James Koopmann

The interview process can be quite stressful. Here is the first part of a two part series on helping you answer those tough questions that you might experience in your quest for an Oracle DBA position. Ever since I wrote the past article on the Oracle Technical Interview, I have been bombarded with e-mails asking […]

The creation of a database in PostgreSQL is almost too simple. This article will give you a initial view of how to create a database and verify its existence. This article assumes that you have read what is beginning to become a series in getting a PostgreSQL environment setup and an actual instance up and […]

Detection of which tables or indexes are being accessed the most will allow you to fine tune memory structures and access methodologies. Let’s take a look at Oracle’s segment level statistics and determine which objects are being accessed the most by our applications. If you have ever been a DBA in a shop where you […]

If you want to get the most out of Oracle, you will have to learn how to size its internal memory structures. Let’s take a look at the Shared Pool, what it is composed of, and a new tool that Oracle has given us tune it. As an Oracle DBA, you quickly learn one the […]

Whenever you start using a new database, you will more than likely begin to relate it to other databases that you have used. This allows you to gain trust of the new vendor quickly and learn where particular pieces fit in relationship to the administrative tasks that you are used to performing. This article examines […]

While we all know that using the SYSTEM tablespace as a temporary tablespace is to be frowned upon, Oracle still lets us assign it as such. Let’s take a look at how Oracle suggests handling the creation and assignment of TEMPORARY tablespaces. Isn’t it funny? We have all been told from early on in our […]

Have you been thinking about switching jobs and are uncertain about that technical interview process? Try taking my technical interview and see if you are up it. It seems the job market is starting to move a bit. If you are uncomfortable in your current position or if you just want to test the waters, […]

Integrity 1.      Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code. 2.      The state of being unimpaired; soundness. 3.      The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness. Source: The American Heritage. Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright ) 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. The data within our databases must constantly follow […]

You have downloaded and installed the PostgreSQL software but what should you do next? Setting up an environment properly to run any software is paramount to flawless use and a happy experience. This article is one in a series of articles that I have been writing on getting the PostgreSQL database up and running. It […]

Just when you thought you knew where you were, Oracle has implemented time zones to totally zone us out. Come along and let’s figure where we are on this great planet. A few articles back I wrote on a comparison between the DATE datatype and the TIMESTAMP datatype. This article goes one step further and […]

Identification of the database you are currently working on can sometimes be somewhat confusing. Take a look at the internal parameters that Oracle keeps and see if you can uniquely identify the database you are currently working on. A big problem in the Oracle database world is the initialization and setup of naming conventions within […]

Getting free software and installing can sometimes be a daunting task. Not so with PostgreSQL. Get the software The biggest choice you have when getting the software is the version you want and the machine type you need to install on. As far as machine type, you really only have a choice of a Unix […]