Comments on: The Art of Being a Successful DBA – Poka-Yoke and Paranoid DBA Best Practices http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/ Remote DBA Experts Blog Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:32:55 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Craig http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-100 Craig Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:24:47 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-100 I have wrote up how I set my sessions between live and test here http://tinyurl.com/gcblog65 feel free to have a look, I set-up my putty sessions very visual to determine between the two I have wrote up how I set my sessions between live and test here http://tinyurl.com/gcblog65 feel free to have a look, I set-up my putty sessions very visual to determine between the two

]]> By: Ray http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-75 Ray Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:18:16 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-75 I live by a few simple rules: 1. Always have a way un-Screw-up what you are about to screw up. (Rollback scripts, fresh backup...) 2. "Never Delete Anything". I get a lot of flack for this one. Of course, this needs to be done 'within reason' but I would much rather catch grief for over-running a backup disk than missing data. 3. Disk Space is cheap... unemployment is expensive. I live by a few simple rules:

1. Always have a way un-Screw-up what you are about to screw up. (Rollback scripts, fresh backup…)

2. “Never Delete Anything”. I get a lot of flack for this one. Of course, this needs to be done ‘within reason’ but I would much rather catch grief for over-running a backup disk than missing data.

3. Disk Space is cheap… unemployment is expensive.

]]> By: virtualmono http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-58 virtualmono Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:05:26 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-58 So true... whenever I have to perform some potentially destructive action, I tend to double-check several times before hitting the enter-key. I liked the part about concentration too - unfortunately it's hard to avoid distractions by ongoing conversations around in a cubicle-environment (will management ever learn this?). So true… whenever I have to perform some potentially destructive action, I tend to double-check several times before hitting the enter-key. I liked the part about concentration too – unfortunately it’s hard to avoid distractions by ongoing conversations around in a cubicle-environment (will management ever learn this?).

]]> By: Narendra http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-57 Narendra Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:29:03 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-57 Good article. I regularly use the tips described in the article and comments. However, on AIX servers, I even change putty window title to show what Oracle sid has been set. For example: I will add following in .profile file: change_title=TITLE='host_name:$ORACLE_SID;PROMPT_COMMAND="33]0;${TITLE}07"; echo $PROMPT_COMMAND' dbsid='export ORAENV_ASK=NO; export ORACLE_SID=dbsid; . oraenv;export ORAENV_ASK=YES;change_title' So whenever I type dbsid at command prompt, the window title changes to hostname:dbsid. Good article. I regularly use the tips described in the article and comments.

However, on AIX servers, I even change putty window title to show what Oracle sid has been set.
For example:
I will add following in .profile file:

change_title=TITLE=’host_name:$ORACLE_SID;PROMPT_COMMAND=”33]0;${TITLE}07″; echo $PROMPT_COMMAND’
dbsid=’export ORAENV_ASK=NO; export ORACLE_SID=dbsid; . oraenv;export ORAENV_ASK=YES;change_title’

So whenever I type dbsid at command prompt, the window title changes to hostname:dbsid.

]]> By: Kevin http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-52 Kevin Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:35:11 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-52 "The environment that makes you do a “SELECT name FROM V$DATABASE” command in SQL*PLUS about 15 times in a row before you finally execute the “DROP USER CASCADE” statement." This is sad but true! It's indicative of the paranoia behind daily executing of task and statements that can bring the whole organization to a halt! It may sound corny but I still like the old fashioned method of keeping one session open on PROD when running database level commands and verifying the session. If I need to keep other multiple windows open I will go to a different screen on the solaris box where I have mulitple sessions open for status checking etc. “The environment that makes you do a “SELECT name FROM V$DATABASE” command in SQL*PLUS about 15 times in a row before you finally execute the “DROP USER CASCADE” statement.”

This is sad but true! It’s indicative of the paranoia behind daily executing of task and statements that can bring the whole organization to a halt!

It may sound corny but I still like the old fashioned method of keeping one session open on PROD when running database level commands and verifying the session. If I need to keep other multiple windows open I will go to a different screen on the solaris box where I have mulitple sessions open for status checking etc.

]]> By: Carlos Acosta http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-45 Carlos Acosta Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:43:27 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-45 Excellent post Chris, I think that over the time we all came up with tips like this and it is important to document them at the very same moment we came up with them (guilty of charge). I don't only use different color screens, but also the position of them in the monitor, upper half and lower half are production and testing. Another one is to have always different passwords for production and testing environments, not only for sys/system but also for the OS's oracle user. A co-worker of mine wanted to open a terminal to a testing environment, he clicked just below the right server and .... you know the rest of the story, don't you? he was working so fast that he didn't check SID, hostname or anything, in these cases a different password can help you stop a disaster. Excellent post Chris, I think that over the time we all came up with tips like this and it is important to document them at the very same moment we came up with them (guilty of charge).
I don’t only use different color screens, but also the position of them in the monitor, upper half and lower half are production and testing.

