August 6, 2012 at 9:41 am
Dear Group member
I want to become SQL DBA. need guidance
I have more than 10 years exp. in Software Development in VB 6 and VB.Net
and I started using SQL Server 2000 in 2002 taking backup db/log restore db,
creating tables views / Stored Procedure and at present I am using SQL 2008.
What will be my exactly dba duties on job.
What areas I must be expert before applying any job
Please share your precious experience.
Thanks a Lot
Khan
August 6, 2012 at 9:50 am
for me, there's different "flavors" of DBA's.
i have this saved in my snippets;
i recommend reading each of the articles, and test yourself/grade yourself on what you know how to do from the list below.
some of these are "one line wonders" where they describe something in a sentence, but it may take you a while to put together the experience and scripts to do it yourself regularly.(i.e. "Perform necessary database backups.")
I'd say if you are familiar with them all, and have actually performed them at least once, you'd be ready for a junior DBA position.
http://qa.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Administration/dbaroles/517/
http://qa.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Administering/thevalueofadba/1806/
http://qa.sqlservercentral.com/articles/State+of+the+Business/deathoftheproductiondba/432/
http://qa.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Certifications/3176/
http://qa.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Miscellaneous/2989/
Daily Tasks
The following tasks should be completed on a daily basis:
Check to make sure the SQL Server is still online and that you still have connectivity.
Check the NT and SQL Server logs for any errors or problems.
Ensure that no SQL Server job has failed.
Resolve any problem tickets.
Close any outstanding change tickets.
Perform the necessary backups, whether transactional or complete.
Check the general health of the server (space, CPU utilization, memory) to confirm there are no issues.
Track locking issues, including deadlocks, blocking, and lock timeouts.
Weekly Tasks
The following tasks should be completed on a weekly basis:
Perform necessary database backups.
Remove any unneeded space from the transaction log and data files.
Perform any necessary index tuning, including defragmenting the indexes.
Execute UPDATE STATISTICS if auto-update statistics has been turned off.
Monthly Tasks
The following tasks should be completed on a monthly basis:
Perform necessary database backups (including a complete backup of the OS and supporting third-party application files).
Apply any patches or service packs for SQL Server.
Run System Monitor to confirm that your server is operating close to its baseline. Update your baseline documentation to reflect this month’s numbers.
Perform a complete system restore of the server’s database onto a new server from a random day. Check the health of the restored database afterward by running DBCC CHECKDB.
Run sqldiag.exe on your server and document the results into a central repository.
Test your alerts to confirm that they still work.
Protect the data, at all costs.
Protect the server the data is on, at all costs.
Help most developers tune queries while teaching them what good set based SQL actually is and why it's important to an RDBMS.
Answer the bloody phone.
Conduct code reviews before promoting code.
Promote code.
Find queries hogging the CPU/Disk.
Find the developer responsible for the above.
Find the manager for the above.
Pummel them both until they agree to rewrite the code today!
Answer the bloody phone.
Answer 10,000 dumb questions per day because lots of folks really have no clue how to write SQL correctly.
Tell managers why the code they want to go in, isn't (dangerous to the data or the system).
Attend project meetings where the users usually think they know more about correct database design than you.
Document the "system" because the users were wrong.
Answer the bloody phone.
Help repair totally undocumented code that broke in the face of scalability.
Help repair totally undocumented code that broke because someone wanted it real bad and that's the way they got it.
Help developers figure out what the undocumented SQL does.
Answer the bloody phone.
Find out which undocumented code is causing the deadlocks even if it's embedded in Jave or C#.
Write reports on the deadlocks and why the server "seemed sluggish" today and every day.
Write "Code Guidelines" to prevent undocumented code in the future.
Buy a new bat with a nail in it to help you enforce the new "Code Guidelines".
Answer the bloody phone.
Explain to migration experts why PL/SQL and T-SQL cannot be run in SQL Server and Oracle, respectively.
Answer the bloody phone.
Explain to everyone from the President of the Company down to the Janitor why no one can have "SA Privs" and why they can't use xp_CmdShell without going through a proxy.
Attend 10 hours of "Sensitivity Training" each week because people think you're too mean just because you made 2 developers cry and 1 leave the country.
Drink too much beer because deep in your heart, you know you're not mean enough.
Answer the bloody phone.
Interview more *&*&&$%$# Developers that you're gonna have to train all over again.
Answer the bloody phone.
What the heck, it's a living 😉
--Jeff Moden
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Lowell
August 6, 2012 at 9:55 am
It depends on what type of DBA you want to be. There are a lot of different flavors of "DBA".
Some DBAs just manage high-availability. That means backup and restore plans, replication, mirroring, clustering, log shipping, working with SAN engineers on RAID configuration, and related things. Some companies will use less of those, some will use more. You'd need to find out from a company what they want to use, to know what you would be doing for them.
Some DBAs design and build databases. That means data modeling, normalization levels, data typing, business rules, primary keys, foreign keys, and related material. Again, different companies will require different levels of this, using different tools. For some, you'll need experience with Erwin (data modeling tool), or something similar, for others, you won't need that.
Some DBAs write and tune code in databases. That means queries, updates, deletes, stored procedures, UDFs, views, possibly some .NET coding. You'll need to know how to read execution plans, design and tune indexes, write complex joins and Where clauses, know how to use CTEs (and when not to), know dynamic SQL (and how to prevent injection attacks).
Other DBAs design, build, and operate analytical warehouses (OLAP databases). They need to know tools like SSIS, SSAS, SSRS. Cubes, dimensions, measures, pivot charts, "ETL", star and snowflake schemas, KPIs, are all things you'll need to know for that kind of DBA job.
Many are "hybrid DBAs", which are a mix of one or more of the above, or one of the above mixed with something else.
It really depends on what you mean by "I want to be a DBA", and on what companies in your area are looking to hire.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
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"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
August 6, 2012 at 10:16 am
Lowell, that list was so good I had to briefcase it. Should help when job hunting and for resume tweaking.
August 6, 2012 at 10:19 am
It seems that the most important part of the job is to answer the bloody phone. Anyone else get that out all that as well?
August 6, 2012 at 10:23 am
THANK YOU VERY MUCH A THIS IS A LOT FOR ME.
I AM AT THE RIGHT PLACE.
August 6, 2012 at 10:30 am
Good info, thanks for posting it.
Mark
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