Container databases is The Future - or not?

Well probably not since there is no flashback.  What is a container database? Well there is lots to read on the internet. Of course. But it is - as I see it - the base for Clouds, private, public or hybrid.

The cloud is for sale!

In Europe as well in other parts of the globe there are movements rolling where you can buy and sell Cloud Computing resources. Interesting development.

There is a site already out there. Sharing prices at amazon.com.The site is closed, I just discovered...2014-01-13...

But there are other sites, this is the Börse in Europe for the Cloud. So capacity is for sale. App-servers, database servers, what have you. Go buy, or sell your capacity.

What are the implications of this "stock" exchange. Well time will tell. But it is kinda strange. Or it is not...there could be companies that will gain capital from computer storage, or computer application server resources during, let's say the Olympics in the year 2016. Or when a company suddenly and in a minute time gets lots of DoS-attacks. Or even not attacks. But a immense grow on traffic.

Then, who do you gonna call? Cloud-sellers...

To ExaData or not to ExaData

that is the question. Several years ago ExaData platform came along. When should you go for that platform?

I do not really know...in the beginning of the ExaData product release it was stated that it was aimed at Business Intelligence [BI] applications and not OnLine Transaction Processing [OLTP] applications. Now when Cloud computing is more and more not just a buzz word but a reality things might have changed. They have changed, the new applicances are aimed at OLTP. Which is a natural step in the ExaData product line.

However...there are troubles for the non database guys...

There are of course implications on applications. Some tips over here. But there could be more. And then Tom Kyte is not addressing the DataBase Administrators [DBA] but the developers of the applications. The transition - yes transition not migration :-) - to ExaData from a traditional Oracle DataBase solution have implications on the application.

That is not necessarliy the primary focus for the DBAs, they see the advantages from their point of view in disk space mangagement and such things that DBAs should and are caring for.

What's the fuzz around Windows 8

I stumbled upon this presentation that gives you a short introduction.

http://www.slideshare.net/AnastasiaKl/windows-8-and-windows-phone-8-developer-story-anders-bratland

Windows 8 is here, not around the corner, but Oracle Forms/Reports/Discoverer applications might be run in this environment.

It will be exciting to see where this evolves. Because NOKIA Lumia 920 is here to stay, not in the commercial public sector. The increase will probable be noticed amongst hand held terminals that interact with internal traditional OLTP applications.

Web Logic Server 11g and the cloud is in the air

We have now, where I work, got the WebLogic Server [WLS] up and running. It can be recovered safely in case of hosts that looses control and has to reboot. The BEA way - remember WebLogic was bought from BEA by Oracle some years ago - is different than the Oracle Way. Study the nodemanager in your fave-WLS-book. The nodemanager can be set up in a way that is IS a windows bootstrap process for all the other processes - and God knows there are lots and lots of processes that should be up and running - that are needed for a Forms/Reports/Discoverer-based application.

The next step is to make sure that everything else is in place in terms of configuration and other platforms that are needed in order to get WLS in a controlled manner serve Forms/Reports/Discoverer-applications.

There are considerations in integration between Forms and Reports. The next step in that area is to choose between Jasper, BI Publisher or something else. BI Publisher is an expensive animal...and has imho an american view on reports distribution in general.

Further, 12c is around the corner, in a year or two there is a Forms/Reports/Discoverer 12c platform. Reports will still be around, despite what Oracle says. It is another marketing matter that Oracle wants you to move from Oracle Reports...

To cloud or not to cloud that is the

question. There are doubts out here. http://www.technologyreview.com/view/427206/the-hidden-risk-of-a-meltdown-in-the-cloud/ is one doubt.

As I once said, the internet is trust issue. Coined this in a community long time ago. Still valid.

If you do not trust the site you leave. If you do not trust that the opt-out will work you do not click the opt-out for a spam mail.

If companies that should or would or could go cloudy in a positive sense do not trust the providers of the cloud internet is in trouble. The meltdown metaphore is a great image to think about. And there are issues of trust in all three levels of Cloudiness.

Platform as a Service PaaS
Infrastructure as a Service IaaS
Application as a Service AssA

The platform are the - surprisingly enough - platform for the cloudy future itself. There you have boxes (as Larry made jokes about...during a OOW 2011 or so...) flat servers or what have you.
Infrastructure is the next level of cloudification efforts. Do not start here, start at Platforms.
Later on - four years or so when company is at true level 5 of CMM - then go for AssA.

The road is long but the path is clear.

Amazon Cloud and mail

Be sure to check out this blog if testing the Cloud at Amazon. Please see David Peake's excellent article in Oracle Magazine on how to get there. It really works. Some things have changed to the better since the article was written.

Now APEX is pre-installed. And you get going at once. Impressive.

Mail in EC2, careful since there are things with mail, spammers wants to use the gate ways... So consult this article at OracleQuicks.

Send in the Clouds...

Clouds are here to stay, it is spring soon. But IT Clouds are here to stay.

Orcan - the swedish user group has a database going in the Cloud. And an ApEx application. Just for the fun of it.

What it is or becomes, is up to us...

Back again - and up and atom

Have you seen TOR - the nice thing that makes China find places outside their locked in country?

Google on TOR and see what makes China go mad...

In the Oracle scene things are moving. New versions, new merger of companies.

ApEx is on the move in Sweden, there are lots of companies going in that direction. They migrate old legacy systems Access/Excel to new powerful ApEx tools to the user community at their companies.

Also, which is not spoke about imho.
If you got the Architecture in place, the Grid control, the things that you need to really go into dark room computing...then ApEx is an excellent tool for SQL knowledgable user to study the database, the base for the data.

If you set up an organisation that really takes into account cooperation and communication you are on the right track. Openness. But just as much as you like, you have to protect the data, of course. So...ApEx is an excellent read only tool for end user to be on the same platform when it comes to understand the underlying data.

Up where we belong...

The cloud is coming, Oracle has found a way of licensing the Cloud. Sounds good on paper. The trouble is that there is not the same situation if you ask middle-sized customers, not at least if you ask Swedish customers.

There is some fuzz around pricing policies here in Sweden, and Virtual Computing. "OK, you can upgrade to a 64 bit version, but Oracle want you to pay 120 000 USD in license fees".

"Say what?"

"Yes, it says so here in the list of prices".

"OK, let's see, we have to think about that, what about moving to MySQL what price tag is there in doing that?"

Oracle Corp must have an answer, and an answer soon. Or think again, do it again, do it right.

Ah yes...Oracle Support do listen to us, Oracle customer base. We will have an simple HTML-interface to access Oracle Support. Or My Oracle Support. The more flashy guys will have flash...

Oracle Open World is soon here

I hope to see you there, it was almost a year ago. I do not know about you but I am curious about the focus on Oracle Open World this year.

More curious than before, there are new things in the Oracle realm to think about and relate to.

• Transition to My Oracle Support
• The new appplication server platform - Middleware
• Is SOA really mature as technology. This is CORBA, as we have seen before, but now it can really be efficient.
  
• Is PL/SQL dead and we shall go for coffee, sorry Java...at Starbucks?
• The Cloud - very existing, I really do hope that you all tried Amazon Web Services. Very interesting and it really works. See article by David Peake in Oracle Magazine here.
• Is Oracle DB 11g now stable - I know nothing
• Another aquisition I suppose that we do not yet know about
• Is there a Sun behind the Cloud...?
  

Networking people, communication with peers. That is Oracle Open World at its best.

See you in San Francisco!

Cheers,