Our method of Oracle performance management utilizes the core principle - i.e.- Using "response time" as the one and only metric to optimize performance impediments. This method is utilized for all types of Oracle databases including those deployed in an Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) environment.

We use the following well-known formula:

Response Time = Service Time + Wait Time

We believe in analyzing the "waits" within the Oracle database to determine the source of the true bottleneck. The salient idea behind this approach is to reduce resource consumption and wastage. Thus reducing the waits, significantly increases our ability to eliminate one or more bottlenecks for a given component of an application. We use an industry-proven, repeatable and mathematical driven methodology to investigate, determine, and implement "meaningful solutions" to real problems. 

The world of Oracle performance management has a reputation as part science, part art, and mostly wizardry.

This seminar imparts the core principles of performance management by sharing a methodology to investigate, determine, and implement "meaningful solutions" to real problems. This seminar covers all releases of Oracle from version 7 to 11G, predominantly focusing on versions 9i and 10g. The syllabus for the seminar includes the following:

• Oracle Database Architecture Review
• What is Multi-Version Read Consistency (MVRC) and why is it relevant?
  > How does Oracle implement MVRC?
• What is Performance Optimization?
  > When should you optimize?
• Oracle Performance Tuning Methodology
• The Method Behind the Madness
  > Oracle Diagnostics (I)
  > Operating System Diagnostics (II)
  > Correlating I & II
• The Guts of OWI
  > The core performance diagnostic views
  > Low-level trace methods (10046, 10053)
• Understanding the Oracle Optimizer
• Performance Case Studies from the Real World
• Performance Management in Oracle 10G
• Performance Management in Oracle 11G
  
• Conclusion

Why does an application component function within a "reasonable" response time goal when the table(s) are small and degrades in "exponential" fashion when the table sizes grow? You expect "linear" degradation, but the results are surprisingly otherwise. Ring a bell?

The core problem here is that the application and/or its "environment" has inherent scalability issues. What works well with small data-sets, completely falls apart with large data-sets. We pride in ourselves to be able to determine scalability issues with such components in your system.

In Computer Science, the scalability of a code module is usually measured by its "algorithmic complexity". In simple terms, the algorithmic complexity is a mathematical measurement of how well the code will perform. The measurement of algorithmic complexity is directly related to the abstract data types and data structures that are utilized in the application. For example, linked lists portray an algorithmic complexity of O(n). This means that if the linked list is comprised of "n nodes" the algorithm manipulating may require up to "n node traversals" to get to the data that is sought after. In comparison, a binary tree's algorithmic complexity is O(logn). Given the same number of nodes, a binary tree provides much more scalable performance when compared to a linked list.

Scalability problems can (and will) stem from bad application design, inappropriate data structures, inefficient SQL, system resource limits, database and schema architecture constraints and improper storage configuration. Early detection, diagnosis and resolution of scalability problems is key for stable system performance health in the long run.

Storage performance problems manifest themselves in many ways - inconsistent application response times and lack of better CPU utilization with higher user loads are the most common forms. If you are dealing with a never-ending saga with an performance problem associated with a SAN or a storage array, we can definitely help. We will assist you by facilitating and performing low-level storage diagnostics in conjunction with your IT Infrastructure Team. This will help you to get to the "bottom of the storage performance problem".

We can provide this service regardless of type of storage or the vendor. Our understanding of how Oracle works along with the various levels of RAID and the interplay with volume configuration will assist you in securing a comprehensive picture of your storage sub-system. With focus on Input-Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and Throughput/Transfer Rate (MB/sec) vis-a-vis the specification of the hardware and the I/O operations that are performed from the Oracle database, we get to the bottom of the problem very quickly.

We have saved our customers millions of dollars in hardware upgrade costs, by making them understand the true nature of their performance problem and leveraging their current investment. Although we have nothing against the latest and greatest hardware that money can buy, we ensure that hardware upgrades are done "for the right reasons". Blindly throwing hardware at a performance problem is a very expensive "Band-Aid" and will not serve any purpose in the long run. It is a not a winning proposition.

If you are at the crossroads of upgrading your hardware due to performance issues on your Oracle database, talk to us first. We can help you save money and avoid unnecessary risks associated with the upgrade. Remember, change when not managed effectively can cause chaos.

How many times have you selected a software solution or a services vendor without conducting a thorough technical evaluation? What has been the cost of those decisions? How much pain have you endured after the fact? How difficult has it been to replace poorly designed software solutions? Will the software solution you are about to purchase scale with increased traffic, load and user volume? Does the service provider possess adequate process infrastructure and technical talent to service your needs?

These are some of the questions that you need answers for as part of the "due diligence" that you need to undertake before choosing a vendor. We take pride in performing comprehensive, unbiased and fair technical evaluations of all software/services vendors who utilize an Oracle database. We empower your organization to be 100% confident that the vendor that you are choosing will add "value" instead of "risk" to your IT infrastructure and environment. This service provides you with the "mathematical proof" that the decision you are about to make is the right one. Providing risk mitigation and fiscal protection as we "go to bat"on your behalf is something you cannot afford to be without!

We have had the honor and good fortune of providing technical product management expertise to corporations such as Oracle, Veritas and Quest.

In each of these efforts, we have focused on using response time for performance problem diagnosis and analysis. The performance management solutions that we have made technical contributions to include:

• Oracle 10g Enterprise Manager (Database Performance, Automatic Storage Manager) 
• Veritas i3 (Indepth for Oracle & Storage Extension for EMC)
• Quest Central for Oracle (Performance & Storage)