Category Archives: General

DOAG 2014, Nüremberg visited

Database Replication, Development, General, Oracle APEX, Standard Edition, User Groups, , , , ,

Traveling to Nuremberg, anticipating three days of Oracle submersion. There are so many speaker heading over there it cannot be anything but successful.
This will be the first conference I will attend after being accredited as Oracle ACE Associate which, for me, makes it again a little more special.TurboProp
The first surprise, though, was just that. Arriving, by bus, at the boarding-location, there was a Bombardier DASH8-Q400 waiting, which turned out to be a turbo-prop aircraft. Okay, I jumped from a Cessna Caravan twin engine turbo-prop before, but this was still a first. As I am writing these lines, we’re descending upon Nüremberg.

On the first day of the conference, which started with a beautiful but rainy morning stroll to the conference center, The action started to really kick in from about 12:00 with the first session of my good friend Peter Raganitsch, talking about the 10 worst practices in APEX. A refresingh way of looking at software development by focussing on how to do it wrong!
The day ended with one of the “most pleasantly unorganized sessions” of the conference, where Johannes Ahrends and Philppe Fierens joined me on stage for the Standard Edition Round Table, #DOAG14-edition.

The second day was full of sessions, and I vistited Joel Kallman “APEX fast=true”, discussing the the knowledge needed to do serious application development on APEX, creating #DBADev. And, off course, the sharp presentation of my friend Franck Pachot about interpreting AWR-reports!
At 17:00 it was time for my third event, the “Electronic Patients Records system based on Oracle APEX” talk, which had quite a good turnout.
GatheringThe day ended with a super-cool meet-up with Mia Urman, Lonneke Dikmans AND Brynn Llewellyn… And later on we had a real nice depiction of #DBADev 2.0, involving Joel Kallman, Philippe Fierens, Illoon Ellen and myself.

Gathering

The third and last day of the conference was spend executing #RepAttack. This session concluded 3 full days of hands-on hacking with cool software and getting a feel of some of the new stuff.

RepAttack

A few of the cool new meetings (which we’ve dubbed the e-people to real people conversion by IRL) involved:

Thank you, DOAG, for a superb conference. I thoroughly enjoyed it. To all the Oracle aficionados, until next time!!


My wordpress site just disappeared

Business, General, User Groups, , , ,

I was just thinking about re-checking something I wrote. That happens.

So I went to my blog-site… Just to find out it was gone…

GONE?

Yes, gone!

I got the message that this domain was reserved by my provider, TransIP. And that was not exactly what I was looking for.

The mystery was quickly resolved.
By checking out the ControlPanel at my TransIP account, I found I had received a message:

Dear customer,

Because of complaints of high load on our web hosting platform we have regrettably been forced to (temporary) block your website jk-consult.nl. We have done this to ensure the stability of our servers.

WHAT!!

This high load is caused by the (automatic) posting of a high number of comments on your WordPress-website. It is highly probably that this concerns unapproved comments.

In many cases this is a form of automated spam. This leads to a high load on our web hosting servers, which leads to performace problems for you and other clients on this same server.

Eeewww…

And this was followed by some comments to quiet down this spamming.

I have now installed these two plugin’s from WordPress:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/stop-spam-comments/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/spam-comments-cleaner/

And I just checked. In stead of 8000+  there were now just 2!

Another problem solved.

Thank you Arjan van den Berg (I see these are not the first kudos you’ve received)

Printing directly with APEX

Business, Development, General, Oracle APEX, Oracle tips, Technical, , , , ,

When looking for a print solution with APEX you will find .PDF

You will find a lot of .PDF

And .PDF is good. There is nothing wrong with .PDF. In fact, .PDF looks cool and you can do a lot of neat stuff with it. With toolkits like pl/pdf you can create .PDF’s directly from PL/SQL.

