Database Administration

Theta's Database Administration service is a cost-effective support service that includes the following activities:

• Routine, automated database system monitoring, delivering high levels of system uptime to customers by proactively preventing conditions that might lead to outages
• Routine, automated database alerting, providing a rapid return to operation of critical databases if unexpected outages occur
• Continuous improvement of database environments, eg:
  • automation of housekeeping
  • database reorganisations, rebuilds, upgrades and relocations
  • evaluation and implementation of new database system features
• Database performance analysis and best practice advice
• Database problem diagnosis (as opposed to Return To Operation activity)

Theta provides these services for the following database technologies

• Oracle
• SQL Server
• DB2
• MySQL
• PostgreSQL

Technical Architecture

Theta's Technical Architecture service provides physical and logical designs for IT infrastructure solutions.

The objective of any technical architecture is to deliver the required outcome in terms of cost, stability, uptime, longevity, and ease of operational management. This involves the specification and design of: 

• processing capacity
• storage technology
• network devices and topology
• operating system(s)
• database technology
• application technology

Theta develops comprehensive technical architectures incorporating any of the database and operating system technologies listed in our service overview. Once specified, Theta can manage and resource the implementation process, including hardware selection, project management, vendor coordination and management, and migration of systems to the new environment if required.

Theta can also review existing architectures and provide strategic planning advice to ensure that technical infrastructure does not constrain business systems.

Some of our Technical Architecture customers are:

• Affco
• Auckland International Airport
• Genesis
• Stevensons
• Touchpoint
• Unitec

Operational Audits

Theta has extensive operational experience gained from many years of managing a variety of customers' infrastructure. We are able to audit and recommend proven best practice in areas including:

• Hardware configuration reviews
• Operating system configuration reviews
• Service configuration (eg: databases, firewalls, application servers) reviews
• Application software configuration reviews
• Storage systems configuration reviews
• Operational process design
• Process automation
• Backup and recovery audits
• Security audits

Some of our Operational Audits customers are:

• Auckland International Airport
• Genesis
• McDonalds
• Procare
• Touchpoint

Virtualization

The benefits of virtualization are well known and include simplification of the hardware landscape, better utilisation of hardware, ease of migration of logical servers between physical devices, improved disaster recovery, and isolation of operating environments enabling commoditised hardware platforms.

Theta has experience with a number of virtualization technologies, including:

• VMWare
• VirtualBox
• Solaris Containers
• Xen

Theta plans and implements server consolidation programmes using any of these technologies and manages the virtual environments cost-effectively thereafter. Some of our Virtualization customers are:

• Affco
• Port Taranaki
• Stevensons
• Theta (our own internal systems)

Operating System Support

Theta offers a cost-effective operating system support service consisting of the following activities:

• Routine, automated operating system monitoring, delivering high levels of system uptime to customers by proactively preventing conditions that might lead to outages
• Routine, automated operating system alerting, providing a rapid return to operation of critical systems
• Continuous improvement of operating system environments, eg:
  • automation of housekeeping
  • implementation of upgraded software tools
  • operating system upgrades and patches
  • evaluation and implementation of new operating system features
• Operating system performance analysis and best practice advice
• Operating system problem diagnosis, as opposed to Return To Operations (RTO) activity

Theta provides these services for the following operating systems:

• All Linux flavours
• Solaris
• HP-UX
• AIX
• Windows

Some of our Operating System Support customers are:

• Affco
• Auckland International Airport
• Genesis
• Kordia
• Port Taranaki

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Theta has extensive experience in business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR), including business requirements analysis, business process design, technical design, technical implementation, and operational management of the BC/DR infrastructure.

From a purely technical perspective, Theta has implemented database-oriented DR solutions using Oracle DataGuard, log shipping, and fast recovery techniques. We have collaborated on large-scale DR implementations involving Border Gateway Protocol switching, standby operating systems, VMware virtualisation, and agent-based replication technologies.

Some of our BC/DR customers are:

• Genesis
• Unitec