At Hotsos Symposium 2009 (March 8-12, 2009 in Dallas), I’ll be presenting “Avoiding Common RAC Problems”. The abstract is available online.

In the IOUG DBA/Clustering track at Collaborate 2009 (May 3-7, 2009 in Orlando), I’ll be presenting 3 sessions. They are listed below:

1. “Avoiding Common RAC Problems” – RAC doesn’t work for everyone in every situation, that’s a fact. However, in many cases, RAC can work and work well if configured and used properly. Some issues are caused by simple misconfiguration, others are more complex like application-related logic issues that only surface in RAC environments. There are some issues that appear with a relatively high frequency and many of them can be fixed without knowledge of internals. Specifically, this session will review common issues in the areas of networking, storage, people, applications, and testing, examining the issues and their solutions.
2. “Troubleshooting Oracle Clusterware” – Installing RAC is something that typically happens very few times in the life of a database or project. However, dissecting the installation process can be very instructive when learning how RAC works and how the multiple components work together to support a complex, multi-instance database.This session will review a RAC installation from start to finish. We’ll examine the OS prerequisites, network setup, kernel parameters, Clusterware prerequisites, Clusterware installation, ASM considerations, ASM installation and configuration, and finally RDBMS installation and configuration. We’ll also discuss options for patching these installations and provide recommendations on ways to keep this environment stable and manageable as it grows.
3. “Installing RAC From The Ground Up” – Oracle Clusterware is present in all Oracle RAC configurations, but it is often overlooked as a managed piece of software. Since it isn’t a database, many DBAs aren’t familiar with its function or techniques for troubleshooting its behaviors.To better understand and be ready for troubleshooting this relatively new software, we start by examining its components and their purposes. An understanding of how each piece fits together will better enable DBAs to quickly identify the most likely source of problems in the stack. Familiarity with the proper operating system and Oracle tools enables DBAs to reveal the right information at the right times to debug the Clusterware components and processes.Finally, adding a troubleshooting process to the sometimes overwhelming stack of software that makes up a RAC cluster can be the key to combining knowledge of Clusterware architecture and processes with the proper tools to quickly identify the right resolution to most issues. Clusterware has ability to reboot servers without warning and sometimes the reasons for its actions are not easily identified. With so much power to affect overall availability, the Clusterware is a critical component and it is important to understand its troubleshooting just as thoroughly as the database layer troubleshooting.

We also recently received word that we’ll be holding a 1/2-day hands on session for RAC at Collaborate on Thursday morning. Stay tuned for more details on the RAC SIG website!

Finally, I have also had one presentation accepted for the ODTUG Kaleidoscope conference (June 21-25, 2009 in Monterey, CA). That session is titled “DBA-speak for Developers”.

1. “DBA-speak for Developers”: The most common problem between DBA and Development teams is a lack of communication. When communication breaks down, it is common for a “Us vs. Them” mentality to develop. DBAs are sometimes guilty of using “DBA-speak” terms that are intended for other DBAs to understand, but Developers aren’t always DBA-speak literate. Developers, on the other hand, have many languages as well: Java, PHP, Ruby, and Perl, to name a few. In this technical session, we will focus on helping Developers by translating some of the most common things that their DBAs may say into something that the common Developer can better understand. We’ll no doubt have some fun trying to make sense of the madness that is the Oracle DBA, but we’ll also dig in to the real phrases Developers are likely to hear. Attendees are also invited to bring their own DBA-speak phrases for translation as well.

Looking ahead, I’m highly anticipating Oracle Open World (October 11-15, 2009 – San Francisco) and Miracle Oracle Open World (October?, 2009, near Copenhagen, Denmark). These are both great events (one very large, one small) with tons of great information and great people to meet and talk with at every turn.

So, if you’re at any of these events, please do look me up. I’m on the schedule for many events and enjoy meeting new faces, fellow RAC SIGers, and anyone interested in a chat about RAC, clustering, storage, or scuba diving!

