Category: Oracle

Tablespace Encryption in 11g…

I spent yesterday looking at the Tablespace Encryption feature in Oracle 11g. If you’ve used the Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) feature in 10g release 2, you’ll see this is more of the same. The difference here is eveything in the tablespace is encrypted, rather than having to decide on a column-by-column basis. Just create the appropriate tablespace and Bob’s your uncle!

You may notice the article conveniently side-steps the Hardware Security Modules related functionality. I don’t have one so I can’t test it out. 🙂

For most of the stuff I work on, encrypting all the columns in a table is overkill, but I guess there are some areas where this is a big priority. It’s good to know it’s there in case you ever need it. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Lots of good stuff out there…

There’s some good stuff out on the net today:

  • Tom is back and talking about the level of skills in the IT industry. I think we all share his pain. 🙂
  • Mary Ann Davidson has a great piece on security. This links in nicely with what Tom was saying, in so far as it relates to skills with the IT industry, albeit from a security standpoint.
  • Continuing the security theme, Pete Finnigan made some comments on my recent article on fine grained network access controls. I still get a kick out of being mentioned by famous bloggers, even if it is an attempt to keep me on the straight and narrow. Thanks for the heads-up Pete. 🙂
  • Jake from Oracle AppsLab has a piece on the move back to the desktop. I find myself having conversations on this subject so often these days.
  • Finally, David Aldridge is trying to add fuel to a fire. 🙂

Sorry to everyone I didn’t mention. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Fine-Grained Access to Network Services in 11g…

Continuing my OCP 11g upgrade campaign, I’ve been looking at Fine-Grained Access to Network Services in Oracle Database 11g Release 1.

This represents a pretty major security improvement for Oracle 11g. In previous versions the all-or-nothing security associated with database callouts was a little ham-fisted to say the least.

On the down side, I think it will confuse a few people when they are upgrading existing databases, but it’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind.

Cheers

Tim…

Native Oracle XML DB Web Services…

I’ve been playing around with Native Oracle XML DB Web Services in Oracle 11g Release 1 for a while and I’ve finally decided to release the article.

One of the reasons it’s been on the back burner for some time is I’ve been having trouble with the anonymous access configuration. I’ve still not got this sorted, but I decided to open it up and leave that section as a work in progress. I’ll keep looking at it and update that section if I get a satisfactory solution.

Cheers

Tim…

Update: I received the following quote on Metalink from the “Global Technical Lead XML Database”:

“Anonymous access to web services is not possible. Direct PL/SQL access without authentication would be a massive security hole.”

Copenhagen (again)…

I mentioned in a previous post I had a days sightseeing before I started my workshop. Copenhagen is a really cool place. I would definitely like to visit again.

Regarding the workshop, I think it went really well. The people were very friendly and interacted a lot. It’s hard work presenting for 12+ hours, but it’s cool when the audience are getting involved.

One of the attendees (Ian) was a guy I worked with in a previous job, so when we finished the workshop on Thursday we went out for a drink in the city centre with one of Ian’s friends (Tony). That evening led to a rather messy morning, which I’m not going to elaborate on, but I did manage to get to the airport on time… 🙂

All in all, I had a really good week. I’d like to thank everyone at Oracle for allowing me the opportunity to do the workshop, and everyone who attended for making me feel welcome.

Cheers

Tim…

My Vienna Experience…

I’m home now and I’ve had some time to reflect on the whole Vienna experience…

I enjoyed the teaching, and was surprised how relaxed I felt. I expected to get nervous, but felt really calm through it all. It’s very difficult to get 13 hours of material across in 2 days. I know it’s not practical, but I’m sure these sessions would be easier for the attendees if they were 4 mornings rather than 2 whole days…

I mentioned before how much I liked Vienna. On the morning before I left I did some more sightseeing, and even though the weather was dull and wet I was still very glad to be there. If I was a bit younger and a bit less set in my ways I would seriously consider working in that neck of the woods for a while to get a true feel of the place.

Next stop Denmark…

Cheers

Tim…

More sightseeing, then home…

I’ve got another morning of sightseeing, then I fly home this afternoon.

I’m going to write a post summing up my Vienna experience, but for now all I will say is I love Vienna. I spent the whole day walking round checking out the center of the city. Later in the day my dodgy knee felt a bit sore, so I did what any sane person would do and went ice skating in a park. 🙂 The weather has been great so far. I got a bit sun burnt yesterday, which isn’t bad considering I was expecting 6-10 degrees and rain… 🙂

I feel totally at home here. Pity I have to leave…

Cheers

Tim…

Teaching mode off, holiday mode on…

I’ve just finished my second day of teaching Oracle PL/SQL Tuning. I’m now switching into holiday mode for a couple of days before returning to the UK.

Everything went well, but I’m sure over the next couple of days I’ll start to think about things I’ll do differently next time. It will be interesting to see the summary of the student appraisal forms. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…