A discussion on Database Administration As A Service™ (remote dba) & other news items that catch my attention
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Posted by Michael Corey on Fri, Jan 22, 2010 @ 02:00 PM
Posted by Michael Corey on Tue, Dec 08, 2009 @ 10:18 PM
I just saw this and thought I should share it....
Massive TSA Security Breach Revealed
By BRIAN ROSS and MATT HOSFORD of ABC News
 Online posting reveals a “how to” for terrorists to fool airport security.
In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) inadvertently posted online its entire airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers. To read the entire story......
Massive TSA Security Breach
Founder & CEO, Ntirety www.ntirety.com My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
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Posted by Michael Corey on Fri, Aug 28, 2009 @ 10:12 AM
Being the survivor of a terrible accident that could have
been avoided. This Video really hits home. I feel it’s a must see for anyone
that have ever text message while driving a car.
Note: Be warned: The
four-minute PSA is extremely graphic, showing not only the
realistic bloody injuries of three pretty teenage girls, but also an
unresponsive infant in a car seat and a preschooler asking her unconscious and
bleeding parents to wake up.
Will Bloody Texting PSA Get The Message To Teens? by Amy Hatch
Founder & CEO, Ntirety www.ntirety.com My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
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Posted by Michael Corey on Tue, Aug 11, 2009 @ 09:22 PM
This is a great article on Oracle purchase of Sun. Its come all the way from Express Computer. A weekly publication in India. it was written by Akhtar Pasha. Here is the opening of the Article. With a link back to the entire article at the end. Can Oracle successfully assimilate Sun?
Oracle finds itself on a sticky wicket after gobbling up
Sun Microsystems. While the rationale of the deal is quite clear, Oracle bought
Sun for Java and Solaris, questions remain vis-à-vis MySQL and Sun’s
hardware business. Akhtar Pasha writes that this mammoth acquisition
could prove to be Oracle’s toughest deal yet
 Oracle’s
announcement that it would acquire Sun took many industry observers by surprise.
The database giant has offered little detail on how it intends to achieve the
$1.5 billion in first-year operating profit that it has promised investors.
While Oracle’s interest in Java and Solaris has been widely discussed and
publicized, the company declined to participate in this story citing the fact
that the deal is still pending approval. Even otherwise, Oracle has not been
forthcoming on critical aspects of the deal, namely, the future of MySQL and
what it intends to do about Sun’s hardware business. Customers, analysts
and the financial community all have their own doubts at this point of time.
To Read the entire article..... Can Oracle successfully assimilate Sun?
 Founder & CEO, Ntirety www.ntirety.com My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
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Posted by Michael Corey on Mon, Aug 03, 2009 @ 11:49 AM
As I was searching the Internet for articles on Database Administration I came across an interesting question posted by Earle Shaffer.
Oracle on Windows - any first-hand advice?
Hi - I am looking for tips, tricks, and gotchas about running Oracle on the Windows platforms. Specifically regarding RAM and IO monitoring.
In my experience Oracle DBA’s fall into one of two camps. - They are windows Operating system haters
- They are Windows operating systems tolerant.
I am not saying this if right. It's so how they intially respond. I think it come from too much Oracle corporation brainwashing. So when I saw this question posed, I was curious what I might see for answers. What I saw was a wonderful dialogue full of very useful information. So in this blog entry I will take the time to share with you some of what I saw. James Rice an Oracle DBA at Abbott laboratories responded:
Make sure that you are buying I/O cards for the machine and not using the I/O on the motherboard - not enough throughput - and you should use multiple I/O cards for maximum spread. If you are using external disk then you need to make sure the storage if properly LUN'd to spread out the I/O as you have very little visibility as to how the disk are spread out. If you can buy the MKS Unix toolkit for windows so you can use unix scripts to manage your db as windows scripting can be weak. As for RAM - use a 64 bit os and you don't have issues but if you can't then remember a 2gb sga is about it - you can make it bigger but you will suffer. Hope this helps.
