Wednesday, July 24, 2024

How you can prevent burnout as a DBA

 👴🏽How you can prevent burnout as a database Administrator or developer with effective self-care practices👨🏻‍🏫

Alireza Kamrani 


Preventing burnout as a database developer involves a combination of effective self-care practices and mindful work habits. Here are some strategies to help you maintain a healthy balance:


For developers:

1. Set Clear Boundaries

Work Hours: Define your work hours and stick to them. 

Avoid working late nights or weekends unless absolutely necessary.

Breaks: Take regular breaks throughout the day to rest your mind and body.


2. Prioritize Physical Health

Exercise: Incorporate physical activities like walking, biking, or yoga into your daily routine.

Nutrition: Eat balanced meals and stay hydrated to keep your energy levels up.


3. Nurture Mental Health

Mindfulness: Practice mindfulness or meditation to reduce stress and improve focus.

Therapy: Consider talking to a therapist or counselor if you feel overwhelmed.


4. Pursue Hobbies and Interests

Hobbies: Engage in activities you enjoy outside of work, such as reading, gardening, or playing a musical instrument.

Social Connections: Spend time with friends and family to build a support network.


5. Efficient Work Practices

Task Management: Use tools to manage your tasks and prioritize effectively.

Automation: Leverage automation to reduce repetitive tasks and free up time for more meaningful work.


6. Continual Learning and Growth

Skill Development: Keep learning new skills and technologies to stay motivated and engaged.

Professional Community: Join peer communities to share experiences and gain support from fellow developers.


For DBAs:

Preventing burnout as a database administrator involves a combination of self-care practices and setting healthy boundaries. Here are some effective strategies:


1. Prioritize Physical Health

- Regular Exercise: Incorporate physical activities like walking, yoga, or even short exercise breaks throughout your day. This helps reduce stress and improve overall well-being.

- Healthy Diet: Maintain a balanced diet rich in nutrients to keep your energy levels up and improve your mood.

Adequate Sleep: Ensure you get enough sleep each night to help your body and mind recover from daily stress.


2. Mental and Emotional Well-being

Mindfulness and Meditation: Practices like mindfulness and meditation can help manage stress and improve focus.

Take Breaks: Regular breaks during work can prevent mental fatigue. 

Use techniques like the Pomodoro Technique to structure your work and rest periods.

Seek Support: Connect with colleagues or join professional groups to share experiences and get support.


3. Set Boundaries

Work Hours: Define clear work hours and stick to them. Avoid working overtime unless absolutely necessary.

Task Management: Prioritize tasks and delegate when possible. Use tools like task managers to keep track of your workload.

Learn to Say No: It's important to recognize your limits and not take on more than you can handle.


4. Professional Development

Continuous Learning: Engage in continuous learning to stay updated with the latest technologies and best practices. 

This can make your job more interesting and less monotonous.

Career Goals: Set realistic career goals and work towards them. This can provide a sense of direction and purpose.


5. Take Time Off

Vacations: Take regular vacations to recharge. 

Even short breaks can make a significant difference.

Hobbies: Engage in hobbies and activities outside of work to relax and unwind.


6. Efficient Work Practices

Task Management: Use DevOps tools (CI/CD) to manage your tasks as a automated routine.

Automation: Leverage automation to reduce repetitive tasks and free up time for more meaningful work.

For example for automate of installations use Ansible or Teraform based on your platforms.


♦️In fact, by following these principles, you will help to improve your work style and in the way of standardizing the work model and context, you will also have a better mood while increasing productivity.


♦️In fact, what items do you follow for this purpose in your career field?

♦️Does your work organization support you in this area?

♦️Are your managers aware of your hard working conditions?


🎯By integrating these self-care practices into your routine, you can create a sustainable work-life balance and prevent burnout. 


📍How do you currently manage stress and workload?

📍What is your preferred discipline?

📍What is your opinions!?


♦️Note:

Some of these things that I have mentioned may seem like a dream

But my goal was to express working standards

I think we should try to be close to these things

And if we go away for a short period of time, for example, because of some sudden projects at a certain time, it may not be a problem, but never stay away from them for a long time.


