Great article. I would just add a few more!
A Junior DBA needs to have the ability to follow written instruction while the Intermediate DBA (as well as the Senior DBA) should be able to produce clear documentation and instruction. Many DBAs just "forget" to write down what they did/do (mostly because they haven't allocated their time properly, and some from the mistaken fear of being "replaced" if they reveal all). However, such timely documentation will not only save them time/hassle when it comes to repeating/recreating the same steps when the situation occurs again, it will help them move up by providing a way of clearly delegating work to a junior.
The ability to intelligently framing questions and providing the right details and environments with the questions seems to be sorely lacking nowadays, especially among the younger folks. Whether you are interactiving with MS Support or a great forum like this, you need to able to do this well in order for someone to help you with your problem.
Another personal trait that is necessary for all levels is curiosity combined with caution. Just getting to the bottom of a problem may/will not only reveal the solution, it will also give us an opportunity to learn something more. (Cautionary note - don't try it in Production unless you have tested it elswhere !
Finally, one needs to be teachable. This is again applicable at all levels, but just for the juniors. After 22+ years in IT, I still learn every day and am open to saying that "I don't know" followed by either "can you educate me on this" or "but I can certainly look it up".
Happy new year to all,
John Kanagaraj
Co-Author: Oracle Database 10g Insider Solutions http://www.samspublishing.com/title/0672327910
Excellent Article.
I totaly agree with your article. I am happy that you covered the importance of scripting languages and the importance of understanding the SQL-DMO model. One of the future challenges that I see future DBA's having to tackle is the CLR runtime support in SQL Server 2005 and Oracle 10g. It is important for a DBA to have at least a basic programming background. I made the transition from Programmer to DBA a long time ago. I have still kept up with my programming skills and incorporated them into my DBA skills. It has saved me a lot of time and it also gives me a better understanding of how applications touch the database.
Another Important topic you covered is Database Documentation and Data Model change control. This is a must.
What is interesting in my place of employment is that the Database Technologies department is broken up into three sections:
Systems DBA : Primarily responsible for Installing SQL Server, Creating Logins, monitoring performance in environments outside of development.
Production DBA: Primarly responsible for deploying scripts to the production databases.
Development DBA: Primarily responsible for database creation, script creation, physical designs and coding standards.
I come from a programming background and am now a development DBA. With that separation I was, and to some extent still am, worried that I might loose some of the skills that the Systems DBA handle. Some of the things that I would be responsible for in a smaller shop. Not sure but the article looks focused on being a complete DBA in a small to medium shop setting.
