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Rating: 
Summary: Nothing special
Review: Heidi has written a tuning book that is compitent, but alas it is not unlike many other tuning books... There is nothing that really distinguishes it from the others. As a result, reading it (and I admit, I've read more than a few) is like reading any of Kevin Loney's or any number of the tuning books out there.There are some great ideas in this book, for example she lists the various Oracle processes and then relates database topics to those processes, a great idea. Some of her information is a little dated, but to be honest so much changes in 8i (and even in different versions within 8i) that I have to give her a little slack on that end. In general, for a first timer who is looking for tuning information, the basics are in here and it is worth the price of admission. For the more advanced DBA looking for real insight, look elsewhere (Adams Locks, Latches and Waits for example).
Rating: 
Summary: Packed full of information
Review: I found this book to be good value for money. It reads well as both a reference and as a general text. It has a good index which is something I look for and value in a technical book. As soon as I got this book I read the chapters on 'Space Management' and 'Database Monitoring' and learnt a number of new things that I have since found very useful in my work as a DBA. Unlike a lot of other Oracle books that I have bought this one does not have appendices filled with things I can find in the manuals or practice tests for DBA certification. I like this book because every chapter sticks to the topic and there is no filler or padding. Some of the sections I thought I already knew until I read them and discovered some of the background and under the hood information. So in that respect I would say it's a good general book with something to offer most people working with Oracle8i. Certainly a good book for DBAs or developers who have been given administrator responsibilities.
Rating:
Summary: where's the editor?
Review: I read this book more than once and after much ado contacted the author seeking the scripts contained in thebook. I gave her my criticisms(as she asked) and never heard from her again and did not receive the scripts. Too bad she took such deep unbrage on well-meant and solicited criticisms. There are some good scripts and ideas here but the publisher never had the book edited. There are chapters that seem to discuss and repeat the same ideas again and again. Some thoughts and statements were never backed up with an example to clarify their meaning and were left dangling.... There is way too much repetition and redundacy here. The publisher never had this book reviewed by a technical person and /or an editor. Stick with Jonathan Lewis' book -- you'll be better off! The publisher should have included a cd with the scripts contained on it. In fact, the publisher should have had a facility on its website where addendum and corrections can be listed. This publisher apparently is not interested in providing their customers with updates and corrections. Again stick with Jonathan Lewis' book where his website constantly provides addendum and corrections.
Rating: 
Summary: Close...but no cigar. Well, not even close really.
Review: It is obvious that a lot of work went into this book, but that work was carried out in isolation. There are some interesting items to be found about internals, an ocassional good technique, but overall there are too many flaws to entrust this book to the hands of a junior DBA. One paragraph which I will paraphrase since I don't have the book in front of me, says that if your database is slow it means you don't have a big enough buffer cache, and you can fix that by increasing your shared pool. I read the paragraph three times and was still speechless. I didn't see any technical editors or reviewers listed in the preface, which explains some of the irrelevant content and plain out errors. I also noticed a bibliography that ignores the other third-party books on Oracle--another bad sign. Save your money by not buying this book. Instead, buy Jonathan Lewis' and Tom Kyte's books. They're both excellent and will not lead you astray with poorly thought out and unchecked material.
Rating:
Summary: I recommend this book
Review: This is a good book with solid information that I found useful. I also purchased the German translation of this book also published by Addison Wesley. I am pleased that I now have a book that I can recommend to others.
Rating:
Summary: True Oracle 8i Tuning and Administration Book.............
Review: This is the "THE BOOK" I normally spend at least an hour or more at the bookstore before buying any Oracle book... but when I looked at the contents of this book and within 10 minutes I was standing in the checkout lane and paid full price for this book.... Don't wait for this book to go on Sale this book is worth more than it's price..Author has done an excellent job explaining Oracle processes with so much detail that in my 5 years of experience in working with Oracle I have never read an Oracle book that explains Oracle architecture in so much detail. This book is very easy to read,understand and excellent examples on every page/topic. This book covers Oracle SGA, Database configuration, database monitoring, performace, application tuning and design. Experienced Oracle DBA/Developers and someone with little Oracle experience wil find this book very useful. Don't let the title fool you... This book also covers Oracle8 concepts...If you cannot "TUNE" your database after reading this book than you might want to consider "career change"....
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