Sincerely,

Alireza Kamrani 

Database Technologies Consultant.

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Oracle Database Desupported Features on 23ai

 Oracle Database Desupported Features on 23ai (Part A)

                                Alireza Kamrani

Introduction:

To assist you with developing a long-term plan for your database patching and upgrades, Oracle provides this list of changes, deprecations and desupports across multiple releases.


This document is updated regularly to reflect information Oracle can provide about releases as they happen, so that you can plan for changes in releases that you plan to move to at a later date. 


For example, if you are upgrading to Oracle Database 19c, it can be helpful for your long-term planning to be aware of features that have been desupported in a later release, or for which there is a deprecation notice in a later release. In addition, it can be helpful to be aware that security protocols or default parameter settings have changed in a later release, so that you can begin your preparations for that change in your current release well before you want to upgrade to a release where those deprecations or desupports are in effect.


Original Export Utility (EXP) Desupported

The original Oracle Database Export (exp) utility is desupported in Oracle Database 23ai.

Date: April 2023

Oracle recommends that you use Oracle Data Pump Export (expdp).


ODP.NET OracleConfiguration.DirectoryType Property and .NET Configuration File DIRECTORY_TYPE Setting Desupported

The Oracle Data Provider for .NET DirectoryTypeproperty that is part of the OracleConfigurationclass is desupported in Oracle Database 23ai.

Date: April 2023

The .NET configuration fileDIRECTORY_SERVER_TYPE setting replaces theDIRECTORY_TYPE setting. The OracleConfiguration DirectoryServerTypeproperty replaces the DirectoryType property. All of these properties have identical functionality. Oracle recommends to developers to use and migrate to the DirectoryServerType property. TheDirectoryServerType name better aligns with the ldap.ora parameter, DIRECTORY_SERVER_TYPE, which provides equivalent functionality.


ACFSUTIL REPL REVERSE Desupported

The acfsutil repl reverse command is desupported in Oracle Database 23ai. Use repl failover or repl switchover instead.

Date: April 2023

The Oracle Automatic Cluster File System (ACFS) command utility acfsutil includes the commandsrepl failover and repl switchover. These commands provide more functionality, including all the functions of acfsutil repl reverse. For this reason, Oracle is desupporting the acfsutil repl reverse command.


Cluster Domain - Domain Services Cluster Desupported

Starting with Oracle Grid Infrastructure 23ai, Domain Services Clusters (DSC), which is part of the Oracle Cluster Domain architecture, are desupported.

Date: April 2023

Oracle Cluster Domains consist of a Domain Services Cluster (DSC) and Member Clusters. Member Clusters were deprecated in Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c. 

The DSC continues to be available to provide services to production clusters. However, with most of those services no longer requiring the DSC for hosting, installation of DSCs are desupported in Oracle Database 23ai. Oracle recommends that you use any cluster or system of your choice for services previously hosted on the DSC, if applicable. Oracle will continue to support the DSC for hosting shared services, until each service can be used on alternative systems.


DBSNMP Packages for Adaptive Thresholds Feature Desupported

DBSNMP PL/SQL packages associated with the Adaptive Thresholds feature are desupported in Oracle Database 23ai.

Date: April 2023

Beginning with Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 13.5, all features of Database Server Adaptive Thresholds and Baseline Metric Thresholds are removed for all Oracle Database targets. The following database server side packages that support this feature are longer available: DBSNMP.BSLN, DBSNMP.BSLN_INTERNAL. DBSNMP.MGMT_RESPONSE continues to be supported.


Policy-Managed Database Deployment Desupported

The policy-managed database deployment option is desupported in Oracle Database 23ai.

Date: April 2023

Policy-managed databases were deprecated in Oracle Database 21c, and admin-managed database deployment was enhanced with functions similar to policy managed databases. By converging the automation provided by policy-managed database with the consistency of an admin-managed database, Oracle seeks to simplify database management tasks for database administrators. This converged database deployment provides the best of both options, such as providing the options to rank and define the order of database startup, without requiring you to choose a specific style during deployment.


Enterprise User Security User Migration Utility Desupport

Starting with Database 23ai, the User Migration Utility (UMU) part of Enterprise User Security (EUS) is desupported.

