10 Important Things Every SQL DBA Should Know About

As your job progresses, you’ll install new database servers, patch existing ones, troubleshoot them when they break. You can then gradually become “the database server person” in the office, and if it makes sense for your career, transition into becoming a DBA. In the past, having strong technical skills was the most important requirement. Instead, DBAs need to communicate and collaborate with users to understand their needs and business environment. They also need to work with other teams, such as DevOps, to help deliver software that will solve business problems.

• You can then gradually become “the database server person” in the office, and if it makes sense for your career, transition into becoming a DBA.
• The role of DBA is becoming increasingly important in today’s information-driven business environment.
• If you’re willing to put in the years of work that it takes in order to gradually move into a DBA position, it’s fabulous.
• If it has anything (row count) over ‘0’, it’s worth looking at the suspect pages to know when an event (like bad checksum, torn page, etc.) happened and if the problem persists.
• They also must educate and inform application developers and other users about how to use the DBMS and its facilities.
• We already reviewed DBA’s salary above, but you can
  see how
  a DBA salary compares to other IT roles.

But even with an application DBA on board, general-purpose DBAs are still required to support the overall database environment and infrastructure. Database administration is a vital component of the IT environment for any organization that relies on one or more database management systems. If you like to work with data, have great analytical skills, and have good troubleshooting skills, being a Database Administrator might be a good fit for you. You may or may not have an Information Technology (IT) background, but a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Information Systems is beneficial for entry-level positions in many organizations. You need to like technology, be detail-oriented and learn quickly. As with any other IT-related role, a DBA job involves a lot of learning if you want to be a good DBA.

Salary range and employment outlook for DBAs

As a result, DBAs now perform more strategic tasks, such as data analytics, user experience design, and cybersecurity. DBAs often work directly with users and business leaders on developing new ways to use data and software to automate processes, reduce costs, and stay competitive. In addition, DBAs work with application developers to ensure accurate and efficient application design for database access. At times, DBAs may be asked to modify or write application code to help development projects.

When adopting a new DBMS, the DBA is responsible for designing, implementing and maintaining the database system. Often, that includes installing the DBMS and setting up the IT infrastructure to allow applications to access databases. For a cloud database implementation, the DBA isn’t responsible for installation, but must orchestrate the proper configuration, access and deployment options for their organization’s usage of the cloud database.

What is a Database Administrator?

Rather than being responsible for managing on-premises hardware and software, DBAs now need to be able to work with cloud-based platforms. This requires a different set of skills and knowledge and a different approach to work. Many different types of DBAs exist, the most common type being the general-purpose DBA, who performs all types of administrative and data-related work. However, it’s not uncommon for DBAs to focus on specific problem domains. If there is a problem in your SQL database, you must find it as soon as possible to minimize data loss risk. Running DBCC CHECKDB frequently can help you identify any issues within a database.

There are many reasons why you might want to become an Oracle database administrator. Maybe you’re interested in the challenge of managing a complex database system. Another nuance is the misconception that organizations don’t need DBAs when they move data to the cloud. The primary function of a DBA is to implement, maintain, optimize and manage database structures for the enterprise.

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In this tip, we will talk about Systems DBA who works with SQL databases. Depending on the organization where you work, the Database Administrators
work as a member of the
IT Operations Team, the Application Support Team or part of the
Software Development Team working with Programmers Developers. Regardless of the team, DBAs usually interact with all
other IT teams and often with the business as well.

It’s fairly uncommon to see DBAs using third party tools to manage servers just because SSMS has been out for so long and covers so much functionality. This gets a little confusing because some businesses just slap the term DBA on everything. “If they’re working in the database, they’re database administrators,” hahaha.

Thoroughout the world, more and more organizations depend on data to discover analytical insights on market conditions, new business models, and cost-cutting measures. The global cloud computing market is also expected to expand as companies move their business operations to the cloud. Consequently, the need for qualified DBAs will only continue to grow. The database administrator is expected to stay abreast of emerging technologies and new design approaches. Typically, a DBA has a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information science from an accredited university or college, as well as some on-the-job training with a specific database product. In some cases, DBAs may not be required to have a bachelor’s degree if they have extensive information technology work experience.

They haven’t done any learning on how to automate the more common tasks, or how to accomplish more challenging ones. Many DBAs have prior experience as application programmers and excelled at accessing databases using SQL embedded in COBOL, Java, C or other popular programming languages. When problems arise, the DBA is the focal point for resolution, including troubleshooting, root cause analysis, fine tuning and optimizing the performance of tasks and programs that access the database. The DBA also must establish policies and procedures pertaining to the management, security, maintenance and use of the database management system. The DBA group creates training materials and instructs employees in the proper usage and access of the DBMS.

As the most common task-oriented DBA, the performance analyst focuses entirely on monitoring and improving the performance of applications that access databases. A performance analyst is an expert in SQL coding for performance and knowledgeable in designing and building high-performance databases. A DBA can, and does, assume many different roles and responsibilities within the IT department involving database systems and applications.