2. DATABASE ADMINISTRATION
• Database administration is the function of managing and maintaining
database management systems (DBMS) software. Mainstream DBMS software such
as Oracle, IBM Db2 and Microsoft SQL Server need ongoing management. As such,
corporations that use DBMS software often hire specialized information technology
personnel called database administrators or DBAs.
3. RESPONSIBILITIES
• Installation, configuration and upgrading of Database server software and related products.
• Evaluate Database features and Database related products.
• Establish and maintain sound backup and recovery policies and procedures.
• Take care of the Database design and implementation.
• Implement and maintain database security (create and maintain users and roles, assign privileges).
• Database tuning and performance monitoring.
• Application tuning and performance monitoring.
• Setup and maintain documentation and standards.
• Plan growth and changes (capacity planning).
• Work as part of a team and provide 24/7 support when required.
• Do general technical troubleshooting and give cons.
• Database recovery
4. TYPES
THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF DBAS:
• Systems DBAs (also referred to as physical DBAs, operations DBAs or production
Support DBAs): focus on the physical aspects of database administration such as
DBMS installation, configuration, patching, upgrades, backups, restores, refreshes,
performance optimization, maintenance and disaster recovery.
• Development DBAs: focus on the logical and development aspects of database
administration such as data model design and maintenance, DDL (
data definition language) generation, SQL writing and tuning, coding
stored procedures, collaborating with developers to help choose the most appropriate
DBMS feature/functionality and other pre-production activities.
5. CONT…
• Application DBAs: usually found in organizations that have purchased 3rd party
application software such as ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (
customer relationship management) systems. Examples of such application software
includes Oracle Applications, Siebel and PeopleSoft (both now part of Oracle Corp.)
and SAP. Application DBAs straddle the fence between the DBMS and the application
software and are responsible for ensuring that the application is fully optimized for the
database and vice versa. They usually manage all the application components that
interact with the database and carry out activities such as application installation and
patching, application upgrades, database cloning, building and running data cleanup
routines, data load process management, etc.
In larger organizations, individuals typically specialize in a specific type of database
administration. However, in smaller organizations, it's common for a single person or
team to handle multiple database administration roles.
6. CONT…
Database administration tools
• Often, the DBMS software comes with certain tools to help DBAs manage the DBMS.
Such tools are called native tools. For example, Microsoft SQL Server comes with SQL
Server Management Studio and Oracle has tools such as SQL*Plus and Oracle Enterprise
Manager/Grid Control. In addition, 3rd parties such as BMC, Quest Software,
Embarcadero Technologies, patchVantage and SQL Maestro Group offer GUI tools to
monitor the DBMS and help DBAs carry out certain functions inside the database more
easily.
• Another kind of database software exists to manage the provisioning of new databases
and the management of existing databases and their related resources. The process of
creating a new database can consist of hundreds or thousands of unique steps from
satisfying prerequisites to configuring backups where each step must be successful before
the next can start. A human cannot be expected to complete this procedure in the same
exact way time after time - exactly the goal when multiple databases exist.