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10G DB Console Administration Toolset 10G DB Console Administration Toolset

Readers of this blog know how important I think 10G Grid Control is to the future of Oracle database administration. DBAs must learn to leverage the intelligence built into the Grid Control product set to reduce the amount of time they spend administering, monitoring and troubleshooting Oracle databases.

That being said, there are times when you don't have access to a full blown, enterprise-wide Grid Control environment. Not to worry, Oracle also provides the 10G Database Control administration toolset. 10G Database Control can be used to effectively administer a single Oracle database. Although 10G Database Control might not have the enterprise-wide scope that Grid Control does, it does provide a very robust set of features and functions that are guaranteed to make database administrators more productive. This blog will provide you with a brief overview of the 10G Database Control product set. We'll also compare and contrast Database Control to its big brother, Grid Control.
Oracle Grid Control
Those of you that have been reading this blog are aware that Grid Control is architected as a multi-tier architecture consisting of the HTML console, a management service with an integrated information repository and management agents running on all monitored targets.

The management service receives monitoring data from the various agents and loads it into the management repository. The management console retrieves data from the management repository, organizes it and then displays it as information to the administrator via the HTML console interface.

The agents are programs that run continuously on all servers that are controlled by the Enterprise Manager architecture. Examples of the more popular targets found on the servers are databases, application servers and listeners.

The number of components that Grid Control manages and monitors continues to grow as the product matures. 10G Grid Control is now able to monitor and/or administer listeners, databases, RAC environments, Application Servers, Collaboration Suite implementations, and hardware servers. In addition, Oracle also provides plug-ins that allow Grid Control to monitor non-Oracle databases, non-Oracle middleware, network devices and storage systems. As Grid Control matures, its area of influence can only continue to expand.

Oracle Database Control
The environment that Database Control manages is much more limited in scope than its more robust counterpart, Grid Control. But it does provide a full set of administration and monitoring tools that allow administrators to quickly and effectively monitor and administer a single Oracle database environment (host server, listener and database). When I began to review Database Control for the first time, I was surprised at how robust the tool actually was.

Database control's architecture can be loosely compared to Grid Control's. It consists of the following components:

  • A web-based console that provides a GUI interface.
  • A local version of the management service that works with the local database.
  • A local version of the management repository. The repository is installed in the local database. Unlike Grid Control's repository, which can be used to manage many databases, the repository for Database Control is used to contain configuration and historical information for one, single database environment.
  • A local version of the management agent that sends monitoring data to the local management service.

Notice that the key word is local? Database Control provides DBAs with a web based toolset that allows them to administer and monitor a single database environment.

Oracle Database Control Installation
If you intend to register the database with Grid Control, installing Database Control is really not necessary. But if you do not have a Grid Control environment available, then I highly recommend that you install and use Database Control. Database Control can be installed during the installation of the database binaries or can be done separately if so desired. One of the installation panels will ask you if you prefer to administer the database with Grid control or Database Control. If the Grid Control agent is not installed on the server, the Grid Control option will be unavailable and you will be forced to use Database Control for database management.

After the installation is complete, a Database Control log in panel will pop up in a browser window that allows users to immediately log in to the local database being managed. Unlike Grid Control's installation, which requires user input during the installation, installing Database Control requires virtually no input from the end-user. It installs everything (web interface, management repository, management service and management agent) that is needed on the database server.

Automatic installation of the local agent also differs from Grid Control which requires that separate agent installations be performed on all managed targets. If you use DBCA to create your database, one of the panels that will appear during the configuration asks you if you want to use Grid Control or Database Control to administer the new database.

10g Database Control Demo
Let's begin our review of Database Control by activating the web interface. Activating Database Control will differ according to the operating system you are running it on. For the purposes of this demo, I installed a database and Database Control on a Windows environment. The icon for the Database Control toolset was found in the standard Oracle10G program grouping that can be found when you click on START - ALL PROGRAMS on the desktop.

A standard browser window will pop up that prompts you for your account and password. You will need to enter a valid database account and password to continue. Once you enter the account and password, Database Control will respond by displaying the Database Control Administration Home page. You'll note that this page looks pretty close to 10G Grid Control's Database Home page.

The Database Control Home page begins with a brief overview of system performance. If you click on the host name, in this case CFOOTE, 10G will respond by displaying the Host Environment Home page. The Host Environment Home page allows administrators to view performance and configuration information for the host server.

At the bottom of the Database Control Home page, you see the same alert and job activity information that is displayed on Grid Control's Database Home page. Below the alert and job information, 10G Database Control provides links to various utilities and informational panels. These are the same utilities that are provided by Grid Control. You can establish metrics for the database, run advisors, view ADDM data, etc.. You can also establish notification policies for alerts and metric violations, blackouts, etc.

If we go to the top of the Database Control Home page and click on the performance tab, Database Control responds by displaying the Database Performance Home Page. If you would like to learn what features this panel provides, please refer to my blog titled Database Performance Monitoring using 10G Enterprise Manager. 10G Database Control and 10G Grid Control are almost identical in navigation and information that is displayed.

It is important to note that you have a robust AWR repository available to you. The AWR repository is the center of the Common Manageability Infrastructure and provides services to collect, store, maintain, process and provide access to statistics for self-tuning and problem detection. In addition, Database Control also provides Oracle10g's Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM) which automatically identifies performance bottlenecks and makes recommendations to resolve them. Lastly, you have access to all of the intelligent advisors (SQL Tuning Advisor, SQL Access Advisor, Segment Advisor, etc.) that will allow you to quickly identify and resolve database performance problems.

If we click on the Administration tab that is displayed at the top of the Database Control Home page, Database Control responds by displaying the Database Administration Home page. The Database Administration Home page provides links to virtually any administrative task you can perform in an Oracle database.

The last home page is the Database Maintenance Home Page. Once again, Database Control provides a tab that links to the Database Maintenance Home Page at the top of each Database Control panel. Like its big brother, Grid Control, there is a complete set of maintenance activities available to you.

Summary
If you don't have access to a full blown Grid Control support infrastructure, using 10G Database Control is certainly an excellent alternative. Although it doesn't allow you to view your entire environment from a single web interface, it will provide you with all of the functionality you need to monitor, administer and troubleshoot your 10G database environment.

If you are using Database Control, you'll find that most of the Grid Control topics I have been blogging about will apply to Database Control.

Thanks for reading.
Chris Foot


Monday, April 03, 2006  |  Permalink |  Comments (0)
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