level solutions, you need to have an integration of those two
teams so that everyone can understand each other’s needs and goals.”
Evjen spends a lot of time optimizing mission-critical development efforts
that span .NET clients to enterprise Oracle databases. His goal is to create
applications that provide the analysis customers need from the mountain
of data that Lipper maintains. “Using .NET and Oracle together has worked
excellently for us. We can move a tremendous amount of data quickly from our
databases to our end clients,” he says. “We’ve found that Oracle Data Provider
CHRIS WILBORN
for .NET is the best data provider for making that link between .NET and the
Oracle database—in terms of functionality, performance, and flexibility.”
10/14/08 10:59:29 AM
 winnerSPECS
Name: Manoj Bohra
Job title/description: Director,
Business Intelligence and
Development
Company: Merrill Lynch
2008 MANOJ BOHRA
Location: Jersey City, New Jersey
ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Award: Enterprise Performance ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR
Management Architect of the
Year 2008
Architect delivers the right information to the right people
at the right time.
Creating enterprise performance management solutions that can help compa-
nies achieve their business objectives requires finely tuned technologies. It also
requires a solid understanding of business goals, according to Manoj Bohra,
director of business intelligence and development at Merrill Lynch and Oracle
Magazine’s Enterprise Performance Management Architect of the Year. “You need
to figure out what the business objectives are, and then come up with a high-
level design that can be implemented using appropriate technologies,” he says.
For Merrill Lynch, the appropriate technologies to help deliver the right infor-
mation to the right users at the right time include Oracle Business Intelligence
Suite, Enterprise Edition Plus; Oracle Essbase; Oracle Hyperion Data Relationship
Management; Oracle Applications; and an Oracle data warehouse. “Our data
warehouse is updated from our Oracle Applications, with a latency of only a
few minutes,” says Bohra. “It’s a very aggressive data warehouse environment
powered by highly aggregated Oracle Essbase reporting cubes.” The data can
CATHERINE GIBBONS

then be reported using Oracle Essbase and Oracle tools, leveraging back-end
Oracle databases.
“In the past, users were busy collecting information instead of analyzing it,”
says Bohra. “Now, the information is available to them, so they have enough
time for analysis. It’s a major shift.”

2008 HANNES VAN ROOYEN

winnerSPECS DATA WAREHOUSE ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR
Name: Hannes van Rooyen
Job title/description:
Chief Architect Architect finds the business gold for customers using
Company: LGR Oracle Database and Oracle data warehouse solutions.
Telecommunications
Location: Atlanta, Georgia To Hannes van Rooyen, Oracle Magazine’s Data Warehouse Architect of the Year,
Award: Data Warehouse Architect an average business day involves helping his telecommunications customers
of the Year 2008
to digest billions of call detail records (CDRs) that originate from their network
equipment and to mine these mountains of data for veins of business gold.
“Until recently, the primary challenge that prevented most operators from
unlocking the intelligence within their CDRs was the sheer volume of data and
the costs associated with managing this,” says van Rooyen, chief architect for
LGR Telecommunications. Using Oracle Database and Oracle data warehous-
ing, the company has developed a powerful CDR solution that is used by AT&T,
Telstra, and Vodafone, among others, for extraction, transformation, analysis, and
reporting of all the data coming from telecommunications equipment.
“We chose to use Oracle for our data warehouses because we could get
the scalability we needed, and Oracle provided us with the tools and support
to get our job done,” says van Rooyen. The choice has helped LGR succeed.
“When Oracle came out with partitioning, it just catapulted us into a different
world,” van Rooyen says. “It’s bulletproof in the environments we’re running it in.
BILL ADLER

Together with solutions such as Oracle Real Application Clusters, it allows us to

provide a highly scalable and extremely powerful solution that is world-beating.”

ORACLE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 45

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 45 10/14/08 11:20:17 AM

 2008 DEBRA LILLEY
USER GROUP EVANGELIST
OF THE YEAR

Evangelist works to help members succeed and

groups flourish.
Ask Debra Lilley, Oracle Magazine’s User Group Evangelist of the
Year, what she thinks about the U.K. Oracle User Group (UKOUG).
She’ll tell you.
“It’s the best in the world,” says Lilley, a principal business
consultant for Fujitsu Services and deputy chair of the UKOUG.
“We serve the entire Oracle community, not just individual prod-
ucts or technology.”
She’s also worked to enrich others. For example, she’s helped
the International Oracle Users Group Community (IOUC) create
initiatives that have brought together volunteers representing
groups around the world to work together for the good of all
the community.
“While user groups should be independent, I also think they
should support each other and share information whenever
possible,” says Lilley. “And interacting with Oracle at this level
means we get more of their col-
lective time.” winnerSPECS
Lilley is proud of her award, Name: Debra Lilley

and she specifically thanks Fujitsu Job title/description: Principal

Business Consultant
for its support. Still, the real
Company: Fujitsu Services
benefit from her efforts comes
Location: Belfast, Ireland
from member feedback.
Award: User Group Evangelist of
“I love it when someone says the Year 2008
to me, ‘I heard you say this, and
I went back and tried it,’ or, ‘It
really helped us in what we were doing,’” says Lilley. “I get a big
kick out of being able to help people make decisions and use
their Oracle solutions better.”
Lilley admits that one of the attributes that makes her a good
evangelist is her tendency to be straight-talking.
“I’m not afraid to give the independent comment even when
controversial,” says Lilley, “but I’m also good at motivating other
people to come together and do things in a coordinated fashion.
Throughout the years, we’ve been able to encourage and moti-
vate volunteers to take part in small and large initiatives that
they can accomplish with others in the group.”
Being so involved in the user group community takes up a
substantial portion of Lilley’s time, but she feels that it’s time
well-spent—what else is there to do in the evenings when she’s
on the road with her ‘day job’?
“Through UKOUG and the wider user group community, I have
found a lot of like-minded people willing to help and support,
JOHN BLYTHE

and not just when related to Oracle,” says Lilley. “I have made
many true friends.”

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 46 10/14/08 10:38:33 AM

 2008 JIM MCKENNEY
CONTENT MANAGEMENT ARCHITECT
OF THE YEAR

Architect counts on Oracle to help keep the content that’s

winnerSPECS
Name: Jim McKenney
Job title/description: Senior
Systems Analyst
Company: City of Kent
Location: Kent, Washington
Award: Content Management
Architect of the Year 2008
REX RYSTEDT
valuable and pertinent.
For most organizations, content management comes down to putting systems
in place to manage, index, and retrieve a wide variety of documents, files, and
other content. But for Jim McKenney, Oracle Magazine’s Content Management
Architect of the Year, the first step in creating a good content management
solution is deciding what to throw away.
“You actually don’t want to keep everything, because that’s a liability. It’s got
risk. You want to keep information that’s valuable, pertinent, and has direct value
to the end users,” says McKenney, senior systems analyst for the City of Kent,
Washington. The city, which started processing 30,000 pages per month into
five applications in 2001, is now processing up to 130,000 pages per month into
more than 100 applications using Oracle Enterprise Content Management Suite.
Since 2001, McKenney has helped transform a limited imaging implemen-
tation into a nationally recognized repository using records management prin-
ciples. A key component of his success has been Oracle content management

technologies and the stability of the solution.

“It’s been reliable,” says McKenney. “We haven’t had any downtime in
about three years. It’s been up 24/7, and it’s just been rock solid.”

2008 PHIL SANTAND

MARK KNIGHT
EMBEDDED ARCHITECTS OF THE YEAR

Architects depend on Oracle Database for performance,

scalability, and high availability.
Designing carrier-grade embedded systems is hard enough. But Omnifone,
Europe’s leading direct-to-mobile unlimited music download service provider,
must also deliver a superior user experience across a rapidly changing set of
winnerSPECS
Names: Phil Sant and Mark Knight
mobile devices while ensuring the system’s availability, scalability, and reliabil-
Job titles/descriptions: Chief
ity. Phil Sant, Omnifone’s chief operating officer, and Mark Knight, chief archi-
Operating Officer (Sant) and Chief tect, do just that. They are Oracle Magazine’s Embedded Architects of the Year.
Architect (Knight) and cofounders
of Omnifone
Omnifone’s MusicStation allows mobile network operators to provide a music
Company: Omnifone
download service and enables them to leverage their networks and billing relation-
Location: London, England
ships. Sant and Knight built MusicStation to provide the performance, scalability,
Award: Embedded Architects of
and availability characteristics the network operators need to deliver service to
the Year 2008 millions of subscribers. For the MusicStation server, “We use an embedded Oracle
Real Application Clusters 10g database to roll out rapidly scalable mobile music
services with a multimillion-track catalog delivered instantly on an unlimited
basis across virtually all mobile handsets,” says Knight. The company embeds
the Oracle technology within MusicStation, which minimizes their customers’ cost
JOHN BLYTHE

of ownership by eliminating database administration and installation.

“Oracle technologies are particularly well suited to our requirements,” says
Knight, “because embedded systems must be totally reliable and not ever fail.”

ORACLE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 47

ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 47 10/14/08 11:22:20 AM

 winnerSPECS
Name: Paul Citarella
Job title/description: Director,
Enterprise Architecture
Company: Synapse Group
Location: Stamford, Connecticut
Award: Oracle Fusion Middleware
Architect of the Year 2008
winnerSPECS
Name: Denes Kubicek
Job title/description: Consultant
Location: Bensheim, Germany
Award: Oracle Application Express
Developer of the Year 2008
ND08_ECAwards_v2_R1a.indd 48
2008 PAUL CITARELLA
ORACLE FUSION MIDDLEWARE
ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR
SOA infrastructure creates agile IT, architect finds.
Business success requires IT systems that can support constant change. To
Paul Citarella, director of enterprise architecture at Synapse Group and Oracle
Magazine’s Oracle Fusion Middleware Architect of the Year, the best way to
accommodate that constant change is to embrace service-oriented architec-
ture (SOA) and the Oracle SOA Suite platform.
“SOA was a natural fit for us, since our business model is fueled by con-
tinuous innovation and requires an IT landscape that is designed from the
ground up for agility,” says Citarella, whose company is the largest marketer
of magazine subscriptions in the United States. “We find specifically with
loyalty marketing that offers tend to get stale quickly. The only way to compete
is to innovate.”
Synapse used Oracle SOA Suite to deploy the first phase of its SOA strat-
egy, providing the core of the company’s SOA infrastructure, which included
the service bus, the data services platform, and more. Phase two completed a
CATHERINE GIBBONS
customer self-service Web presence enabled by SOA.
“Our SOA-based Web presence offers our customers another convenient
channel for customer support while reducing the need for costly live agents,”
says Citarella. “That’s a benefit for both our customers and Synapse.”
2008 DENES KUBICEK
ORACLE APPLICATION EXPRESS
DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR
Developer finds a supportive community and powerful
functionality in Oracle Application Express.
Denes Kubicek, Oracle Magazine’s Oracle Application Express Developer of the
Year, doesn’t just love Oracle Application Express; he also loves the community
that’s grown up around it.
“The Oracle Application Express community is very special,” says Kubicek,
an Oracle Application Express consultant who works for T-Systems, BASF, and
others. “There are a lot of very nice and knowledgeable people who help moti-
vate me to get involved and contribute.”
Kubicek started a blog in 2007 (www.deneskubicek.blogspot.com), where
he’s posted a popular demo application. He’s answered more than 3,000
Oracle Application Express questions in the Oracle Forum (forums.oracle.com/
forums/forum.jspa?forumID=137). He’s also created more than 200 examples
of specific Oracle Application Express solutions, with full explanations and step-
by-step guidelines, which are posted in the Oracle Forum as well.
“Oracle Application Express gives you the capability to create powerful
applications in a short time,” says Kubicek. “It doesn’t require a huge invest-
ment of time or money.”
TON HENDRIKS
Kubicek doesn’t see any limitations to Oracle Application Express. “I haven’t
seen a requirement for an application that couldn’t be done with Oracle
Application Express,” he says. “It’s suitable for IT development as well as
mission-critical applications.”
10/14/08 11:25:53 AM
 A Winning CombinAtion

Oracle’s customers and partners demonstrate The recipients of the 2008 Oracle Excellence Award are: Amway,
Arrow Electronics, British Telecom (BT), Charles Schwab, Chick-fil-A,
innovation and leadership in many areas of tech- Eaton Steel, EMC Corporation, Florida A&M, KPN, MASCO Builder
nology, applications, and sustainability. In addi- Cabinet Group, Pearson, Pfizer, PNC Financial Services Group,
tion to Oracle Magazine’s Editors’ Choice Awards, Rabobank Nederland, Regal Beloit, University of Louisville, West Virginia
Oracle sponsors awards programs honoring its University, and Zebra Technologies.
customers and partners for their excellent work.
ORACLE “EMPOWER THE GREEN
ENTERPRISE” AWARDS
THE TITAN AWARDS
This year for the first time, Oracle honors companies for their sustain-
The Oracle PartnerNetwork honors partners for their excellence in
ability efforts with the Oracle Empower the Green Enterprise award.
developing and implementing innovative solutions based on Oracle
This award recognizes customers and their partners that use Oracle
technologies. In its fifth year, the Titan Awards acknowledge 14 part-
applications and technologies to support green business practices
ners across 17 categories for developed or delivered solutions and
and sustainability initiatives that will reduce environmental impact
best practices. The categories and winners for 2008 are
and costs and improve business efficiencies. Recipients of the 2008
Oracle Empower the Green Enterprise award include: Alcoa, Australian
• Oracle E-Business Suite Solution: Deloitte Consulting Vintage Limited, BT Group, Dell Inc., Embry Riddle Aeronautical
• Edge Applications Solution: Hitachi Consulting University, Fiji Water, Ingersoll-Rand, InterCall, Interface, Motorola,
• JD Edwards Solution: CSS International National Ignition Facility & Photon Service, Novartis International
AG, Pacific Gas & Electric, Standard Parking, Sun Microsystems,
• Applications Momentum: Deloitte Consulting
and Supervalu. Partners that worked with these customers and also
• PeopleSoft Solution: CherryRoad Technologies
received an Oracle Empower the Green Enterprise award include:
• Enterprise Performance Management Solution: InterRel Consulting Conservation International, CSS International, Deloitte, ESS, HCL
• CRM Solution: Deloitte Consulting Technologies, and Wipro Technologies.
• Midsize Business Applications Solution: Systime
• Industry Solution: Deloitte Consulting
• Financial Services Industry Solution: SmartDog Services
• Manufacturing Industry Solution: Terillium
• Business Intelligence Solution: Piocon Technologies
• Technology Momentum: Accenture
• Grid and Oracle RAC Solution: TUSC
• Integration and SOA Solution: CedarCrestone
• Identity Management Solution: Entology
• Content Management Solution: LS Technologies

ORACLE EXCELLENCE AWARDS

The Oracle Excellence Awards honor customers and partners who
use Oracle Fusion Middleware with Oracle Applications such as
Oracle E-Business Suite; Oracle’s PeopleSoft, Siebel, and JD Edwards;
and vertical industry applications to build creative, innovative, and
standards-based technology solutions. Now in its second year, the
award is cosponsored by Oracle, the Oracle Applications Users Group,
Quest International Users Group, Australian Oracle User Group, U.K.
Oracle User Group, Independent Oracle Users Group, and Oracle
Development Tools User Group.

