Re: Realistic administration duties

Hey Hey! That's what I do, too!

But mostly I tell them what the priorities should be. When we first installed Oracle, I was taking care of the OS (OpenVMS) and also installing/upgrading/supporting some applications. I was responding to calls from the users but only on the technical side of things. If they would get errors in the software they would call the the hot-line for the application. If a program would run out of disk space they would call me.

Installing the software and keeping up to date with the patches used to take a great deal of time. I did not put so much effort in fixing performance problems or things of the like, mostly because these were mainly coming from the application itself (bad design) or more simply, because the users were not complaining.

Now with the new application running Oracle, which is coming in different software products (Oracle, PC Client software, new programming language, add-ons for reporting, internet portal, ODBC with MS-Access, security front-end, etc). things are a little different. There still is a lot to do with the insatlling and upgrading but I am trying to get more involved in administering the db and improving performance.

I got to know all of these software but only on the technical side. I am not a user of these products. Don't want to be. What I need to understand is how these things relate (within themselves and with Oracle and with the OS). If a user cannot connect I must help him. If some functionaly in the application does not work he calls the application provider's helpdesk. And Oracle and software configuration concerns are in my field, too.

There is a lot to be done, but I don't work overtime (unless there are things that can only be done when the staff is not using the system). I went to classes for Oracle admin, wrote and tested backup and restore procedures because that's what I considered the most important. We could deal with performance later. We are actually looking for someone to second me so if anyone is interested the job location is Montreal.

In my job, I often help programmers to do technical stuff with the different languages they use so I need to understand what's going on underneath the screen - what most programmers don't know or care. Things like calling Progress from C from PowerHouse and running all of this in detach mode, communicating by the way of mailboxes and displaying output onto monitors in different buildings.

What I need to know for the job is:
OpenVMS inside-out (admin, internals, etc.) Oracle Admin (including networking stuff) Progress db admin, and an understanding of Progress programming language concepts - no actual programming, just debugging and ability to find performance problems
Gembase client and server setup and configuration. Understanding the programming language concepts.
Using ODBC drivers (Connx and/or Oracle ODBC) and how to use these links to connect from say, MS-Access to Oracle)
Windows NT and PathWorks admin
Installing the different parts of the software that make up the whole application (understanding how they work, how they talk to one another)

For most (I should say all but Oracle) of these items, I had to dig up and learn by myself. Life's never easy but I like it that way - no challenge is boring. Remember, when you are asked to do a thousand things, chances are your boss does not understand all of the implications. Just tell him! If you can convince him that you have to fiinish step a before doing what he asks, and if you have good reasons for it, he'll understand. After all, you are the specialist and that's why he hired you. If he can't trust you, find a new job!

Good luck!

<argosy22_at_my-deja.com> wrote in message news:8mk43f$e92$1_at_nnrp1.deja.com...
>
>
> HI experienced admins,
>
> I'm hoping that some of you can outline the scope
> of your duties.
>
> I was hired six months ago as an Oracle DBA. They
> then said, oh, you get to do the Unix admin too.
>
> We have a very complex and unstable application
> on the web. What I actually spend most of my
> time doing is administering this awful application.
> There are 14 different pieces of software involved
> in this one app! They have plans to make it
> even more complex!
>
> As a result, the real DBA, and Unix admin duties,
> such as backups (!!!!) are not being tended to,
> or even looked at properly.
>
> In most of my previous positions, the Unix admins, and
> the DBAs were not very closely associated with the app.
> They mostly kept the servers and databases running.
> (At one shop, any simple request (chmod) had to be put
> in paper writing!) Senior developers, operations, or
> managers administered the application.
>
> However, all this has been thrown at me. I don't have time
> to read and research properly all the issues that I need
> to deal with. (Thanks to all of you for answering
> my postings.) It really burns me out.
>
>
> I'm wondering:
> - how would you describe the typical duties of a Unix admin,
> or a DBA? What parts are the most fundamental?
>
> - how involved are you administrators with administering
> your company's app?
>
> - do you know in depth all the other development tools,
> Java, ColdFusion, Perl, HTML, the awful workflow system that
> you bought, etc.?
>
>
> Thanks for reading.
>
> Argosy
>
>
>
>
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.
Received on Mon Aug 07 2000 - 00:00:00 CDT