On a more immediate note, I’ll be attending the RMOUG conference next week in Denver. This has got to be one of the best buys around for two days of great sessions by some wonderful experts. The networking opportunities are top-notch as well with the event being a relatively small event and the people (like Debra Lilley, Cary Millsap, Kevin Closson, Mogens Nørgaard, and Tim Gorman, to name a few) very personable. If you’re going, I’ll enjoy seeing you there! If you’re not…put it on your calendar for next year. Even with budget cuts, this is still an affordable event!

You can be sure the RAC SIG will maintain our conference presence with events at the Collaborate 09 conference as well.

To help identify yourself as an attendee, be sure to join the COLLABORATE 09 Attendees group on Mix and/or add yourself to the event on Upcoming. I’ll hope to see you there!

Now back to the regularly scheduled OOW preparation action!

UPDATE (11-Sep-2008): The speaker submission page has a login box, just like previous years. However, if you have had a speaker account in past years you need to know that this year IOUG is using a new system and everyone has to create new accounts in the system this year. Hope you saved that bio somewhere else instead of execting to reuse it again!

• June 15-19, ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2008, New Orleans, LA
• September 21-25, Oracle OpenWorld, San Francisco, CA
• December 1-5, UKOUG Conference, Birmingham, UK
• February, 2009 (TBD), RMOUG Training Days, Denver, CO
• March 8-12, 2009, Hotsos Symposium, Dallas, TX
• April 20-24, 2009, RSA Conference, San Francisco, CA
• May 3-7, 2009, Collaborate 09, Orlando, FL

In between these events (hopefully, I’ll get to attend and/or participate in all of them), I’ll also be planning to present at some regional user group events in Charlotte (CLTOUG), Chicago (COUG), Northern California (NoCOUG) and others as time allows.

If you’re going to be at any of these events, please get in touch so we can meet up there. I’m hoping to make more time this year for attending these events and be a little less involved in them so that I can make more time for talking with individuals and/or customers. Hope to see you in the next year at one or more of these venues!

I was one of the three IOUG DBA Track Managers (along with Bonnie Bizzaro and Nick Marcovecchio) whose responsibilities were to select the DBA sessions for the conference, review the whitepapers and presentations for each speaker (with the help of our excellent reviewers), ensure that the speakers made it to their sessions, and provide feedback to speakers after their sessions (especially first-time speakers). These duties, along with coordinating 3 RAC SIG events, giving 2 expert technical sessions, one technical session, and assembling and moderating a panel discussion made for a busy week. I can say, though, that being on the conference committee is a rewarding experience and something that volunteers should aspire to as they become more involved with the IOUG. Anyone can apply for the Collaborate 09 conference committee when the application becomes available later this summer.

As mentioned, I had some extra duties this year that made it almost impossible for me to sit still through an entire session. However, I did get to sit in on parts of many sessions. We had about 400 total sessions in the IOUG Forum this year, up from about 250 last year. So, as expected, we had over 80 first-time IOUG speakers. I was delighted to see parts of many new speaker sessions and found most of them to be very informative, clear, and concise. Some of the speakers were a little nervous and a few finished a little early (due to speeding through their material a little too fast), but that’s about the worst I saw (which isn’t bad at all!).

My own sessions went well and other than the 8:30am session (on Oracle Adaptive Access Manager), they were attended pretty well too. I think my favorite session was the panel discussion I moderated on Thursday morning titled “To RAC or Not To RAC: What’s Best For HA?” The panelists were great and we had a lively discussion and dispelled several myths about RAC. I only wish we had more time to take questions from the audience, but several attendees still commented that they enjoyed the session and the panelists. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Saturday Night Live skits I played prior to the start of my presentations. My whitepapers and presentations are now available here.