oracle magazine november/december 20 08 49

ND08_ECAwards_v2.indd 49 10/8/08 4:10:54 PM

 d e v e l o p e r frameworks
Developing a Regional Accent
Use task flows as regions to improve UI reuse.
y last column (“Task and
You Shall Receive,” in the
September/October 2008
issue) examined the basics
of the new task flow feature in Oracle
JDeveloper and Oracle Application
Development Framework (Oracle ADF)
11g, which lets you assemble complex
UIs from simpler units. I discussed two
basic types of task flows: bounded, when
the task flow behaves like an encap-
sulated function call, and unbounded,
when users can start at any page in the
flow. Each view activity I demonstrated
last time corresponded to a distinct
JavaServer Faces (JSF) page, resulting
in a more powerful, declarative way to
sequence pages and application logic.
In this column, I’ll show you how to
create reusable UI components called
regions. Think of regions as components
with view activities that represent only a
fragment of a JSF page and whose visual
contents and runtime behavior are deter-
mined by a bounded task flow. Then I’ll
show how easy it is to reuse a region,
embedding it in the contents of another
page. By the end, you’ll appreciate how
this capability enables you to create
reusable UI components using the full
declarative functionality of task flows.
To begin, download the starter
workspace at otn.oracle.com/oramag/
oracle/08-nov/o68frame.zip and ensure
that you’re using the Oracle JDeveloper
11.1.1.0 (production) release, avail-
able as a free download on Oracle
Technology Network (OTN) at otn
.oracle.com/products/jdev/11. Start
by extracting the contents of the
o68frame.zip file and opening the
FrameworksNovDec2008.jws work-
space in Oracle JDeveloper. The Model
project in the workspace defines an
Emp entity object, an EmpView view
object, and an HRModule application
50 nOveMBeR/DeceMBeR 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_FRAMEWORKS.indd 50
module with a view instance named
Employees. The ViewController project
contains a BrowseEmployees.jspx page
whose af:panelStretchLayout compo-
nent contains an af:table in its left facet,
showing employee numbers and names.
Before proceeding, adjust the proper-
ties of the connection named scott in
the Application Resources zone of the
Oracle JDeveloper Application Navigator
until you can successfully test a connec-
tion to a SCOTT schema. If you need
to create the tables, use the provided
CreateDeptEmpTables.sql script.
The steps in this column will enable
you to create a Show Employee Details
region and drop it into the center facet
of this page to reuse it. The final applica-
tion will allow you to select an employee
from the table and display the corre-
sponding details for that employee in the
new task flow region.
Creating a Bounded task Flow oF
Page Fragments
In the last column, we configured a few
task flows that already existed in the
starter project, so this time let’s walk step
by step through creating a new task flow,
adding view and method activities, con-
figuring input parameters, and marking
a default activity. Although the example
is intentionally simple, it will nonethe-
less familiarize you with all the key con-
cepts you need to know to create your
own reusable regions. Task flows that
are destined to be reused as embeddable
regions must be bounded and must
comprise JSF page fragments, because
at runtime their contents become a part
of the page (or other fragment) that
contains them. So let’s start by creating a
new bounded task flow.
With the sample workspace,
FrameworksNovDec2008.jws, open in
the Application Navigator, right-click
By Steve Muench
the ViewController project and choose
New.... In the New Gallery dialog box
that appears, select Web Tier -> JSF
and then double-click ADF Task Flow.
When the Create Task Flow dialog box
appears, enter show-emp-details.xml as
the filename, leaving the default settings
for the other fields. Note that the check
boxes for Create as Bounded Task
Flow and Create with Page Fragments
are checked by default. These are the
precise options required to create a
region. Click OK to create the new task
flow. Oracle JDeveloper opens the visual
editor for this new task flow and dis-
plays the Diagram view.
Next, we’ll add the components of
our region by dragging them onto the
diagram. Drag a view activity from the
Component palette and drop it onto
the design surface. When the view
activity shape appears, type directly on
the diagram to change its name from
view1 to ShowEmployee. Double-click
the ShowEmployee view activity to
create its JSF page fragment. When the
Create New JSF Page Fragment dialog
box appears, accept the default settings
and click OK to continue. The visual
editor will open for the ShowEmployee
.jsff page fragment, showing an empty
canvas. Expand the Data Controls
section of the Application Navigator as
well as HRModuleDataControl, and
drag the Employees data collection
onto the page. When the Create context
menu appears, select Forms -> ADF
Read-only Form.... When the Edit Form
Fields dialog box appears, click OK to
create the form with all of the items.
Next, we’ll enhance the task flow to
accept a parameter named Empno and
then to look up the employee row to
display, based on the value of that Empno
parameter. Select the show-emp-details
.xml tab to activate the task flow design
10/6/08 2:46:18 PM
 surface again. With the Property Inspector
displayed, click somewhere on the task
flow design surface. In the Property
Inspector, expand the Parameters section
and click the green plus-sign icon to
add a new parameter. (You may need to
widen the Property Inspector to see the
button.) Set the name field to Empno, set
the class field to java.lang.Integer, set the
value field to #{pageFlowScope.Empno},
and finally check the required check box.
The expression language (EL) expression
in the value field configures the task flow
to store the value of the incoming Empno
parameter in the pageFlowScope attribute
named Empno, so you can reference its
value in any activities inside the task flow.
PeRFoRming An oPeRAtion BeFoRe the
PAge RendeRs
We want the completed application to
find the employee row to display in the
form before the ShowEmployee page
fragment renders. To do that, we’ll add
a method call activity that precedes the
ShowEmployee view activity, with a
built-in operation that uses the value of
the Empno parameter we just created to
look up the employee row. To do this,
drag and drop a Method Call activity
from the Component palette onto the task
flow surface and place it to the left of the
ShowEmployee view activity. Type on
the diagram icon to change its name from
methodCall1 to findEmployeeByEmpno. In
the Data Controls palette, expand the
Employees data collection and its
nested Operations folder to find the
setCurrentRowWithKeyValue opera-
tion. Drag and drop this built-in opera-
tion onto the findEmployeeByEmpno
method activity icon in the diagram.
To configure the parameter value
that will be passed to the default opera-
tion, right-click the new method call
activity, findEmployeeByEmpno, and
select Edit Binding.... In the Parameters
table at the bottom of the Edit Action
Binding dialog box, you’ll see the rowKey
parameter entry. In the Value column for
this parameter, enter the EL expression
#{pageFlowScope.Empno} to use the value
of the task flow parameter as the value of
the primary key for the employee row to
display and click OK.
ND08_FRAMEWORKS.indd 51
Figure 1: show-emp-details task flow
Next we’ll connect the method activ-
ity to the view activity so that after
executing its logic to find the desired
employee row, it will forward control
to render the page fragment. Click
the Control Flow Case tool in the
Component palette. This enables you
to use your mouse as a tool to connect
one item to another with two consecu-
tive mouse clicks. Immediately click
the new method activity first and then
the ShowEmployee view activity. The
default control flow case name will be
setCurrentRowWithKeyValue. Press
Enter to accept the default name.
Continue by again selecting the
findEmployeeByEmpno activity and
note that its fixed-outcome property is
set to setCurrentRowWithKeyValue.
The fixed-outcome property specifies
the name of the navigation case to follow
after the method activity completes.
Finally, note that the ShowEmployee
view activity has a “halo” of color that
surrounds its icon. This identifies it as the
default activity in the task flow. Because
we want the findEmployeeByEmpno
method call activity to execute before the
page fragment displays, we need to mark
it as the default activity instead. To do
this, right-click findEmployeeByEmpno
and choose Mark Activity -> Default
Activity. The color halo changes accord-
ingly. After you save all your changes,
your task flow should look like Figure 1.
At this point, it’s useful to step
through our application logic as a
review of what we’ve done. As the task
flow diagram indicates, when the task
flow starts, it finds an employee by
Empno and then forwards control to
oracle magazine
render the ShowEmployee page frag-
ment. This is a simple example, and
thus we were able to accomplish the
page setup logic by using a built-in
operation without writing any code,
but keep in mind for your own future
task flows that a method call activity
can invoke a backing bean method if
needed for more-complex custom setup
processing. In fact, in Oracle ADF 11g,
this more flexible, visual method call
activity effectively replaces the often
misunderstood, often misused
invokeAction executable technique for
doing page setup logic.
Adding the tAsk Flow As A Region
Let’s see how easy it is to reuse our
task flow as a region in a page. In the
ViewController project, expand the
Web Content folder to expose the
BrowseEmployees.jspx page. Double-
click it to open it in the visual editor.
Also in the ViewController project,
expand the Page Flows subfolder
inside the Web Content folder. Drag the
show-emp-details task flow that appears
there, and drop it into the center facet
of the panelStretchLayout component
that is already on the page. When the
Create context menu appears, select
Region. When Edit Task Flow Binding
appears, enter the EL expression
#{bindings.Employees.Empno} in the
Value column for the Empno input
parameter and click OK. This expres-
sion represents the value of the Empno
attribute in the current row of the
Employees table binding.
Run the page to see the result of
including the region. To do this, right-
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 51
10/6/08 2:47:36 PM
 frameworks

click the BrowseEmployees.jspx page
in the Application Navigator and click
Run. When your browser appears, you’ll
see the table of employee numbers and
names at the left of the page, with the
contents of the reusable show-emp-details
region displaying the full details of the
first employee to the right of the table.
However, if you select a different row in
the table, you’ll notice that the region
does not update. To enable the update, we
need to configure the task flow binding so
that the region will refresh whenever the
values of its input parameters change.
To accomplish this, right-click in the
page and choose Go to Page Definition.
In the Structure window, expand the
executables folder and select the task
flow binding named showempdetails1.
In the Common section of the Property
ferent row in the table, the region will
update to display the Empno value of
the new row. To see it in action, rerun the
BrowseEmployees.jspx page, and, when
your browser launches, click any row in
the table. Because the task flow’s input
parameter is bound to the Empno attribute
in the current row of the table, the region
refreshes to show that row.
I’ve shown you only the simplest-
possible region example in this column,
but the bounded task flows you reuse
as regions can utilize the full power of
the Oracle Application Development
Framework task flow feature. This means
that they can include any combination
of task flow activities, including multiple
view activities whose “current” page frag-
ment specifies the contents of the region
at runtime. This allows great flexibility in
Steve Muench is a consulting product manager for
Oracle JDeveloper and an Oracle ACE. Since 1990 he
has developed and supported Oracle tools and XML
technologies and continues to evangelize them. Muench
coauthored the Oracle ADF Developer’s Guide for
Forms/4GL Developers (Oracle, 2006), wrote Building
Oracle XML Applications (O’Reilly Media, 2000), and
shares tips and tricks on OTN (otn.oracle.com) and in
his “Dive into ADF” blog (radio.weblogs.com/0118231).
nextsTePs
reaD more frameworks
otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/frameworks
reaD more about
oracle JDeveloper and oracle aDf
otn.oracle.com/products/jdev
otn.oracle.com/products/jdev/tips/muench/
designpatterns
Oracle ADF Developer’s Guide
oracle.com/technology/documentation/jdev.html

Inspector, set the Refresh property to the
value ifNeeded. That’s all that’s neces-
sary to have the region “restart” when the
values of its input parameters change.
In this case, when a user clicks a dif-
creating reusable UI components, simple
or complex. You can package them into
libraries, which you or another developer
on your project team can then drop onto
pages wherever necessary. ■
DowNLoaD
oracle JDeveloper 11g
otn.oracle.com/products/jdev/11
starter workspace for this column
otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/08-nov/o68frame.zip

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Senior Circulation Manager.

