As Published In November/December 2012

COMMUNITY: Peer-to-Peer

Tech Destiny

The power of MySQL, life choices, and staying engaged with Oracle Database 

Wagner Bianchi

Peer Specs Company: WBConsulting, an IT consulting firm Job title/description: Senior principal consultant, running all processes involving MySQL technologies Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil Oracle credentials: Oracle Certified Associate (MySQL 5, MySQL 5.1, MySQL 5.5), Oracle Certified Professional (MySQL 5 Developer, MySQL 5 Database Administrator), and Oracle Certified Expert (MySQL 5.1 Cluster Database Administrator), with nine years of experience using Oracle products Oracle ACE

What are your favorite tools on the job? MySQL Enterprise Backup, MySQL Workbench, and the Enterprise Monitor feature of MySQL Enterprise Edition. Those tools have made it possible to have all MySQL areas under control with no necessity to access mysqld through the command line.

What technologies have most changed your life? MySQL and Linux. MySQL was my passport to many of the companies I’ve worked with. The software gave me great perspective and opened my mind to many other things about database servers. It led me to start studying Linux, which showed me how to monitor services and configure them for greater performance.

How are you using MySQL and cloud computing? Some time ago we developed a system in which MySQL was running in the cloud to support our company systems. This was an important advance, and it has held an important place in our architecture plans. MySQL is easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to drive into the cloud. There is a great opportunity for MySQL to dominate this field.
 

Emre Baransel

Peer Specs Company: Turkcell, a communications and technology company Job title/description: Oracle DBA, responsible for managing the standby databases in Turkcell’s IT environment Location: Ankara, Turkey Oracle credentials: Oracle Certified Professional (Oracle Database 10g), with seven years of experience using Oracle products Oracle ACE

How did you get started in IT? When I was 14, I passed the very competitive entrance exam for my high school, and my dad decided to give me a reward. He asked me if I wanted a computer or a pair of skis—I guess I made my life’s choice when I chose the computer.

How are you using social media in your work these days? I generally use it to keep myself up to date and share valuable information about Oracle technologies. I mostly use Twitter to get and share Oracle-related information, but I do use Facebook and LinkedIn for information sharing inside our local Oracle user group, TROUG [Turkish Oracle User Group]. There are also some personal Oracle blogs, OTN forums, and Oracle mail groups that I follow.

What would you like to see Oracle, as a company, do more of? I’d like to see Oracle with products in end-user technology. Oracle is a company that always changes the standards and achieves the best. It would be great to use Oracle smartphones or Oracle computers with Oracle operating systems.

What is your favorite thing to do outside of work? I enjoy exercising and spending time with my family.
 

Jeff Jacobs

Peer Specs Company: PayPal, a global online payment company Job title/description: Senior data architect, modeling, designing, and troubleshooting site databases Location: San Jose, California Length of time using Oracle products: More than 20 years Oracle ACE

What’s your favorite tool on the job? Quest Software’s Toad for Oracle is still one of my favorite tools, and I also find reports generated by the Automatic Workload Repository feature of Oracle Enterprise Manager incredibly useful. Most of my performance work is after the fact, and it most often involves correcting application issues. Automatic Workload Repository reports provide the necessary data to identify the cause of performance issues.

What technology has most changed your life? Definitely Oracle Database. It has not only provided me a technology that I enjoy and find constantly engaging but has also given me a wide variety of opportunities to engage in user group activities, conferences, presentations, and writing. I am honored to serve on the board of directors of the Independent Oracle Users Group Exadata special interest group, and privileged to have served on the ODTUG board of directors for 15 years.

What’s your go-to Oracle reference book? My favorite authors are Tom Kyte, Jonathan Lewis, Richard Niemiec, and Steven Feuerstein. I still prefer real books that I can mark, flag, and read in an easy chair.

Learn more about the Oracle ACE Program.