There was a great RAC hands-on session put together at the last minute by Jeremy Schneider. Jeremy heard about an opening in the hands-on lab during our new speaker briefing on Sunday and by Wednesday, he had built several complete recipe procedures for installation and configuration as well as 3 sets of RAC virtual machines. Attendees could choose from different options for starting points to make it easier for each skill level to do something productive in the relatively short 90-minute hands-on session. The only unfortunate part of the RAC hands-on session was that it was scheduled concurrently with the RAC Birds of a Feather session and another RAC technical session as well. With 400+ sessions, scheduling two sessions from the same topic area such that they don’t overlap is next to impossible. Even with the scheduling conflict, there were about 15 RAC hands-on attendees and about 15 people attending the RAC Birds of a Feather session.

The RAC Birds of a Feather session was a lively discussion where I was able to gather some good ideas for future RAC SIG events and topics for possible hands-on sessions as well as webcasts. If you have more ideas, please send them to me.
My non-conference highlight of the week was when a group of 16 Pioteam members and friends of Piocon attended a playoff game in the quest for the Stanley Cup (that’s NHL for those that don’t know hockey). The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-1 with lots of action to make the match entertaining as well as victorious for the home team. It was a good time for all and allowed for some good discussions with our partners and customers that attended. Other than that, we also had a good time at the customer appreciation event on Wednesday night. They had some rock climbing, DJ music, pool tables, and (fake) gambling tables. I played fake Texas Hold ‘Em Poker for about an hour or so.

Of course, probably the most important and rewarding part of the Collaborate conferences for me is the mini-reunion of all the individuals that I generally only see once a year at these events (aside from “seeing” them online). From what I remember, I saw and/or hung out with Jake K, Matt, Jeremy, Bex, Michelle, Vinod, Venkat, Jake V, Paul, Tony, Vikki, George, Alex, Logan, and that doesn’t include all the IOUG volunteers that I worked so closely with since October. To all those that I forgot to mention, I enjoyed seeing you too! And especially to those I met for the first time, I hope to see you again online as well as at future conference events. Thanks to everyone that took the time to say hello and/or introduce yourself.

See you next year in Orlando, May 3-7, 2009 for Collaborate 09!

As has been the case for several years, the IOUG and ODTUG have graciously selected some of my submissions for presentation at their respective conferences. While ODTUG has announced that they’ve selected their sessions, they haven’t yet posted them or notified many of the speakers.

For the 5 or so people that probably read this blog , here are the sessions where you’ll find me at Collaborate 08 this year:

• To RAC or Not To RAC: What’s Best For HA? (this is a debate session that I’m coordinating), Thursday @ 9:45 AM
• SSL, Load Balancers, Rewrite, Redirect, and More Advanced Configuration (a 2-hour expert session co-presented with Matt Topper), Monday @ 9:15 AM
• Building A RAC Test Environment On VMWare For Free (a 2-hour expert session), Tuesday @ 3:30 PM
• Oracle Adaptive Access Manager: What, Why, How, Wednesday @ 8:30 AM

Of course, I’ll also be coordinating and participating in several sessions for the RAC SIG at the conference, but we haven’t yet set dates or times for them.

At the ODTUG Kaleidoscope conference happening June 15-18 in New Orleans, I’ll be presenting the following sessions (they haven’t scheduled them yet):

• How A RAT Will Save Your Job
• RAC For Beginners: The Basics
• Sunday Fusion Middleware Symposium session: SSL, Load Balancers, Rewrite, Redirect, and More Advanced Configuration (co-presentation with Matt–a repeat of the Collaborate session)

UPDATE: The last session listed above (OAS Advanced Config) is only to be presented at the Sunday Fusion Middleware Symposium instead of a regular conference slot. If you really want the full version, come to Collaborate!

If you submitted a session to ODTUG and haven’t heard back, check here for status.

Still not enough? I’m also presenting at the Northern California Oracle Users Group conference on February 19th at Oracle’s Conference Center on the HQ Campus. At that event, you can see me in the front talking on these topics:

• Oracle Adaptive Access Manager: What, Why, How, at 2:30 PM
• High Availability Options for Oracle Database, at 4 PM

It’ll be a busy spring and summer. I’m not sure I really understood how busy until I wrote it all down in one place…yikes.

Then things might calm down, but not for long since Oracle OpenWorld is coming early this year (September 21-25)!