Smart Database Technology

Oracle Open World 2011 — 5 Days — 50,000 Attendees

1 Dbvisit stand — 6 Staff — Our mission: spread the word

Oracle Standard Edition database users can access smart disaster recovery and database replication solutions and save up to 80% on Oracle licensing.

Six members of the Dbvisit team made the pilgrimage from New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Texas and California to what is considered Oracle’s biggest event in the calendar: the annual Open World conference in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

It was a huge week for us in terms of connecting with our customers, partners and prospects and a great opportunity to network with Oracle thought leaders and the wider Oracle community. It was also a chance for us to see how well our messages resonated with our target market of Standard Edition database users.

So what did we get up to? Well, amongst other things we…

• met with, and bumped into, dozens of our customers
• came away with 150+ potential business opportunities, from resellers to banks to aircraft manufacturers
• talked to our partners, such as Jean-Pierre Bocchi from SETRA Conseil – who claimed the spoils at our Meet & Greet event
• had a bunch of meetings with top Oracle executives
• whet our technical appetites by asking questions and attending technical sessions
• were inspired by, and enjoyed meeting, some of the Oracle community thought leaders – like the team from Pythian
• figured out that, apparently, there are more than a few people interested in holding onto their Standard Edition investments!
  

Thank you to our customers for taking the time to visit our booth and catch up or introduce yourselves and, in many cases, put faces to names. To those of you who stopped at our booth to ask questions, receive demos or just to introduce yourselves, it was a pleasure to meet you. We look forward to working with you on your projects.

Thanks also to a number of those in the wider Oracle community who made the event so enjoyable for us, including the team at Pythian, Oracle ANZ and a number of Oracle ACE’s – you know who you are. For myself, and the other three Dbvisit team members who were Open World first timers, we appreciated the hospitality and the conversation.

I’ll leave you with some photos and we’ll see you there next year!

All the best,

Mike Donovan
Service & Online Delivery Manager

Oracle Open World in San Francisco

And we were in the middle of it all. 6 guys, 1 booth, loads of enthusiasm and a simple message: save up to 80% on Oracle licensing.

There were lights, sounds and speeches.

And golf, free poker, ipad raffles, spinning wheels and big wrestler dudes.

And stretching our legs out beyond the exhibition halls we got to see Sting in concert.

Along with the San Francisco seals, downtown.

And the Golden Gate bridge, of course, with a complimentary air show to boot - which was phenomenal.

While some of the team even managed to catch up with Leonardo DiCaprio! It really is a small world.

Congratulations to Jean-Pierre Bocchi (SETRA-Conseil - France). Winner on the day at the Dbvisit Meet & Greet event

Oracle Open World is just around the corner. For something a little different and in true Kiwi-style, we have decided to host our own informal gathering. It would be great if you could join us over a few drinks and nibbles to meet the team and find out about our new product Dbvisit Replicate.

If you register now you will be in to win a prize pack (pictured below) featuring the nifty Selk’bag, perfect for those surprise colder days at OOW! Plus included in the pack is a signed copy of ‘Only Two Seats Left’, the incredible story of how a simple Kiwi idea became an international ‘iconic’ brand name.

Date: Tuesday 4th October
Time: 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Location: Hotel Nikko (view map)
222 Mason St, San Francisco

You are also welcome to visit us at booth 130 in the Moscone South Exhbition Hall, right next to the Database Demo Grounds (view map).

One month on from the release of Dbvisit Replicate CTO and Founder of Dbvisit Software, Arjen Visser shares some of the backstory on our newest product.

Replication software: who is using it and how can it be effective?

I see companies using Dbvisit Replicate for a number of reasons:

• Distributing data across offices/locations. They may have one source database that they want to distribute to remote offices, or have a need to share data with remote offices.
• Data warehousing, where ETL (extraction, transform and upload) is in play to extract data out of the source database and into the data warehouse. Using Change Data Capture (CDC) by mining the Oracle Logs is the most efficient way to detect and extract inserts and updates out of source data.
• Upgrading Oracle versions or migrating from one Oracle platform to another, e.g. Oracle on Windows to Oracle on Linux.