52 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

ND08_FRAMEWORKS_R1.indd 52 10/14/08 11:50:24 AM

 d e v e l o p e r PL/SQL PracticeS
On Cursor FOR Loops
It’s important to know when not to use cursor FOR loops.
y mentor told me that when query-
ing data I should always use a
cursor FOR loop, even for a single
row lookup. He says it’s the easiest
way to fetch data, and Oracle Database automat-
ically optimizes it in Oracle Database 10g and
above. Do you recommend this practice?
You may want to find a new mentor.
It’s great to learn from others, and it’s
especially wonderful when the lesson
you learn is simple and easy to remem-
ber. It’s not so great, however, when the
advice is simplistic and results in sub-
optimal code. That’s the case with this
cursor FOR loop recommendation.
I have a different set of recommenda-
tions about cursor FOR loops, which I
learned from one of my mentors in the
PL/SQL world, Bryn Llewellyn, Oracle’s
PL/SQL product manager.
■ Never use a cursor FOR loop when
you’re writing new code for normal
production deployment in a multiuser
application.
■ If you expect to retrieve just one row,
use an implicit SELECT INTO query
(which I further recommend that you
place inside its own retrieval function).
■ If you expect to retrieve multiple
rows of data and you know the upper
limit (as in, “I will never get more than
100 rows in this query”), use BULK
COLLECT into a collection of type
varray whose upper limit matches what
you know about the query.
■ If you expect to retrieve multiple
rows of data and you do not know the
upper limit, use BULK COLLECT with
a FETCH statement that relies on a
LIMIT clause to ensure that you do not
consume too much per-session memory.
■ If your existing code contains a cursor
FOR loop, you should perform a cost-
benefit analysis on converting that code,
based on these recommendations.
Let’s take a closer look at these five
ND08_PLSQL.indd 53
codeLiStiNG 1: Encapsulating SELECT INTO in a function
PACKAGE employees_qp
IS
FUNCTION last_name (id_in IN employees.employee_id%TYPE)
RETURN employees.last_name%TYPE;
END employees_qp;
PROCEDURE process_employee (id_in IN employees.employee_id%TYPE)
IS
l_last_name employees.last_name%TYPE;
BEGIN
l_last_name := employees_qp.last_name (id_in);
END process_employee;
cursor FOR loop recommendations.
Never use a cursor FOR loop when writing
new code. This advice may come as
something of a shock to you. Using the
cursor FOR loop construct is a declara-
tive way of asking Oracle Database to
fetch each of the rows specified by your
cursor and then execute the loop body
for that row. You don’t have to explicitly
open the cursor, code the fetch, check
to see if the cursor is exhausted, or close
the cursor. That’s very nice.
The problem with using a cursor FOR
loop is that either it isn’t the appropriate
construct for querying data (as is the case
for a single-row fetch) or it isn’t the most
efficient approach (BULK COLLECT offers
a faster way of querying data).
Having said that, I can identify two
circumstances in which using a cursor
FOR loop would do little harm.
First, if you expect to retrieve a
relatively small number of rows (in the
hundreds at most), a cursor FOR loop’s
performance in Oracle Database 10g and
above will likely meet your requirements.
Oracle Database automatically optimizes
cursor FOR loops to execute similarly to
BULK COLLECT, so you get most of the
advantages of that approach.
Next, if you’re writing a “one-off”
script, or a program that is run only
occasionally and is not in the critical
path of operations, you may want to
oracle magazine
BY steven feuerstei n
choose the simplicity and readability
of the cursor FOR loop over the incre-
mental improvement in performance
(and additional complexity of code) that
BULK COLLECT offers.
Use an implicit SELECT INTO for single-row
fetches. Developers often tell me that
they write a cursor FOR loop to fetch a
single row. Why not? Oracle Database
does so much of the work for you,
saving several lines of code and several
minutes of typing.
But there’s a problem with using a
cursor FOR loop for a single-row fetch:
the resulting code is very misleading. It
looks like you expect to retrieve multiple
rows, yet you get just one.
Will this cause a problem? Maybe
not. However, from a best practices
standpoint, writing code that is trans-
parent in purpose and easy to read and
understand is most important. You
should not write code that appears to do
one thing while it, in fact, does another.
If you need to retrieve a single row and
you know that at most one row should
be retrieved, you should use a SELECT
INTO statement, as in the following:
PROCEDURE process_employee (
id_in IN employees.employee_id%TYPE)
IS
l_last_name employees.last_name%TYPE;
BEGIN
novemBer/decemBer 20 08 53
10/6/08 4:34:04 PM
 pl/sql practices
SELECT e.last_name
INTO l_last_name
FROM employees e
WHERE e.employee_id =
process_employee.id_in;
...
END process_employee;
The implicit SELECT INTO offers
the most-efficient means of returning
that single row of information to your
PL/SQL program. In addition, the use
of SELECT INTO states very clearly that
you expect at most one row, and the
statement will raise exceptions (NO_
DATA_FOUND or TOO_MANY_ROWS)
if your expectations are not met.
I further recommend that you encap-
sulate your SELECT INTO statements
into their own functions whose sole
purpose is to retrieve this one row of
information, as shown in Listing 1.
With this approach, you are much
more likely to reuse that SELECT INTO
rather than write it repeatedly in your
code. This reuse is important, because it
will make optimizing the SQL statements
in your application much easier. In par-
ticular, you will be able to take advantage
of Oracle Database 11g’s function result
cache feature more quickly and smoothly.
BULK COLLECT into a varray when you know
the upper limit. A varray is a collection
that has an upper limit on the number of
elements that can be defined in the col-
lection. This upper limit is specified when
the varray type is declared; it can also
be modified afterward, if you are using
Oracle Database 10g Release 2 or higher.
Listing 2 shows how to define a
varray type and declare a variable based
on this type. If you try to add a 13th
month to this list, Oracle Database will
raise an exception:
BEGIN
l_months.extend;
l_months(13) := ‘Extra-ember’;
END;
ORA-06532: Subscript outside of limit
Varrays offer a very nice mechanism
when you need to retrieve multiple rows
of data efficiently and the number of
54 november/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_PLSQL.indd 54
codelistiNG 2: Defining a varray type and declaring a variable
DECLARE
TYPE at_most_twelve_t IS
VARRAY (12) OF VARCHAR2 (100);
l_months at_most_twelve_t
:= at_most_twelve_t (‘January’
, ‘February’
, ‘March’
, ‘April’
, ‘May’
, ‘June’
, ‘July’
, ‘August’
, ‘September’
, ‘October’
, ‘November’
, ‘December’
);
codelistiNG 3: Using a varray to ensure a limited number of rows
DROP TABLE training_months
/
CREATE TABLE training_months (month_name VARCHAR2(100))
/
BEGIN
/* No trainings in the depths of summer and winter... */
INSERT INTO training_months VALUES (‘March’);
INSERT INTO training_months VALUES (‘April’);
INSERT INTO training_months VALUES (‘May’);
INSERT INTO training_months VALUES (‘June’);
INSERT INTO training_months VALUES (‘September’);
INSERT INTO training_months VALUES (‘October’);
INSERT INTO training_months VALUES (‘November’);
COMMIT;
END;
/
DECLARE
TYPE at_most_twelve_t IS
VARRAY (12) OF VARCHAR2 (100);
l_months at_most_twelve_t;
BEGIN
SELECT month_name
BULK COLLECT INTO l_months
FROM training_months;
FOR indx IN 1 .. l_months.COUNT
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line (l_months (indx));
END LOOP;
END;
/
rows should never exceed a certain limit. lute limit of 12 is respected, as shown in
Suppose, for example, that I have a table Listing 3. If, for some reason, more than
(training_months) of the months in a 12 rows are found in the table, Oracle
year in which I am available to provide Database will raise an exception.
training on the PL/SQL language. There However, there’s one concern with
cannot be more than 12 rows in this this varray approach: what if you know
table, but there may certainly be fewer. the maximum number of elements
I need to retrieve these months into a that can appear in the varray and that
collection and then display each month. I maximum is 1,000,000? This tech-
can use a varray to ensure that the abso- nique will “work,” but the program will
10/6/08 4:34:40 PM
 consume a dangerously large amount
of per-session memory. In this case,
you should forsake the varray. Instead,
switch to an associative array or nested
table and use the LIMIT clause with
BULK COLLECT (as described in the
next section).
By the way, if you are writing back-
end code that serves up data to a state-
less user interface, as is often the case
with browser-based applications, you
would never retrieve so many rows at
once. Instead, consider a “next page”
paradigm, in which the page has a
preset maximum number of rows and
the query that retrieves the next set of
rows includes a WHERE clause that
specifies that range of rows.
BULK COLLECT with LIMIT when you don’t
know the upper limit. BULK COLLECT
helps retrieve multiple rows of data
quickly. Rather than retrieve one row of
data at a time into a record or a set of
individual variables, BULK COLLECT
lets us retrieve hundreds, thousands,
even tens of thousands of rows with a
single context switch to the SQL engine
and deposit all that data into a collection.
The resulting performance improvement
can be an order of magnitude or greater.
However, in such a case, that boost
in performance results in an increase in
the amount of per-session memory con-
sumed by the collection populated by
the query. In addition, each session con-
nected to Oracle Database has its own
per-session memory area. Therefore, a
BULK COLLECT that fetches numerous
rows can seriously affect memory man-
agement on your database server.
So for scenarios in which you need
to fetch multiple rows of data and the
number of rows fetched can be large or
grow over time after your program is put
into production, you should use BULK
COLLECT with the LIMIT clause. Listing
4 shows the use of the LIMIT clause.
The limit value can be a variable; in
this case, I provide a default value of 100
(retrieve up to 100 rows with each fetch).
As for the appropriate limit value, you
will theoretically use the largest number
that can be accommodated within the
per-session memory your DBA feels can
be allocated per connection.
ND08_PLSQL.indd 55
codeLISTING 4: Using the LIMIT clause
PROCEDURE bulk_with_limit (
dept_id_in IN employees.department_id%TYPE
, limit_in IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT 100
)
IS
CURSOR employees_cur
IS
SELECT *
FROM employees
WHERE department_id = dept_id_in;
TYPE employee_tt IS TABLE OF employees_cur%ROWTYPE
INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
l_employees employee_tt;
BEGIN
OPEN employees_cur;
LOOP
FETCH employees_cur
BULK COLLECT INTO l_employees LIMIT limit_in;
FOR indx IN 1 .. l_employees.COUNT
LOOP
process_each_employees (l_employees (indx));
END LOOP;
EXIT WHEN employees_cur%NOTFOUND;
END LOOP;
CLOSE employees_cur;
END bulk_with_limit;
In practice, I haven’t seen significant And a variation on this theme adds a
differences between limits of 100, 500, or paradox: all rules were meant to be
even 1,000. However, I have heard that broken—including these. This concept
for retrieval of very large data sets, devel- is expressed more usefully as the first
opers have obtained optimal performance [meta]principle of PL/SQL best practice:
with limits as high as 25,000. Experiment Do not deviate from any of the principles
with your own data sets and various limit without first discussing with a more
values, and see if the performance varies. experienced programmer the use case
Convert existing cursor FOR loops only that seems to warrant such a deviation. ■
when necessary. To finish this answer,
let’s consider the question of what you Steven Feuerstein (steven.feuerstein@quest.com) is
should do about all those existing cursor Quest Software’s PL/SQL evangelist. He has published
FOR loops in your applications. 10 books on Oracle’s programming language, including
Oracle Database does automatically Oracle PL/SQL Programming and Oracle PL/SQL Best
optimize the performance of cursor FOR Practices (O’Reilly Media). Feuerstein’s self-appointed
loops. They do not generally execute mission in life these days is to improve the quality and
as efficiently as explicitly coded BULK quantity of PL/SQL code testing.
COLLECT statements, but they are
nextSTEPS
much more performant than single-row
fetches. Consequently, I suggest that
you convert cursor FOR loops to BULK READ more
COLLECT retrievals only if you identify Best Practice PL/SQL
a performance bottleneck in that part of otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/plsql
otn.oracle.com/pub/columns/plsql
your code. Otherwise, leave the cursor
FOR loop in place. DOWNLOAD Oracle Database 11g
otn.oracle.com/software/products/database
That’s it for my recommendations. But
DISCUSS PL/SQL
an unattributed programmers’ axiom has forums.oracle.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumiD=75
it that rules exist to serve, not to enslave.
oracle magazine november/december 20 08 55
10/6/08 4:35:01 PM
 d e v e l o p e r ODP.NET
Instant ODP.NET Deployment
Deploy ODP.NET applications instantly with Oracle Data Access Components.
eploying applications can
sometimes be a challeng-
ing process, involving large,
complex installations. Oracle
Data Access Components 11g with
Xcopy deployment, however, enables
Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP
.NET) developers deploying their
applications to take advantage of key
features that reduce client installation
size, complexity, and maintenance.
Oracle Data Access Components
11g with Xcopy deployment includes
the lightweight Oracle Database Instant
Client, which is less than one-third the
size of a full client installation. In addi-
tion, Oracle Database Instant Client
enables developers to install their client
software (including ODP.NET) without
Windows Registry or Oracle Home set-
tings on the client machine. (Note that
although this column focuses on ODP
.NET, Oracle Database Instant Client
also supports SQL*Plus, JDBC-OCI
[Oracle Call Interface], ODBC, Oracle
Providers for ASP.NET, Oracle Provider
for OLE DB, Oracle Objects for OLE,
and Oracle Services for Microsoft
Transaction Server.)
You can maintain or upgrade Oracle
Database Instant Client installations by
simply overlaying a new version over
an existing one, and best of all, Oracle
Database Instant Client is a free compo-
nent. This means that you can develop
and distribute your ODP.NET applica-
tions at no cost.
This column walks you through
the steps necessary to install Oracle
Data Access Components 11g with
Xcopy deployment (which includes
Oracle Database Instant Client and
ODP.NET) on a developer machine,
build a simple console-based ODP.NET
application using Microsoft Visual C#
2008 Express Edition that connects to
56 novemBer/decemBer 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_ODPNET.indd 56
Oracle Database, and then distribute
the client and application to a target
(client) computer.
What You Need to Get Started
Every environment is different, and
you can make adjustments to the steps
presented here, as necessary, to fit your
environment. However, to best take
advantage of these steps, you should
have access to the following:
■ Oracle Data Access Components 11g
with Xcopy deployment.
■ Oracle Database (Oracle9i Database
Release 2 or higher; any edition, includ-
ing Oracle Database 10g Express Edition).
■ Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Express
Edition (or any full version of Microsoft
Visual Studio).
■ A separate development machine,
deployment target machine, and data-
base server. This column uses three
machines, but you can follow the steps
with a single machine.
Here is some important information
about each of the three machines in
my environment:
■ liverpool: Oracle Database 10g Express
Edition running Oracle Enterprise
Linux. The HR sample schema will be
used in this database in the sample
application. No installation activity will
take place directly on this machine.
■ chesham: The developer machine
running Microsoft Windows XP. This
machine has Visual Studio C# 2008
Express Edition installed. There are no
Oracle components on this machine at
the beginning of the process.
■ chepstow: The deployment target
machine running Windows XP. This
machine has the .NET Framework 3.5
installed. There are no Oracle compo-
nents installed on this machine at the
beginning of the process.
To download and install Oracle Data
BY m a r k a . Wi lli ams
Access Components 11.1.0.6.21 with
Xcopy deployment:
1. Download the ODAC1110621Xcopy
.zip file from Oracle Technology
Network (see nextSTEPS for the specific
location) to the C:\Temp directory on
the developer machine (chesham in my
case). Create this directory if necessary.
2. Extract the zip file to the C:\Temp
directory, using the correct means on
your machine.
3. To install Oracle Data Access
Components on the developer machine,
execute the install.bat batch file. Click
the Start button, select Run…, type
cmd in the Run dialog box, and click
OK. This opens a new command
prompt window.
4. In the command prompt window, type
cd /d C:\Temp and press Enter to change
directories to the C:\Temp directory.
5. Type install.bat odp.net20 c:\
oracle\11.1\odac odac11 and press
Enter to install Oracle Data Access
Components. This will install the
ODP.NET 2.0 and Oracle Database
Instant Client components into the c:\
oracle\11.1\odac directory and create
a registry key called KEY_odac11. For
full details of the options available with
install.bat, see the readme.txt file in the
C:\Temp directory.
6. Type exit and press Enter to exit the
command prompt window.
7. Now you can remove the downloaded
and extracted files from the C:\Temp
directory if you choose.
8. The last step in installing Oracle
Data Access Components and Oracle
Database Instant Client on the devel-
oper machine is to add two items to
the Path environment variable. Right-
click the My Computer icon and select
Properties from the context menu.
Next, click the Advanced tab in the
System Properties dialog box and then
10/7/08 4:27:16 PM
 codeLISTING 1: Program.cs code for NovDec2008 solution dialog box, enter NovDec2008 for
Name, and click OK.
using System;
using Oracle.DataAccess.Client;
2. Once Visual Studio has finished
creating the initial solution, right-click
namespace NovDec2008 { the References node in the Solution
class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) {
Explorer and select Add Reference
// create connection string using EZCONNECT format from the context menu. In the Add
// this format specifies the server and the Oracle Reference dialog box, scroll down the
// service name as the datasource
// using the format: server/oracle service name
list and select Oracle.DataAccess in
// no tnsnames.ora or sqlnet.ora file is needed the Component column. Click OK
to add the reference to the ODP.NET
string constr = “User Id=hr; “ +
“Password=hr; “ +
assembly to the solution. Right-click
“Data Source=liverpool/xe”; Oracle.DataAccess in the References
list; select Properties; and in the
// create connection object
OracleConnection con = new OracleConnection(constr);
Properties list, be sure Copy Local is
set to True.
// use “try” block to open connection 3. Replace all the code in the
// if an error occurs, simply display the message
// since there is a “catch” block a “using” statement is not used
Program.cs source file with that in
try { Listing 1. (For details on the Easy
// attempt to open the connection Connect [EZCONNECT] naming method
con.Open();
used in this code, see the Oracle Database
// if no exception was thrown this line will execute Net Services Administrator’s Guide.)
// display simple success message 4. Select File -> Save All from the
Console.WriteLine(“Successfully connected to Oracle!\n”);
main menu and leave NovDec2008 for
// display the connection string (without password) Name. Select an appropriate location,
Console.WriteLine(“Connection String: “ + con.ConnectionString); such as C:\NovDec2008, or accept the
}
catch (OracleException ex) {
default. Uncheck the Create directory
// an OracleException was thrown for solution check box and click Save
// simply display the message to save the solution.
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
5. Build the application, by selecting
finally { Build -> Build Solution from the
// clean up the connection object main menu.
con.Dispose();
}
6. Test the application, by selecting
Debug -> Start Debugging from the
// prevent the console from closing when running in VS environment main menu. If there are no errors, you
Console.WriteLine();
Console.Write(“ENTER to continue...”);
should see output similar to the follow-
Console.ReadLine(); ing in the command window:
}
}
}
Successfully connected to Oracle!

