This blog entry presents a basic introduction to Oracle execution plans. What exactly is an Oracle execution plan? An execution plan consists of the steps that the database server will take to...
Six Thoughts on Recent Oracle UNIX/Linux Release Enhancements
While Oracle has been responsible for bringing many revolutionary features to the enterprise RDBMS market throughout its 38+ year history, recent releases have left me scratching my head in wonder....
The New Fancy POWER8 E850
So IBM has released details on the new mid-ranged POWER 8 system – and it’s awesome! I’ve always felt, ever since POWER8 was GA, that there was a gap between the low(er) end systems and the high-end...
Tiering Up: The Data Storage Balancing Act for Businesses
When most people think of computing data storage, they think in terms of USB thumb drives, recordable CDs and DVDs and, of course, cloud storage solutions. Such storage options work very well when...
Achieving Processor and Memory Affinity using Dynamic Platform Optimizer on POWER Hardware
As IT professionals, we're always looking for ways to get the best performance out of our systems. On the systems side, much of the focus on optimizing performance is placed at the operating system...
Tiering Up: Businesses Can Decrease Storage Expense Using Tier 0
IT business storage requirements today must adhere to a labyrinth of confusing and contradictory government- and industry-decreed regulations. Increasingly, every bit and byte of data has to be...
Controlling the Storage Blob: Six Key Areas That Can Improve Storage Efficiency and Affordability
In the 1958 film “The Blob,” the blob begins as a small alien creature brought to earth via a meteorite, but it quickly begins consuming every human it contacts and becomes ever larger and voracious...
Using Nstress to Stress your System
I think it's important to stress your hardware as much as possible. It's kind of like when you buy a new car, you always punch the gas a little bit to see what the thing can do! Likewise, with your...