I have already circulated with my dba friends circle. Excellent article.
--
On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 00:36:33
Robertson Lee - lerobe wrote:
>I am saving this excellent email as advice to anyone who asks me about DBA
>work.
>
>What an absolutely top posting
>
>Cheers
>
>Don.
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>Sent: 07 June 2001 06:50
>To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
>
>
>Do you want a paper to say you are marginally qualified to be a DBA or do
>you actually want to learn database administration?
>
>If it is the latter, my opinion is:
>
>0) Learn as much as you can about Oracle in general. Being an exceptional
>developer means understanding what your code does inside Oracle, so start
>there.
>
>1) Learn SQL*Plus, PL/SQL, and whatever else you need to do your job (e.g.
>Java, XML, Pro*C++, etc.).
>
>2) As for the "real DBA" aspects, start with the development oriented
>aspects - explain plan, tkprof, SQL trace, and the easy stuff first, then
>graduate up to how the shared pool (&library cache), buffer cache, and other
>SGA elements work internally.
>
>3) Learn how to design efficient applications - basic modeling,
>normalization, denormalization, data integrity mechanisms, the impact of
>different algorithms, etc.
>
>[Not necessarily in strict order...either above or below this comment.
>there are some "functional dependencies", but parallelism increases
>throughput!]
>
>By now, if you have learned this stuff and are actually practicing it, your
>DBAs will *LOVE* you! Find a willing mentor among them. Perhaps become the
>DBAs' unofficial liason to the development staff. You might consider
>holding "brown bag" lunch training sessions with the other developers to
>spread what you have learned...
>
>4) Learn the basics of how Oracle stores database objects and how to
>properly size objects and realistically predict and accommodate object
>growth. Learn the importance of conscientious analysis in this respect.
>
>5) Learn the Oracle architecture.
>loop
> Read the concepts manuals.
> After finishing each section, go discuss it in detail with your
>mentor(s)
> Practice what you can on your sandbox system - at home or at work.
>end loop;
>-- Just when you think you know it all, read it again and discover what you
>-- missed or misunderstood the first time around! Is this an infinite loop?
>Yes!
>-- Purposely! After 12 years, I still do it! The loop just takes longer to
>execute now...
>
>6) Refine and expand on your knowledge of tuning, recovery, ad infinitum...
>
>If you just started doing Oracle development a few months ago, this is not
>an unrealistic plan. It might take a year. It might take more - or perhaps
>even less. You have a real chance of being invited into the "DBA club" at
>your organization in midstream! I've seen it happen.
>
>This approach will build your real skills a LOT faster and much more solidly
>than "cramming for OCP exams" would ever do! You shouldn't need to "cram".
>If you actually learn this stuff, you can breeze through them! Much more
>importantly, you will have real experience! You will also obtain something
>that is much more important in the long run than the "knowledge" necessary
>to pass the OCP exams - actual understanding!
>
>Knowledge is like data. Understanding is like the ability to process data.
>Data is important, but without the ability to process it efficiently, it is
>useless! In addition, knowledge (data) becomes outdated, but understanding
>is, by its very nature, adaptive.
>
>[Odd and tangentially related aside: Ever had to take a trig class and
>memorize a lot of trigonometric formulae? Half-angle formulae, double-angle
>formulae, etc? Ask anyone who really knows mathematics if they have all
>these memorized. Some do from sheer repetition of their use, but many
>don't. These formulae are simply "knowledge". "Real" mathematicians and
>scientists don't have to clutter up primary memory with all this trivia!
>They know one simple equation, Euler's equation, know how it works and can
>derive any of them in a minute or so!]
>
>Believe it or not, some of the most important and difficult things DBAs do
>is educate developers, advise developers, perform code and design reviews,
>and to (try to) compensate for poor development and application design
>practices - with things like tuning obscure instance parameters, shared pool
>size, and other "trick of the trade". Granted, there are some essential DBA
>tasks - backup and recovery, physical layout, Net8 configuration, etc. -
>that are not development-centric, but many of the best DBAs I've ever seen
>were, at one time, outstanding developers.
>
>Contrary to official propaganda, OCP certification is not the holy grail.
>It isn't a Nobel prize. By itself, it is a learner's permit. It may also
>be useful to get over the threshold for that first DBA job interview. As
>soon as you feel comfortable with SQL and PL/SQL, take that exam. Take the
>others in what seems to you to be their nature order, as you progress.
>
>Just my very opinionated opinion,
>
>-Don Granaman
>[Certifiable OraSaurus]
>
>PS: What does "X" DBA years @ 45-90 hrs/week translate to in human years?
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 9:55 PM
>
>
>>
>> Hello friend , Gurus
>>
>> I just start my Oracle developer job in April 2001, I feel interesting
>in
>> Oracle Dba jobs but my current job is stuck with only application
>> development .How can I build up my DBA skill if I did't have chance on
>doing
>> the related jobs ?
>>
>> But I manage to build up a small system running testing in my home with
>> Duron 750 + 128 Ram and 10 gig normal IDE , After I install my win2kpro
>> ,oracle OEM and the database with pre-configuration option. everthing go
>> smooth on that.
>>
>> I have manage to get a TOAD trial version to install in my win2k too ,
>but
>> what now ? Is there any pratical or tutorial on this ? Or taking the OCP
>> exam and exam cram to study will help ?
>>
>>
>>
>> Raymond fall asleep in waiting for the Q.
>>
>> --
>> Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
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>> Author: Raymond Lee Meng Hong
>> INET: RAYMOND_at_infopro.com.my
>>
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>--
>Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
>--
>Author: Don Granaman
> INET: granaman_at_home.com
>
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>Author: Robertson Lee - lerobe
> INET: lerobe_at_acxiom.co.uk
>
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Received on Thu Jun 07 2001 - 07:00:41 CDT
