We often see DBAs use somewhat cumbersome methods to document or write implementation steps that involve a combination of both OS (i.e. "Bash") and Oracle (i.e. "SQL Plus") commands.  However, with pipes and command concatenation, most Oracle utility commands can be executed more efficiently from a single or small number of OS commands.

Using a single command not only makes documentation and manual steps easier/cleaner to implement but also makes the commands trivial to automate or use at scale with tools such as Ansible.

Oracle Database 20c came with 138 new features and three major ones, which are directly related to tables and indexes in the database: Blockchain Tables, Automatic Index Optimization and Automatic Zone Maps. The article covers all these three in detail with some examples.

George Danner, President of Business Laboratory, recently talked through how to transform a company by rethinking, reimagining how it could work with a digitally connected enterprise (customers, partners, things, and systems) with intelligence from the data driving decision-making processes. Learning more about digital transformation is key in the everchanging world we live in, and Danner's presentation helps users understand it and learn from professional sports about how analytics has transformed the way sports teams organize themselves, select players, establish strategies, and win.

This is the third article in a series on Database Security. The previous article Easy Pickings for Database security, covered security practices that are the lowest in time, effort, risks, and costs. This article covers what I call the Low Hanging Fruit of Oracle Database security. They are a cost a little more in terms of time and effort but really introduce little if any risk or additional costs. I don’t consider them easy pickings because they will need to be tested and their usage integrated into your current systems.

Learn more about one of our 2020 Distinguished Service Award winners - Roy Swonger! Distinguished Service Awards are given to members of the community who have been recognized as those who embody Quest’s core values.

With the current environment in mind, our community depends on individuals and companies that go above and beyond for others now more than ever. It seems like a fitting time to recognize those that have been distinguished contributors to our community over the past year.