Benchmark File Compression Tools Safely
Compression choices should be based on your own data, recovery-time objectives, and available CPU. A benchmark copied from another system can be misleading because text, database exports, binaries,…
Practical database knowledge
Keep your databases running.
Oracle, SQL Server, backup, and recovery. Practical guides for diagnosing problems and getting your data back.
Featured series · 3 parts
Oracle SQL tuning with AWR & ASH
Follow the investigation from the first slowdown to a stable execution plan.
01 · AWR
Find and prove the regression
Identify the SQL, compare execution plans, and establish what changed.
02 · ASH
Find where the time went
Use ASH and runtime plans to understand waits and execution work.
03 · Plan stability
Tune and stabilize the plan
Evaluate advisor recommendations and stabilize a proven execution plan.
Latest articles
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Oracle: Monitor Shared Pool and Large Pool Memory
Shared pool and large pool usage should be monitored as trends, not judged from a single “free memory” number. Oracle can use most of a pool efficiently, and…
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SQL Server 2000 Product Key and MDAC: Historical Inventory Note
This is a historical inventory note. SQL Server 2000 and the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) era are obsolete and unsupported. Do not expose product keys by querying…
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Use Excel Power Query to Read SQL Server Data Safely
Excel can read SQL Server data without embedding passwords or building SQL text from worksheet cells. Power Query is the preferred workflow for most reporting workbooks. Connect with…
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Shell Script: Find the Script’s Own Directory
A script’s current working directory and the directory containing the script are different concepts. pwd reports where the caller is working; it does not reliably report where the…
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SQL Server Performance Hardware Checklist
Choose SQL Server hardware from measured workload requirements, not a generic rule such as “buy the most CPUs possible.” Licensing, NUMA topology, storage latency, memory pressure, virtualization, and…
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xbindkeys: Create Safe Linux Keyboard Shortcuts
xbindkeys runs commands from keyboard or mouse shortcuts under the X Window System. It is useful for lightweight X11 desktops, but many Wayland sessions restrict global key capture;…
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Oracle: Enable or Disable ARCHIVELOG Mode
ARCHIVELOG mode is required for online backups and point-in-time recovery. Changing the mode requires the database to be mounted but not open, so plan an outage and confirm…
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Oracle Transportable Tablespaces with Data Pump
Transportable tablespaces move user tablespace data files plus a Data Pump metadata dump. They can be much faster than unloading and reloading large data sets, but the tablespace…
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SQL Server: Monitor Free Disk Space Safely
Monitor the volumes that contain SQL Server database files with sys.dm_os_volume_stats. It returns capacity information without enabling operating-system command execution. Free space for database volumes SELECT DISTINCT vs.volume_mount_point,…