But sometimes there is the need to be able to print directly.
For instance with batch-processing or with nightly print-runs or whatever. And this is where you would find yourself locked out with .PDF and, glancing Google, you would guess you’d be out of luck!
Since we had:

  • created a web based solution
  • the need to print directly
  • print in nightly-runs

plus we had:

  • about 400 reports (.rdf files) which we need to reuse (without having the opportunity to rebuild them in something like pl/pdf)
  • combine different output / distribution mechanisms

we needed to tackle this challenge!

So we did !!

It was fixed by using some old and new technology mixed together:

Oracle reports builder
and
Oracle Fusion Middleware, more specifically, Oracle Reports Server, aka WLS_Reports

By using this combination of products, you can create a printing solutions which is capable of printing directly to your network printer, create HTML or PDF reports.
Schedule them, e-mail them, and all this by URL-control!

http://<your-reports-server-node>:8888/reports/rwservlet?command=argument&command=argument&and-so-on

Use the following (much used, but far from a complete list of) control-commands:

  • report=<name of your .rdf>
  • userid=<userid/password@database>
  • desformat=HTML/PDF
  • destype=type of output of the report
  • desname=name of your output (device, file, whatever)

More commands in the link to the documentation on the bottom of this post!!

Notes:

  • You can post these parameters to the Reports Server without calling them in the original URL!
  • You can set a “local” on your Reports Server for omitting <@database> in ‘userid’ for your default database
  • Actually you can set all environment variables, like TNS_ADMIN, NLS_LANG, REPORTS_PATH, etc.

What we found is we needed to run Oracle Reports Server on Windows, just to take advantage of the Windows Printing System which is quite stable and easy to configure. (So, yes, okay, there you have it, a good thing about Windoze!)

Basically you can create a simple solution, but you can easily expand it quite a bit, making a printing and reporting solutions worthy of and enterprise environment, with distributing reports via e-mail, creating reports in file-systems, embedding reports in websites, and basically anything you want or would need.

And, you get a nice Management Console for free with this installation!

08-forms-em
Oracle Enterprise Manager Console

From this management console you can administer your print-jobs, set all kinds of parameters, which is quite neat!!

But, wait… the catch… It’s gonna cost you!

Or, can you keep it under control?

But of course!

Printing is mostly a half-on-line thing, and for a lot of stuff, it’s not extremely performance / time critical… So what can we do?

Oracle Reports Server is licensed as “Oracle Forms & Reports Server” and it will set you back € 370 per Named User or € 18.200 per CPU (being Oracle CPU’s according to the Core Factor Table!)
It’s still a whole lot of money, but would you really need more than 2 cores? If you give the machine enough memory and fast disks? Probably not.

Is it worth considering taking another node in your environment? Perhaps. This print-solutions could be a viable reason to do so. It brings you quite a bit of functionality straight from the box. But, as always, do your math and make educated choices.

The documentation link promised:
https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E16764_01/bi.1111/b32121/toc.htm

If you would like more info, please just drop me a line!

Upgrading 11.1 to 11.2 and the time it takes

General, Oracle tips, Technical, , , ,

As many know, Oracle 12 has not reached each and every corner of many production sites. Okay, running Oracle 7 or 8 is becoming tricky…
Moving from anywhere to Oracle 11.2.0.4.0 is still a valid action as it is still the latest and rock-solid stable release out there.

I wanted to share what I ran into, upgrading 11.1.0.7.0 to 11.2.0.4.0 with in-place upgrades (catupgr.sql). As 11.1 to 11.2 is a relatively small step, in quite a few instances we have chosen an in-place upgrade over ‘ye old fashioned export/import with the main reason; saving time and reducing chances on error as you factually stay in the same database.

On the topic of “saving time”… this is what I found…

At some point during the upgrade, tailing the log, I noticed that an unreasonable and unexplainable amount of time (50% of the entire upgrade duration in my example) was spent on just this one statement:

— revoke grant with grant option privs

Note: Contact me for the actual statement…

This got me puzzled to such a state, and since The Internet didn’t hold any of the answers, I decided to turn to MOS and raise an SR.

