Re: DBAs becoming extinct?

David,

Actually Both roles should remain in the skill set.

The production DBA must ALWAYS remember the Development side of the business. More than one DBA has been "canned" for forgetting how to work with everyone. It is not enough as a Production DBA to know your system inside out and have it tuned to warp speed. More often then not, you will be the Seniors on staff and will give advise on everything from migration to standards. Remember the more you work with development staff, the more they will trust you. Also, frequently the better a system they will give you to implement. The more hats you learn to wear, the better.

Go ahead and try for the production DBA. Just remember that senior level DBA are born, not made. You got to have the "knack". I can teach anyone with an IQ over 80 to administer ORACLE at the technician level. But with Senior level DBAs, the "Knack" or the "Touch" has to already be there, then I can development them. By "knack", I'm talking about the Drive, Self-trust, Creativity required at the top levels along with a VERY large dose of intuition. If you feel you have this "knack" then you will likely find the Production role to be even more satisfying. At the senior level, DBA work is at least as much an Art as it is a Science. Which do you prefer?

Good Luck,

Richard Clapp, Jr
Central Ohio.
Senior ORACLE DBA

"TX-DBA" <lancegrieb_at_yahoo.com> wrote in message news:a95941b3.0204070808.754c4a13_at_posting.google.com...
> Not really the response I was looking for. I DO NOT USE SQL Server
> crap I use Oracle 8i on Solaris! I just wanted some feedback on whats
> a better job to persue, an Oracle development DBA or Oracle production
> DBA?
>
> "David J. Bennett \(Dave\)" <lanai_ds_at_prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:<E6Rr8.4627$Xq.230802565_at_newssvr17.news.prodigy.com>...
> > just one suggestion..... get a spell checker.....
> >
> > further --- no one cares about your point and click bill gates
> > hairball SQL Server crap in this newsgroup.
> >
> > "TX-DBA" <lancegrieb_at_yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > news:a95941b3.0204061758.139a2b02_at_posting.google.com...
> > > I recently had the opportunity to move from a development DBA to
> > > production DBA. I like building and designing databases, plus I am not
> > > dependent on vendor specific DBs. As a dev DBA I use enginnering type
> > > of skills such as data modeling, data anlaysis, and ETL. But as a
> > > production DBA would'nt it be similar to baby-sitting a piece of
> > > software. Other words once you check the log files, check the backups
> > > and check for the latest alerts or patches whats left to do?
> > >
> > > And with databases becoming easier to admin such as SQL Server won't
> > > the databases pretty much admin themselves? This is why I am afraid to
> > > leap into the production DBA role. Any thoughts on my ignorance of
> > > this issue?
Received on Sun Apr 07 2002 - 14:25:04 CDT