Re: DBAs and System Managers - War and Peace?

stauffer_at_swarthmore.edu (R Glenn Stauffer) writes:

> kkirk_at_compumedia.com writes:
>
> I'm the DBA.

 I'm the Sys Admin. (This is by no means any attempt to start a flame war!  This is a perspective of my views and how things operate here at AEC)

>
> >
> > How do different organizations deal with the overlapping roles
> > of system managers and DBAs and conflicts that may arise?
> >
> > In particular:
> >
> > a) Who manages disk space?
>
> Me. The machine is an Oracle server only. As far as I am concerned, I am
> fully responsible for managing the machine. If the Database does not work
> right, it is my ass.

  I do. Even though the machine is an oracle server only, it is up to me to   make sure that the DBAs have the necessary disk space to run the database.   If the database does not work right then it is BOTH our ASSes

> > b) Are DBAs actively involved in defining, or directly define
> > - memory usage?
> > - disk usage/distribution?
> > - user account setup?
> > - hardware configuration for capacity planning?
> > - batch jobs such as backup/verfication
> > - disk setup such as disk physical cluster sizes
> > ( small for OLTP, big for media )
> > - disk setup like BUY LOTS OF LITTLE DISKS,
> > not a few big ones! ( more heads, more parallelism,
> > more performance...)
>
> I directly define all of these. My sysadmin is responsible for setting
> up device definitions, backup scripts, and other Unix environment areas.

I define all of the above. Our DBA is responsible for ORACLE only, not the disks, not the user accounts, not the hardware configuration etc.. However they do have a big say in how they would like things setup, but because of the experience that I have in Unix systems setup, andministration and on-going maintenence, they come to me for that experience.

> Selection of print spooling and backup software is up to the Unix admin.
> Operating system version installation and upgrades are a combination of
> recommendations from the hardware vendor (ie, bug fixes), and approval
> from Oracle or our VAR.

   Actually the vendor is usually VERY good about patches and fixes which should be applied to the system. In our case we had a patch already applied to a system for well over 2 months before Oracle said 'Oh yeah, you may also want to apply patch XXXXX-XX to the system.'

> > c) Do you have liberal system privileges ( can stop
> > any process, can see any file/exe)?
>
> Super user access. I need to be able to have full control of the system.

   If the system is setup properly in the first place, then the DBA does NOT need root access. Our databases do not run underneath root (Can you say 'MAJOR SECURITY HOLE' when running a stored procedure if your databases are running as root???), then run under an account that we have setup called oracle7. All access rights are setup so that anything having to do with ORACLE can be accessed via this account. Again, the DBA are responsible for ORACLE, I am responsible for everything else.

> > d) If you see a disk below 1% free and can't get a hold of
> > anyone, do you go out and diagnose the problem?
>
> Yes.

        What diagnose??? You're out of disk space. Do a 'du' and find out who the disk hog is.. If the system is setup right, then that should be oracle anyway, and your DBA's have the proper rights to move/delete things to free up disk space. NEVER keep oracle directories/files on the same partitions as user data.. This prevents users from accidently filling up disk and possibly suspending the database.    

> > e) Can you start up/shutdown
> > - the database?
> > - the transaction monitor?
> Yes, to all. The unix admin can shutdown and startup the database and has
> access to perform recovery since we are a small shop and I may not be in the
> office when a crisis occurs. I am working on a new system installation and
> will be setting up admin accounts with privileges necessary to perform
> shutdown/startup and recovery. As well, I will be documenting the most likely
> failure and recovery procedures and testing these with the sysadmin.
>

   Yes to both. Both the DBA's and myself have access rights to perform this function.

> > f) Do you drive hardware purchases, do you use
> > what you're given, or do you participate as a team?
>
> The general specification of the hardware is based on the needs of the
> Oracle database. I do not get involved with types of backup tape drives,
> printers, reel tape drives, etc except to verify that they will work with
> my system. Disk subsystems is the most critical area, but my concern is
> mainly with type or RAID, I/O performance, MTBF, failure backup, etc.

  This is a combination of both. WE both realize the benefit of RAID (It has already saved our butts here more then once.. Gotta love hot-swapable drives!) and more memory and striping and proper backup procedures.

> Glenn Stauffer
> DBA
> Swarthmore College

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