Health check for optimal performance of databases

The complexity and sophistication of today`s software renders IT managers more and more reliant on their expert staff. They can no longer be expected to fully understand the detail of all the networks, databases and applications they manage.

A major problem, however, is that the IT manager is often not sure whether all is actually running optimally.

"He or she may employ a low level data base administrator, for example, who is very good at daily administration, but not necessarily the best person for ensuring that the company is getting the best possible benefit from its database," says Jean Paul Renouprez of Dimension Data i-Commerce.

To ensure companies derive optimal performance from their databases, Dimension Data i-Commerce has introduced an Oracle database health check service. The resulting report advises how utilisation could be improved, as well as notifying companies if they are licensed correctly.

"A company may have performance issues with its database, which our audit would pick up. We could then perform various exercises to rectify these, a service the average database administrator would often be unable to render," says Renouprez.

"We would also advise how the company could use the more advanced features of the software, of which the DBA may possibly be unaware."

This health check, or mini-audit, is a half-day exercise run by skilled Dimension Data Oracle database staff. A number of different scripts are run and checked, followed by a full report on the status of the corporate`s database. If there is room for improvement, this is noted, with suggestions and a quotation for making these improvements.

Dimension Data i-Commerce boasts a strong Oracle staff contingent, a large percentage of whom have strong industry experience as well as IT skills.

The Oracle unit offers a number of additional services, including fixing the database if it crashes, upgrading, installing and configuring new software, or moving the database to a different platform.

Dimension Data also launched Oracle DBA services in March, whereby companies can outsource the management of their databases to the group. Dimension Data is currently working to incorporate its Oracle offerings into its Global Services Operating Architecture (GSOA), good news for database customers already using the GSOA offering to manage their networking infrastructures.