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Re: Database Architecture or Database Administration?

From: contemplation <contemplation_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 18:15:20 -0700
Message-ID: <39C56CA8.356A78A7@yahoo.com>

Hi Barry;
thanks for your response.
Actually my job as a DBA hasn't been boring at all...I've always been heavily involved in setting up new databases, standardizing backup and recovery, monitoring, tuning, etc. In some ways, I am heavily involved in the "Physical" side of architecting.
I have a feeling I might find what you did.....way too much time staring at a white board trying to come up with logical designs for business processes.
I like building the physical databases, and am curious so I like to see what they are doing.
I think how busy you stay depends upon the shop and what you are running. I'm often heavily involved in capacity planning and those types of things, so I never feel bored, even when all is running fine. I'm not sure if it would be a good idea for me to go the design route, because I don't feel I am interested enough in "what's the schema need to look like to get here" kind of thing. I've thought about it over the weekend, and realize I like being a DBA as long as I get to be heavily involved in the physical design, helping tune or fix logical designs and watching how things work.

Thanks a lot for your insight.

Barry wrote:

> Hi,
> A couple of years ago I made the move that you are thinking about, amd
> my advice would be to do the architecture bit for 6 months but be sure
> you can get back to a job which allows you to do hands-on work.
>
> Architecture and design is fine but lacks the immediacy and
> satisfaction of hands-on work. The worst aspect of production DBA work
> is that it is boring and repetitive, and noone calls to say
> "Everything's OK, and thanks for your help".
> In my experience, the job went from boring,(when the phone didn't
> ring), to high-pressure,(when it did ring). At that time,(in financial
> institutions like Salomon Smith Barney and J.P.Morgan), I used to envy
> my colleagues who could come to work, sit around and dream up nice
> designs and architectures and go home - and get paid at least as much
> as I did. However, after 6 months of their kind of work, I felt
> unhappy, too much of my time was spent in design reviews and meetings
> and my job satisfaction was too low.
> At least, as a DBA, I had my own area of responsibility where I was
> the King, and it kept me on my toes.
> A middle ground which I have tried to pursue, is to become a Super or
> Meta-DBA, where I distill my experience into Standards and Methods of
> Best Practice. This involves writing Shell Scripts and SQL Scripts so
> it does provide hands-on job satisfaction. In fact, to get a feeling
> for what I mean, you can check out my Web Site at
> http://www.databaseanswers.com/index.htm
>
> Good luck
>
> Barry Williams
> Principal Consultant
> Database Answers
>
> In article <39C2E1D8.867B9EEB_at_yahoo.com>,
> contemplation <contemplation_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Hi, sorry if this is a post in an incorrect group.
> > I've been a DBA for about 5 years now -- production, 24X7, etc.
> >
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.
Received on Sun Sep 17 2000 - 20:15:20 CDT

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