The PeopleSoft Tipster Blog

I’m Nicolas Gasparotto and this is how I work November 14, 2012

Nicolas Gasparotto is one of the longest running PeopleSoft bloggers having started in 2006 (a year before me, the same year as Jim Marion and David Kurtz, and only one year after the Grey Heller guys). His ‘On the PeopleSoft Road‘ blog focuses mainly on installation, infrastructure and DBA activites and is packed with step-by-step walkthroughs of installs. Nicolas is also an Oracle ACE and is often found dishing out helpful advice on the OTN Discussion Forums (since August 2002 he’s made 23,742 posts – an average of 6.5 posts every day, for a decade!).

Name: Nicolas Gasparotto

Occupation: Oracle and PeopleSoft Administrator – contractor
Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Current computer: Dell Inspiron 1720 (WinXP Pro, 4GB RAM, 2*250Gb HD). It’s rather old. In fact, it’s nothing but a client to my Dell server PowerEdge 2900III (16GB RAM, 4*500Gb HD in RAID0, Quad core Xeon CPU) and Qnap NAS Server (4*1Tb in RAID5)
Current mobile devices: Samsung Galaxy S, Kindle

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?
Installed on my own Dell PowerEdge 2900III server, I’m using VMWare vSphere Hypervisor (free) on a daily basis for learning the new PeopleSoft stuff on my own, installing etc. I also had an Oracle VM implementation on a spare desktop, but it has to be renewed.

Regarding the databases side, I can’t live without Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c, especially helpful when managing 50+ databases.

Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can’t you live without?
My Kindle is my best friend in the 3 hours I spend daily on public transportation. I read a lot.

What’s your workspace like?
My home desk is currently “under construction”… my 1.5 year old son makes it a bit more complicated to manage.

What do you listen to while you work?
I already tried it, but at the end of the disc, I was surprised that was finished, I realized I did not hear anything. Since then, I don’t listen music at all when I work.

What PeopleSoft-related productivity apps do you use?
If available on client site, OEM is definitely a useful tool. Easy to make performance comprehensive reports, and being able to show it to the Infra manager… for further action.

Do you have a 2-line tip that some others might not know?
I can say the Peoplesoft plugin in Enterprise Manager Cloud Control is a must to have. It gives a lot of information, availability, loading…

It allows to configure a lot of parameters, if not all, on AppServer, Process Scheduler and PIA, start/stop… even though it needs to be improve a lot.

What SQL/Code do you find yourself writing most often?
I use a bunch of my own SQL scripts for locks checking, AWR reporting… Somehow, I also have run quite often a DMS script to unlock/change password of users on demo/test environments without SSL.

What would be the one item you’d add to PeopleSoft if you could?
It would be nice to have a page in PeopleTools menu dedicated to the Application Server configuration (and Process Scheduler ?), such as something we have for the Web Profile. I’d like to be able to set trace level, change parameter without going somewhere else (actually on the server) and take back the logs. We could then give some permission to the developer’s account for that. Of course, as an administrator, you should keep an eye on the disk space.

And in a dream, be able to work on PeopleSoft without the need of Windows OS. Have App Designer running on a Linux Distro?

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?
Keeping an eye on the OS and databases heartbeat to be pro-active as much as possible, trying to solve issues quickly before the phone rings, with a good and positive mind.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t postpone until tomorrow what you can do today.