Connection String: User Id=hr; Data

click the Environment Variables
button. In the System variables group,
locate the Path variable in the list
(scroll down if necessary). Click the
Path variable in the list and then click
Edit. In the Edit System Variable dialog
box, place the cursor at the beginning
of the entries and type C:\oracle\11.1\
odac;C:\oracle\11.1\odac\bin;. Click OK
to close the Edit System Variable dialog
box, click OK to close the Environment
Variables dialog box, and finally
click OK again to close the System
Properties dialog box.
You can use the NLS_LANG envi-
ronment variable to localize language
settings. Refer to the Oracle Database
Globalization Support Guide for addi-
tional information.
Create the Visual studio solution and
Build the appliCation
To create the Visual Studio solution, do
the following:
1. Start Visual C# 2008 Express
Edition, select File -> New Project
from the main menu, select Console
Application from the New Project
Source=liverpool/xe
ENTER to continue...
7. Now that you have built the solution,
exit Visual Studio by selecting File ->
Exit from the main menu.
deploy oraCle dataBase instant Client
and appliCation
In this section, you will see firsthand
why “Xcopy” is part of the Oracle Data
Access Components distribution file-
name. You use the xcopy command to

oracle magazine november/december 20 08 57

ND08_ODPNET.indd 57 10/7/08 4:27:43 PM

 ODP.NET
copy both the Oracle client files and
the application files to the deploy-
ment target. (Note that you will need
appropriate permissions on the deploy-
ment target machine. If you have any
questions about permissions or need
to make adjustments to the process,
contact your local system administrator.)
To complete the deployment of
Oracle Database Instant Client and the
application you just created to the target
machine, do the following:
1. On the developer machine (chesham
in my case), open a command prompt
window by first clicking Start -> Run,
then typing cmd in the Run dialog box,
and clicking OK.
2. Now execute the net use command
to map the administrative share of the C
drive on the deployment target machine
to the developer machine. In the
command prompt window, type the fol-
lowing command (making any necessary
adjustments for your environment):
C:\>net use \\chepstow\c$
The password or user name is invalid
for \\chepstow\c$.
Enter the user name for ‘chepstow’: oracle
Enter the password for chepstow:
The command completed successfully.
Note that you may be prompted for
credential information if the credentials
you used to log in to the developer
machine are not valid on the deploy-
ment target machine. (In this example,
my credentials were not valid on the
deployment target machine.)
3. Now deploy the Oracle installation to
the deployment target machine:
xcopy /e /f c:\oracle \\chepstow\
c$\oracle\
The files will be listed as they are copied.
4. Next, deploy the application files to
the deployment target machine. Be sure
to use the path you specified when saving
the solution (such as C:\NovDec2008),
and if the path contains spaces, use
double quotes around the pathname. I
used the following command:
58 november/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_ODPNET.indd 58
xcopy /e /f C:\NovDec2008\bin\Release \\
chepstow\c$\temp\NovDec2008\
5. As you did on the developer
machine, you need to add two items
to the Path environment variable on
the deployment target machine. On the
deployment target machine (chepstow
in my environment), right-click the My
Computer icon and select Properties
from the context menu. Next, click
the Advanced tab in the System
Properties dialog box and then click
the Environment Variables button. In
the System variables group, locate the
Path variable in the list. (Scroll down
if necessary.) Click the Path variable
in the list and then click Edit. In the
Edit System Variable dialog box, place
the cursor at the beginning of the
entries and type C:\oracle\11.1\odac;C:\
oracle\11.1\odac\bin;. Click OK to
close the Edit System Variable dialog
box, click OK to close the Environment
Variables dialog box, and finally
click OK again to close the System
Properties dialog box.
ExEcutE thE ApplicAtion on thE
tArgEt MAchinE
You have successfully deployed the
Oracle client files and the application
files to the deployment target machine,
and now it is time to verify that the
application works as expected. (Note
that there are no network configuration
files to create or manage in my deploy-
ment scenario.)
To verify that the deployed applica-
tion is working properly on the target
machine, do the following:
1. On the deployment target machine
(chepstow in my environment), open
a command prompt window by first
clicking Start -> Run, then typing cmd
in the Run dialog box, and clicking OK.
2. Change to the directory where the
application files were copied:
cd /d C:\temp\NovDec2008
3. Execute the application, by typing
NovDec2008, and verify that the output is
the same as what was produced on the
developer machine.
Congratulations! You have success-
fully created and deployed an Oracle
Data Access Components with Xcopy
deployment application.
conclusion
This column has demonstrated how to
install Oracle Data Access Components
11.1.0.6.21 with Xcopy deployment
components; develop a simple ODP
.NET application to verify functional-
ity; and deploy both the Oracle client
and application files to a deployment
target, using the xcopy command.
Xcopy deployment is especially useful
if you want to customize an install
package with an Oracle client or you
are seeking ways to deploy an Oracle
client to numerous client machines.
These steps are just one way to
accomplish the goal of simpler and
smaller application deployments. I
recommend taking these steps and
adapting them to what works best in
your environment. ■
Mark A. Williams (mawilliams@cheshamdbs.com)
is an Oracle ACE director, an Oracle Certified
Professional DBA, the author of Pro .NET Oracle
Programming (Apress, 2004), and a contributor to
the Oracle Data Provider for .NET forum on Oracle
Technology Network.
nextSTEPS
READ more ODP.NET
otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/odpnet
DOWNLOAD
Oracle Data Access Components with
Xcopy deployment
otn.oracle.com/software/tech/windows/odpnet
Oracle Database Instant Client
otn.oracle.com/software/tech/oci/instantclient
the sample application for this column
otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/08-nov/o68odpnet.zip
LEARN more about ODP.NET
The .NET Developer Center
otn.oracle.com/dotnet
Oracle Data Provider for .NET Developer’s Guide
download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/win.111/
b28375/toc.htm
Oracle Database Net Services Administrator’s Guide
download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/
network.111/b28316/toc.htm
Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide
download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/server.111/
b28298/toc.htm
10/7/08 4:28:18 PM
 t e c h n o l o g y HigH AvAilAbility
Keeping Active
Use Oracle Active Data Guard to set up a physical standby database for reporting and recovery.
hysical standby databases
provide a rock-solid mecha-
nism for high availability and
disaster recovery. In a nutshell, the
physical standby database is a physical
copy of the source (primary) database,
and the redo entries from the primary
database are applied to the standby
database continuously
(or periodically) over the
network to keep it in sync.
If the primary database
fails, the standby database
can be quickly activated—
a process known as role
reversal—enabling appli-
cations to connect to the
database that was called the
standby before and resume
processing without a sig-
nificant delay.
A valuable property
of the physical standby
database is that it can
be opened for read-only
access. This makes it highly
desirable for reporting and other appli-
cations that need not be run on the
primary database, reducing the load
there considerably.
In the past, when you opened a
physical standby database for read-only
access, you had to stop the application
of redo entries to the standby database.
With the redo application stopped, the
standby database might not have been
ready to immediately take over for
the primary database if that database
failed. However, a new option of Oracle
Database 11g called Oracle Active Data
Guard allows you to continue apply-
ing redo changes while the physical
standby database is open in read-only
mode. This makes efficient use of the
daN huBig
standby database for reporting applica-
tions without compromising the speed
ND08_DataGuard.indd 59
of standby database activation in the
event of a primary database failure.
Oracle Active Data Guard is even
more useful when you enable real time
apply, which applies the changes on the
primary database in near real time to
the standby database. With this com-
bination, the reporting applications
accessing the standby database view
data almost as soon as it appears in the
primary database.
This article shows how to build an
Oracle Active Data Guard infrastructure
with real time apply.
A Quick Primer
Let’s look at how Oracle Active Data
Guard with real time apply works for a
physical standby database. As Figure 1
illustrates, the primary database gener-
ates redo entries as users modify data,
and these entries are written to the
online redo log files by a process called
log writer (LGWR), an integral part of
the Oracle Database instance.
The LGWR process sends redo
entries directly to the standby server,
using a subprocess called log writer
oracle magazine
By a rup NaNda
network server (LNS). A process on
the standby database called remote file
server (RFS) gets the redo stream from
the LNS and writes it to the standby
redo log files.
A managed recovery process coor-
dinates the reads from the standby
redo log files as they are written and,
using media recovery,
updates the standby data-
base immediately. (This
managed recovery process
is active only when the
standby database is in
managed recovery mode.)
Physical standby data-
bases can operate in dif-
ferent modes. The default,
described here and shown
in Figure 1, is maximum
performance mode.
Active StePS
To demonstrate the
Oracle Active Data Guard
infrastructure with real
time apply, I use the following
database setup:
Primary Standby
Server prisvr1 sbysvr1
Database Pridb Sbydb
There is a simple way to build a
physical standby database by using
Oracle Recovery Manager (Oracle
RMAN) commands in Oracle Database
11g, and I also make use of that feature.
This article also assumes that Oracle
Automatic Storage Management is used
on both the primary and standby data-
bases. The primary database is on one
disk group: DATA1.
Prerequisites. The following prerequi-
sites are required for running through
NovemBer/decemBer 20 08 59
10/7/08 2:59:47 PM
 HigH AvAilAbility

TNS entry for the standby database:

Database Instance: Database Instance:
Primary Database (PRIDB) Standby Database (SBYDB)
sbydb =
(description =
Database Writer Database Writer (address_list =
Process (DBWn) Process (DBWn) (address = (protocol = tcp)
System Monitor System Monitor (host = sbysvr1)(port = 1521))
Process (SMON) Process (SMON) )
Process Monitor Process Monitor (connect_data =
Process (PMON) Process (PMON) (sid = sbydb)
Log Writer
)
(LGWR) )
Remote File
Server (RFS) Managed
Process
5. Copy the password file on the
m
strea Recovery
redo
Log Writer Network s the
Send Process
Server (LNS) primary server, usually named
orapwpridb, to the standby server
under the $ORACLE_HOME/dbs direc-
ds
a
re tory. Rename the file orapwsbydb. This
will serve as the password file for the
standby database (sbydb).
Database Redo Log Files Standby Redo Log Files Standby Database 6. On the standby server, edit the
listener.ora file under $ORACLE_
Figure 1: Oracle Active Data Guard physical standby database architecture with real time apply in maximum
performance mode HOME/network/admin to add the
information about the new standby
the steps in this article: SQL> select value database instance:
1. Both the primary and the standby 2 from v$parameter
databases must be running the 3 where name = ‘spfile’ (sid_desc =
same release of Oracle Database 11g, 4 / (global_dbname = sbydb)
Enterprise Edition. (oracle_home = /opt/oracle/
2. The Oracle Active Data Guard option VALUE product/11g/db1)
must be installed. (The Oracle Active ------------------------------------------------ (sid_name = sbydb)
Data Guard option is licensed separately ?/dbs/spfilepridb.ora )
from Oracle Database.)
3. The primary database must be in The output confirms that an spfile Restart the listener, by executing
archive log mode. is in use. If the output is null, an spfile lsnrctl reload, for this to take effect.
Preparation. Complete the following is not in use. In that case, create an 7. Still on the standby server under
setup of the primary database, and spfile from the pfile, using the follow- $ORACLE_HOME/dbs, create a file
prepare to create the standby database. ing SQL statement: called initsbydb.ora with just one line:
1. Standby databases operate from the
entries made in the redo log files. If SQL> create spfile from pfile; db_name=pridb
an operation uses the NOLOGGING
option, as in the case of INSERT /*+ If you create the spfile, you will need This file will be used to start the
APPEND */ statements or SQL*Loader to recycle the primary database for the standby database instance, and the rest
with the DIRECT option, the redo spfile to take effect. of the parameters will be created on
entries will be skipped. To force entries 3. Still on the primary database, create the fly. Note that the database name of
from these operations to go to the redo standby redo log files, by executing the the standby is pridb—the same as the
logs, issue the following SQL statement following commands: primary, even though the instance name
on the primary database: is different.
SQL> alter database add standby redo logfile 8. On the standby server, create the
SQL> alter database enable force logging group 4 (‘+DATA1/sby_log01.rdo’) size 50M; directory to hold the audit trace files.
In the $ORACLE_BASE/admin direc-
This will force redo logging even SQL> alter database add standby redo logfile tory, create a subdirectory called sbydb
when the NOLOGGING option is used. group 5 (‘+DATA1/sby_log02.rdo’) size 50M; (the name of the standby instance).
2. Make sure the primary database is Then under sbydb, create a subdirectory
using a server parameter file (spfile): 4. Also on the primary server, create a called adump. This will hold the audit

60 November/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

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 codeLISTING 1: Oracle RMAN script for creating the standby database This indicates that the Oracle RMAN
job completed successfully and created
1 connect target sys/oracle123@pridb
2 connect auxiliary sys/oracle123@sbydb the physical standby database.
3 The standby database is now running
4 run {
in managed recovery mode—you don’t
5 allocate channel p1 type disk;
6 allocate auxiliary channel s1 type disk; have to do anything to keep it in sync.
7 The redo entries will be shipped from
8 duplicate target database for standby from active database
the primary to the standby database and
9 spfile
10 parameter_value_convert ‘pridb’,’sbydb’ applied there automatically.
11 set db_unique_name=’sbydb’ If you want to stop the managed
12 set db_file_name_convert=’/pridb/’,’/sbydb/’
recovery process (and the redo log
13 set log_file_name_convert=’/pridb/’,’/sbydb/’
14 set control_files=’+DATA1/sbydb/control01.ctl’ application), execute this SQL statement
15 set log_archive_max_processes=’5’ on the standby database:
16 set fal_client=’sbydb’
17 set fal_server=’pridb’
18 set standby_file_management=’AUTO’ SQL> alter database recover managed
19 set log_archive_config=’dg_config=(pridb,sbydb)’ standby database cancel;
20 set log_archive_dest_2=’service=pridb lgwr async valid_for=(online_logfiles,primary_role)
db_unique_name=sbydb’
21 set log_archive_dest_state_2=’enable’ When you are ready to restart the
22 set log_archive_format=’sbydb_%t_%s_%r.arc’ managed recovery process, issue
23 ;
24 sql channel p1 “alter system set log_archive_config=’’dg_config=(pridb,sbydb)’’”;
25 sql channel p1 “alter system set log_archive_dest_2=’’service=sbydb lgwr async SQL> alter database
valid_for=(online_logfiles,primary_role) db_unique_name=sbydb ‘’”; recover managed standby database
26 sql channel p1 “alter system set log_archive_max_processes=5”;
using current logfile disconnect;
27 sql channel p1 “alter system set fal_client=pridb”;
28 sql channel p1 “alter system set fal_server=sbydb”;
29 sql channel p1 “alter system set standby_file_management=auto”; Using the DISCONNECT clause
30 sql channel p1 “alter system set log_archive_dest_state_2=enable”;
allows control to return to the user, and
31 sql channel p1 “alter system archive log current”;
32 sql channel s1 “alter database recover managed standby database using current logfile the log application process goes on in
disconnect”; the background.
33 }

trail files for the SYSDBA connections.
Creation. Now that the setup is complete,
let’s create the standby database.
1. On the standby server, start the data-
base instance only:
sqlplus / as sysdba
■ Shuts down the standby database
instance and restarts it with the newly
created spfile
■ Creates a standby controlfile on the
primary database and copies it over to
the standby server
■ Creates a clone database on the standby
Active StAndby
Now you can bring up the standby data-
base in read-only mode and continue
to have the standby database updated
from the primary. Here are the steps to
achieve that:
1. Stop the managed recovery process:

