Dennis: Thanks for the information. I pretty much have these items in mind, what I'm looking for are some things that I may have missed. I'm interviewing for an Oracle DBA position and they have a big project starting after the first of the year to move / upgrade their Oracle application / DB to new servers. So, when I go in for a hopeful interview next week I can speak with some intelligence.
Ken ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 11:44 AM > Ken > Having gone through this numerous times, I don't think there is such a > thing as a detailed plan that has any use beyond the immediate task. I would > concentrate first of all on your philosophical approach, the principles on > which you work. Here are some ideas: > - Create a staging/QA server for each production server that is identical > as possible to production. I like to create the Oracle database from backups > so I get a chance to verify my backups at the same time. > - Have a complete set of data for the staging database. I've seen several > problems that were not replicated with only a portion of the data. > - Perform the exact steps in staging that you will be performing in > production and take careful notes. Repeat if any problems are encountered. > - Always have a backout plan for any production action. I find a lot of > comfort in a cold backup of the entire system. > - As much as possible, change only one component at a time. That is, only > upgrade the O.S., give the system a few weeks to shake out, then upgrade the > DB, and so on. Then when a strange problem arises you know which vendor to > go to first. > - Stick to versions certified by the vendors. Only use an Oracle version > certified for that version of the O.S. and application. > - Decide your approach to applying patches. Typically patches are tested > much less thoroughly than overall releases. So some sites only apply patches > if they are experiencing problems the patch will fix. Other sites believe in > applying all patches as soon as they are released. > - Then there will be a bunch of steps related to your specific situation. > All I know is to get as many people involved as possible to minimize the > chance that something is overlooked. And if something does get overlooked, > people won't get nearly as upset if you kept them in the loop so they had a > chance to raise issues as if you left them out. > - Promise the users that the downtime will be more than you expect. Better > to underpromise and overperform. > > -----Original Message----- > Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 9:25 AM > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L > > > Would like to know where I can find some detailed plans on upgrading server, > O/S, DB and applications to their new releases. Something like a TO DO list > would be helpful. Any help will be greatly appreciated. > > Thanks much, > Ken Janusz, CPIM > > -- > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net > -- > Author: DENNIS WILLIAMS > INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com > San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message > to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in > the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L > (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may > also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net -- Author: KENNETH JANUSZ INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services --------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