And after just a few messages to and fro, the issue was found!

The time this bit of program spends, is spend on ORDIM and SDO, better known as Oracle Intermedia and Oracle Spatial. Bringing me to the task (which I knew that answer on already, as a matter of fact) of finding out if both of these technologies were used, and that was easy enough:

connect / as sysdba
— ORDIM
select owner, table_name, column_name
from dba_tab_cols
where data_type in (‘ORDAUDIO’,’ORDDOC’,’ORDIMAGE’,’ORDSOURCE’,’ORDVIDEO’)
order by 1,2,3;
— SDO
select owner,index_name from dba_indexes
where ityp_name = ‘SPATIAL_INDEX’;
select owner, table_name, column_name
from dba_tab_columns
where data_type = ‘SDO_GEOMETRY’
and owner != ‘MDSYS’
order by 1,2,3;

Which in my case returned “no rows selected” as expected.

With this knowledge “in pocket”, it was a matter of removing the unwanted matter

  1. Deinstall Oracle Spatial (SDO) following the steps listed in Note.179472.1.
  2. Deinstall ORDIM per $ORACLE_HOME/ord/im/admin/README.txt, see Note.337415.1.

And do the upgrade in half the time.

Well, hope this helps to save you some time.

Oracle Open World 2014

Database Replication, Development, General, Standard Edition, Technical, User Groups, , , , ,

In flight to San Francisco on the 27th of September 2014. Heading out to Oracle Open World for the second time.
Much has changed since my previous visit.

The previous time I came to this biggest of IT events in the world, I came as a spectator, representing an IT company, where my mission was to soak up as much knowledge as I possibly could, submerging myself in the flow of the event.
This time ‘round, I come as a participant, representing another IT company that wants to add to the scene and deliver a smart alternative.
And also personally there is a huge difference! Previously I went alone and was thrilled to find Frits Hoogland at the gate, which was already a familiar face to me back then! Now I am travelling to meet up with many more friends… listening to Metallica on the flight already reminds me that I will meet Gurcan Orhan over there! And in the pervious weeks many promises were made for quick meet ups and catch ups on the grounds of what we call “Oracle Open World”!

Clock set to Pacific Summertime, good morning world!!
Time has come a long way since my previous trip! Where I was bound to the onboard entertainment system a few years back, now I can work, prepare and write this text in flight. Hoping to meet all of you guys out here.
And today, Oracle Open World came to a real kick-off, when we went to the Golden Gate Bridge Run, organized by @thatleffsmith, where we ran or walked with a great number of Oracle celebrities, ranging from @oraclebase through @helifromfinland and Frits Hoogland to @dbvisit!
After this @ilmarkerm, myself and two lovely ladies from Finland shared a cab to Moscone where we met up with the RACAttack Ninja’s at the OTN Lounge…

image

It is turning out to be a good day, with the building of the Dbvisit stand, sneaking into the sessions of the Dbvisit speakers and meeting many, many friends!

#RepAttack, it’s all about learning

Database Replication, General, Standard Edition, Technical, User Groups, , , , , , , ,

Everything we do in our daily life is about learning. Especially in IT we are used to continuously learning. Digging through documentation, figuring out how this or that piece of software should work. Downloading, installing, configuring, trying, tweaking, tuning…
Dbvisit Standby

For Dbvisit, it all started with Dbvisit Standby. Logical data replication, but, logical data replication is not so hard in the end. To get it running stable, to make it do exactly what you want it to do, is an oversee-able task. With it’s wizard driven installer and the clear task of having two exactly the same databases and a little bit of time, you’ll have this process of shipping archived log files, nailed. Getting it stable and reliable is built in, so not much worry there.