What are your keys to successful product development?
Successful software and ultimately product development is all about developing with the user experience in mind. My main considerations in developing Dbvisit Replicate were:

• Ensuring it was easy to use, configure and set up
• Making sure it provides solid and useful feedback when things are not going right, and that the software can guide the user in fixing whatever is wrong
• That it provided good guidance but still allowed for flexibility should the user wish to ‘wander off the path’.
• Ensuring that the product accommodated all of the different configuration options allowed by Oracle so our users did not lose any of the power and flexibility inherent to Oracle databases.

What prompted you to develop a Replication product?

Listening to our customers! We kept getting lots of enquiries from customers who wanted real time reporting and Oracle replication across different platforms.

What were some of the major challenges you faced in developing Dbvisit Replicate?

One of the biggest technical challenges around developing Dbvisit Replicate was building our own mining engine to extract the transactions out of the Oracle logs, putting the information together in the right order and turn them into SQL. Also ensuring that all the SQL are happening in the right order to guarantee transaction integrity. We figured it out!

What are some of the issues users have found since you launched Dbvisit Replicate?

All though we try to account for every Oracle configuration we can, by it’s nature replication is complex and there are configurations out there that we may not yet have accounted for. No doubt we will have to make changes to the software to accommodate them as they arise.

As with Dbvisit Standby we are very responsive when it comes to assisting customers and have been able to diagnose and resolve any issues very quickly.

What is your favourite feature in Dbvisit Replicate?

Real time replication progress updates which allow you to watch the replication as it happens in the Dbvisit Replicate console.

Is there still a place for DR software once someone has implemented Replicate?

Yes. They have very distinct functions and benefits: Dbvisit Replicate serves to replicate and distribute your data and Dbvisit Standby is about protecting your data. The great news for Standard Edition users is that Dbvisit products work together to provide the sharing AND complete protection of your data.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about Dbvisit Replicate?

I’m very excited about Dbvisit Replicate. Data replication is a very complicated animal (especially master to master) and it was a huge feat to pull off so I’m immensely pleased and proud of the team that we’ve been able to do it. I am also very excited that we can enable our users to replicate from Oracle to Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL databases. It puts us in the unique postion of having two products that encompass the entire Oracle replication spectrum, from physical to logical replication. The possibilities this opens up for our primarily Standard Edition users is immense.

For more information on Dbvisit Replicate go to www.dbvisit.com.

Rapidly growing New Zealand software company launches real-time database replication product to immediate success
Demand for product sees Dbvisit make first sale prior to launch

Date: 18 August 2011
For immediate release

Dbvisit Software Ltd, developers of affordable disaster recovery solutions for Oracle® Database Standard Edition sites worldwide, announce the release of  Dbvisit Replicate to immediate success. A leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) health informatics company in the US has chosen the product to enhance their service offering; accessing its real-time Oracle to MySQL database replication functionality to provide affordable real-time business reporting for their customers.

“Dbvisit Replicate has immediate appeal for businesses looking for an affordable, real-time Oracle database replication solution,” says Arjen Visser, CTO & Founder of Dbvisit. “We listened to what our customers and partners were telling us and are pleased to have made our first sale prior to launch.”

Dbvisit Replicate’s ability to share, migrate, synchronise and consolidate data in real-time effects benefits at all levels of a business. By providing improved database resiliency, offloading processing workloads and facilitating the integration of diverse platforms, operating systems and databases, Dbvisit Replicate presents businesses with a real opportunity. They now have the ability to minimize administrative system downtime, realize operational cost efficiencies in infrastructure, facilitate real-time business reporting and improve their users’ overall systems experience.

http://www.dbvisit.com/replicate_download.php

For further information please contact:

Libby Russell, Marketing Manager
Arjen Visser, CTO & Founder
Tel: +64  (0)9 950 3301
www.dbvisit.com

About Dbvisit Software Limited
Businesses in over 60 countries worldwide with Oracle® Database Standard Edition software trust Dbvisit to protect and share their data enterprise-wide. By eliminating the need to upgrade to Oracle® Enterprise Edition to access Data Guard or to purchase Oracle ® Golden Gate, our customers can save significantly on their disaster recovery and data replication solutions.

