Crossing over from SQL Server

#1

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed? I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -
books, CBT's, whatever. I'm planning to purchase the "Admin Workshop
I", "Admin Workshop II", and "Performance Tuning" CBT's from Oracle.
What else can I look for?

#2

Tracy McKibben wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed? I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -
books, CBT's, whatever. I'm planning to purchase the "Admin Workshop
I", "Admin Workshop II", and "Performance Tuning" CBT's from Oracle.
What else can I look for?
This thread may descend into a flame war. If it does, I'm off.

The only suggestion I'll make is to try and 'unlearn' the SQL Server
stuff when dealing with Oracle, and vice versa. IMHO, the main trap to
avoid is trying to do a 'this statement translates to' type of port
between the two.

They are entirely different products, with entirely different
architectures. So don't 'port' applications - or in your case
application knowledge. Re-engineer from the ground up.

I hope this helps, and welcome.

Palooka

#3

Tracy McKibben wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed? I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -
books, CBT's, whatever. I'm planning to purchase the "Admin Workshop
I", "Admin Workshop II", and "Performance Tuning" CBT's from Oracle.
What else can I look for?
This thread may descend into a flame war. If it does, I'm off.

The only suggestion I'll make is to try and 'unlearn' the SQL Server
stuff when dealing with Oracle, and vice versa. IMHO, the main trap to
avoid is trying to do a 'this statement translates to' type of port
between the two.

They are entirely different products, with entirely different
architectures. So don't 'port' applications - or in your case
application knowledge. Re-engineer from the ground up.

I hope this helps, and welcome.

Palooka

#4

Tracy McKibben wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed? I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -
books, CBT's, whatever. I'm planning to purchase the "Admin Workshop
I", "Admin Workshop II", and "Performance Tuning" CBT's from Oracle.
What else can I look for?
This thread may descend into a flame war. If it does, I'm off.

The only suggestion I'll make is to try and 'unlearn' the SQL Server
stuff when dealing with Oracle, and vice versa. IMHO, the main trap to
avoid is trying to do a 'this statement translates to' type of port
between the two.

They are entirely different products, with entirely different
architectures. So don't 'port' applications - or in your case
application knowledge. Re-engineer from the ground up.

I hope this helps, and welcome.

Palooka

#5

Tracy McKibben wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed? I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -
books, CBT's, whatever. I'm planning to purchase the "Admin Workshop
I", "Admin Workshop II", and "Performance Tuning" CBT's from Oracle.
What else can I look for?
This thread may descend into a flame war. If it does, I'm off.

The only suggestion I'll make is to try and 'unlearn' the SQL Server
stuff when dealing with Oracle, and vice versa. IMHO, the main trap to
avoid is trying to do a 'this statement translates to' type of port
between the two.

They are entirely different products, with entirely different
architectures. So don't 'port' applications - or in your case
application knowledge. Re-engineer from the ground up.

I hope this helps, and welcome.

Palooka

#6

Tracy McKibben wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed? I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -
books, CBT's, whatever. I'm planning to purchase the "Admin Workshop
I", "Admin Workshop II", and "Performance Tuning" CBT's from Oracle.
What else can I look for?
This thread may descend into a flame war. If it does, I'm off.

The only suggestion I'll make is to try and 'unlearn' the SQL Server
stuff when dealing with Oracle, and vice versa. IMHO, the main trap to
avoid is trying to do a 'this statement translates to' type of port
between the two.

They are entirely different products, with entirely different
architectures. So don't 'port' applications - or in your case
application knowledge. Re-engineer from the ground up.

I hope this helps, and welcome.

Palooka

#7

Tracy McKibben wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed? I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -
books, CBT's, whatever. I'm planning to purchase the "Admin Workshop
I", "Admin Workshop II", and "Performance Tuning" CBT's from Oracle.
What else can I look for?
This thread may descend into a flame war. If it does, I'm off.

The only suggestion I'll make is to try and 'unlearn' the SQL Server
stuff when dealing with Oracle, and vice versa. IMHO, the main trap to
avoid is trying to do a 'this statement translates to' type of port
between the two.

They are entirely different products, with entirely different
architectures. So don't 'port' applications - or in your case
application knowledge. Re-engineer from the ground up.

I hope this helps, and welcome.

Palooka

#8

Tracy McKibben wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed? I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -
books, CBT's, whatever. I'm planning to purchase the "Admin Workshop
I", "Admin Workshop II", and "Performance Tuning" CBT's from Oracle.
What else can I look for?
This thread may descend into a flame war. If it does, I'm off.

The only suggestion I'll make is to try and 'unlearn' the SQL Server
stuff when dealing with Oracle, and vice versa. IMHO, the main trap to
avoid is trying to do a 'this statement translates to' type of port
between the two.

They are entirely different products, with entirely different
architectures. So don't 'port' applications - or in your case
application knowledge. Re-engineer from the ground up.

I hope this helps, and welcome.

Palooka

#9

On 2008-06-10, Tracy McKibben <tracy.mckibben (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed?

I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -

Firstly, you have to learn that SQL is a _language_ used in lots of
database products, one of which is Microsoft SQL Server. Using SQL as an
abbreviation for SQL Server will cause lots of problems talking to
anyone who learnt any other database product first!

Secondly, anything you find that claims to be the comparison you want
will probably be partly or even mostly wrong. You will need to replace
"what do I do instead of x?" with "why do I want to do x?" a lot of the
time to get reasonable answers.

E

#10

On 2008-06-10, Tracy McKibben <tracy.mckibben (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Quote:

About a year ago, the company that I work for purchased another
company. We're a large SQL Server shop, but this new company has a
mix of SQL Server and Oracle. As part of the DBA team, I'm required
to start learning Oracle, in order to provide production support
(admin duties, performance tuning, etc..).

Aside from classroom training (doesn't work well for me, I get bored),
what suggestions are there for getting up to speed?

I'm looking for a
"in SQL, you do it like this, in Oracle, you do it this way" stuff -

Firstly, you have to learn that SQL is a _language_ used in lots of
database products, one of which is Microsoft SQL Server. Using SQL as an
abbreviation for SQL Server will cause lots of problems talking to
anyone who learnt any other database product first!

Secondly, anything you find that claims to be the comparison you want
will probably be partly or even mostly wrong. You will need to replace
"what do I do instead of x?" with "why do I want to do x?" a lot of the
time to get reasonable answers.

E