Logical data replication on the other hand, is a whole different ballgame!
For a long time logical data replication was just for bigger companies with intricate information needs. And it is a little more challenging than physical data replication. There are database, schema or table considerations, what and what not to replicate to where, making sure you get it stable and reliable in your environment. Checking and following up on changes and doing all kinds of work to make sure you get the best our of your setup.

Nevertheless, Logical data replication will help you in doing:

  • “Zero downtime database migrations”
  • “Report offloading”
  • “Schema consolidation”
  • “Real-time business intelligence” operations

And because these things are about you…

You deserve a “flying headstart”

with Dbvisit Replicate!

Dbvisit_Replicate_HR croppedTo be able to bring you this, we looked at the heroes from the Oracle Technology Network for inspiration. This special group of gurus called the RACAttack Ninja’s have been involved in educating and supporting any and all with a setup of Oracle’s Real Application Cluster technology on your laptop.

Inspired by this example, Dbvisit created #RepAttack! A techno-opportunity that will be traveling the world with it’s inaugural session nowhere less than at Oracle Open World 2014.

#RepAttack is a great opportunity to network with your peers who are just as curious as you are, and to access a fantastic team of warriors who will work with you one-on-one to ensure you are up and running quickly and leaping over any hurdles effortlessly. The session will include a deep dive into core concepts to make sure you return to your organization with an in-depth understanding of how both replication and virtualization really work. Take the time to attend and be that “go-to” person when questions around these concepts come up at work.

Keep an eye out as new details will emerge over the coming days and weeks!
Make sure you checkout Twitter hashtag #RepAttack or just submit your e-mail address below!

#RepAttack sessions by her warriors have been confirmed to be at:
Oracle Open World 2014 in San Francisco, USA
Deutsche Oracl-Anwendergruppe (DOAG) Jahreskonferenz 2014 in Nürnberg, Germany

And remember!
#RepAttack is about YOU!

Watch this following video of one of my personal heroes Ronald Rood playing with Logical Data Replication in Dbvisit Replicate:

TCL, Total Cost of Loss, a new business perspective

Business, Database Replication, General, Standard Edition, Technical, , , ,

‘Total cost of Loss’ (TCL) was launched at the World Premiere of the Standard Edition Round Table during the OUGF Harmony 2014 annual user conference.

“Doing nothing does not mean it costs nothing“

Joel J. Goodman, Finland 2014

“TCL.” Abbreviations.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2014. Web. 15 Jun 2014. <http://www.abbreviations.com/term/1519392>.

Total Cost of Loss is the representation of the cost for an organization when data is lost. Experience learns that this is the hardest exercise in business continuity to figure out and the most neglected threat to an organization.

Next to the two best known terms RTO & RPO and the less well known term RTDA (‘Recover Time to Data Availability’), TCL is aimed at providing the business with an extra ratio to conduct BCP.

To correctly evaluate investments that have to be done to create a sufficient RTO time frame or RPO granularity, there has to be an understanding of the magnitude of the (financial) importance of the underlaying (data)system. TCL is aimed at calculating this figure where this figure is valid per specific data system.

The following components have currently been identified as being part of TCL:

  1. Collection price per granule of data*
  2. Present value per granule of data
  3. Business value per granule of data
  4. Added value in a dataset combination

* a granule of data is the smallest possible set of variables comprising a usable piece of information.

1. Collection price per granule of data:
The amount of effort (time, computing power, etc.) which is required to assemble and record the granule of data in the data-structure.

For example: 1) the time it takes to pick up an item and scan it’s bar-code with a bar-code scanner and put the item back, or 2) the time it takes to enter somebodies name and address at admittance inclusive of possible preparation and filing.

2. Present value per granule of data:
The current amount of effort (if possible) which is required to reassemble and record the granule of data in the datastructure. This entity is taking into account that historical data could be easy to collect at the historic point in time (#1) but would take an unequal effort to collect at present.

For example: 1) establishing if the item was on stock at the given moment, what it’s bar-code would have read at that time and possibly who scanned it at what location, or 2) finding out what person came to be admitted at that specific date and retracing what the date would have been that was entered at that specific moment and possibly by whom.