Another one is to have always different passwords for production and testing environments, not only for sys/system but also for the OS’s oracle user. A co-worker of mine wanted to open a terminal to a testing environment, he clicked just below the right server and …. you know the rest of the story, don’t you? he was working so fast that he didn’t check SID, hostname or anything, in these cases a different password can help you stop a disaster.

]]> By: Log Buffer #161: a Carnival of the Vanities for DBAs « PlanetMysql.ru – информация о СУБД MySQL http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-43 Log Buffer #161: a Carnival of the Vanities for DBAs « PlanetMysql.ru – информация о СУБД MySQL Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:59:19 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-43 [...] attention to detail on which Chris Foot gives it a funny name: Poka-Yoke. You’ll have to read The Art of Being a Successful DBA - Poka-Yoke and Paranoid DBA Best Practices to know what it means.PlanetMySQL Voting: Vote UP / Vote [...] [...] attention to detail on which Chris Foot gives it a funny name: Poka-Yoke. You’ll have to read The Art of Being a Successful DBA – Poka-Yoke and Paranoid DBA Best Practices to know what it means.PlanetMySQL Voting: Vote UP / Vote [...]

]]> By: Log Buffer #161: a Carnival of the Vanities for DBAs | Pythian Group Blog http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-41 Log Buffer #161: a Carnival of the Vanities for DBAs | Pythian Group Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:42:36 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-41 [...] attention to detail on which Chris Foot gives it a funny name: Poka-Yoke. You’ll have to read The Art of Being a Successful DBA - Poka-Yoke and Paranoid DBA Best Practices to know what it [...] [...] attention to detail on which Chris Foot gives it a funny name: Poka-Yoke. You’ll have to read The Art of Being a Successful DBA – Poka-Yoke and Paranoid DBA Best Practices to know what it [...]

]]> By: Chris Foot http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-39 Chris Foot Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:18:59 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-39 AHA! The colored screen idea is a great way to quickly differentiate between test and production environments. This recommendation is definitely one for us all to consider. How many times has an overworked, stressed out DBA found out that they were in the wrong database. Surely something that can be prevented but I think we can all agree how easy of a mistake it is to make! I'm sure there are some reading this and thinking "They shouldn't be DBAs if they can't tell what DB they are in." My response to that would be BULL. A person gets sidetracked, stressed from overwork, tight deadlines, issues at home, not feeling well - whatever. IT HAPPENS. They mark of a good DBA is taking steps to prevent it - not being so egocentric to think it can never happen to them. Some of us possess an overabundance of talent for this profession, others are just plain lucky and the rest of us have to be thorough and prepared. I'm neither a DBA savant or that lucky so I have to be prepared. We at Remote DBA Experts will be considering the different colored screen mistake proofing idea at our next team meeting. All of these recommendations are great. AHA! The colored screen idea is a great way to quickly differentiate between test and production environments. This recommendation is definitely one for us all to consider. How many times has an overworked, stressed out DBA found out that they were in the wrong database. Surely something that can be prevented but I think we can all agree how easy of a mistake it is to make!

I’m sure there are some reading this and thinking “They shouldn’t be DBAs if they can’t tell what DB they are in.” My response to that would be BULL. A person gets sidetracked, stressed from overwork, tight deadlines, issues at home, not feeling well – whatever. IT HAPPENS. They mark of a good DBA is taking steps to prevent it – not being so egocentric to think it can never happen to them.

Some of us possess an overabundance of talent for this profession, others are just plain lucky and the rest of us have to be thorough and prepared. I’m neither a DBA savant or that lucky so I have to be prepared.

We at Remote DBA Experts will be considering the different colored screen mistake proofing idea at our next team meeting. All of these recommendations are great.

]]> By: Norma http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/2009/09/the-art-of-being-a-successful-dba-poka-yoke-and-paranoid-dba-best-practices/comment-page-1/#comment-38 Norma Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:16:26 +0000 http://www.remotedbaexperts.com/Blog/?p=308#comment-38 This article was absolutely RIGHT ON! I've forwarded the link to any number of other DBAs I know. I appreciate both your humor and insight. Thank You very much. As to different logins up at once, I not only labeled the screens' pre-carat for the diff databases but used different colouring schemes just to MAKE SURE I was completely aware when I went to the RED background Yellow char of any production environment. This colour scheme is especially helpful with production calls at 2 or 3 am. This article was absolutely RIGHT ON! I’ve forwarded the link to any number of other DBAs I know. I appreciate both your humor and insight. Thank You very much. As to different logins up at once, I not only labeled the screens’ pre-carat for the diff databases but used different colouring schemes just to MAKE SURE I was completely aware when I went to the RED background Yellow char of any production environment. This colour scheme is especially helpful with production calls at 2 or 3 am.

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