Norbert Debes has more than 13 years experience as an Oracle database administrator. He holds a master's degree in computer science from the University of Erlangen, Germany, and is an Oracle8, Oracle8i, and Oracle9i certified professional Oracle database administrator. For over 6 years, he held different positions and technical roles at Oracle Germany. He was a team leader in Oracle Support Services, and a technical account manager in Strategic Alliances. In his last role at Oracle, Norbert was responsible for promoting Real Application Clusters on a technical level. During his tenure, he contributed to the Oracle9i SQL Reference, the Real Application Clusters manual set, and to various Real Application Clusters training materials. Right from the beginning of his quest in the Oracle database management system, Norbert always wanted to know exactly how things worked. He would not be satisfied with superficial explanations, but demanded evidence. His passion to dig deeper served him well in acquiring extensive knowledge of the Oracle database, and occasionally makes him a restless researcher who often ends up working from dusk until dawn when captured by ""the flow."" In his spare time, Norbert likes to hike, snowboard, play basketball, and read nonfiction on topics such as the emotional brain. Furthermore, he is a passionate analog and digital photographer. Having been intrigued by the vibrancy of stereoscopic (i.e., three-dimensional) capture for 20 years, he rejoices in his recent acquisition of a stereo camera.