That is cool.
So what materials would you like? Materials to Pass the exam, or materials to understand database administration. How new are you, have you used it before, or are u just starting?

Hope you don't feel I ask too many questions, but I personally believe, if you want to be a good DBA, then a good approach is needed which will make you fundamentally sound in database administrations.

I would normally recommend starting out with undertanding database design concepts. This is the fundamental building block of databases. And if you can understand it, then, believe me, database administration would come to you easily, because then you will understand the logic and the relationships that make the database what it is. Because as a DBA at some point, you would be called upon to design a database, and that is where ur knowledge of the fundamentals will come from.

If you agree with me, them, I can try to provide you with materials for database design (Physical, and logical database, design. entity relationships etc etc). This might initially seem boring, but it is the better way to go. It is a bottom-up approach that will make anyone fundamentally sound.

Then we can move on to oracle specific fundamentals, and how Oracle interfaces with the OS and with the applications that use it. A lot of pple forget oracle is just a repository that provides storage for a whole load of applications that will sit on it.

I will try to start putting this materials together (i just stumbled on this thread and i sort of got inspired to share my knowlegde). Hit me up on pm, and maybe we could chat some more, then, based on ur feedback i will be able to offer more advice.

Do not worry if my responses are slow, it will be because of the time difference and i do sometimes get really busy.

Whats up?
What aspect of Oracle are you into? Development, Administartion or Apps?

Pharuk,
WHich questions were left unanswered. I will try to answer them if I can.

Jimblaze,
Nice one, I am not in abuja. I am in the US. so my timing of posting s might be weird because of the time difference. But I do have materials on Oracle RAC (cant remember if they are soft copies or in hard copies) but hit me up on pm and we will see what we can workout. I will also try to get you documents on performance tuning and things you should look for? Glad that you got the job. What versions of databases will you be managing and on what platform?
Databases are serious business, and are the life bloood of many organisations. It is one of those areas, where u are like a goldfish in an organisation, and everyone noticies you, because if something goes wrong everyone will know.

My tip for you as you go into this new job, if possible, create a sandbox (test environment) for yourself, where you will 1st test out scripts and queries, before you run them on production databases, that way, you will earn, and you will have an idea of the impact any action you might take will impact the database. Also, please never be trigger happy, always think well before running any queries that have 'deletes' , updates or truncates in them. I have seen even experienced dbas, get into trouble because of such little negligent acts.

Hi everyone. I havent been to this forum in a long time. was just browsing randomly and i remembered i used to be a member here during my serious foruming days.

Anyways, I have been reading this thread with interest, and it is a good thing to see many young uns getting into Oracle in Nigeria now. When I started, there were only a handful of us, and very few organizations even used oracle. but with that said, i will get right to the issues.

To be a dba, isnt really very difficult, but you have to be ready to get your hands dirty, when i say dirty, I mean you should be ready to break stuff, and fix it. That is the only way to learn. Certifications are great and a good start, but it should not be the ticket to getting into job market. as a dba, i have interviewed pple with fantastic resumes and certification, only to find out the couldnt tell me where to find the alertlog, much less start up a database from the command line. Even when you ace your certifictions, ty tp be focused on the practical side of stuff (not the book stuff). Forget the definition, of what a primary key is and learn how to configure a backup database using rman. This is what sells and this is what will get folks through the door.

I am not trying to sound like a wet blanket, but I have been doing this for a while (since version , and I have worked in Nigeria, UK and the US. I am not a guru, but i can hold my own.

I love to be of assistance to anyone that is interested in oracle, in my own little way (advice or materials, or interview questions graded into levels of dicciculty <based on my little experience and how i would conduct an inteview). I am sorry i don't have exam dumps, cos any real dba can tell if u have practical experience or not regardless of how many certifications you hold.

Infact..
I love this place already...
gaga..thanks..
Jogego...
Le Moor is The Black one. As I am black and proud

Thanks everyone for ur welcome

Seun, I appreciate your response. It is quite enlightening as a response should be.

Your response just highlighted the primary focus of the forum (Nigerians living in Nigeria), so I understand better. I notice, some might feel I am taking a dig at the site. I am not. I actually think it is good.

My comment was in reference to the TV/Movie section alone, since I couldn't relate to half the topics. Just thought to bring it to your notice. I have not insinuated and neither do I wish that you should sacrifice anyones interest for another, hence my use of the word "universal".

In reference to the board in general, I think you are doing a good job and and it is cool. Thanks once more for your response Seun

Demmy, I would love to start a Universal topic sometime. But definitely not before I have a good look around and understand the mood and the temperament of the board.

Hey Viera,

I am a Comic Book Fan. Dont have any collections any more...
But I am still up to date...




BTW...Your name sounds farmiliar..have we met??

Thanks for ur response. But I wasnt talking about the forum in general..

Why do you think I opened the topic in the Movies section?
I meant the TV/Movies section

I am new here and I want to commend you on doing a good job.

I noticed most of the topics here are geared towards the people[b] living in Nigeria[/b]. (e.g programs on AIT, NTA). Is it possibe to make the topics a little more universally accepted? That way those of us who are Nigerians but do not reside in Nigeria will be able to join in and make our contributions.

My 2cents.