3. Business value per granule of data:
The value of the single entity of data for the operational business after the moment of measurement. During data lifetime, the value of a specific granule of data can change. Most often it will become less valuable, making it possible to archive or even cumulate** the data in multi teer storage solutions, but, when called upon, it could be this specific granule of data could be of vital importance!

For example: 1) knowing how many of a specific item is in stock, or 2) having identified a specific person within the clientgroup.

4. Added value in a dataset combination:
It can very well be and most probably is, that any granule of data is of key importance to a dataset combination, where several bits of data of different datasets of data-systems combined create information which is vital to any specific action within an organization.

For example: 1) knowing how many of a specific item is in stock to support a JIT-delivery system to keep a production line uninterruptedly going, or 2) delivering the right treatment to any specific person and being able to bill them accordingly.

** Cumulation of data can destroy a recovery path for retrieving any specific granule of data.

Creating a formula to calculate any TCL will be relatively easy.

Creating a model to extract or calculate or even guesstimate the values for the different variables of the formula will be the challenge.
A challenge that needs to be met because of the ever increasing volume of data and the ever increasing importance of certain realms, like healthcare, public services, transportation, etc., within this data mass.

Please step on board and help define TCL as it could prove to be a critical factor when push comes to shove!

My introduction to Synology DiskStation DS214

Business, General, Technical, , , , , ,
DataGrowth
Data growth visualization

In these times no household can be without ‘Home IT’ completely with a ‘home data center’. The figures for business data growth are at least equally applicable to the home situation, al least!

As in probably many situations, we started out with just some loose PC’s, which could be hooked up to The Internet, and after some time, also could be hooked up to one another. Gradually a fileserver was introduced because files were always on some other computer than you would need them. This made for a nice status quo, until the introduction of tablet computers and what not…

Now it was no longer so easy to access files or do whatever you wanted or needed, space was becoming scarcer by the day. Plus, our trusted old fileserver was starting to decay. I need to intervene. With a ‘data center’ just existing of a router a WiFi Accespoint, a central printer, some old and some newer workstations and tablets and this trusted old fileserver, an exchange wouldn’t be a daunting task…

A few years back I came across a company called Synology. I met some product guru of them and somehow registered the product name. Lately some of my colleagues started working with Synology in their home IT, so I decided this would be the way to go!

As I was running a fileserver with just a 100 Gigs of storage it was not hard to findBarracuda something with a bit more capacity. And the decision finally wasn’t too hard indeed.

A Synology DS (DiskStation) 214play it had to be and I decided upon 2 hard disks of 4 TB (Seagate Barracuda ST4000DM000) in a S.M.A.R.T. mirror setup.

Okay, so decision made, product purchased, product setup (which was just made too easy by all the discovery tooling). Disks setup in RAID 1 and on with the show!

And now the discovery fun begins…

DiskInsertsIt appears Synology has made 9 apps (for iPad / iPhone) that do all kinds of things!

  • DS Cloud, for your personal cloud solution
  • DS Mobile, monitor and manage download tasks on your DS
  • DS Finder, find Disk Stations and manage them (even remotely)
  • DS Photo, manage and view your photo collection
  • DS Cam, turn your DS into a video surveillance server
  • DS Download, to download anything you want (but mostly movies of course)
  • DS File, find files and anything else
  • DS Video, stream video anywhere
  • DS Audio, stream audio anywhere

So, okay, this is a bonus already! Just place files in the correct folder and your in business!

Currently I am migrating data towards the DS having first enabled some of the many apps inside the station, like:

  • Anti Virus
  • Java
  • iTunes Server
  • Mail Server (need to look into this, with many accounts with as many providers mail in a menace!)

Okay, well, these are just a few, but I fear there are MANY more apps out there!

Actually, from opening the box until being in business it took me 2 hours. Having a first run of customization down took me another 2 hours.

