Starting WebSphere Certification

I'm starting work on my WebSphere certification.
I'm beginning my work with the IBM WebSphere website.

WebSphere main page:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/websphere/

WebSphere Application Server V8.0 Administration Curriculum:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/websphere/education/curriculum/appserv/index.html


Several courses are offered.
1 - Administration on Windows
2 - Administration on Linux
3 - Technical Overview
4 - Problem Determination
5 - Transition to V8

I think that this is a good place to start focusing.  No budget to actually TAKE these courses, but this makes a fantastic outline.

The Certification page (http://www-01.ibm.com/software/websphere/education/certification/#free-was-cr) lists quite a few resources as well.

Available certifications include
"IBM Certified System Administrator - WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.0"
The Recommended prerequisite section is telling:

Recommended Prerequisite Skills

(*Knowledge and skills one needs to possess before beginning to prepare for this job role certification; skills not measured on test) 

• basic Java Enterprise Edition 6 knowledge
• basic Web application architecture and deployments
• network and operating system security concepts
• network or operating system administration and problem determination skills
• understanding of operating systems

There is an assessment test which I think will be a very, very useful tool, found here: http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/tests/sam317.shtml.  Cost is $30 / practice test.

There is also a "Training Resources" section (http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/tests/edu317.shtml) that lists several redbooks and Web Resources.

REDBOOKS:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247957.html?Open
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247971.html?Open

There are about a bazillion web resources.  Probably worth checking out.

Windows PowerShell script to find all occurrences of a string in files, all subdirectories

(get-childitem -recurse -include *.java | select-string -pattern PrepareStatement | foreach {$_.line}).Count

I developed this fairly quickly to count the occurrences of "PrepareStatement" in *.java in all sub-directories.  Worked like a charm.  Just in case it does you any good :-)

My Experience with SQL Server 2005 Database Engine Tuning Advisor

I won't go into the how-to's for using SQL Server DBTA.  There are many out there of higher quality than I would produce, most notably:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173494(v=sql.105).aspx

There are also several blogs with good info.

I want to relate some specifics of my recent experience.

I executed both the turning advisor and the activity monitor from a separate instance of SQL server.  My rationale for this was to distribute the workload across these two devices, thus hopefully minimizing the impact to the server that was being profiled.

Several observations:

1.       While the activity monitor will store trace data on the local server, the database tuning advisor will run its analysis and consume resources on the server that is being targeted.  This eventually lead to issues as the memory resources for the server in question were consumed.

2.       It is important to keep the workload being analyzed as small as possible.  The analysis runs for a very long time.

3.       It is important to disable the timeout value.  I had several analysis runs that ran for over an hour and a timed out, producing no recommendations.

4.       It appears possible that prior analyses which are left open continue to consume resources.  By resources, I mean resources on the server are being analyzed, not the server that is running the tuning advisor.

All of that said, the SQL server database tuning advisor is a fantastic tool.  It was able to recommend new indexes and statistics that improved our entire batch cycle time by almost 50%.

Problems docking and undocking HP 6910p laptop

I've had quite a number of issues with docking and undocking my JP 6910p on Windows XP, and later on Windows 7.

On Windows 7, I've found that, when it won't recognize my sound or display, I can OFTEN (not always) execute the following procedure to clear things up:

1 - lock the laptop by holding the Windows key and pressing L 

2 - switch users by holding alt and pressing W

The magic here is in the switch users - it must cause the laptop to re-detect, as it then USUALLY (again, not always) figures out where to route its display and sound.

Putting Away Childish Things

I've written about this before, but I again return to it tonight.

It's interesting, as we grow, I mean REALLY grow, spiritually, how the things in which we once took comfort are now out of reach.  I use the phrase "out of reach" deliberately.

I feel betrayed.  I feel hurt.  I feel devastated, to a degree and proportion that I don't know quite how to describe.

In times past, when my feelings like this arose, even to a much lesser extent than now, I reached for anger.  Rage.  I "let the beast out", meaning the animal within.  The part of me that was nothing but a mammal, cornered and injured and ready to make you bleed before I inevitably succumbed to your jaws.

Tonight, I felt a special release to return to that.  Not sure how to describe it.  It was like God saying "yeah, you know what, it's been a spectacularly rough 4 months or so.  Go for it.  We'll pick back up tomorrow."  But when I reached for that, when I started down that path, my spirit bore such strong witness against it, that I don't  couldn't get there.

Of course, this is wonderful.  But, if I'm to be completely honest, it also hurts a bit.  We have to be willing to lose that part of ourselves, and it's taken me a good, solid 20 years to accomplish this one, if, in point of fact, I can really claim I'm there.

It's like a part of my youth that is gone, a bit like when you realize that you'll never hang out at the camp ground with the guys talking about girls again, or when you realize that you're doing things to be cute but no one thinks you're cute anymore, or when you want to sit in Mom's lap but you're too big.

I suppose this is what is meant, at least in part, by putting away childish things.  There's a sort of death that happens.  It sounds crazy, but I morn my anger.  I don't need it anymore.  I don't want it anymore.  But part of me, just part of me, still wants to disappear into that blackness for just a while.

Thank you God, for clearly demonstrating to me that I'm not the man today that I have been.  I can't wait to see what the next 20 years brings...

The first word of Christ ...

If we accept Markan Primacy, then the first words of Christ recorded in the bible are as follows:

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"

What a truly, truly wonderful thought.

I have an idea.  Let's preach this:  The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near.  Repent, and believe the good news.  :-D

A couple things I learned about databases today

1 - In DB2, the following pseudocode doesn't work:
define cursor
open cursor
while (not end of cursor)
   make table update
   commit;
 end-while
close cursor

The reason?  The "commit;" statement closes your cursor!  you'll have to commit after exiting your loop.

2 - In SQL Server, you can end up with a database that has no owner.  (!)
To correct this, us the sp_changedbowner system stored procedure.
example: sp_changedbowner 'sa'

A more thorough treatment of this topic can be found here.

Crazy ...