The job function of an Oracle DBA is a multifaceted, complex, and extremely challenging endeavor. The job demands precision work e.g. ongoing tuning of oracle databases, administration of all database objects, including tables, clusters, & views, and managing the sharing of resources among applications.
Some ‘pain points’ of the job also include:
- Maintaining all the databases required for development & production usage,
- Implementing and enforcing various levels of security on their oracle databases,
- As well as working with system administrators to navigate other applications and tools other than Oracle databases.
Effectively navigating a highly complex environment requires a high degree of competence coupled with working with the right monitoring tools to help ease the burden of the job function. One thing is clear. Oracle Databases are essential in a vast majority of organizations. An automated monitoring of an entire Oracle environment would essentially make Oracle DBAs lives much easier. But is that even possible?
Yes and No.
My advice would be to first and foremost use the existing monitoring investments like SCOM/OpsMgr to monitor the Oracle infrastructure. However, having said that, I believe that SCOM does not natively, have the understanding of oracle infrastructure that the DBA requires.
Enter a solution that keeps the SCOM administrator AND the Oracle DBA happy!
NiCE IT Management Solutions (NiCE) provides a solution to monitor the Oracle infrastructure in a very detailed manner with their Microsoft certified NiCE Oracle Management Pack (Oracle MP) + the Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) monitoring. This SCOM management pack from NiCE (NiCE Oracle MP) can be seamlessly and easily integrated into SCOM. More details about NiCE Oracle Management Pack is here.
Monitoring Dashboard View
Question to Oracle DBAs…
Are you using cluster technologies like RAC? If your answer is yes, then the NiCE Oracle ASM MP provides unique Oracle Database monitoring along with full featured Oracle ASM instance monitoring.
NiCE developed this cross-platform management pack (MP) that extends the view of SCOM to give you a holistic picture of your Oracle servers and databases whether running on UNIX, Linux or Windows. Below are a list of NiCE Oracle ASM MP features which are aligned with the business needs:-
Database health monitoring
Oracle Alert Log monitoring
Single Pane of Glass :- NiCE Oracle Database MP allows you to monitor and manage your whole environment from a single point of reference
Oracle Cluster Monitoring
Oracle ASM Monitoring
High Availability Monitoring
Below is a sample architecture diagram of Oracle infrastructure and alert details :-
For more details on a comprehensive Oracle monitoring solution that addresses both the Oracle DBA AND the SCOM administrators in perfect harmony, then contact the NiCE team for a free eval license, live demo or if you have any questions.