It's been months since I posted anything to this blog. Amazing to think that something I felt so pationate about, could peter out in a matter of two months. Yes. Sixty days, and I've all but forgotten about this blog.
Well, let me correct this omission on my part and get you all caught up. Since my last post I've completed the RAC/Grid Accelerated training with Oracle. Have not worked a lick on it here in the office - thank goodness we have another DBA that got all of that sorted out on what is to become the production hardware. But, we've had a few more surprises.
We need to move our disaster recovery site - cost escalations made our existing provider prohibitively expensive. Also, we are moving from our SAN provider. Throwing out the DS8100 and installing shiny new EMC VNX disk arrays. Proof of concept was done over the christmas period. I've completed most of the work on running this banking application on a high-availability cluster. Still need to write up the procedures that make it all possible and try to secure the processes so no one can accidentally stuff up. I like my sleep too much for that.
We have implemented VOIP for the telephony system and so far it's OK. Just don't know what we will do when the internet links go down... hope theirs ample redundancy. Also, the new treasury system is going live in March of this year, so we are also running with new configurations for that in the DR (Disaster Recovery) plans and on the current site. We will be doing a DR test for S.A.R.B. in February... what a gas that is going to be.
We need to update the documentation for a system that is not in production yet. Prove that we can fail over for it (even though it's not in production yet) and then set everything back to 'normal' for the twenty seven days till go-live. If you ask me this is a management load of b****it. DR fail over for a system that isn't in production makes no sense. The existing system is the one that will do the deals when the 'new one' fails.
But, anyway... got a new hobby. One that gets me away from the computer and out in the fresh air - or as fresh as city air can be.
I've taken to Golf. Got clubs and a few lessons from the local golf pro and am practicing my ass off. Sometime this year I should begin to get direction and distance to work together. At present, when I have the distance, it's usually in a direction that I didn't intend to go to. When I have the direction it's usually too short and not quite there. For some or other unfathomable reason I'm fine when chipping (that's the short stroke to get on the green) to a whole on either edge of the green (that's that amazingly sculpted piece of grass where the flag pole is stuck in) - yeah I know, more jargon. I don't know any of it. But as I was saying, the edge placements seem to work fine for me, but when the placement is in the center of the green, I get everywhere except in the center.
I suppose this is where practice, practice and more practice comes in.
For now, I'm signing off... will try and update here more on the technology, the meandering management, my opinion of the ruling party (can they make asses of themselves - never thought they could one-up themselves, but they did)... and generally just talking about what it's like to live in the rainbow nation. Including but not limited to the ridiculous idiocy that prevails in the country. We had GoldOne, Aurora, now the unions threaten with nationalization of Amplats. None of them seem to comprehend that 6% of GDP is affected by Amplats decision to close the four shafts. None of them seem to understand that if they nationalize the government wont get tax money from this business. Where are they going to find the knowledge and know how to run it. Africans couldn't run Aurora.
Till now they've proven one thing. Their consumption is limitless but their build up is zero - lot's of useless stadiums for 2010 and toll-roads that are not being finished. What else have they done? Promised beyond what they can deliver and now they have reached the end of the overdraft. Now it's get productive or become another failed African country.
Well, let me correct this omission on my part and get you all caught up. Since my last post I've completed the RAC/Grid Accelerated training with Oracle. Have not worked a lick on it here in the office - thank goodness we have another DBA that got all of that sorted out on what is to become the production hardware. But, we've had a few more surprises.
We need to move our disaster recovery site - cost escalations made our existing provider prohibitively expensive. Also, we are moving from our SAN provider. Throwing out the DS8100 and installing shiny new EMC VNX disk arrays. Proof of concept was done over the christmas period. I've completed most of the work on running this banking application on a high-availability cluster. Still need to write up the procedures that make it all possible and try to secure the processes so no one can accidentally stuff up. I like my sleep too much for that.
We have implemented VOIP for the telephony system and so far it's OK. Just don't know what we will do when the internet links go down... hope theirs ample redundancy. Also, the new treasury system is going live in March of this year, so we are also running with new configurations for that in the DR (Disaster Recovery) plans and on the current site. We will be doing a DR test for S.A.R.B. in February... what a gas that is going to be.
We need to update the documentation for a system that is not in production yet. Prove that we can fail over for it (even though it's not in production yet) and then set everything back to 'normal' for the twenty seven days till go-live. If you ask me this is a management load of b****it. DR fail over for a system that isn't in production makes no sense. The existing system is the one that will do the deals when the 'new one' fails.
But, anyway... got a new hobby. One that gets me away from the computer and out in the fresh air - or as fresh as city air can be.
I've taken to Golf. Got clubs and a few lessons from the local golf pro and am practicing my ass off. Sometime this year I should begin to get direction and distance to work together. At present, when I have the distance, it's usually in a direction that I didn't intend to go to. When I have the direction it's usually too short and not quite there. For some or other unfathomable reason I'm fine when chipping (that's the short stroke to get on the green) to a whole on either edge of the green (that's that amazingly sculpted piece of grass where the flag pole is stuck in) - yeah I know, more jargon. I don't know any of it. But as I was saying, the edge placements seem to work fine for me, but when the placement is in the center of the green, I get everywhere except in the center.
I suppose this is where practice, practice and more practice comes in.
For now, I'm signing off... will try and update here more on the technology, the meandering management, my opinion of the ruling party (can they make asses of themselves - never thought they could one-up themselves, but they did)... and generally just talking about what it's like to live in the rainbow nation. Including but not limited to the ridiculous idiocy that prevails in the country. We had GoldOne, Aurora, now the unions threaten with nationalization of Amplats. None of them seem to comprehend that 6% of GDP is affected by Amplats decision to close the four shafts. None of them seem to understand that if they nationalize the government wont get tax money from this business. Where are they going to find the knowledge and know how to run it. Africans couldn't run Aurora.
Till now they've proven one thing. Their consumption is limitless but their build up is zero - lot's of useless stadiums for 2010 and toll-roads that are not being finished. What else have they done? Promised beyond what they can deliver and now they have reached the end of the overdraft. Now it's get productive or become another failed African country.
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