Beginning Oracle Database 11g Administration From Novice to Professional

CHAPTER 15 THE BIG PICTURE AND THE TEN DELIVERABLES 343
“Standard Operating Procedures” (SOPs) are another important class of documents;
you will learn about them later in the chapter. Original software media and
files should also be stored in the library for use if the database needs to be rebuilt
or if additional databases need to be created. Note that the document library
needs to be secure since it contains sensitive and confidential information.
3. Work logs of service requests, alarms, and changes: Work logs are important for
many reasons. They bring transparency and visibility to the database administration
function. From the Incident Management perspective, it is necessary to
review the work logs and identify inefficiencies and root causes. From the Problem
Management perspective, it is necessary to review the work logs and identify
chronic problems. From the Availability Management perspective, it is necessary
to review the work logs and identify availability issues. These are just some examples
of how work logs help bring about improvements and efficiencies in your
ability to provide good service to the business.
4. Standard Operating Procedures: Any database administration task that is done
repeatedly should be codified into a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Using
a written SOP helps efficiency and accuracy. We will return to this subject later in
the chapter.
5. Procedures and records for backup testing and failover testing: It is absolutely essential
that backup procedures and disaster recovery procedures be documented. The
procedures should be periodically tested and records should be maintained.
6. Maintenance and batch schedules, documentation, and records: Chapter 14 discussed
database maintenance. Database maintenance procedures should be
documented and records should be maintained. If the maintenance procedures
are automated, log records should also be automatically created. For example, an
RMAN catalog can be used to store backup histories. Any repeating tasks or batch
jobs that are the responsibility of the database administrator should also be adequately
documented, and records should be maintained for them.
7. Database administration tools: Database administration tools include Oracle- supplied
tools such as Database Control, Grid Control, and SQL Developer. The Management
Packs, such as Diagnostics Pack, Tuning Pack, Change Management Pack, and Configuration
Pack, are very valuable tools but most organizations don’t purchase licenses
to use them because of their high cost and because Enterprise Edition is a prerequisite.
Other popular tools are Toad from Quest Software and DBArtisan from Embarcadero
Technologies.
8. Management reports: Examples of database reports for management are reports
on database growth, workload, and performance. STATSPACK and AWR histories
should be retained for as long as practicable—the defaults (two weeks in the case
of STATSPACK and eight days for AWR) are unsuitable. I suggest retaining data for