Mike Wessler

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since Nov 05, 2004
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Recent posts by Mike Wessler

Hi. I'm more from the administration side so I can't speak about the developer tracks. A couple of things I'd mention is that some OCP tracks require you to attend at least 1 Oracle class which can be expensive. If you already are an OCP, you are exempt. If your company is paying the bill this may not be an issue, but if you are are your own you need to consider that. As for study materials, I will say the tests seem to be out of the offical Oracle course/class manuals. So if you can get copies of those manuals and know them well you should do well. If you can't get those manuals, I'd fall back on the free online documentation since that is the basis for some of the course materials. Be sure to review the requirements of the OCP/OCA track before you start so you don't accidentally take the wrong test version or miss a requirement. I know that sounds obvious but it happens.

Thanks,
Mike
19 years ago
Hi. Based on my experience most deployments go fine, but sometimes wierd things do happen. If you have the time I'd do a stop/start. I'll also say I've had fewer problems on 10gAS (9.0.4) than 9iAS V2 (9.0.2). I'd recommend creating separate OC4J instances for each application. Sometimes things do get hosed up and I have to delete and OC4J instance and redeploy. That's not common but it has happened.

Thanks,
Mike
19 years ago
I'm happy to be here and to answer questions or comments regarding the new book!

Thanks,
Mike
19 years ago
Hi. If you want different versions of the same application, I'd suggest a new OC4J container and changing the name for the new depoloyment as suggested in the previous posts. Check your $ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/conf/mod_oc4j.conf and you'll see mappings for each application that has been deployed and you'll understand why you can't really have to for the same name. I think you'll find that much easier than doing separate mid-tier installations.

Thanks,
Mike
19 years ago
Can you run a test default Form? Are you running 9iAS V2 or 10gAS? I see you're running on Windows, sometimes the best thing to do is bounce it and see if that clears up problems especially if you are on 9iAS V2.

Thanks,
Mike
19 years ago
Hi. Total time to install obviously depends on CPU, disk speed, memory, if the software is already staged to disk, etc. But where most of the time is really spent is setting up the machine to perform the install (users, patches, etc), patches after the install (ex. 9.0.4.1 and security patch 68), and configuration (Apache, SSL, backup/recovery, etc).

If you've worked with 9iAS V2 and are going to 10gAS, I think you'll find the installation to be relatively easy. It may be a little faster, but the important thing is you'll have fewer bugs and problems to deal with. 10gAS has some strict installation requirements, but if you follow the install guide and meet those requirements you shouldn't have too many problems.

Thanks,
Mike
19 years ago
Hi. The Forms and Reports install is new under 10gAS. For 9iAS V2 if you wanted Forms and Reports, you had to do the full blown install which included an infrastructure database housing OID even if you were not going to actively use it. Plus you had the downside of needing to maintain the infrastructure because if it went down, your Forms/Reports mid-tier would be only functional until the next time you needed to bounce it (which was sometimes often when running Reports).

I think the smaller Forms/Reports installation in 10gAS was in response to the fact admins didn't want all the overhead associated with the bigger installs. It was really overkill to have to install and maintain everything when you just wanted to run Forms and Reports.

If you can get by with just the Forms/Reports services installation that would probably be easiest. But if you think you'll need more advanced features available in full size installs things will be easier for you under 10gAS than it was for 9iAS V2.

Thanks,
Mike
19 years ago
Hi. I realize I might be a little biased since I'm one of the authors, but I'd like to recommend "Oracle Application Server 10g: J2EE Deployment and Administration" by Apress.

This book is broken into 2 main areas. The first covers J2EE deployment and is targeted mainly for developers and deployers. The second part is for administrators where we cover installation, configuration, management, etc. We also have info on clustering and web cache.

When writing this book, especially the administration part, I did try to add more than just the generic, bland info you'd find in the documentation. I tried to provide some tips and share some experiences I've had with the product. Even if it was a little off topic covering Unix/Linux or just general administration topics I would add it if I thought it might help someone in the field. I took that approach when I wrote "Oracle DBA on Unix and Linux" and received good feedback from readers so I decided to continue that approach. Plus it makes writing more enjoyable which is important when you consider how much time and effort goes into one of these books.

I hope people find the book useful!

Mike
19 years ago
Based on what I've seen, an increasing number of shops are using 10gAS. I don't have any numbers handy but that's the general impression I'm getting. I've worked on the product since it was iAS (and even OAS) and I'll say the product has changed quite a bit even though it is still Apache based. I really didn't care for 9iAS V2 (9.0.2) as I thought it was buggy. That was the first release where they based the product on OC4J. However the 9.0.4 release (aka 10gAS) is much easier to work with (more stable too) and I'd recommend people go to that version if possible.

Thanks,
Mike
19 years ago
Hi. The book is split into two main areas. The first part has a focus on J2EE deployment. The second part deals more with administration and configuration and is the part that I focused on the most. We wanted the book to have an appeal to developers working J2EE, but we also know that many people have 10gAS administration questions so we covered that topic as well.

The Oracle recommended method for administration is using the web based GUI tool Application Server Control. Many people naturally refer to it as OEM, but really it has nothing to do with DBA work. Whatever you want to call it, it is a web based tool to start/stop/configure you 10gAS system. It's not a bad tool and is much better in this version than under 9iAS V2.

You can also use command line tools like dcmctl and opmnctl instead of the GUI. I often prefer those tools because they are faster, easier, and can be scripted. But I admit I'm also a little biased as I still prefer SQL*Plus over OEM for my database work anyway. I tried to cover both the ASC GUI tools and the command line options equally in the book so you (the reader) know what options are available.

I also tried to help out people new to Unix and Linux and just administration in general by providing some tips and sharing some experiences I've had. Even if the info was a little outside of the scope of the book, I would include info when I thought it might help someone out. Plus that kind of info makes writing more enjoyable too rather than writing bland syntax all day.

Hope you find the book useful.

Mike
19 years ago