Re: What does a DBA do on a regular basis?

At work they prepared new generic DBA job descriptions, and there is not a word in there about system administration.

So far I have completely rebuilt one NT server, and rebuilt from scratch two databases on a Tru64 server.

I guess I am ranting a bit about this, but how often do you find that management has no idea what a DBA does? They are used to what system admin's do, because that role has existed for so long, but DBAs are sometimes seen as simple software administrators.

Are there many people out there whose responsibilities don't include any SA work on paper, but in real life there is a considerable overlap with what SA's do?

Regards,
Patrice Boivin
Halifax, Canada.

"Daniel A. Morgan" wrote:
>
> > I would like to know what jobs DBA's do on a regular basis? Do you have
> > a schedule for checking alert log? Analyzing tables? etc. etc.
> >
> > I am trying to learn what the job of DBA would be like if I ever could
> > work my way into one.
>
> DBA is not one job ... it is three. And they are very different.
>
> 1. DataBase Architect
>
> Involved in the design of systems working with ERD tools such as Designer
> and ERwin. Gathering requirements, selecting hardware and dealing with
> network I/O issues. This person may never write a single SQL statement as
> part of a project but must know enough to make decisions, in many cases,
> about the basic requirements and design of the system.
>
> 2. Development DBA
>
> This person is usually a very senior developer with a broad knowledge of
> Oracle's architecture, SQL, PL/SQL, sizing of tablespaces and database
> objects, and optimizing procedures, functions, packages, etc. Can do things
> such as determine when it is appropriate to use B-Tree vs. Bitmap indexes.
> Uses SQL*Plus, SQL*Loader, can configure tnsnames, sqlnet, listeners, modify
> init.ora files, and supports development efforts. Probably never has to do a
> back-up and recovery but probably does imports and exports.
>
> 3. Production DBA
> Responsible for installation, configuration, back-up, restoration, and
> optimization of production Oracle databases. Depending on the company may or
> may not write SQL other than to support database monitoring. An expert on
> the data dictionary and knows the to use that data dictionary to monitor all
> aspects of database performance and tune based upon that research.
>
> The above is very general. In small companies one person may perform all
> three jobs. In very large companies more layers may exist. But qualification
> for one of the three jobs is not qualification for any other: Though it is
> probably a very good start.
>
> Daniel A. Morgan
Received on Mon Mar 05 2001 - 18:51:18 CST