I guess doing the rest of the stuff

  • Hooking onto CrashPlan and possible MindTime
  • Getting VPN set up
  • Being able to access the DS over The Internet
  • Figuring out automatic movie download
  • Getting iTunes Server hooked up and running

will take me some hours still, but hey, this is more or less classifiable as hobby or at least additional functionality!

Some other things I heard / saw a DS was used for:DS214Play

  • Content Management server
  • Database server
  • Directory server
  • DNS server
  • ERP system
  • Forum host
  • GIT server
  • Online shop
  • Python
  • Website host
  • Wiki host
  • WordPress host

So, in the end, all is good now, we got plenty of space, a lot of new functionality. I would say, ‘Yay Synology’!

Oracle in perspective

Business, General, Oracle tips, Standard Edition, Technical, , , , , ,

A brief overview of alternatives…

This document focuses on the perception of the Oracle database related to ‘Small and Medium businesses’, European Style.
First we will take a quick look at Enterprise licensing and give a ballpark idea of prizes en possibilities. Next I will put this in perspective with more detail and will highlight possibilities to get ‘high end results’ with what is branded as ‘entry level’ investments. Everywhere I say Oracle, I mean the Oracle database.

Oracle is investment intensive
Oracle Enterprise Edition licenses are price-listed for over € 35.000 per processor. These CPU’s actually are not ‘real CPU’S’ but units which are defined according to Oracle’s Core Factor Table.
An Oracle Enterprise Edition license allows you to a) install and use the Oracle Enterprise Edition software and b) buy additional tooling to complete the Enterprise software stack. In this setting there is Oracle Active Data Guard, Oracle Database Vault, Partitioning, etc. to consider.
With Oracle Enterprise Edition it is possible to create a high performance, high available and ‘disaster resistant’ environment. Where it needs to be remarked that this program-set comes with an according price tag.

Oracle Standard Edition environment
A special exception in the Oracle license politics is the Oracle Standard Edition database. This installation uses the exact same database-software (binary compatible) as the Enterprise Edition edition but comprises a significantly reduced set of features and options that can be found in this global overview. The most important question is if these features and options are really needed to realize a high performance, high available and ‘disaster resistant’ environment.
Let’s first quickly zoom into a practical example the indicate an investment-perspective.
Based on a HP Proliant DL380 Gen8 E5-2690v2 Server with 2 processors with each 10 cores.

— Oracle Enterprise Edition:
2 x 10 cores x 0,5 core factor = 10 licenses x € 37,492 = € 374,920 excluding maintenance.
— Oracle Standard Edition:
2 x 1 processor = 2 licenses x € 13,813 = € 27,626 excluding maintenance.
— Oracle Standard Edition One:
2 x 1 processor = 2 licenses x € 4,578 = € 9,156 excluding maintenance.

In this setting we can save up to € 365,764 by leveraging Standard Edition. The reason is that the Standard Edition software is significantly cheaper but mainly because of the fact that the Standard Edition software is licensed per processor socket in stead of by the units defined by the ‘Core Factor Table’!
The limitation is that Standard Edition has a limit of 4 sockets per server and Standard Edition One is limited to 2 sockets per server. This is an important fact!

Room for investment
In our example it is possible to decide in favor of Standard Edition One. What we can subsequently deduce is that we have a theoretical budget of about € 350,000 available to make sure we have a sufficient high performance, high available and ‘disaster resistant’ installation. Even if we were to consume all of this budget, which is not very likely, the return on this investment remains high because the year-by-year support-cost for this environment is ((10 x € 8,248.19) -/- (2 x € 1,007.15)) € 79,467.60 per year cheaper.
In this calculation possible discounts have not been included. Looking at the volume of the investment differences any discounts will have to terminating influence. The year-by-year support-cost will remain based on the original price of the software.

