AppsDBA.com System Management

Introduction

System management is a disciplined approach to managing Oracle systems. System management addresses the following key areas:

1. Technical Architecture
2. Configuration Management
3. Operational Management
4. Workload Management
5. Performance Management

Technical Architecture

Technical architecture includes items such as platform choices, deployment tiers, and I/O subsystem design, but it really involves more than just hardware. A key input to creating a workable technical architecture is understanding the business needs and fitting the architecture to the business, not the other way around. The following is a list of some of the key issues to consider when designing a technical architecture:

	Define scope and objectives
	Prepare an architecture strategy
	Establish requirements
	Develop a conceptual model
	Conduct an architectural baseline
	Define system availability requirements
	Define any future application requirements
	Develop a reporting strategy
	Refine the conceptual architecture
	Define architecture subsystems
	Propose architecture subprojects
	Design application security architecture
	Design application functional architecture
	Design logical application and database architecture
	Design physical database architecture
	Design hardware and network architecture
	Develop system capacity plan
	Assess performance risks
	Design system management procedures

For more information on this topic see the AppsDBA paper "Sizing Oracle Applications Projects, A Technical Perspective".

Configuration Management

Configuration management encompasses the following topics:

	Installation
	Patching
	Environment layout and accessibility
	Physical database configuration
	Application schema design and configuration

Operational Management

Operational management includes:

	Environment setup
	Process startup and shutdown including the database, listener, OEM, and any other required processes.
	Error and informational log file scanning and management
	Database patching, and upgrade methodologies
	Security patching and assessments
	Backup and recovery
	Database space management

Workload Management

Workload management addresses the following areas:

	Workload measurement
	Workload characterization
	Capacity planning
	Workload reduction

Performance Management

Performance management includes the following areas:

	Response time optimization
	Resource allocations
	Resource access

AppsDBA Consulting offers the tools and expertise to help you in all of these key areas of system management. If you have any questions or need help, please contact us.