Re: Want to be a DBA? Be careful what you ask for.....

DBA (stands for 'Does Bugger All' according to my first boss) is such a simple job - if you do it right - that it always astounds me that so few people can do at all well.

As Gary said you need to know about the system, and be an expert in SQL and all the tools also- but you only have to be better than {flame on} the programmers and sys-admins. Routine maintenance on production systems can bite into weekends, but eventually (if you do it right - i.e. planning) you will find both your weekend and weekday free for whatever you like, or can get away with. Getting your boss to give you meaty projects (tool set evals etc) to do rather than making you do the pleb stuff like cleaning up after others stupid mistakes can become the bane of your life.

Last two month I got to grips with Java and Rational Rose. And don't forget the Internet, although some say more than 40 hours per week is an addiction.

Martin

martinb_at_hooked.net

Gary Eckhardt wrote:
>
> Neil Greene wrote:
>
> > I keep telling those I work with, the DBA is just the person that gets
> > to wait arond the office late at night waiting for Oracle to call back
> > on a TAR while everyone else is at home with their family or out with
> > their friends. All in hopes that we will have that system back up and
> > running without anyone knowing we ran into some bug Oracle knew about
> > but you didn't because the last time you ran the Year end closing
> > reports was last year.
>
> I've often referred to myself as a "Data Janitor". You know,
> "ATTENTION! BIT SPILL ON ISLE 7.1.6! WE NEED A MOP!". Here
> comes Gary with his toolbox and mop bucket to clean it up.
>
> But really. I think the reason why I like being a DBA is because you
> really need to have many skill sets, involving not only Oracle but
> System administration, networking, etc to get the "big picture" on
> your Oracle environment and to maintain it. I'm a software person
> by education, but I enjoy doing system administration and messing
> with hardware and networks, so I get the best of all worlds.
>
> Plus, you get to play "god".
Received on Thu Sep 26 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST