Beginning Oracle Database 11g Administration From Novice to Professional

CHAPTER 9
Taking Control
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look’d at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
—On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer by John Keats
If you are going to be responsible for a database, you need to know what it contains and
how it is being used. Which are the biggest tables? How are the data files, control files,
and log files laid out? How many people have database accounts? How many people use
the database at a time? Your first action when you acquire responsibility for a database
should be to thoroughly explore it. Form- based tools such as Enterprise Manager, SQL
Developer, and Remote Diagnostic Agent make it easy to explore the database.
Form-based tools also simplify the task of database administration. A long time ago
in my career, I remember a manager looking on as I fixed a database problem. It took
quite a while for me to get everything right because the only tool I had was the SQL*Plus
command- line tool and I was constructing SQL commands on the fly to fix the problem.
A workman is as good as his tools. The manager was not very impressed.
As illustrated in Listing 9-1, I suggest that you create an account with DBA privileges
for your personal use so that you are not tempted to use the or account while
browsing or while performing chores. There are certainly times when you will have to use
one of these accounts, but you should be able to do most of your daily work with your
own account. This helps prevent unnecessary objects from being created in the and
schemas.
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