Why to Become a DBA?
Not sure where to Start!All i Can say is you can be one of the Most(I mean it) Important resources for your Organization.
Imazine preparing Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani without Basmati Rice(google it if you are not Sure what i’m talking about)…Well Sounds funny huh?
Let’s say Ur Organization has fabulous Web Applications with outstanding interfaces for End Users which ofcourse attracts customers…But Guys…who in this world can access a web page without a healty Database which is sitting somewhere hiding in the Data Center….Who is responsible for that Database? It’s You, a DBA( Feel Proud about what you are doing to your company). You are the Data Gaurdian,a Custodian You are the one who assures that the most critical data is always available for what ever purpose your company needs for!
Can a company Survive without your Application Server for a while? Well it really depends on Tier and who’s interacting with that application. Can a company Survie without Data? Lolz…I would say Nooo independent of what really ur application does!…
Are you a DBA?
You should’ve whole patience in this world with you all the time…and Remember Guys If you are really looking into becoming a DBA, don’t just go for it if you are not prepared for taking responsibility. There are lot of Jobs out there where you can earn money with less pain in your Butt! You need a real commitment and should be smart enough to take wise decisions in critical situations on your own. IMHO, Large companies will not keep there life/death data to Just anyone. personally, i feel Willingness to explore new technologies all the time, new enhancements you’ve for your RDBMS, Share your Knowledge to at least your team Members is bare minimum requirement.
DBA job is not Just running Scripts against your databases as most of people out there are thinking!
Trust me no other DBA in your own team likes you if you are really into Just running Scripts and escaping from work(real DBA work).
Soo…Who are your Friends at your workplace?
A DBA who just has Technical Skills can’t survive in any organization without making friends with his communication Skills.
Beleive me, Never mess with Server Guys and SAN Admins…They are our Best friends sitting somewhere near your Cube.
We DBA’s are pondered with responsibilities and accountable for answering to all !@#$!@!@@# Questions from application team(s)/Developers when a Database Server is not available. Trust me guys, Server Guys are never contacted directly if something happens to your Database Server receiving a PAGE and unfortunatley you are accountable for Doing a Root Cause Analysis in many Cases.
Ideal World which seldom exists almost in any big organization…..:(
Imazine you are the one who builds Windows Cluster and You comeup with Storage Recommendations, you are the one who’s is installing and Configuring SQL Server, you are the one who is designing Security model for your SQL DB Server. Wow….sounds Amazingly Outstanding right?? Unfortunately that only happens in dreams 😦
Okay…Let’s come to reality:
Windows/OSE/Network team will configure cluster.
Your Infrastructure/Architecture team Installing SQL Server cluster and deciding all the RAID Levels and what not.
Conceptually your SQL Server is ready to serve your application Databases at this point since it passed Operational Readiness.
Questions to ask yourself:
were your SQL Servers really tested with required Stress?
There’s a fabulous Tool called SQLIO(Free tool from MSFT SQL Server team, Infact they made it available with your default installation of SQL Server starting SQL 2008)…which you can simulate various work loads.
Were your Drives configured with Proper partition Allignments? Trust me convincing management to these tests to be performed atleast for your Brand new servers really really helps you.(I mean it)
Who else are Sysadmins on your SQL Server?
Why the heck in this World really needs your OU admins/Domain Admins as SysAdmins on your SQL Server? Are they giving us Domain Admin rights if you ask them..No they’ll never. Do the same! Revoke them if you see any. That’s the rule called “Seperation of Duties”. Trust me any SA sitting on your SQL Server can make you loose your Job and nobody in this world would agree that he/she dropped a Database or dropped the Service account or tried to delete your Master Database.
Well It’s Friday….for me:) Will start blogging some real technical stuff real soon….Wish me luck with this!
MSSQLTREK 