SQL> startup nomount
2. On the primary server, execute the
Oracle RMAN cr_sbydb.rman script,
shown in Listing 1, by issuing the fol-
lowing command:
$ rman cmdfile=cr_sbydb.rman
log=cr_sbydb.log
The process may take a long time,
depending on the size of the database.
(While the Oracle RMAN process is
running, you can tail the cr_sbydb.log
log file to check the progress and spot
any errors.)
The Oracle RMAN script does
the following:
server using Oracle RMAN cloning
■ Converts the cloned database to a
physical standby database
Table 1 shows a line-by-line explana-
tion of the script in Listing 1.
The log file for the cr_sbydb.rman
script is available in the online version
of this article, at otn.oracle.com/
oramag/oracle/08-nov/o68adg.html. The
end of the log file includes the follow-
ing lines:
media recovery complete,
elapsed time: 00:00:02
Finished recover at 25-MAY-08
Finished Duplicate Db at 25-MAY-08
sql statement: alter system archive
log current
SQL> alter database recover managed
standby database cancel;
2. Open the standby database as
read-only:
SQL> alter database open read only;
3. Restart the managed recovery process:
SQL> alter database
recover managed standby database
using current logfile disconnect;
Now the standby database is being
updated, but it is simultaneously open
for read-only access—this is the essence
of Oracle Active Data Guard.

oracle magazine november/december 20 08 61

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 HigH AvAilAbility

Lines Description instead of the primary to reduce the

1, 2 Connects to primary and standby instances as SYSDBA. (This is why you need to copy the load on the latter. And, better yet, you
password file of the primary server to the standby server.) can take the backup even when the
5, 6 Allocates two channels—p1 and s1—for primary and standby databases, respectively. standby database is open in read-only
8 Oracle RMAN duplicate command creates a clone of the primary database. and managed recovery mode.
9 An spfile must be created from the initialization parameter file (pfile) and updated with the
parameters in lines 10 through 22.
CONCLUSION
10 If a parameter contains the name of the primary database (pridb), it should be converted to
the name of the standby database (sbydb). This line causes the parameter to be changed in the The physical standby database is a
standby database. physical replica of the primary data-
11 Specifies the unique name of the standby database. base, kept in sync by the application of
12, 13 The names of the datafiles are changed from the primary to standby naming conventions. For redo log entries from the primary data-
example, the +DATA1/pridb/system_01.dbf file will be copied and maintained as +DATA1/sbydb/
system_01.dbf. This is not required if the standby database is on a different server (as is the case base. With Oracle Active Data Guard
now) but may be a good practice to separate the names. and real time apply, the log entries are
16, 17 Specifies the fetch archived log (FAL) process parameters: the FAL server is the primary database applied in real time but the primary
(pridb), which pushes changes to redo log files to the FAL client—the standby database (sbydb).
database does not wait for the redo
19 The Oracle Active Data Guard configuration parameters—the primary and standby databases,
respectively—are defined here. application to complete, thereby pro-
20 This is where the mode of redo shipping is defined. The changes to redo logs are shipped to the tecting itself from failures or slowdowns
standby database’s standby redo logs via the log writer (LGWR) process. The process of writing is in the shipment of log information from
asynchronous (as specified by the ASYNC parameter).
the primary to the standby database.
32 This starts the managed recovery process. The USING CURRENT LOGFILE clause enables real time
apply. The DISCONNECT clause returns control to the user and runs the log application process Using the Oracle Active Data Guard
in the background. option, you can open the physical
Table 1: Explanation of the standby database creation script (Listing 1) standby database for read-only opera-
tions while the managed recovery
codeliStiNg 2: Partial output of the standby database’s alert log process is going on. You can offload all
reporting applications and the Oracle
2008-05-30 17:46:22.593000 -04:00
Media Recovery Waiting for thread 1 sequence 628 RMAN backup to the standby database,
2008-05-30 17:46:23.928000 -04:00 easing the load on the primary database
Primary database is in MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE mode considerably. And because the standby
kcrrvslf: active RFS archival for log 4 thread 1 sequence 627
RFS[1]: Successfully opened standby log 5: ‘+DATA1/sby_log02.rdo’ database is being recovered continu-
2008-05-30 17:46:28.717000 -04:00 ously with real time apply, the standby
Recovery of Online Redo Log: Thread 1 Group 5 Seq 628 Reading mem 0 database can be activated and used
Mem# 0: +DATA1/sby_log02.rdo
immediately in case the primary data-
base fails. This combination of features
4. To test the “active” part of Oracle logs on the primary database, first makes the investment in Oracle Active
Active Data Guard, create a table in the switch the log file: Data Guard very worthwhile. ■
primary database:
SQL> alter system switch logfile; Arup Nanda (arup@proligence.com) has been an
SQL> create table test (col1 number); Oracle DBA for more than 14 years, handling all
7. Now observe the alert log of the aspects of database administration, from performance
5. After a few seconds, check the standby database. Use the automatic tuning to security and disaster recovery. He was Oracle
existence of the table in the standby diagnostic repository command inter- Magazine’s DBA of the Year in 2003.
database: preter (ADRCI) tool, new in Oracle
Database 11g:
SQL> select table_name from user_tables nextStEPS
where table_name = ‘TEST’; $ adrci READ online-only article content
adrci> show alert -tail -f otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/08-nov/o68adg.html

The table will be present. The lEARN more about

standby database is open in read-only
mode, but it is still applying the logs
from the primary database. This feature
enables you to run reports against it
without sacrificing the ability to put
the standby database into the primary
role quickly.
6. To confirm the application of redo
The output is shown in Listing 2.
The log message confirms that standby
log group 5 was opened. The log was
switched on the standby database
when the log switch occurred on the
primary database.
You can take an Oracle RMAN
backup from the standby database
Oracle Active Data guard
oracle.com/database/active-data-guard.html
otn.oracle.com/deploy/availability/htdocs/
activedataguard.html
Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration
download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/server.111/
b28294/toc.htm
Oracle high-availability solutions
oracle.com/database/high-availability.html

62 November/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

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 t e c h n o l o g y SQL DEVELOPER BY SUE HARPER

Programming Productively
Use Oracle SQL Developer to work efficiently with PL/SQL constructs.
ou can become a more pro- codeLISTING 1: Calculating the bonus amount
ductive PL/SQL developer
DECLARE -- declare and assign values
when you use efficient methods bonus_rate NUMBER(2,3) := 0.05;
to debug code that won’t bonus NUMBER(8,2);
emp_id NUMBER(6) := 120; -- assign a test value for employee ID
compile, locate constructs you want to
BEGIN
reuse, test your code, and learn how -- retrieve a salary from the employees table, then calculate the bonus and
much time your program spends in -- assign the value to the bonus variable
SELECT salary * bonus_rate INTO bonus FROM employees
each subprogram. Working with
WHERE employee_id = emp_id;
PL/SQL in Oracle SQL Developer can -- display the employee_id, bonus amount, and bonus rate
help you accomplish these tasks. In DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ( ‘Employee: ‘ || TO_CHAR(emp_id)
|| ‘ Bonus: ‘ || TO_CHAR(bonus) || ‘ Bonus Rate: ‘ || TO_CHAR(bonus_rate));
the November/December 2007 issue of
END;
Oracle Magazine, this column covered /
PL/SQL development primarily from a
debugging—including remote debug-
ging—perspective. In this column,
you’ll learn how to
■ Create, edit, and run PL/SQL code

efficiently
■ Work with stored procedures and

packages productively
■ Access Oracle Database 11g features

that enable PL/SQL hierarchical profiling

and highly detailed search
This column’s examples use Oracle
SQL Developer 1.5.1. You also need
access to the sample HR schema in any
Oracle Database instance.

WORKING WITH ANONYMOUS BLOCKS

You can use Oracle SQL Developer
to create anonymous PL/SQL blocks.
Anonymous blocks are not stored in the
database, so you can use them to test a
piece of functionality quickly.
Start Oracle SQL Developer, and
create a new database connection for
the HR sample schema. (For detailed
information on creating a connection,
follow the link to “Creating a Database Figure 1: Refactoring
Connection” in “nextSTEPS” or see
“Making Database Connections,” in the salary and displays the employee ID, DBMS Output button.
May/June 2008 issue of Oracle Magazine.) bonus amount, and bonus rate: 3. Run the PL/SQL code by clicking the
A SQL worksheet opens automatically. 1. Enter the code from Listing 1 into the SQL worksheet’s Run Script button or
Follow these steps to create and run SQL worksheet. pressing F5.
an anonymous block that calculates the 2. Click the DBMS Output tab (below 4. Click the DBMS Output tab to see
bonus amount for a given employee’s the SQL worksheet) and the Enable the employee ID, bonus, and bonus rate.

ORACLE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 20 08 63

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 SQL DeveLoper
codeLISTING 2: Editing the emp_actions package
PROCEDURE hire_employee (lastname VARCHAR2,
firstname VARCHAR2, email VARCHAR2, phoneno VARCHAR2,
hiredate DATE, jobid VARCHAR2, sal NUMBER, commpct NUMBER,
mgrid NUMBER, deptid NUMBER);
PROCEDURE remove_employee (empid NUMBER);
FUNCTION emp_sal_ranking (empid NUMBER) RETURN NUMBER;
Figure 2: PL/SQL package specification
Using Code insight
Now return to the SQL worksheet, and
insert a new row in the declaration
section, below the declaration of emp_id
(insert the cursor and press Enter). In
the new row, type
emp_name varchar2(25);
Note that as you start typing
varchar2(25), a code insight list appears
so that you can select varchar2 rather
than type it. Code insight is available
for you in the SQL worksheet and in
the PL/SQL Code Editor, which you’ll
work with later in this column.
Now edit the SELECT statement so
that it looks like this:
SELECT salary * bonus_rate, last_name
INTO bonus, emp_name FROM employees
WHERE employee_id = emp_id;
As you start typing last_name, note
that code insight can access details from
64 November/december 20 08
ND08_SQL_DEV.indd 64
the EMPLOYEES table and from the
PL/SQL block declaration.
navigating to errors
Next, replace TO_CHAR(emp_id) with
TO_CHAR(emp_name). Press F5 to run the
code. You should see the employee’s last
name in the DMBS Output tab.
Now remove emp_name from the
SELECT statement and rerun your code
(press F5). An error report displayed
on the Script Output tab shows the
line number and column position of the
error. Right-click in the SQL worksheet
gutter (to the left of the code text), and
select Toggle Line Numbers to switch
on the line numbers. This helps you
navigate to the point of the error. Find
the error, fix the code (restore emp_name
to the SELECT statement), and rerun it.
refaCtoring Code
When you refactor code, it’s important
not to change the meaning or function
of any code you modify. Oracle SQL
oracle.com/oraclemagazine
Developer 1.5 introduced code refactoring
to help make refactoring easier and safer.
In the SQL worksheet, highlight
the complete SELECT statement, right-
click, and select Refactoring -> Extract
Procedure…, as shown in Figure 1.
Select Stored, and enter bonus_
update in the Name field. Click OK.
The Confirm Running SQL window
shows the PL/SQL stored procedure that
will be created. Note that each of the
parameters created is an IN OUT param-
eter. Because you are passing in two
parameters and expecting two out, you
can adjust these later as appropriate. But
the code will work as defined, so for now,
click Yes.
Review the code in the SQL work-
sheet, and note that the SELECT state-
ment has been replaced with a call to
the new PL/SQL bonus_update pro-
cedure. Now expand the Procedures
node in the Connections Navigator.
Right-click BONUS_UPDATE, and
select Compile. Now run the PL/SQL
code in the SQL worksheet again. Select
the DBMS Output tab to verify that the
code works as it did before.
Working With stored ProCedUres
Next, select BONUS_UPDATE in the
Connections Navigator to display the
code you created by refactoring. Right-
click BONUS_UPDATE, and select Run.
Whenever you run a PL/SQL pro-
cedure or package in Oracle SQL
Developer, a Run PL/SQL window
opens. It displays an anonymous
PL/SQL block that is automatically
created for PL/SQL programs. Here you
can see the IN OUT parameters listed
at the top and in the anonymous block.
Update this PL/SQL block by changing
BONUS_RATE := NULL;
EMP_ID := NULL;
to
BONUS_RATE := 0.05;
EMP_ID := 120;
Scroll down to review the rest of the
code, and click OK. The output now
displays in the Running - Log window.
10/7/08 11:38:18 AM
 codeLISTING 3: Editing a package specification able in the SQL worksheet.
A PL/SQL specification skeleton is
PROCEDURE hire_employee (lastname VARCHAR2,
firstname VARCHAR2, email VARCHAR2, phoneno VARCHAR2, hiredate DATE, prepared for you, based on the details
jobid VARCHAR2, sal NUMBER, commpct NUMBER, mgrid NUMBER, deptid NUMBER) IS you supplied. Replace the TODO
min_sal employees.salary%TYPE; -- variable to hold minimum salary for jobid
comment with the code in Listing 2,
max_sal employees.salary%TYPE; -- variable to hold maximum salary for jobid
seq_value NUMBER; -- variable to hold next sequence value and click the Compile button (or press
BEGIN Ctrl-Shift-F9) to compile the code, as
-- get the next sequence number in the employees_seq sequence
shown in Figure 2.
SELECT employees_seq.NEXTVAL INTO seq_value FROM DUAL;
-- use the next sequence number for the new employee_id Generate and edit the body stub. Once
INSERT INTO employees VALUES (seq_value, lastname, firstname, email, you have compiled the code, the
phoneno, hiredate, jobid, sal, commpct, mgrid, deptid);
EMP_ACTIONS specification appears in
SELECT min_salary INTO min_sal FROM jobs WHERE job_id = jobid;
SELECT max_salary INTO max_sal FROM jobs WHERE job_id = jobid; the Connections Navigator. Right-click
IF sal > max_sal THEN EMP_ACTIONS, and select Create
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(‘Warning: ‘ || TO_CHAR(sal)
Body. Oracle SQL Developer creates a
|| ‘ is greater than the maximum salary ‘
|| TO_CHAR(max_sal) || ‘ for the job classification ‘ || jobid ); skeleton (or stub) for each of the proce-
ELSIF sal < min_sal THEN dures and functions you declared in the
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(‘Warning: ‘ || TO_CHAR(sal)
specification, along with the parameters
|| ‘ is less than the minimum salary ‘
|| TO_CHAR(min_sal) || ‘ for the job classification ‘ || jobid ); declared. In the gutter, right-click and
END IF; select Collapse procedure declarations/
END hire_employee;
bodies. Replace each of the three
-- code for procedure remove_employee, which removes an existing employee program units with the corresponding
PROCEDURE remove_employee (empid NUMBER) IS code in Listing 3, and then compile.
firstname employees.first_name%TYPE;
Right-click EMP_ACTIONS in the
lastname employees.last_name%TYPE;
BEGIN Connections Navigator, and select Run.
SELECT first_name, last_name INTO firstname, lastname FROM employees Just as when you worked with the
WHERE employee_id = empid;
stored procedure, the Run PL/SQL
DELETE FROM employees WHERE employee_id = empid;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(‘Employee: ‘ || TO_CHAR(empid) || ‘, ‘ window displays code to help you run
|| firstname || ‘, ‘ || lastname || ‘ has been deleted.’); the procedures and functions in the
EXCEPTION
package. Click EMP_SAL_RANKING
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(‘Employee ID: ‘ || TO_CHAR(empid) || ‘ not found.’); in the Target list to display the anony-
END remove_employee; mous block for this procedure. Update
the block as follows:
-- code for function emp_sal_ranking, which calculates the salary ranking of the
-- employee based on the minimum and maximum salaries for the job category 1. Replace EMPID := NULL; with
FUNCTION emp_sal_ranking (empid NUMBER) RETURN NUMBER IS EMPID := 120; .
minsal employees.salary%TYPE; -- declare a variable same as salary
2. Replace ‘v_Return: = ‘ with
maxsal employees.salary%TYPE; -- declare a variable same as salary
jobid employees.job_id%TYPE; -- declare a variable same as job_id ‘The employee’s salary ranking is ‘.
sal employees.salary%TYPE; -- declare a variable same as salary 3. Click OK.
BEGIN
4. View the results in the Running - Log
-- retrieve the jobid and salary for the specific employee ID
SELECT job_id, salary INTO jobid, sal FROM employees window.
WHERE employee_id = empid;
-- retrieve the minimum and maximum salaries for the job ID
Using the PL/sQL hierarchicaL ProfiLer
SELECT min_salary, max_salary INTO minsal, maxsal FROM jobs
WHERE job_id = jobid; This section is for readers who have
-- return the ranking as a decimal, based on the following calculation access to Oracle Database 11g, which
RETURN ((sal - minsal)/(maxsal - minsal));
provides support for profiling PL/SQL
END emp_sal_ranking;
code. Oracle Database 11g lets you
determine how much time is spent on
Working With Packages in the in the Connections Navigator. Right- each subprogram within a program,
PL/sQL editor click, and select New Package…. Enter how frequently a subprogram is
Oracle SQL Developer provides con- Emp_Actions as the package name, and accessed, and which other subprograms
venient features for creating and main- click OK. The EMP_ACTIONS tab access a program.
taining both the specifications and that appears is the PL/SQL Code Editor. The PL/SQL Hierarchical Profiler,
bodies of PL/SQL packages. With it you can create, edit, compile, which is implemented by use of DBMS_
Creating the specification. To create a new and debug your PL/SQL code. You also HPROF, stores the results in database
package, start by creating the package use the same code insight, refactoring, tables. Oracle SQL Developer reviews
specification. Select the Packages node and formatting features that are avail- each schema, tries to access the