Date: April 2023

There is no workaround.


Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Express Desupported

Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Express (EM Express) is desupported in Oracle Database Release 23ai. 

Date: April 2023

EM Express is a web-based database management tool that is built inside Oracle Database. It supports key performance management and basic database administration functions. EM Express was deprecated in Oracle Database 21c. Many of EM Express's capabilities are now available in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Database Management service, Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control, or Oracle SQL Developer.

Instead of EM Express, Oracle recommends that you choose a tool that fits the requirements and deployment type (cloud, on-premises, or hybrid) from OCI Database Management service, Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control or Oracle SQL Developer Web or Oracle SQL Developer desktop products.


Oracle Wallet Manager (OWM) Desupported

Starting with Oracle Database 23ai, the Oracle Wallet Manager (OWM) is desupported.

Date: April 2023

Oracle recommends using the orapki command line tool to replace OWM.


RASADM Desupported

The Real Application Security GUI administration tool (RASADM) is desupported with Oracle Database 23ai. 

Date: April 2023

RASADM is no longer supported for use with Oracle Database 23ai. Oracle recommends that you use the RAS PL/SQL API which includes all the functionality of RASADM.


Oracle Label Security Parameters and Functions Desupported

Oracle Label Security (OLS) parameters and functions that were deprecated in Oracle Database 12c are desupported in Oracle Database 23ai.

Date: April 2023

These previously deprecated OLS parameters and functions have alternate parameters that can be used. 

The following OLS functions and parameters are desupported:

Least_UBOUND. Use OLS_GREATEST_LBOUNDinstead.
LUBD. Use OLS_GLBD instead. 
DOMINATES. Use the OLS_DOMINATES standalone function instead.
DOM. Use the OLS_STRICTLY_DOMINATES standalone function instead.
STRICTLY_DOMINATES. Use the OLS_STRICTLY_DOMINATES standalone function instead.
S_DOM. Use the OLS_STRICTLY_DOMINATESstandalone function instead.
DOMINATED_BY. Use the OLS_DOMINATED_BYstandalone function instead.
DOM_BY. Use the OLS_DOMINATED_BY standalone function instead.
STRICTLY_DOMINATED_BY. Use the OLS_STRICTLY_DOMINATED_BY standalone function instead.
S_DOM_BY. Use the OLS_STRICTLY_DOMINATED_BYstandalone function instead.

Also, the OLS standalone function SA_UTL.DOMINATES boolean datatype is desupported. The SA_UTL.DOMINATES function that uses the NUMBER datatype is not deprecated.


Oracle Internet Directory with Oracle Label Security Desupported

The integration of Oracle Internet Directory (OID) with Oracle Label Security (OLS) is desupported with Oracle Database 23ai.

Date: April 2023

The use of OID to store OLS policies and labels is desupported with Oracle Database 23ai. No replacement for this feature is planned. If you are using this feature, then you must create a custom method to copy and store this information.


Granting Administrative Privilege to RADIUS Users Desupported

Starting with Oracle Database 23ai, users authenticating to the database using the legacy RADIUS API no longer are granted administrative privileges.

Date: April 2023

In previous releases, users authenticating with RADIUS API could be granted administrative privileges such as SYSDBA or SYSBACKUP. In Oracle Database 23ai, Oracle introduces a new RADIUS API that uses the latest standards. To grant administrative privileges to users, ensure the database connection to the database uses the new RADIUS API, and that you are using the Oracle Database 23ai client to connect to the Oracle Database 23ai server.

Transparent Data Encryption PKI Keys Desupported

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) public key infrastructure (PKI) keys are desupported with Oracle Database 23ai

Date: April 2023

The deprecation of TDE PKI keys was announced with Oracle Database 12c. Oracle recommends using one of the current TDE keys instead. Follow the documentation to rekey your database with a new TDE key before upgrading the Oracle Database 23ai. If the upgrade script detects PKI keys used with TDE, then the script will stop and notify you to rekey the TDE Master Key before upgrade.


Sincerely,


                          Alireza Kamrani

                               07/09/2024

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