CEO's Connection
Patch Happy
by Rob Gardos, CEO

Has your staff spent more time on patching in the last 12 months than they have in the 24 months before that? Most of you will answer yes, which begs the question: Why have we all found ourselves in patch hell? Perhaps, after our valiant efforts helped us avert the apocalypse we were facing with Y2K, we just never left. Even so, it seems to me that more and more organizations are drowning in patches. If we pause for a moment to think about it, we can narrow down the potential reasons to just a few: More >>

Featured Article
What does "Online Patching"
really mean for you?
by Matthew Zito, Chief Scientist

With Oracle 11g starting to poke its head over the horizon, albeit in an unformed state, it’s becoming clear that manageability and security are a critical focus for Oracle’s 11g release. Of course, the vision is still a little hazy. I saw an “Oracle 11g new features” presentation by Oracle at an OUG event a few weeks ago that was preceded by more legalese than a corporate earnings report, basically saying: “Just because More >>

Ask the Expert - Mr. Database
The 10 Tenets of Patching
by Eric Gross, DBA

We all install and upgrade databases far less frequently than we patch them. Patches are the lifeblood of your existing installations; they bring the latest features or fix the latest issues. Due to the increased frequency of patching, it is particularly important for the process to run smoothly—your databases depend on it. Here are my 10 tenets of patching:
More >>