James response is loaded with nuggets of gold and a lot of common sense. The slowest operation most computers do is I/O. Anything you can do minimize I/O is usually a step in the right direction. I/O bottlenecks will kill database performance very quickly. When it comes to database, you are delaing with a major hog of I/O resources. This is just plain good common sense, especially as it pertains to windows operating system. I loved the MKS Unix toolkit for windows suggestion. Oracle DBA’s love to make windows look like Unix. Let me say that again, Oracle DBA's love to make windows look like Unix. The comment on 64Bit Operating system is also great advice. For those windows shops not using 64 bit, then remember a 2gb SGA is about it. I would take the commentone step further. Never let the SGA be more than 50% of the available memory on the box. You need to leave enough memory for the operating system to do its job. What is very clear from all the comments. 64 Bit Operating system on windows for Oracle is not a nice to have, its a must have. Martin Millstam of Oracle Corporation provided some useful links: Oracle Database on Windows and .NET FAQ Oracle Database on Windows and .NET FAQ
Oracle Database Search Results: windows
Oracle Database Search Results: windows
Oracle Database Architecture on Windows
Oracle Database Architecture on Windows
Administering a Database on Windows
Administering a Database on Windows Vendors like Oracle and Microsoft publish lots of great information. Take the time to read it. This was an excellent suggestion. Jeff Wong DBA at AON
windows powershell is possibly the best way to go if you're in a windows environment - it's distributed now as standard with win2k8 server I believe. Otherwise you could try cygwin for unix shell compatibility.
Once again an Oracle DBA telling you another way to help it work like Unix.
Tuning Windows to Optimize Oracle Database
Tuning Windows to Optimize Oracle Database In summary:
Make sure you are buying I/O cards for the machine and not using the I/O on the motherboard.
If you are using external disk then you need to make sure the storage if properly LUN'd to spread out the I/O as you have very little visibility as to how the disk are spread out.
As for RAM - use a 64 bit os and you don't have issues but if you can't then remember a 2gb sga is about it - you can make it bigger but you will suffer.
UWIN if you want a Unix Like environment on windows
the MKS Unix toolkit for windows so you can use unix scripts to manage your db
try cygwin for unix shell compatibility
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Posted by Michael Corey on Wed, Jul 29, 2009 @ 09:48 AM
Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL) Could Allow Remote Code Execution Version: 1.0 Microsoft is releasing this security
advisory to provide information about our ongoing investigation into
vulnerabilities in the public and private versions of Microsoft's
Active Template Library (ATL). This advisory also provides guidance as
to what developers can do to help ensure that the controls and
components they have built are not vulnerable to the ATL issues; what
IT Professionals and consumers can do to mitigate potential attacks
that use the vulnerabilities; and what Microsoft is doing as part of
its ongoing investigation into the issue described in this advisory.
This security advisory will also provide a comprehensive listing of all
Microsoft Security Bulletins and Security Updates related to the
vulnerabilities in ATL. Microsoft's investigation into the private and
public versions of ATL is ongoing, and we will release security updates
and guidance as appropriate as part of the investigation process. Microsoft
is aware of security vulnerabilities in the public and private versions
of ATL. The Microsoft ATL is used by software developers to create
controls or components for the Windows platform. The vulnerabilities
described in this Security Advisory and Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-035
could result in information disclosure or remote code execution attacks
for controls and components built using vulnerable versions of the ATL.
