4 For SQL tuning help, I turn to Mr. Mark Gury of Mark Gury & Associates (MGA) based in Melbourne, Australia. Mark makes his living, in large part, by tuning the biggest and baddest SQL statements I have ever seen.

Firefighting situations are unique in that they contain a number of elements, which together bring fear and panic to nearly everyone involved. What you need to excel in this environment is confidence to methodically move forward step by step. Even though people are out of control around you and you're being peppered with distractions, if you have a proven method, you'll know exactly what to do. This book provides the knowledge and methods you need to be successful in a firefighting situation.

If you scan this book, you will notice a few recurring themes, such as OraPub's 3-circle analysis method, wait-event analysis, response-time analysis, and a solid understanding of Oracle internals. The beauty of these is that each supports the other during diagnosis, analysis, and communication, leading to building an extremely strong solution case and breeding cooperation.