Re: DBAs becoming extinct?

Richard, I've replaced or fired "development" DBA's that had bad attitudes too.

No matter which side you are on, the first thing you have to remember is that there ARE no "sides", and if production is in trouble, anyone with usable skills that doesn't mobilize their butts to help (not meddle, help) obviously does not care what happens to their company or organization.

As a senior DBA / designer / architect / whatever, I was flying down the stairs to operations to help out the production DBA if ever there was a problem; my predecessor never even walked in the door of operations and expected everyone to come to his office with questions, kind of like Moses climbing the mountain. Even building new things, production comes first, always. If the furnace is going out, you better be prepared and able to help shovel coal along with everyone else. That means looking at sar and vmstat at odd moments, top, running OEM, etc.

A comment was "You're in development and design; whatshisname never came down here."

'Well, that was then. This is now.'

I may have all these hoity-toity titles and such, but I never forgot my roots, and I am always on the pager list. If you are down, there is no such thing as "it's somebody else's problem".

It's EVERYBODY's problem.

RSH. PS: I agree with Richard that senior level DBA's are born, not made. I guess I just got done describing part of it.

"Richard A Clapp, Jr" <raclapp_at_yahoo.com> wrote in message news:k21s8.256696$s43.65079291_at_typhoon.columbus.rr.com...
> 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 - 22:44:16 CDT