Our products are designed to be ‘set and forget’. They are simple to install and manage, functionally rich and come with comprehensive documentation and support. We provide peace of mind for our users, freeing up their valuable time to focus on other business activities.

Dbvisit Software Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avisit Solutions Limited, founded in 2000. We are headquartered in Auckland New Zealand with sales offices in the USA and France. www.dbvisit.com

I have been using Windows for a long time for my personal desktop although for development platforms I always preferred Linux. One of our developers has been a Mac fan for a long time and as the team grew more and more people started to use Mac’s. So there was no stopping the momentum and I took the plunge.

So I have been using Mac OS X for about 5 months and am very happy I have made the switch. Mac OS X is not perfect, I think it has some shortcomings but overall I think it is a much better OS to Windows, especially for a development platform.

Mac OS X advantages:

1. Much more complete OS. All the major tools that you need are there, such as ssh, ftp, scp, vi etc.
2. Full bash terminal available allowing you automate daily tasks such as backups.
3. Time machine is a great backup utility.
4. Some great Mac software available (see below).
5. No more frequent updates and daily virus scans.
6. It is fast and efficient.
7. Instant on.
8. Much better insight into what the OS is doing and where it is spending its resources, allowing you to take action if things slow down too much.
9. Security model is much better than Windows.
10. No more Windows services and registry!
11. Level of frustration with personal computers has gone down.
12. I really like the Dock.

Mac OS X disadvantages:

1. I am not a fan of Finder. I prefer Windows Explorer that has the folder tree on the left and the file tree on the right. I know there are different options for Finder, but I have not found an option that works for me.
2. No “send to” option allowing you to send a document to an email or other application. I have yet to figure out how to attach a document to an email outside of Thunderbird.
3. No “New document” option allowing you to quickly add a new document in a specific location.
4. Inconsistencies in keys. “End” key goes to the bottom of the document in some apps rather than the end of the line.
5. “Alt-tab” only cycles through the applications and not the windows of each application.

As you can see my disadvantages are relatively small compared to the advantages. There is no going back for me. I did find the following shortcut keys for Mac OS X helpful: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343

Favourite Mac software:

1. Open Office
2. Thunderbird
3. SynchroSVNClient
4. UltraEdit for Mac
5. OmniGraffle (Visio for Mac)
6. Things (todo list)

X11

One of the benefits of Mac OS X is that it comes with a full X Windows System. This means that we can install Oracle on a remote system with full GUI interface. Previously it was very tricky to connect to a remote server to install Oracle through the full GUI interface. On Mac this is now really easy.

Start X11, connect to the remote server using ssh, and type “dbca”. The output is as below:

Running dbca through X11 on Mac OSX

Still to try:

There are still a few more things I want to try on the Mac. This includes Virtual Box for Mac using Oracle’s virtual box templates.

Hopefully you have had some semblance of a relaxing holiday, however fleeting, this Christmas/New Year period. Aside from overeating, having awkward conversations with distant relatives and feigning glee over presents that missed the mark, this time of the year can also present a great opportunity to step back and reevaluate a multitude of areas in your work life.  Here are some suggestions of areas which may benefit from your attention:

1. Look at whether there are any procedures or tasks that could be scripted or automated, especially those manual and repetitive tasks. This only requires a small investment of your time when compared to the savings you’ll make over the course of the year. Perl is an ideal language in this instance.

2. Evaluate how your databases are performing, as this is often one of the things that may be overlooked or cast aside in the course of normal operations. In particular examine whether there is a need to tune them, and explore which tools will be most useful in helping you achieve this.
3. Look around for tools that will help you do your job better. Do you need to speak to your manager to see if they would approve a purchase? Be prepared to harness that post holiday optimism and generosity that he/she is inevitably basking in on their return to the office.
4. Set goals for personal development. Are there certifications that you could aim for in the next year – or books/courses to help you up-skill? We recommend The Oracle Concept 11.2 Guide as a great way to learn about the new features of Oracle.
5. Evaluate your backup/DR strategy. Is it robust? When was the last time you tested it? DR testing should be carried out at least annually, and involve an actual fail over from your production database to the standby.