Virtualization
One of the most significant hurdles with leveraging the Oracle software is virtualization, where technical considerations are not the toughest to deal with; the license consequences are!
As we concluded, Oracle Standard Edition is applicable on max 4 processors. In case of virtualization, it is true that all processors of all hardware, where the Oracle database can migrate to, either automatically or with live migration.
With this rule it is nearly impossible to leverage Standard Edition licenses and will is it be nearly impossible to use virtualization in a ‘small to medium business’ setting… Unless a smart alternative is chosen.

Alternatives
1. The abstraction layer
By leveraging virtualization-software as a abstraction layer, a server installation can be separated from the physical hardware configuration on which it runs. By using this alternative it is possible to recover from hardware failure more efficiently.
2. 2 x 2 sockets
By using a limited virtualization-cluster of 2 nodes with 2 sockets each having the maximum possible number of processor cores, the complete advantage of virtualization can be created using the maximum advantage of Standard Edition. Please note that we would need a Standard Edition license. Alternatively you could create a cluster with 2 x 1 socket to facilitate the usage of a Standard Edition One license.
3. ESL
In the case software from a third party is used, this software development party can agree on using a Embedded Software License; from Oracle. This form of licensing is quite specific and is therefor not further discussed here.
4. What will virtualization not solve
Virtualization is not replacement for Backup and it is no alternative for disaster proofing an Oracle database. These specific tasks are resolved by using backup of standby database tooling.

Tooling
In the beginning of this article it is indicated that the Oracle Enterprise Edition software give you the right to buy additional tooling to complete the Enterprise Software installation.
Alternatives for this tooling are also available for Standard Edition installations. Please consider:

  • Dbvisit as an alternative for Oracle Data Guard or Oracle Golden Gate
  • OraSash as an alternative for Oracle Active Session History
  • Nagios or SPS GenSys as alternatives to Oracle Enterprise Manager

Conclusion
Based on the information above we can conclude there are good possibilities to leverage the Oracle Database in a ‘Small and Medium Business’ environment. The information above is no complete and ultimate description of all possibilities, but this quick overview gives enough to work with to zoom into any specific challenge.

How #Twitter influenced my life.

General, Oracle tips, User Groups, ,

It was the 31st of August 2009 at exactly 1 PM that I sent out my first tweet and it read “hmmm… Twitter…”
Today we are nearly 5 years on and we are 7,303* tweets along. I have 417 people who are willing to more or less read what I send out, which is just amazing to me!

* As per April 10, 2014 10:54 AM

I just wanted to step back for a second and reflect on what Twitter did for me, and share this reflection with you.
I remember being very hesitant about starting to tweet. The usual arguments like; “Who ever would wanna know that I was taking a coffee” or “Why would anyone want to know what I saw or did”… I decided to give it a little bit of a go, inspired and with a little peer-pressure by @Tom_Schepers.

The beginning was rusty with not much tweeting going on. Finding my way, looking for inspiration on what to communicate.
Somehow it really took off with my visit to the Norwegian Oracle User Group #ougn13. During this event I took it upon me to share a little something of every session I visited or inspiring meetings I encountered.
From that point on, I gradually started tweeting some more, staying in touch with the people that inspired me personally, and somehow, most of them appeared to be in the field of #Oracle.

From here one, I started to “TKnow” a number of people, rather than really know them. This means that there are folks out there I have talked with before I have ever met them in real life. Nice examples include @oraclebase, @ultan or even @pfierens, my partner in crime in many events and fellow member of the #Pragmas.
There are even people I value highly whom I have never even met, like for instance @MathijsBruggink or @annsjokvist.

Getting to the point… how #Twitter influenced my life.
Twitter has given me a way to communicate and stay in touch with friends and peers all over the world. Share serious contemplations, joke around or just socialize.
It has played a part in enabling me to startup an international career, in connecting people and visions in and around IT in general and #Oracle specifically.
Such a simple tool, and for any non believers, please give it a try, it could also change your life.