oracle magazine november/december 20 08 65

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 SQL DEVELOPER
Figure 3: Preparing to use the PL/SQL Hierarchical Profiler
Figure 4: PL/SQL hierarchical profiles
PL/SQL Hierarchical Profiler, and runs
the scripts necessary to set up the envi-
ronment. Once it is set up, you can
repeatedly run and review the output
through an easy-to-read report.
Using the preceding code examples,
right-click the EMP_ACTIONS speci-
fication and select Profile. Select the
EMP_SAL_RANKING procedure again.
Click OK. If you have never run the
PL/SQL Hierarchical Profiler for this HR
schema before, a once-only window will
display the setup details. Click Yes to
execute the SQL and prepare to use the
PL/SQL Hierarchical Profiler. Figure 3
displays the detail.
This dialog box is followed by one
that creates the PL/SQL hierarchical
tables. (This also executes only once.)
66 November/december 20 08
ND08_SQL_DEV.indd 66
When the setup is complete, again
right-click EMP_ACTIONS and select
Profile in the Connections Navigator.
This time, because the environment
has been prepared and the tables are in
place, the profile can be revealed. Select
the Execution Profiles tab in the EMP_
ACTIONS editor. (Each time you select
Profile, you re-execute the PL/SQL code
and a new profile is created.) Select the
profile, and inspect the detail.
Select the Hierarchy tab, as shown
in Figure 4. Even in as small a program
unit as EMP_SAL_RANKING, you can
see the hierarchical structure and the
various program units called. More-
complex PL/SQL programs reveal more
detail, which can be of great benefit for
tuning your code.
oracle.com/oraclemagazine
Search for Detail
Oracle SQL Developer 1.5 introduced an
Extended Search mechanism. It relies on
PLScope—a new Oracle Database 11g
PL/SQL feature—when it’s available and
on basic search functionality when it’s
not. When used with Oracle Database
11g, Extended Search drills into your
PL/SQL code, looking for variable dec-
larations, references, calls, and more.
Follow these steps to try it out:
1. In Oracle SQL Developer, select View
-> Extended Search.
2. Select the HR user, and enter hire%
in the Name field. Leave the remaining
fields with their default values.
3. Click Lookup. Note that the HIRE_
DATE variable is displayed in addition to
HIRE_EMPLOYEE.
4. Select any one of the search results,
and note that Oracle SQL Developer
opens the table where the variable is used.
5. Select the Usage list (available
only when you are using Oracle SQL
Developer against Oracle Database 11g),
and review the options available.
concluSion
This column has shown how Oracle SQL
Developer can enhance your productiv-
ity when you write, edit, compile, and
troubleshoot PL/SQL code. Whether you
are a novice or an experienced PL/SQL
developer, Oracle SQL Developer can
make your day-to-day PL/SQL develop-
ment tasks easier. ■
Sue Harper is an Oracle senior principal product
manager based in London. Her technical blog,
sueharper.blogspot.com, addresses Oracle SQL
Developer features.
nextSTEPS
READ more Oracle SQL Developer
otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/sql
LEARN more about
Oracle SQL Developer
otn.oracle.com/products/database/sql_developer
“Creating a Database Connection”
otn.oracle.com/products/database/sql_developer/
files/viewlets.html
PARTICIPATE in the Oracle SQL
Developer Exchange
sqldeveloper.oracle.com
10/7/08 11:39:20 AM
 t e c h n o l o g y inside ocp
New Ways to Flash Back
Reverse transactions and track historical changes in Oracle Database 11g.
irst introduced in Oracle9i
Database, Oracle Flashback
technology comprises a group of
features with which you can view
data at different points in time and
recover data without using point-in-
time media recovery.
Oracle Database 11g offers two key
new flashback technology features that
continue to provide DBAs with a power-
ful set of data protection tools:
■ Oracle Flashback Transaction rolls back
a transaction and its dependent transac-
tions while the database remains online.
■ Oracle Flashback Data Archive pro-
vides solutions for retaining transac-
tional changes to data for a long period.
This column focuses on these
two new flashback features of Oracle
Database 11g and presents sample ques-
tions of the kind you may encounter
when taking the Oracle Database 11g
Administration Workshop II exam.
Passing this exam is a requirement
for achieving the Oracle Certified
Professional level of certification.
Oracle Flashback TransacTiOn
Oracle Flashback Transaction can roll
back a specific transaction and its depen-
dent transactions while the database
remains online. It uses undo data and the
archived redo logs for the specified trans-
actions to create and execute the compen-
sating transactions that return the affected
data to its original state. Oracle Flashback
Transaction requires that supplemental
logging is enabled, and the user must
have SELECT, FLASHBACK, and DML
privileges on all affected tables. This
operation can be performed with either a
PL/SQL procedure (DBMS_FLASHBACK
.TRANSACTION_BACKOUT) or an
Oracle Enterprise Manager wizard.
Examine the following commands issued
by the DBA:
ND08_OCP.indd 67
SQL> alter database add supplemental
log data;
Database altered.
SQL> alter database add supplemental
log data (primary key) columns;
Database altered.
For which of these are the above com-
mands prerequisites?
A. Oracle Flashback Transaction
B. Fine-grained audit
C. Oracle Flashback Query
D. Oracle Flashback Database
The correct answer is A. These com-
mands are required before you start
Oracle Flashback Transaction; they
enable the log miner to extract transac-
tions from redo logs. Answer B is incor-
rect because fine-grained audit does not
need redo logs. Answer C is incorrect
because Oracle Flashback Query uses
undo data. Answer D is incorrect because
Oracle Flashback Database uses flashback
log data from the flash recovery area.
Examine the following transactions:
SQL> INSERT INTO hr.regions
VALUES (5, ’Pole’);
SQL> COMMIT;
SQL> UPDATE hr.regions SET
region_name=’Poles’ WHERE region_id = 5;
SQL> UPDATE hr.regions SET
region_name=’North and South Poles’
WHERE region_id = 5;
SQL> COMMIT;
SQL> INSERT INTO hr.countries
VALUES (‘TT’ , ’Test Country’ , 5);
SQL> COMMIT;
The referential integrity is set between the
COUNTRIES and REGIONS tables. Which
statement describes the result when the
first transaction—INSERT INTO hr.regions
oracle magazine
bY su sh m a jagannath
VALUES (5, 'Pole');—is flashed back with
NOCASCADE FORCE as the recovery option?
A. The respective undo SQL statements
are executed for the first, second, and
third transactions.
B. The undo SQL is executed only for
the first and third transactions, because
of the referential integrity constraint.
C. The undo SQL is executed only for
the first transaction.
D. The undo SQL statements are not
executed for any of the transactions,
because of a conflict among them.
The correct answer is C. NOCASCADE
FORCE backs out only the transac-
tion on which the flashback transaction
operation is applied, irrespective of the
dependency. Answers A and B are incor-
rect because there is no dependency
between the second and third transac-
tions or between the first and third trans-
actions. Answer D is incorrect because
undo SQL is not executed for any trans-
actions when NO CONFLICT is used as
the recovery option.
Oracle Flashback DaTa archive
Organizations often need to track and
store all transactional changes to a
record for the duration of its lifetime.
Oracle Flashback Data Archive satisfies
long-retention requirements securely, by
enabling the database to automatically
track and store all transactional changes
to a table for its entire lifetime. Thus,
you do not need to build this functional-
ity into database applications.
A flashback data archive consists
of one or more tablespaces or parts of
tablespaces. When you create a flashback
data archive, you specify the name, the
retention period, and the tablespace that
is to be tracked. The database automati-
cally purges historical flashback data the
day after the retention period expires.
You can turn Oracle Flashback Data
november/december 20 08 67
10/7/08 3:33:43 PM
 inside ocp
inside ocp

Archive on and off for individual tables. codeLisTinG 1: Tablespace information for failed CREATE FLASHBACK ARCHIVE
By default, Oracle Flashback Data
SELECT TABLESPACE_NAME, BLOCK_SIZE, STATUS, CONTENTS, EXTENT_MANAGEMENT,
Archive is turned off for every table. ALLOCATION_TYPE, SEGMENT_SPACE_MANAGEMENT, BIGFILE
Examine the tablespace information in FROM DBA_TABLESPACES;
Listing 1. The database has the standard
TABLESPACE_NAME BLOCK_SIZE STATUS CONTENTS EXTENT_MAN ALLOCATIO SEGMEN BIG
block size of 8K. Why does the following ------------------------------------------ --------------------------- ----------------- -------------------------- ---------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------ --------
command fail to create the default flash- SYSTEM 8192 ONLINE PERMANENT LOCAL SYSTEM MANUAL NO
SYSAUX 8192 ONLINE PERMANENT LOCAL SYSTEM AUTO NO
back data archive?
UNDOTBS1 8192 ONLINE UNDO LOCAL SYSTEM MANUAL NO
TEMP 8192 ONLINE TEMPORARY LOCAL UNIFORM MANUAL NO
SQL>CREATE FLASHBACK ARCHIVE USERS 8192 ONLINE PERMANENT LOCAL SYSTEM AUTO NO
EXAMPLE 8192 ONLINE PERMANENT LOCAL SYSTEM AUTO NO
DEFAULT fla1 TABLESPACE orclflash
SOEINDEX 8192 ONLINE PERMANENT LOCAL UNIFORM AUTO NO
RETENTION 1 YEAR; SOE 8192 ONLINE PERMANENT LOCAL UNIFORM AUTO NO
ORCLFLASH 4096 ONLINE PERMANENT LOCAL SYSTEM MANUAL NO
A. The ORCLFLASH tablespace is not
using automatic segment space manage- that are yet to be published. online operation—historical access can
ment (ASSM). The correct answer is A. Table-related coexist with current access. Answer E is
B. The content of the ORCLFLASH operations such as DROP, TRUNCATE, incorrect because Oracle Flashback Data
tablespace is not of the UNDO type. and RENAME and certain ALTER TABLE Archive stores historical information in
C. The ORCLFLASH tablespace is not a operations cannot be performed when one or more tablespaces and tracks the
bigfile tablespace. the table is enabled to track the changes history of one or more tables. Answer
D. The ORCLFLASH tablespace has a in a flashback data archive. Answer B is F is incorrect because Oracle Flashback
nonstandard block size. incorrect because auditing tracks only Data Archive archives the original data
The correct answer is A. This CREATE the operations that are performed on the but does not include the indexes, because
FLASHBACK ARCHIVE command gener- table and does not stop the TRUNCATE the retrieval pattern of historical informa-
ates the following error message: operation. Answer C is incorrect because tion might be different from that of the
AWR baselines are collected and stored current information.
ERROR at line 1: for performance comparisons of the
ORA-55627: Flashback Archive tablespace database instance and are not bound to ConClusion
must be ASSM tablespace a table. Answer D is incorrect because This column focused on two new flash-
the collection of statistics may affect back features introduced in Oracle
Answers B and C are incorrect performance but does not restrict the Database 11g:
because you can enable Oracle TRUNCATE operation. Oracle Flashback Transaction enables you
Flashback Data Archive on a nonundo Which statements are true about Oracle to reverse a transaction and its depen-
tablespace and also on tablespaces that Flashback Data Archive? dent transactions. The database rewinds
are not of the bigfile type. Answer D A. It provides access to data at any to a pretransaction state.
is incorrect because the tablespace can point in time without changing the Oracle Flashback Data Archive enables you
contain nonstandard block sizes. current data. to track historical changes to the data in
A user receives the following error message B. It stores data in compressed form. a highly secure and efficient manner, thus
while truncating a table: C. It provides the option of setting differ- eliminating the need to build this func-
ent retention requirements. tionality into database applications. ■
ERROR at line 1: D. It enables access to historical data
ORA-55610: Invalid DDL statement on alongside current data. Sushma Jagannath (ocpexam_ww@oracle.com) is
history-tracked table E. It is enabled at a database level. a certification exam development manager at Oracle.
F. It archives the original data along with She has been with the company since 2000.
What do you conclude from the above its associated indexes.
error message? The correct answers are A, B, C, and
A. Oracle Flashback Data Archive has
been enabled for the table.
D. Oracle Flashback Data Archive does
not change the current data but offers the
nextsTeps
LeARn more about
B. Auditing has been applied on the ability to access the data as of any point the oracle certification program
table. in time. It stores data in compressed form oracle.com/education/certification
C. One or more automatic workload to minimize storage requirements. You oracle Flashback technology
repository (AWR) baselines exist that can group historical data by retention otn.oracle.com/deploy/availability/htdocs/
flashback_overview.htm
contain performance information from requirements and create different data
ReAd inside ocp columns
transactions on the table. archives based on those requirements. otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/ocp
D. Pending statistics exist for the table Oracle Flashback Data Archive is an

