DBA path discussion

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DBA path discussion

sqlfriend

SSC Guru

Points: 52769
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November 16, 2015 at 10:22 am

#302307

Hello, I would like to discuss a little about DBA path.
Other than server management, what other skills or path DBA should learn and prepare for future?
For example, skills like
1. SQL programming/development
2. Cloud management
3. Data science
4. BI
5. Big data
or others you recommend.
May not be able to do all, what are recommended most related with DBA, and also for future career DBA related?
Thanks,

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Luis Cazares SSC Guru Points: 183698 More actions · Answer 1

sqlfriends (11/16/2015)
Hello, I would like to discuss a little about DBA path.
Other than server management, what other skills or path DBA should learn and prepare for future?
For example, skills like
1. SQL programming/development
2. Cloud management
3. Data science
4. BI
5. Big data
or others you recommend.
May not be able to do all, what are recommended most related with DBA, and also for future career DBA related?
Thanks,

I'd say that the first "additional" skill you need to learn is good SQL programming. You'll find that many problems come from bad code.

Other than that, it's about what interests you more. But what do I know? I'm just a database developer. 😀

Luis C.
General Disclaimer:
Are you seriously taking the advice and code from someone from the internet without testing it? Do you at least understand it? Or can it easily kill your server?

How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help: Option 1 / Option 2

Kris Gruttemeyer Ten Centuries Points: 1185 More actions · Answer 2

Alot of it depends on what kind of DBA you'd like to be. There's many different paths including architecture, development, operations, devops, etc.

I'm more passionate about operations/high availability so I'm more involved with hardware, configuration, networking (a MUST if you plan to do AlwaysOn AGs), configuration and performance tuning. I really enjoy what I do and wanted to get more into the hardware aspect so my systems guys became a great resource for me.

All depends on what you want to do. I know plenty of DBAs that are amazing at BI, some are awesome schema/db architects, just depends on what they enjoy doing!

That is one of the big reasons why I think being a DBA is a great career path, there's so many routes and specializations.

sqlfriend SSC Guru Points: 52769 More actions · Answer 3

Thank you both, good tips, SQL development and BI are the two things I think of first.

And big data seems more trendy, but need big learning curve.

For Always on, in our environment lightly used. And for hardware my network team really does a lot of work. So for me probably not spend too much time on that.

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 172995 More actions · Answer 4

I think understanding security is a big must. I don't know if you are assuming that as part of DBA management, but regardless of what kind of DBA you are, anyone without a good grounding in basic security knowledge is asking to run into trouble.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

curious_sqldba SSC-Dedicated Points: 36494 More actions · Answer 5

Brent has some good points on this, check it out http://www.brentozar.com/sql/picking-a-dba-career-path/

david.alcock SSCertifiable Points: 6021 More actions · Answer 6

I think "it depends" on what type of DBA you want to be.

Sure, learning code is up there, but if you're a pure production DBA it might not be as high up on the list as networking, security, those type of things. Just as an example, I've worked with amazing DBA's who barely understand joins but would run rings around most when it came to clustering.

What interests you? If you enjoy the code side of things (optimising, BI etc etc) then yes, absolutely get stuck into that route!

'Only he who wanders finds new paths'

K. Brian Kelley SSC Guru Points: 114562 More actions · Answer 7

The most overlooked area: "soft skills."

- How clearly you can communicate.

- How well you work with others.

- How organized you are.

DBAs and system administrators generally get a bad rap for being trolls. Unfortunately, we often bring this upon ourselves. It stands to reason that the better you communicate and work with others, the better you'll be able to implement what you believe is the right direction. If you don't communicate clearly or no one wants to work with you, then you may know the best way, but no one will listen.

K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 172995 More actions · Answer 8

K. Brian Kelley (11/17/2015)
The most overlooked area: "soft skills."
- How clearly you can communicate.
- How well you work with others.
- How organized you are.

Yes. And emotional intelligence is probably the most important buzzword you can understand and practice.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

KSQLDBA Ten Centuries Points: 1062 More actions · Answer 9

Well sound like everyone get it right, To add to it, for me I believe to succeed as a DBA you need a good Supporting Team, you need to have a strong network of some experience DBA and also be open to learning new technologies and new tools.

Thanks