MySQL for Administrators course from Oracle: worth it?

Question

This is a question probably experienced MySQL admins can answer, but is not really a technology question.

I am looking into MySQL Administraton course from Oracle/MySQL AB.

It seems interesting as it will fill the knowldge gap that I have being a MySQL admin. But is this course worth it. Would be interested to know from some one who has taken the course or peeked at the content. I can find the topics which would be discussed, but they are there in almost any MySQL book any way.

Considering that this course is almost an entry level software developers whole month salary, it is not a cheap buy and does require 5 working days so for a small company it's not small affair.

They have the same course in CD format but I think that the instructor led course is probably the best.

One can get trained by reading books, blogs, manuals and practicing. But this training does seem like a ramp to quick learning.

Answer 1

I previously taught that class.

It's not the worst one Oracle offers, that would be the Performance Tuning course (which I hear was recently refreshed, so maybe it is better).

It depends a lot on your learning style, but you will never learn as much through a CD or internet based training as you will with having the right instructor in front of you who can answer all your questions, and challenge you.

There's not 5 days worth of material in it, since now on the last day they do the DBA exam. You may also spend the first half of day 1 being marketed to if your instructor follows the schedule (some just exercise civil disobedience and skip the garbage).

You may also find it disturbing the over-focus on things like stored-procedures. That's more marketing, because MySQL is trying to make sure everyone knows they have them.

Answer 2

I did this course, or its predecessor on an earlier version, a few years ago, when my employer, an Oracle shop, was getting in some apps written for MySQL. It was around the time of the Sun acquisition. My personal thought was that it was 2-3 days material at most, stretched out to 5, and that's if you were a complete beginner; probably if you already knew a bit about MySQL you could get through it in 1-2 days. The instructor was someone who only taught the course - he was not and had never been a full-time Production DBA. YMMV of course, but I would rate this course as not worth it.

This isn't to say that Oracle's training is universally bad; their 1-day course on Coherence for example was fantastic.