68 November/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

ND08_OCP.indd 68 10/7/08 3:34:30 PM

 t e c h n o l o g y ask tom
On Separation and Counting
Our technologist promotes more than one schema, counts partitions, and uses TKPROF.
data architect at work has proposed
that we start using separate data-
base accounts to hold the code
(packages, procedures, views,
and so on) and the data (tables, materialized
views, indexes, and so on) for an applica-
tion. I’ve never come across this idea before,
and it seems to be contrary to the concepts
of encapsulation, in that the application will
be spread across at least two schemas and
require more administrative overhead to
maintain the necessary grants between them.
Are there any situations you can think
of where this would be a recommended
approach? And if you did this, how would you
recommend referencing objects in the data
schema from the application schema? Finally,
would you put any views into the code or
data schema?
This separate application (code) and
data schema approach is hardly con-
trary. This approach promotes encap-
sulation; modularization; and most
importantly, least privilege.
Maintaining the grants is a positive
aspect to this approach, because you’ll
have to state why you need a privilege,
and that can be documented. Auditors
can inspect this setup and see what
access you have to the data.
It is a really good idea, in fact, to set
up more than one schema for applica-
tion code to give even finer-grained
control over the grants.
Right now, developing the applica-
tion code in the same schema as the
data, you could drop the table, trun-
cate it, perform any data manipula-
tion language (DML) on it, and alter
it in any way you see fit. You will
(fortunately) lose all of that when this
really good separate-schema idea is
put in place. The new separate schema
approach will ultimately lead to a
better-documented system, with great
security controls in place.
ND08_ASKTOM.indd 69
Will you lose some “flexibility”?
Sure, you will think so, but a develop-
ment team should not necessarily have
this flexibility. With so many privileges,
there are too many things you can do
wrong in this environment.
With the separate application and
data schema approach in place, you’ll
be able to query the data dictionary and
see the least set of privileges you need
for your application to execute—which
is very good—and you’ll understand
why you need those privileges, because
you had to ask for them—which is also
very good.
This is a very common implementa-
tion, becoming more common today with
the need to be more accountable—need-
ing to know who does what and when,
who can do what and when, and so on.
Remember, the data is the data,
and the application is something that
accesses data. They are not one and the
same, and they should be separate.
As for the question of how to refer-
ence the objects in the data schema in
your application code, I prefer the fol-
lowing, in order:
■ Use fully qualified references:
schema.object_name. If you are
worried about the schema name chang-
ing in the future, you can always make
the schema name a SQL*Plus substitu-
tion variable.
■ Use private synonyms, so the schema
name is not referenced in the code.
Private synonyms incur less overhead
than public synonyms, and public syn-
onyms are something to be avoided at
all costs, because there can be only one
public synonym “SOME_NAME” in a
database. The use of public synonyms
can easily prevent server consolidation
if two applications both need to use the
public synonym “SOME_NAME” for
two different objects.
oracle magazine
BY to m kYte
As for the question of where the
views go, the answer is that views can
go in either schema. They make sense in
both places.
The case for putting views into the applica-
tion schema. A view in the application
schema is a view of convenience; it
joins N tables, selects needed data,
and formats a couple of columns. It is
in place because its SQL is used here,
there, and everywhere. The application
was granted access to the base tables
without the grant option/admin option,
so the application cannot grant access
to this view to others (it is usable only
by the application logic in the data-
base), so you haven’t opened up any
security holes.
In this case, the view is very much
like a subroutine—it accesses the data
to which the application schema was
granted access.
The case for putting views into the data
schema. A view in the data schema is
used to further restrict access to data.
It includes a predicate, for example,
that limits which data can be seen.
Suppose there is a large base table and
a given application schema needs to
see only half of that data. You create
a view that exposes the correct set of
data and grant access on the view to
that application schema, and the appli-
cation schema uses the view as if it
were a table. That application schema
will not have access to the base table.
You can use the “with check option”
and so on to enforce INSERT/UPDATE
restrictions as well. Note that fine-
grained access control (DBMS_RLS)
can also do this.
So the developers are free to create
their views in the application schema,
and the data owners, the people secur-
ing the data, create views in the data
schema—to protect the data.
novemBer/decemBer 20 08 69
10/8/08 2:07:56 PM
 ask tom

The RighT NumbeR of PaRTiTioNs codeLIstING 1: Four partitions (OK) versus five partitions (not OK)
I have a table with about one million records,
but the table has the potential to grow to three SQL> CREATE TABLE t1 ( x )
million or more records. I am planning to parti- 2 PARTITION BY hash(x)
3 ( partition part1 ,
tion this table, using hash partitioning on the
4 partition part2 ,
most queried column, but before I do that, I 5 partition part3 ,
have a few questions: 6 partition part4
7 )
1. I have read somewhere that due to the
8 as
hashing algorithm Oracle Database uses, it is 9 select rownum from all_objects;
better to use a power-of-2 number of parti-
Table created.
tions. Is that correct?
2. Is there a recommendation on how many
partitions are optimal for a given number of SQL> CREATE TABLE t2 ( x )
2 PARTITION BY hash(x)
records? What would you take into consideration
3 ( partition part1 ,
when deciding on the number of partitions? 4 partition part2 ,
3. Do you have any other recommendations? 5 partition part3 ,
6 partition part4,
First, when you’re using hash parti-
7 partition part5
tioning, it is paramount to use a power 8 )
of 2—2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 . . . —and no 9 as
other numbers in between. If you do not, 10 select rownum from all_objects;

the data will be skewed across partitions Table created.

with most of the data in the “middle”
partitions and little data in the “end”
SQL> select h,
partitions. Also, a hash key should have 2 count(*) cnt,
lots and lots of distinct values, or else 3 sum(count(*)) over () totcnt,
4 substr( rpad(‘*’,100,’*’), 1,
you won’t achieve even distribution
5 100*ratio_to_report(count(*)) over ()) hist
of data. In Listing 1, I create a four- 6 from
partition table and a five-partition table 7 (select 1 h from t1 partition (part1)
8 union all select 2 h from t1 partition(part2)
using hash partitions. Note that the data
9 union all select 3 h from t1 partition(part3)
distribution is clearly skewed in the five- 10 union all select 4 h from t1 partition(part4)
partition table. 11 ) group by h order by h
12 /
As for the question about determin-
ing the right number of partitions for a H CNT TOTCNT HIST
number of records, the determination -------------- ----------------- ------------------ -------------------------------------------------------
1 12409 49877 ************************
is not record-driven. A million records
2 12413 49877 ************************
might be stored in 10MB, 100MB, or 3 12697 49877 ************************
1TB, so determining the number and 4 12358 49877 ************************
size of partitions is about volume. You
have to ask yourself SQL> select h,
■ What is the biggest segment I want 2 count(*) cnt,
3 sum(count(*)) over () totcnt,
to have?
4 substr( rpad(‘*’,100,’*’), 1,
■ What am I trying to accomplish with 5 100*ratio_to_report(count(*)) over ()) hist
partitioning? 6 from
7 (select 1 h from t2 partition (part1)
The answers to these questions will
8 union all select 2 h from t2 partition(part2)
drive your partition sizes and your parti- 9 union all select 3 h from t2 partition(part3)
tioning scheme. 10 union all select 4 h from t2 partition(part4)
You need to first understand why you 11 union all select 5 h from t2 partition(part5)
12 ) group by h order by h
are partitioning. Then, and only then, 13 /
apply partitioning in a manner that will
H CNT TOTCNT HIST
achieve what you want.
-------------- ----------------- ------------------ -------------------------------------------------------
When you apply partitioning, make 1 6234 49883 ************
sure you understand the ramifications 2 12413 49883 ************************
3 12698 49883 ************************
of doing so and consider each and every
4 12358 49883 ************************
index independently of every other 5 6180 49883 ************
index. For example, suppose you have

70 November/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

ND08_ASKTOM.indd 70 10/8/08 2:08:17 PM

 codeLISTING 2: TKPROF report, first run 3 ( waits => true );
4 end;
select count(subobject_name) 5 /
from
big_table.big_table
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

call count cpu elapsed disk query current rows SQL> select count(subobject_name)
----------------- ------------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------ -------------------- ----------------- -----------
from big_table.big_table;
Parse 1 0.00 0.01 0 3 0 0
Execute 1 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 0
Fetch 2 99.36 262.10 1840758 1840797 0 1 COUNT(SUBOBJECT_NAME)
----------------- ------------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------ -------------------- ----------------- -----------
-----------------------------------------------------
total 4 99.36 262.11 1840758 1840800 0 1
688256
Misses in library cache during parse: 1
Optimizer mode: ALL_ROWS
TKPROF will produce a report that
Parsing user id: 344
looks much like the content of Listing 2.
Rows Row Source Operation Now we have a bunch of facts:
--------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ■ The query took a long time—about
1 SORT AGGREGATE (cr=1840797 pr=1840758 pw=0 time=262104893 us)
128000000 TABLE ACCESS FULL BIG_TABLE (cr=1840797 pr=1840758 pw=0 time=384004887 us) four and a half minutes.
■ We did a lot of physical I/O.
Elapsed times include waiting on following events: ■ We did a lot of logical I/O.

Event waited on Times Max. Wait Total Waited ■ We used about 100 CPU seconds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Waited -------------------- ------------------------ ■ The query took about 262 seconds
SQL*Net message to client 2 0.00 0.00
of elapsed time but only 99 seconds of
db file scattered read 14425 0.22 195.87
db file sequential read 13 0.01 0.06 CPU time, so we waited lots of seconds
SQL*Net message from client 2 0.00 0.00 for something.
■ We waited for DB file scattered read

for a long time—this was the read of a

an employees table and you hash- Oracle Database Data Warehousing full scan.
partition it into 16 partitions by Guide 11g Release 1, especially chapter ■ We did a full scan on a huge table.

EMPNO. Further suppose you have an 5 (download.oracle.com/docs/cd/ ■ We can see our query.

index on last_name and you only locally B28359_01/server.111/b28313/parpart ■ We have the plan that was used.

partition that index on last_name. .htm#i1007993). Also, in my book Now, what can we do with these
Now, when you query Expert Oracle Database Architecture, I facts? We can use our knowledge of the
discuss all of this in some detail, includ- data and how Oracle Database works to
select * from employees ing why you want to know why you are “tune.” What are some obvious things to
where last_name=:x partitioning, how to approach partition- think about there?
ing, and what not to do. Well, we see that the query result
you will do 16 index range scans—16 returned about 688,256 rows out of
times the work! Using TKPROF 128,000,000. That in itself gives us
In this case, you would have wanted How can I use TKPROF to find problematic another fact or two:
to do one of the following: queries? The only point I know is that when ■ We needed a very small subset of rows
■ Not partition that index at all. The size elapsed time is longer, it means that the from this table to answer this query.
of the index in a single partition was query spent more time waiting for something. ■ The table’s high-water mark is prob-

fine with you. But I am not sure how to use TKPROF for ably OK. Given that we read 1.8 million
■ Partition that index by range. For query tuning. blocks and processed 128 million rows,
example, A–K go into one partition First, you use TKPROF in general to we must have about 70 rows per block,
and L–Z go into another. Use whatever identify queries in your application that so the table seems to be well packed. So,
ranges make sense for your data. consume “lots of resources,” includ- shrinking or reorganizing the table isn’t
■ Hash-partition it. This presumes ing CPU time, elapsed time, and so on. going to do anything.
that you always use equality in your Suppose you do this (enable tracing in These facts make it possible to rule
searches, because hash-partitioned your application and then run bits of things out. That is as useful as using
indexes are not suitable for LIKE and your application): facts to rule something in.
<, > searches. OK, so what are some possible
To gain an understanding of par- SQL> begin “tuning” options?
titioning, you will want to review the 2 dbms_monitor.session_trace_enable 1. Make the full scan faster, maybe by

oracle magazine november/december 20 08 71

ND08_ASKTOM.indd 71 10/8/08 2:08:39 PM

 ask tom

codeLIstING 3: TKPROF report, second run I want to know if there is a simple way to
find out which queries use the index, because
select count(subobject_name) I want to re-create the index with fewer
from columns, but I do not want to degrade the per-
big_table.big_table
formance of the queries.
call count cpu elapsed disk query current rows As for the question about how to find
----------------- ------------- --------- ----------------- ----------- ------------ ---------------- ---------- out which queries use an index, you
Parse 1 0.00 0.04 0 0 0 0
can query V$SQL_PLAN to see which
Execute 1 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 0
Fetch 2 0.28 0.52 3342 3355 0 1 queries that are in the shared pool right
----------------- ------------- --------- ------------------ ----------- ------------ ---------------- ----------- now (that last bit is important—to see
total 4 0.28 0.56 3342 3355 0 1
which queries that are in the shared
Misses in library cache during parse: 1 pool right now) use that index.
Optimizer mode: ALL_ROWS But more importantly, you wrote,
Parsing user id: 344
“. . . the other five [columns] are not
Rows Row Source Operation selective. . . .” That fact has nothing to
------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- do with whether they are useful or not.
1 SORT AGGREGATE (cr=3355 pr=3342 pw=0 time=520528 us)
I don’t care if they are constant or have
688256 INDEX FAST FULL SCAN BIG_TABLE_SO_IDX (cr=3355 pr=3342 pw=0 time=730570 us)
(object id 161278) two distinct values—that they are not
selective has nothing to do with whether
Elapsed times include waiting on following events:
they should be in the index. Selectivity
Event waited on Times Max. Wait Total Waited has nothing to do, really, with whether a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Waited ------------------------ ----------------------------- column should be indexed. The questions
SQL*Net message to client 2 0.00 0.00
you ask and the data patterns dictate
db file scattered read 42 0.01 0.27
SQL*Net message from client 2 0.00 0.00 what columns make sense in an index.
The online version of this column, at
otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/08-nov/
o68asktom.html, includes a demonstra-
compressing the table. ■ Use the facts you can derive from tion on selecting the best columns for an
2. Because we need only about 0.54 TKPROF and other sources and apply index for a given query. ■
percent of the table’s rows to answer our your knowledge of the data, the data
query (count the non-null occurrences patterns, and Oracle Database— Tom Kyte is a database evangelist in Oracle’s Server
of subobject_name), maybe indexing including the indexes it has to offer, the Technology division and has worked for Oracle since
would improve query performance. schema structures (clusters, index- 1993. He is the author of Expert Oracle Database
Let’s try option 2 first, because it will organized tables, heap tables, partition- Architecture: 9i and 10g Programming Techniques and
have the least impact. ing, and so on) it has to offer, and the Solutions (Apress, 2005) and Effective Oracle by Design
SQL it supports (because you can rewrite (Oracle Press, 2003), among others.
SQL> create index big_table_so_idx a query more efficiently in many cases).
on big_table(subobject_name); So when you use TKPROF for query
Index created. tuning, you are getting half of what you
need—the facts. The other half is all nextstEPs
After we do that and rerun the query, about you and your knowledge of the ask tom
TKPROF shows the report in Listing 3. database. If you don’t have or don’t want Tom Kyte answers your most difficult technology ques-
tions. Highlights from that forum appear in this column.
Now in real life, it’ll be more com- to have that other half, you’ll be using asktom.oracle.com
plicated than this, of course. You’ll have tools such as the performance pack in
REaD online-only column content
a multitable query to deal with and Oracle Enterprise Manager. otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/08-nov/
complex data relationships. To tune that o68asktom.html

query, you either NoNselective columNs iN aN iNdex REaD more about

■ Submit the query to a tool (such as My company runs a third-party application on oracle Database 11g
otn.oracle.com/products/database/oracle11g
the tuning/performance pack of Oracle Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.2). A
REaD more tom
Enterprise Manager) and let the tool developer created a huge index, with seven Expert Oracle Database Architecture: 9i and 10g
process it. It will apply the rules and tell columns, on a huge table, some time ago. Programming Techniques and Solutions
amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1590595300/
you which indexes, materialized views, Analyzing the usefulness of the index, I found
query rewrites, and—in Oracle Database out that it would be much better if the index DoWNLoaD
oracle Database 11g
11g—partitioning schemes would be had only two columns (because the other five otn.oracle.com/software/products/database
useful for that query. are not selective).