You may also find the following resources useful:

12 Ways To Think “Big Picture” and Why You Should Bother

Disaster Recovery Testing Best Practises: Test Thoroughly and Often

Dbvisit Versus Automated Oracle Log Shipping

Achieve enterprise class database redundancy, service levels and performance with Cintra’s SuperCharged Oracle Standard Edition solutions.

Wednesday, Jan 19th, 2011
10am EST, 3pm GMT (1 Hour)
Presenter: Abdul Sheikh, CTO

Please join Cintra, a Dbvisit partner, for a live Webinar exploring the significant benefits of SuperCharged Oracle Standard Edition solutions.

While Oracle Standard Edition and Standard Edition One are both powerful and cost effective database solutions, they lack many of the high availability and performance management features and options available with Oracle Enterprise Edition database. More…

We’ve just been notified that Arjen’s presentation “All About Standby Databases” on Thursday 23rd at 1:30pm has moved rooms.

It is now in Room 300 of the Moscone South venue NOT Room 307 as previously advertised.

I’m flying out this Saturday (NZT) for Oracle Open World and will arrive six hours before I leave, after a leisurely thirteen hour flight from Auckland.

I’ve still to pack my bag but at least I’ve completed my presentation, practiced it numerous times in front of the mirror and my colleagues. My agenda’s looking pretty good too:

Sunday, September 19, 2010

11:00am – 12:00pm Oracle PartnerNetwork Forum- Networking Luncheon ‘…an informal networking lunch with Oracle and your peers’.

12:30pm – 2:30pm Global General Session. This will be attended by Safra Catz.

07:30pm -10:30pm Oracle OpenWorld Australia & New Zealand Customer Dinner. An Antipodean knees up, cue sheep jokes.

Out and about with Dbman today?

Monday, September 20, 2010

8:00am – 9:45am Oracle OpenWorld Keynote. With new Co-President Mark Hurd.

Most of today to spend meeting with various contacts including key customers and resellers.

7:00pm – 9:00pm Exclusive APAC Cocktail Function. A chance for all of us from the Asia Pacific region to get together.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Most of today to spend  meeting key contacts, putting faces to names and voices.

3:00pm (Unconference action) Securing Your Critical Enterprise Data. Mohan Dutt, Oracle Evangelist-at-large.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

5:30pm Bloggers Meetup. Meet influential ‘voices’ from Cyberspace.

7:30pm Oracle Appreciation Event – Treasure Island.  The Black Eyed Peas.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

1:30pm – 2:30pm All About Standby Databases. My presentation, enough said.

3:00pm – 4:00pm When Oracle Databases Meet the Cloud, It Might Rain

4:00 pm – 6:00 pm It’s a Wrap!

Busy, not too hectic (at first glance) and hopefully leaving time to take in some of the sights.

Packing…

In the first of a regular series that shines a light on our partner resellers worldwide, we profile one of our German resellers, Aspicon from Chemnitz, Germany. In Germany ASPICON is known for their extensive knowledge in Oracle databases by Oracle itself, their customers as well as from other Oracle partners.

Headed by the energetic Managing Directors Steffen Fenger and Dirk Melzer, Aspicon have been a reseller of Dbvisit since 2008. Dirk comments, “We are very pleased to have such an agile and innovative partner as Avisit. With their product Dbvisit we are able to complete our full range of HA solutions, especially for those customers not running an Enterprise Edition environment, but having the same requirements in terms of system reliability. Our partnership with Avisit has been successful for us and also offers value to our clients.”

Steffen and Dirk have successfully grown their company to offer an extensive range of mainly Oracle-related services  including the conceptual design and implementation of complete Oracle system environments, remote DBA services as well as trouble shooting. They have built a strong reputation specializing in Oracle High Availability and Real Application Cluster (RAC) solutions, and are often called upon to resolve difficult Oracle issues. Passionate about Oracle database technology, they are also Oracle Beta Testers for Oracle Enterprise Linux and Oracle VM Virtualization.

Like us Aspicon is a company that strives to build strong relationships with their clients and partners. They are an Oracle Platinum partner and are the recipients of numerous awards for excelling in IT innovation, Oracle sales, support and implementation. They are an appreciated and valued member of the Dbvisit Reseller Network. If you wish to find out more about Aspicon, or a reseller in your area, you can do so here.