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Re: Oracle DBA role question

From: Brian Peasland <peasland_at_edcmail.cr.usgs.gov>
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 18:50:08 GMT
Message-ID: <39BE7AE0.C7F64D7D@edcmail.cr.usgs.gov>

> Hardware purchase decisions: Should we deploy oracle on NT, Linux,
> Unix and if Unix, (Sun, HP, AIX)...How much processing power we will
> need in terms of servers/cpus? Should we deploy Oracle Parallel Server?
> What type of storage will we need? How many disks? Should ee purchase
> a storage solution like Legato or EMC? Do we implement RAID-0, RAID-1,
> RAID-5 etc, etc...
>
> The above questions are just hypothetical, please do not respond to
> them. The real question is: Are these types of things that the average
> DBA would be able to resolve or are they more commonly handled by
> bringing in consultants? My experience with databases is pretty
> extensive, unfortunately it stops at the database level and I don't
> have much experience in the physical/hardware level. I will definitely
> need to bring in external help to assist with these issues, but I am
> just curious to know from some seasoned DBAs if this is or should be a
> standard base of knowledge that most *good* DBAs have. (Do the oracle
> certification exams touch on these types of questions?)

Gavin,

These questions are typical for many DBA's to answer. Some DBA's are hired as DBBS (Database Baby Sitters) and don't get involved in these questions. But good DBA's should be able to answer all of these questions. They should also be able to give you options and pro's/con's for their options. If your shop can not handle these types of questions, they you may want to consider hiring a consultant to help you. It's better to get it done right the first time than punt and miss the target. The Oracle Certification exams do not touch on too many of these options in any great detail. Parallel Server is discussed in minor detail. Multiple CPUs are only discussed from the standpoint of using them in parallel for SQL statement execution.

As I said, good DBA's should be able to answer all of these questions. Keeping track of all the hardware changes and what works or doesn't for Oracle databases is one of the job aspects that I find appealing. Part of being a good DBA is getting involved in ALL aspects of database systems. This includes hardware, operating systems, storage solutions, network connectivity, etc.

HTH,
Brian

-- 
========================================
Brian Peasland
Raytheons Systems at
  USGS EROS Data Center
These opinions are my own and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of my 
company!
========================================
Received on Tue Sep 12 2000 - 13:50:08 CDT

Original text of this message

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