The Spoken Nerd

Tech chat with Martin Bach - part 3

You might know Martin Bach from his current role of talking about the new JavaScript engine in Oracle Database 23ai. But long before that, Martin has been a well respected professional in the Oracle community, with many a DBA being in debt to his knowledge and assistance.

In the final part of this 3 part series, Martin and I talk about working for Oracle, the latest release Oracle Database 23ai, and the role of Artificial Intelligence in general. Also, do we have any frustrations with the Oracle technology that we would like to improve?

If you like this episode, be sure you hit the Like button and share it with your colleagues. Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d  if you have comments or questions.

Tech chat with Martin Bach - part 2

You might know Martin Bach from his current role of talking about the new JavaScript engine in Oracle Database 23ai. But long before that, Martin has been a well respected professional in the Oracle community, with many a DBA being in debt to his knowledge and assistance.

In this episode, Martin and I talk about the role of social media (blogs, video etc) in technical education, and cover the database books he has authored or co-authored over the years. And along similar lines to co-authorship, how Martin came to be working with Enkitec, a company renowned for having some of the best minds in the Oracle Database community.

If you like this episode, be sure you hit the Like button and share it with your colleagues. Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d  if you have comments or questions.

Tech chat with Martin Bach - part 1

You might know Martin Bach from his current role of talking about the new JavaScript engine in Oracle Database 23ai. But long before that, Martin has been a well respected professional in the Oracle community, with many a DBA being in debt to his knowledge and assistance.

In this episode, Martin and I talk about the beginnings of his Oracle career and how we had a lot in common with our experiences in the United Kingdom, even working for the same company at some point.

If you like this episode, be sure you hit the Like button and share it with your colleagues. Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d  if you have comments or questions.

The Best Things in Life are Free - part 2

A common theme in my 30 years of using Oracle technology is that people love to label any and all things Oracle as "cool tech but way too expensive". But this argument is a reflection of a very dated view of Oracle, because times have changed. Nowadays there is a plethora of tools, platforms and initiatives provided by Oracle that are 100% free to take advantage of. In the same way that I don't run ads on this podcast :-) here is part 2 of my exploration of all of the cool Oracle stuff you can exploit without paying a cent.

Links from the show

• Pre-Built VMs https://www.oracle.com/downloads/developer-vm/community-downloads.html
• Vagrant on Oracle Github https://github.com/oracle/vagrant-projects
• Running WordPress on Oracle Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_S5VI7zZSs
• Running MineCraft on Oracle Cloud https://recursive.codes/p/how-to-setup-and-run-a-free-minecraft-server-in-the-cloud

Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d if you have questions.

 

 

The Best Things in Life are Free - part 1

A common theme in my 30 years of using Oracle technology is that people love to label any and all things Oracle as "cool tech but way too expensive". But this argument is a reflection of a very dated view of Oracle, because times have changed. Nowadays there is a plethora of tools, platforms and initiatives provided by Oracle that are 100% free to take advantage of. In the same way that I don't run ads on this podcast :-), here's an episode that tells you all of the cool Oracle stuff you can exploit without paying a cent.

Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d if you have questions.

 

Back to Basics - Choosing a Tablespace Layout

Login to a customer's Oracle Database and there are all sorts of permutations of how tablespaces are being used. Sometimes there is one giant tablespace for everything. Other times there are multiple tablespaces for different schemas, or different object types. The thinking on how tablespaces should be used has evolved over many years, and in this episode we'll take a look at the history of tablespaces and why this had such an impact on how tablespace layout in databases. We'll also answer a critical question - how should you be using tablespaces today?

Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d if you have questions.

Download the original  paper from Juan Loaiza here

 

 

Back to Basics - The Burden of Proof

There's a reason we don't just lump all of our data into Excel, Word and other such tools. Databases exist to give rigour to our data. They are the "statement of record" - the proof that our applications are meeting any business and/or regulatory requirements. The data stored in the database is typically the evidence that we provide to auditors and legal representatives that we are not breaking any rules. 

But are you sure that your data will pass an audit? In this episode, I examine a real customer example - a customer that thought they were meeting all of their legal requirements, only to hit a firestorm when an audit of the database suggested otherwise. Achieving a correct ordering of transactions whilst still allowing high concurrency is an often overlooked issue.

If you like this episode, be sure you hit the Like button and share it with your colleagues. Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d  if you have comments or questions.

 

Back to Basics: Understanding Database Locking

If you are the only person using a PC, then the concept of having to lock information is totally foreign, because all of the data is yours and yours alone. But databases were built for the multi-user world, where concurrent access to the data is the norm. To handle this, we sometimes need to lock the data to ensure it is controlled and updated in a way that guarantees integrity and correctness. In this episode, we discuss the "Optimistic" and "Pessimistic" locking strategies, how they are used to handle the "Lost Update" problem, and what role the internet played in changing our view of database locking. If you like this episode, be sure you hit the Like button and share it with your colleagues. Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d  if you have comments or questions.

Blog post referred to in the episode: https://stewashton.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/avoiding-lost-updates-with-ora_rowscn/

 

Catching up with Maria Colgan - part4

Known for many years as "the optimizer lady", there are very few people that can throw down with tech ubergeeks in the Oracle community whilst at the same time nonchalantly stroll into a meeting with Larry Ellision, but Maria Colgan is one of the select people that can do so.

Maria has nearly 3 decades of experience with the Oracle Database, covering SQL, performance, and the optimizer and even OS/2. In this episode, Maria and I talk about the rise of DevOps, the recent popularity of AI engines, her presentation style both in-person and on YouTube, plus some of personal passions such as going on safari and the Oscar movie cycle.

If you like this episode, be sure you hit the Like button and share it with your colleagues. Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d  if you have comments or questions.

Catching up with Maria Colgan - part3

Known for many years as "the optimizer lady", there are very few people that can throw down with tech ubergeeks in the Oracle community whilst at the same time nonchalantly stroll into a meeting with Larry Ellision, but Maria Colgan is one of the select people that can do so.

Maria has nearly 3 decades of experience with the Oracle Database, covering SQL, performance, and the optimizer and even OS/2. In this episode, Maria and I talk about what a face to face meeting with Larry Ellison is like; the cool features coming in 23c; JSON as the new data exchange standard and of course, her beloved Tesla :-)

If you like this episode, be sure you hit the Like button and share it with your colleagues. Catch me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/connor_mc_d  if you have comments or questions.