72 November/december 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine

ND08_ASKTOM.indd 72 10/8/08 2:09:01 PM

 c o m m e n t IN THE FIELD
Integration: It’s Coming Together
Mergers, acquisitions, and growth present opportunities for user groups.
ergers and acquisitions are
very complicated proceed-
ings, entailing the inte-
gration of organizations,
processes, data, and personnel. Even
organic corporate growth has integra-
tion pitfalls.
Some organizations acquire—or
even develop—multiple business units
or systems that do not communicate
with each other. These units may first
have been run as independent busi-
nesses, and they continue to operate as
if that were still true.
integration improves business
But not integrating more closely is
a serious mistake. In the integrated
world, business processes become more
efficient, complexity is reduced, and
activities are streamlined. Such process
enhancements have the direct benefits
of saving time and reducing costs.
Moreover, data integration—and the
comprehensive business intelligence
it offers—provides organizations with
a more complete vision of themselves
and allows those same organizations
to market to their customers by cross-
selling products and services across
previously untapped avenues.
For example, using business inte-
gration and analysis allows some com-
munications organizations to market
internet services to current magazine or
cell phone subscribers. Leveraging inte-
grated data, these companies can then
determine the best offers to entice their
customers with additional products,
ultimately increasing revenues and pro-
viding more-complete services.
In today’s fiercely competitive busi-
ness environment, getting the business
and technology integration done right is
more important than ever—whether new
business units are created or acquired.
ND08_InTheField.indd 73
Consider Oracle. By my count,
in the past 44 months, Oracle has
acquired more than 44 companies. In
2005, Oracle acquired 13 companies,
including PeopleSoft. In 2006, there
were 13 more acquisitions, of which
Siebel and Stellent probably got the
most press coverage. The 2007 acquisi-
tions embraced another 11 companies,
including Hyperion.
So far, 2008 has seen at least 7
acquisition announcements already,
including BEA. The results of the acqui-
sitions, and the integration of their
products and technologies, enhance the
overall Oracle product stack.
Because of these acquisitions, Oracle
user groups also need to integrate—
in this case, the user communities.
Integrating new and existing communi-
ties combines existing cultures as well
as technologies and can be challenging.
user groups thrive
Even so, the Oracle user communities
continue to thrive and grow—
Oracle’s new acquisitions mean that
more people need a place where
they can learn about Oracle within a
network of similarly minded profes-
sionals, and the user communities
provide that place.
For example, the Independent
Oracle Users Group (IOUG) was suc-
cessful in integrating the Stellent
content management user group—
which is now IOUG’s Stellent special
interest group (SIG). This group had
previously existed only as part of a
Stellent-run event and infrastructure,
but as part of the IOUG, the Stellent
SIG has an environment that will
encourage its users to grow and will
provide them with a complete techni-
cal experience.
Just as Oracle has been integrating
oracle magazine
by Ia n abramso n
Stellent products and making them an
important and valuable component of
Oracle Fusion Middleware, the Stellent
SIG is benefiting from its integration
with the IOUG.
The IOUG is now building on this
success to integrate the growing Oracle
Essbase (formerly Hyperion Essbase)
and BEA communities as well. The
IOUG has welcomed Oracle Essbase
users and established the Essbase SIG
and now welcomes BEA users to the
general membership. These commu-
nities can now be part of the larger
Oracle community but still retain their
own identity and focus.
Integration is a reality that we all
need to embrace to ensure that we con-
tinue to grow and maintain our lead-
ership roles for tomorrow. Of course,
integration does not come without cost.
Organizations need to invest time and
money in any integration effort to enjoy
substantial returns.
The effort might be huge—but it’s
worth it. ■
Ian Abramson (ian_abramson@ioug.org) lives in
Toronto and is president of the IOUG.
nextSTEPS
JoIN the IoUG
ioug.org
DISCoVER
the IoUG Stellent SIG
www.ioug.org/networking/stellent.cfm
the IoUG Essbase SIG
www.ioug.org/networking/essbase.cfm
READ more about oracle Content
Management
oracle.com/products/middleware/content-
management
VISIT the oracle Users Group Center
otn.oracle.com/community/user_groups
LEARN about oracle acquisitions
oracle.com/corporate/acquisition.html
november/december 20 08 73
10/6/08 2:52:35 PM
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 c o m m e n t ALL Secure
Need to Know
Getting better information is important, but some secrets are not for sharing.
well-known term in many
security communities is need
to know: the idea that unless
there is a compelling reason
for someone to have access to informa-
tion, that person shouldn’t have it. These
days, need to know is almost an archaic
concept. Having decided post-9/11 that
the risk of not sharing data outweighs
the risk of sharing it, even the U.S.
government is embracing need to share.
Web 2.0 is all about massive information
sharing: the premise is that if we give up
private enclaves of data, we will be col-
lectively smarter and more productive.
At the risk of being called reactionary,
I think need to know is still important,
because highly sensitive information
often has an element of time during
which secrecy is vital. You don’t want
your enemies to know your war plans
until after the attack, or your competitors
to know your product plans until after
the launch. All things being equal, the
more people who know something that
is time-sensitive and not merely sensi-
tive, the greater the chances that the data
will leak, to the detriment of all con-
cerned. “Loose lips sink ships,” to quote
old World War II posters.
It’s hard to explain need to know
to people who aren’t familiar with it,
because almost everyone wants to be in
the know or an A-lister. Generally, need
to know can be determined only by
the person who holds the information,
not by the people who don’t hold it but
might think they should. When a test
is done properly, the people who don’t
have a need to know will never know
that they were the object of a need-to-
know test and that they failed.
In the larger information security
community, almost all attempts at
selective information sharing about
nonpublic security vulnerabilities have
ND08_ALLSECURE.indd 75
failed. Somebody, somewhere, leaks
the information before mitigation or a
fix is available, and we all suffer. (An
example of a relative success was the
recent multivendor cooperation to fix
a domain name system vulnerability.
Multiple affected vendors implemented
correct, compatible-with-others fixes and
released them at the same time.)
TecHNOLOGY AND NeeD TO KNOW
Oracle, as an organization, enforces need
to know by using our own technology.
Within Oracle we use Oracle Virtual
Private Database functionality to limit
access to security bugs in the bug data-
base (the database we use to record and
manage vulnerabilities in Oracle prod-
ucts). Oracle Virtual Private Database
enforces the rule that people working on
security bug fixes can see bug details for
the issues they are working on but that
the larger developer community cannot.
We allow parts of the management chain
to see these bugs, to ensure that they
receive the attention they deserve—in
open bug reports for particular prod-
ucts, for example. And although we
allow customers to access the bug data-
base, security bugs are not published
(accessible), to prevent someone without
a need to know from reading details on
unfixed security bugs.
I personally have opted out of needing
to know detailed information about secu-
rity vulnerabilities. Although my security
vulnerability handling team needs to
know security bug details such as the
severity of the bug or the correctness of a
fix to analyze it, I don’t. Therefore, I don’t
have access to security bug details, even
though I am in the management chain
of the vulnerability handlers. (I think
enforcing need to know on myself sets a
positive leadership example.)
Oracle Virtual Private Database helps
oracle magazine
bY m a rY a n n davi dso n
us protect customers, by allowing the
people who need access to bug details to
get them so they can fix the bugs, while
minimizing the chances that information
about unpublished security bugs will
leak to the larger community.
Oracle Label Security also transpar-
ently enforces need to know on data
to users, based on a composite label.
Transparently means not only that the
users don’t necessarily know the data
labeling scheme but also that they may
not be aware that they failed the need-
to-know test. Telling users, “You need a
secret clearance to access this data” fool-
ishly conveys that there is information
they have asked to see but cannot, thus
encouraging fishing expeditions. Merely
failing to return data enforces true need
to know, by not revealing that data exists
to those users who can’t see it.
Data sharing may be the wave of
the Web 2.0 future, but need to know
is nonetheless a critical weapon in the
information security arsenal. Loose lips
still do sink ships. ■
Mary Ann Davidson is the chief security officer of
Oracle, responsible for secure development practices,
security evaluations, and assessments. She represents
Oracle on the board of directors of the Information
Technology Information Security Analysis Center
(IT-ISAC), has served on the U.S. Defense Science Board,
and is on the editorial review board of SC Magazine.
nextSTePS
LeArN more about
Oracle Virtual Private Database
oracle.com/database/security.html
Oracle Label Security
oracle.com/database/label-security.html
reAD more Davidson
blogs.oracle.com/maryanndavidson
DIScuSS Security
forums.oracle.com/forums/forum.jspa?forumiD=51
november/december 20 08 75
10/3/08 12:28:20 PM
 c o m m e n t ANALYST’S CORNER
Application Server Convergence
Customers gain new capabilities from the combination of Oracle and BEA technologies.
racle Magazine spoke with Tony
Baer, a senior analyst with
Ovum, about how Oracle’s
recent acquisition of BEA
Systems will benefit customers from
both companies.
Oracle Magazine: What is an application
server, and what are companies looking
for from this type of technology?
Baer: The application server is the basic
building block upon which you imple-
ment common middleware services. It
is kind of like an operating system in
that it’s a means to an end rather than an
end in itself. An application server takes
over functions that used to be managed
individually by database and applica-
tion silos, such as transaction manage-
ment; portal integration; security; and,
in some cases, identity management and
performance management. It would be
redundant to maintain these separately
for each application. Today’s custom-
ers want a standards-based platform on
which to deploy their applications.
Oracle Magazine: What was the origin of
this technology platform?
Baer: The genesis of today’s application
servers was the rise of Java and espe-
cially J2EE [Java 2 Platform, Enterprise
Edition]. This provided an accessible stan-
dard that achieved broad acceptance as
a set of independent services, along with
a language that enabled these services.
This type of standardization changed the
whole landscape of IT and positioned
application servers to play a critical role.
It made it easier to integrate, say, an SAP
application with a Siebel application,
since many of those services are handled
for you and defined in a standard way.
Oracle Magazine: How do the Oracle
Fusion Middleware and Oracle
WebLogic [formerly BEA WebLogic]
application server platforms fit together?
Baer: Even though these application server
76 novemBer/decemBer 20 08 oracle.com/oraclemagazine
ND08_Analyst.indd 76
platforms have some overlapping tech-
nologies, they also have a lot of comple-
mentary ones, which will help Oracle fill
out its middleware stack. For example,
Oracle has SQL-based event processing
technology, while BEA used event stream-
ing. Another thing that BEA brought
to the table was its “blended strategy,”
which combined official Java Community
Process standards with open source frame-
works. One of the things that BEA lacked
was a mature implementation of the Java
Persistence Architecture, which Oracle has
adopted and refined. BEA customers will
also gain better master data management
and better infrastructure management,
thanks to Oracle Enterprise Manager.
Oracle Magazine: What else can Oracle
customers look forward to as a result of
this acquisition?
Baer: Oracle Enterprise Repository
[formerly BEA AquaLogic Enterprise
Repository] fills out Oracle’s SOA
[service-oriented architecture] strategy.
This repository stores metadata, which
becomes useful during deployment.
For example, if you have a performance
problem, you can check to see whether
it’s correlated with any issue that had
been isolated during the QA process.
Oracle Enterprise Repository is an
important addition to the Oracle Fusion
Middleware stack.
Oracle also gained capabilities for
business process management [BPM].
Oracle has a top-down approach to
modeling at an enterprise level. BEA
acquired a technology several years
back from Fuego, which is more of a
departmental BPM solution suitable for
individual lines of business and work
groups. This means Oracle customers
now have two paths to BPM, both of
which use Oracle’s implementation of
the BPEL standard.
Finally, BEA’s IDE stack adds an
BY davi d Baum
alternative development path to Oracle’s
JDeveloper strategy. Oracle is an active
member of the Eclipse Foundation, but
Oracle JDeveloper is not an Eclipse IDE.
With the BEA acquisition, Oracle now
has a full Eclipse-based IDE available to
customers through the Oracle Fusion
Middleware stack.
Oracle Magazine: What does the future
hold for this development area?
Baer: I think that OSGi technology, which
is a service-oriented, component-based
environment that offers standardized
ways to manage the software lifecycle,
will transform this market. OSGi began,
interestingly enough, as a way to auto-
mate electronic systems for the home.
While that concept didn’t take off, it
yielded a lightweight component architec-
ture designed for hot deployment. Oracle
will be carrying this concept forward.
For instance, if you’re just serving
documents and don’t need transaction
management, you can dispense with
those extra components. OSGi will allow
companies to build very specific servers
for very specific purposes. ■
David Baum (david@dbaumcomm.com) is a freelance
business writer based in Santa Barbara, California.
Ovum (www.ovum.com) provides advisory services and
consulting to its clients about the commercial impact
of technology, regulatory, and market changes.
nextSTEPS
READ about Oracle WebLogic
application server products
oracle.com/appserver
LISTEN to Oracle Fusion Middleware
Radio
oracle.com/products/middleware/ofmradio.html
DOWNLOAD Oracle WebLogic Server
otn.oracle.com/software/products/ias/htdocs/
wls_main.html
10/8/08 2:07:01 PM
 #
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#1 in Application Servers

#1 in Service Oriented Architecture

#1 in Application Infrastructure Suites

#1 in Enterprise Performance Management

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