Re: Industry Standards

From: Bob Hairgrove <rhairgroveNoSpam_at_Pleasebigfoot.com>
Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 10:58:39 GMT
Message-ID: <3ccfc14e.219215_at_news.ch.kpnqwest.net>


On 30 Apr 2002 16:44:25 -0700, andyd29_at_yahoo.com (Andy Davis) wrote:

>I'm looking for information on database administrator industry
>standards.

Since each system is so different, I would be surprised if there were an official standard describing the responsibilities of a DBA. However, you can probably use the DBA certification tests given by Oracle as a good guideline. A lot of people mean different things, however, when they say "DBA" ... sometimes it's merely looking after the smooth operation of the database system, doing backups, archiving, etc. In other cases it might mean taking an active part in application development (writing stored procedures, tuning SQL queries). The DBA usually is also responsible for creating users and roles and implementing the necessary security features.

>(1) is the database administrator responsible for the
>data ?

As far as data integrity is concerned, the DBA should ensure that an adequate design is implemented (constraints, indexes, keys, etc.) so that no UID anomalies occur and performance is optimal. This is not a trivial task and implies that, in order to create a good design, the DBA have some knowledge of the business rules and can work hand-in-hand with application developers. For example, it makes a big difference in how to set up the tablespaces depending on whether you are designing a data warehouse or an online transaction processing system.

Unfortunately, a DBA does not always have the last word in how a design should be implemented. In large-scale applications, often a team of DBA's will be assigned to different tasks since one person alone would not be enough to accomplish the job. Sometimes management does not listen to the DBA(s) and data integrity might be compromised as a result.

DBA's usually are required to implement an appropriate backup and recovery strategy and minimize downtime as well as to make sure that the people responsible for the hardware and OS do their part (server file system checks, RAID implementation, etc.) In this sense, yes, the DBA is "responsible" for the data. As to the quality of the data itself, it's subject to the same "garbage in, garbage out" rules that govern every other application...

>(2) should they be responsible for moving data between
>environments

If you are referring to migration from one system to another, or migrating to an updated system of the same vendor, yes, this is a common DBA responsibility. What did you have in mind?

>(3)what is the job scope of the database administrator?

That can be almost anything having to do with any aspect of the database and/or applications that need supporting.

>Is there an online resource for finding industry standards for
>database administrators?

I don't know ... you might want to try posting this in the Oracle Technet discussion forum (don't know if this link is still correct):

http://otn.oracle.com/support/bboard/content.htm

I'll be keeping an eye out for follow-ups which might give you some better links. Good luck!

Bob Hairgrove
rhairgroveNoSpam_at_Pleasebigfoot.com Received on Wed May 01 2002 - 12:58:39 CEST

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