Re: How to become a DBA

My idea is:
- Take the official DBA courses from Oracle (expensive, but worldwide
recognised)
- At the same time, swallow these manuals (suggested order):

1. Server concepts
2. Server administrator´s guide
3. Server tuning (formerly were some chapters in the previous one)
4. Application developer´s guide (just the "tuning statements" chapter)
5. Server reference: chapter regarding the data dictionary objects, which you should learn by heart, including most of their columns and their meaning. For now, may leave the "dynamic performance tables" aside, just look at v$process, v$session and v$transaction.
6. Same one: chapter describing parameters of the init.ora. Not by heart, but get the feel of them. You'll probably use less than 20% anyway.
7. Server utilities: sqldba, export/import and sql*loader the most important

then,
- Download and install personal oracle for windows (or whatever) 90-day
trial from www.oracle.com, install it at home, and:
- Create a database

• Back it up and restore using offline backups in noarchivelog mode.
• Same, offline in archivelog - recover to point of failure
• Same, with online full backups
• Same, online partial backups
• Create users, grant them things, try and see that they cannot do more than you want to
• Same, using roles
• Create some tables and indexes, dimensioning them correctly to fit into one extent

then,
- Learn about your work's OS (Unix, etc.), just the necessary things to:

• Create an OS user and make it work
• Same, using OS authentication
• Back up and restore files from the OS (always with your chronometer on)
• Monitor process priority/performance/etc.

finally,
- Learn how to install/configure your OS's server AND sql*net (that would
be swallow your ICG-installation and configuration guide manual)
- Learn all about the v$ tables

and if you really want to get into it,
- Learn about the x$ tables (undocumented, but there are papers out there)

• parallel server/parallel query/distributed options/advanced replication options configuration, tuning, coping with, etc.

You may not understand some phrases I've used, don't worry, the concepts will take care of it, and you have my e-mail anyway in case of fire!

Good luck! and remember to enjoy every minute of it!

Bruno. Received on Sat Jan 18 1997 - 00:00:00 CST