Systematically identify and eliminate database performance problems with help from Oracle Certified Master Richard Niemiec. Filled with real-world case studies and best practices, Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Performance Tuning Tips & Techniques details the latest monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization methods. Find out how to find and fix bottlenecks, configure storage devices, execute effective queries, and develop bug-free SQL and PL/SQL code. Testing, reporting, and security enhancements are also covered in this Oracle Press guide. “This is a timely update of Rich’s classic book on Oracle Database performance tuning to cover hot new topics like Oracle Database 11g Release 2 and Oracle Exadata. This is a must-have for DBAs moving to these new products.” --Andrew Mendelsohn, Senior Vice President, Oracle Database Server Technologies
I'll start with the good: The book is very comprehensive, and it's evident that the author put a great deal of effort into writing it. A few of the chapters, individually, are worth the price of the book.
Unfortunately, the book is also filled with outdated advice, and statements I had considered flat-out wrong or at the very least ostensible. I actually kept track of these statements but eventually gave up because the list was growing too long; I bought the book to learn more about Oracle performance tuning, not to be a technical editor for it.
In the end, I would recommend this book be used to strengthen your performance tuning knowledge. Use it to supplement the excellent documentation that Oracle makes available free of charge (including the Performance Tuning Guide).