As Published In September/October 2004

Prizes, Performance, and Privacy
By Blair Campbell

Three independent-minded peers reflect on a collective half-century of Oracle experience.

Lee Murray

Peer Specs Company: Weyerhaeuser, a forest-products company Job Title/Description: Senior DBA, serving on a centralized DBA team that manages Oracle and SQL Server databases; also responsible for Weyerhaeuser's Oracle Names repository Location: Federal Way, Washington Length of Time Using Oracle Products: 14 years

If you could add a feature to Oracle Database, what would it be? I've always thought that SQL*Loader should have a SQL*Unloader counterpart.

You recently gave a presentation at IOUG Live! 2004. What did it cover? I presented a paper titled "Stand By Your Database—A Case Study," which discussed an Oracle8i standby implementation I had done, looked ahead at new features in Oracle9i and Oracle Database 10g in what is now called Data Guard, and detailed the process I'll use to move from Oracle8i standby to Oracle9i Data Guard.

What's your favorite tool or technique? When I initially came on board at Weyerhaeuser, one of the longtime DBAs here taught me how to accomplish database cloning by using a home-built, UNIX-script-driven database backup process. I also learned how to use partial database cloning to recover database objects when an export is not available. After getting quite experienced at this, I put together a presentation for the 1999 IOUG Live! conference in Denver, Colorado, titled "Recipe for Success—Using Partial Cloning to Recover Database Objects."

George Jucan

Peer Specs Company: Open Data System Job Title/Description: CEO, handling client relationships, contracts administration, and select hands-on assignments Location: Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada Oracle Credentials: Oracle-certified DBA (Oracle8) with more than 15 years of experience in using Oracle product

Tell us about Open Data Systems and your role there. I started Open Data Systems in 1998 as a specialized company in Oracle database administration. Over the years, we've expanded our offerings to include information architecture, data modeling, environment setup, and database design. What advice do you have about getting into Web and database development? Take the time to architect the solution and do a detailed design before starting to code. This strategy allows a higher rate of success, which can make you a star player in a highly competitive market.

A major subject of interest now is the protection of private data stored in Oracle databases. Most systems do a good job in enforcing security at the application and network level, but, amazingly, 99 percent of databases rely on the old user-name/password-authentication method. I recently published a security technique that uses standard Virtual Private Database and encryption components to allow authorized requests while preventing access to confidential data, even if a DBA-level password has been compromised.

Anthony D. Noriega

Peer Specs Company: ADN, an independent practice specializing in educational and consulting services Job Title: Lead database administrator (DBA) and portal services developer Location: North Bergen, New Jersey Oracle Credentials: Oracle-certified DBA (Oracle8i, Oracle9i) with 13 years of experience in using Oracle products

How did you get started in IT? In 1980 I was the top-performing high school student in Colombia, and I received a government grant to study systems engineering at University of the North in Barranquilla. Four years later, I started working with dBase III Plus for Alvaro Quevedo, an IBM partner. I later earned an MS degree in computer science, and I'm now a second-year MBA student with a concentration in management information systems at Montclair State University-where I've set up several experimental Oracle Database 10g servers on Linux and Microsoft Windows Enterprise 2003 servers.

Which new features of Oracle Database 10g are you finding most valuable? Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor, the concept of metrics, the enhanced Data Pump utilities, and flashback capabilities really revolutionize the database technology arena.

What's your favorite thing to do that doesn't involve work? I've enjoyed creative writing since I was a teenager, when I wanted to win the Nobel Prize in both literature and physics. Recently I've been trying to write a book or a series of booklets on Oracle topics.