Components and controls created with the vulnerable version of ATL may
be exposed to a vulnerable condition due to how ATL is used or due to
issues in the ATL code itself. Developer Guidance: Microsoft has corrected the issues in the public headers of ATL and released updates to the libraries in bulletin MS09-035
"Vulnerabilities in Visual Studio Active Template Library Could Allow
Remote Code Execution." Microsoft strongly recommends that developers
who have built controls or components with ATL take immediate action to
evaluate their controls for exposure to a vulnerable condition and
follow the guidance provided to create controls and components that are
not vulnerable. For more information on the vulnerabilities and
guidance to address issues in ATL, see MS09-035, "Vulnerabilities in Visual Studio Active Template Library Could Allow Remote Code Execution." IT Professional and Consumer Guidance:
To help better protect customers while developers update their
components and controls, Microsoft has developed a new defense-in-depth
technology. This new defense-in-depth technology built into Internet
Explorer helps to protect customers from future attacks using the
Microsoft Active Template Library vulnerabilities described in this
Advisory and Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-035. To benefit from this
new defense-in-depth technology, IT Professionals and consumers should
immediately deploy the Internet Explorer Security Update offered in
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-034, "Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer." This
security update includes a mitigation that prevents components and
controls built using the vulnerable ATL from being exploited in
Internet Explorer, as well as addressing multiple unrelated
vulnerabilities. The new defense-in-depth protections offered in
MS09-034 include updates to Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6
and Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, Internet Explorer 7, and
Internet Explorer 8. These defense-in-depth protections monitor and
help prevent the successful exploitation of all known public and
private ATL vulnerabilities, including the vulnerabilities that could
lead to bypassing ActiveX's kill bit security feature. These
protections are designed to help protect customers from Web-based
attacks. Home User Guidance: To help better protect
customers while developers update their components and controls,
Microsoft has developed a new defense-in-depth technology.This new
defense-in-depth technology built into Internet Explorer with the new
update helps to protect customers from future attacks using the
Microsoft Active Template Library vulnerabilities described in this
Advisory and Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-035. Home users signed up
for Automatic Updates will receive the new Internet Explorer update
automatically and do not have to take any further action. Home Users
will automatically be better protected from future attacks against the
vulnerabilities addressed in this Security Advisory and in Microsoft
Security Bulletin MS09-035. Mitigating Factors for Controls and Components built using vulnerable version of Microsoft's Active Template Library (ATL): | • | By
default, the majority of ActiveX controls are not included in the
default allow-list for ActiveX controls in Internet Explorer 7 or
Internet Explorer 8 running on Windows Vista or later operating
systems. Only customers who have explicitly approved vulnerable
controls by using the ActiveX opt-in feature are at risk to attempts to
exploit this vulnerability. However, if a customer has used such
ActiveX controls in a previous version of Internet Explorer, and then
later upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8, then
these ActiveX controls are enabled to work in Internet Explorer 7 and
Internet Explorer 8, even if the customer has not explicitly approved
it using the ActiveX opt-in feature. | | • | By
default, Internet Explorer 8 offers enhanced protections by enabling
DEP/NX memory protections for users on Windows XP Service Pack 3,
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2, and
Windows 7. | | • | By default, Internet Explorer on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 runs in a restricted mode that is known as Enhanced Security Configuration.
Enhanced Security Configuration is a group of preconfigured settings in
Internet Explorer that can reduce the likelihood of a user or
administrator downloading and running specially crafted Web content on
a server. This is a mitigating factor for Web sites that you have not
added to the Internet Explorer Trusted sites zone. See also Managing Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration. | | • | By
default, all supported versions of Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft
Outlook Express open HTML e-mail messages in the Restricted sites zone.
The Restricted sites zone helps mitigate attacks that could try to
exploit this vulnerability by preventing Active Scripting and ActiveX
controls from being used when reading HTML e-mail messages. However, if
a user clicks a link in an e-mail message, the user could still be
vulnerable to exploitation of this vulnerability through the Web-based
attack scenario. | | • | In
a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that
contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In
addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host
user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted
content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however,
an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites.
Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web
site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or
instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. | | • | An
attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the
same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured
to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than
users who operate with administrative user rights. |
Updates related to ATL: Updates released on July 28, 2009 | • | Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-035,
"Vulnerabilities in Visual Studio Active Template Library Could Allow
Remote Code Execution," goes into further detail about the specific
vulnerabilities in ATL and provides the updated public ATL headers for
vendors to develop updated components and controls. Our investigation
has shown that there are Microsoft and third-party components and
controls that are affected by this issue and that these components and
controls exist on all supported editions of Windows 2000 Service Pack
4, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server
2008. Developers who used vulnerable versions of the ATL when building
controls or components should review this bulletin and take immediate
action if their controls are vulnerable. | | • | Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-034,
"Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer," includes a
mitigation that prevents components and controls built using the
vulnerable ATL from being exploited in Internet Explorer, as well as
addressing multiple unrelated vulnerabilities. The new defense in depth
protections offered in MS09-034 include updates to Internet Explorer
5.01, Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1,
Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8. These defense-in-depth
protections monitor and help prevent the successful exploitation of all
known public and private ATL vulnerabilities, including the
vulnerabilities that could lead to bypassing ActiveX's kill bit
security feature. These protections are designed to help protect
customers from Web-based attacks. | | • | We
are not aware of any methods or controls included with Windows 7 that
would allow attacks to be successful through Internet Explorer. |
Update released on July 14, 2009 | • | Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-032,
"Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits," provided ActiveX
security measures (a kill bit) that prevented the msvidctl control from
running in Internet Explorer. The exploit in msvidcntl took advantage
of a vulnerability in the private version of ATL. In this specific
instance, the vulnerability allows an attacker to corrupt memory, which
may lead to a remote code execution. The kill bits issued in the June
release for msvidctl (MS09-032) will block the public exploits as
described here. |
To read more about this security alert.......
Microsoft Security Alert (973882)
Founder & CEO, Ntirety www.ntirety.com My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
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Posted by Michael Corey on Sat, Jul 25, 2009 @ 08:14 AM
When I saw this, I just could not believe it. A 40% Price increase in this business climate. Give it a break. It is no wonder Microsoft SQL Server is the fastest growing database in the Market.
Since SQL Server 2005 Microsoft has given us a database that can keep up with Oracle at all levels. When it comes to price performance there is no competition, Microsoft SQL server wins hands down. 
Well leave it to Oracle to give is a 40% increase in the worst economy in over 40 years.
Well here is the article that caught my attention…..
Founder & CEO, Ntirety www.ntirety.com My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
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Posted by Michael Corey on Sun, Jul 19, 2009 @ 06:59 PM
I was on the DBA Twibe. Twitter DBA Twibe when I saw this tweet from craigmullins. It was reference to an article on the End of Sun. The article was really well done. Here is the opening of the article: "At 10:05 a.m. Pacific time today, Sun Microsystems' fate was sealed. At
that exact moment, shareholder voting closed, and the motion to accept
the acquisition offer from Oracle was approved. There was little
fanfare. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's CEO, and Scott McNealy, its chairman,
were both absent. Schwartz was said to be sick. I can't help but think
it was psychosomatic." To read the entire article in SDTIMES by
by Alex Handy The End of SUN Founder & CEO, Ntirety www.ntirety.com My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
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Posted by Michael Corey on Wed, Jul 15, 2009 @ 09:23 PM
Posted by Michael Corey on Thu, Jul 09, 2009 @ 09:50 PM
On July 7th, I wrote a SQL Server DBA Tip. It was how to get a copy of the SQL Server documentation. Surachart Opun a friend of mine in the oracle world reminded me of the oracle online documentation and how to get it. I remember once hearing that Albert Einstein did not remember his own phone number because he did not want to clutter his brain with things he could look up when he needed them. 
Having access Database Documentation is a valuable resource for any DBA. Oracle Documentation
This
page contains links to the most current documentation for Oracle
Database, Application Server, Developer Suite, Collaboration Suite and
Applications/E-Business Suite. Online Oracle Documenation Set Founder & CEO, Ntirety www.ntirety.com My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
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