Successful DBA

SQLServerCentral is supported by Red Gate Software Ltd.

Popular Topics

Home

Members

Calendar

Who's On

Home » SQL Server 2005 » Administering » Successful DBA

33 posts, Page 2 of 4

««1 2 3 4 »»»

Successful DBA

Rate Topic

Display Mode

Topic Options

Author

Message

Bob Fazio

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 7:30 AM

SSC Eights!

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Friday, January 06, 2012 2:39 PM
Points: 954, Visits: 683

I will have to assume that they already have some DBA's on staff. When I brought up Jr DBA's, this is how I determined when they were ready to advance.

Now I am going to start this off assuming we are talking about a production DBA. Development DBA's are a different breed and for that just do your best on whatever projects they give you. Don't argue (a lot, do express your opinion) if someone more senior says that it should be different than you think.

First of all. You expect them to break something, so you are VERY cautious to give them as little rope as possible. The last thing I wanted was my helping them to make my life a mess.

Don't LIE about what you do. If you break something, tell your senior people as soon as possible to get it fixed.

Don't do or try anything you have been asked NOT to do (this will prevent the fear of telling the truth).

As questions, but be also be cognizant of anxiety. If they are in a panic, don't add to it by bothering your senior people. Just watch and LEARN!

I would expect that most mistakes won't be repeated and NEVER repeated more than once. Remember just like a Doctor "First DO NO HARM!" Should be your rule of thumb for every production DBA.

When in a critical situation (it will happen). DON'T PANIC!!!! Even when you are 100% sure about your course of action.. STOP! Think about everything it will impact again. What you will do if it doesn't fix the problem. Next think about how you might undo what you did. And lastly. Try to take notes some how of exactly everything you are doing. This could be very important to review after the fact in the event you need to do a post mortem report.

If your advisors are anything like me. I simply would grant them more and more responsibilty over time. The more mistakes the longer I would wait until I gave more responsiblity. Understand that I would often stretch new hires out over a YEAR before I let them take a night shift on a production server.

Just to give you an idea of how long it takes. I am a well seasoned production(15 years) DBA and I was a System Admin for 5 years before that. I recently changed jobs and took over an existing site. It took me a good 4 months before I was comfortable with the process at my new company.

Post #415386

rudy - Doctor "X"

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 8:45 AM

Hall of Fame

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Friday, May 17, 2013 2:11 PM
Points: 3,108, Visits: 2,114

Rudy's only rule:

Before you take any action make sure that you can recover from it prior to taking it ;)

Regards
Rudy Komacsar
Senior Database Administrator

"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."

Post #415449

Matt Miller (#4)

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 9:50 AM

SSCertifiable

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 7:57 PM
Points: 6,998, Visits: 13,949

Since I doubt heavily that they are paying you for experience you don't have....learn as fast as you can, learn to be good using the tips above, and THEN look to have your position adjusted.

Sounds to me that someone is trying to get a DBA "on the cheap". A good DBA tends to have a lot of challenges and responsibilities to take on. Once you understand what your real responsibilities are, and how to do them well, and you've proved yourself - don't let yourself be taken advantage of.

In other words - be careful that a short term "opportunity" doesn't turn into a long-term S***ing opportunity of you by the organization....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?

Post #415484

K. Brian Kelley

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 10:12 AM

Keeper of the Duck

Group: Moderators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 1:55 PM
Points: 6,584, Visits: 1,789

Matt Miller (10/26/2007)

In other words - be careful that a short term "opportunity" doesn't turn into a long-term S***ing opportunity of you by the organization....

True, but once a person has legitimate skills and can document experience on a resume, there's a lot of love out there for competent SQL Server DBAs...

K. Brian Kelley, CISA, MCSE, Security+, MVP - SQL Server
Regular Columnist (Security), SQLServerCentral.com
Author of Introduction to SQL Server: Basic Skills for Any SQL Server User
| Professional Development blog | Technical Blog |

LinkedIn | Twitter

Post #415498

Matt Miller (#4)

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 11:41 AM

SSCertifiable

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 7:57 PM
Points: 6,998, Visits: 13,949

K. Brian Kelley (10/26/2007)
True, but once a person has legitimate skills and can document experience on a resume, there's a lot of love out there for competent SQL Server DBAs...

Absolutely - Just be aware of your worth (once you ACQUIRE it that is...).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?

Post #415547

rudy - Doctor "X"

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 11:50 AM

Hall of Fame

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Friday, May 17, 2013 2:11 PM
Points: 3,108, Visits: 2,114

... and one more take ... not only do companies 'love' well qualified DBAs ... well qualified DBAs 'love' companies that hire them to fix what unqualified DBAs have done ! :P

Regards
Rudy Komacsar
Senior Database Administrator

"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."

Post #415554

Rick Heiges

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 12:09 PM

SSC Rookie

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, September 05, 2012 1:39 PM
Points: 38, Visits: 82

Hmmm... Nobody here suggested getting certified. I will leave that for another debate, but if you ask DBAs how they became one, they will respond that they fell into the job. Most came from being a system admin or a developer.

How many people go to school or take classes to be a DBA? Very few... How many people take classes to become a developer or admin? Lots....

Are there other DBAs there? What is your attitude? Are you the type of person who will help out even if it infringes on personal time or other things important to you? Have you developed a network of DBAs (perhaps at the local SQL Server User Group)? Can you demonstrate that you know your limits? Can you demonstrate that you know the resources to go to for tough questions?

Post #415569

vinurajr

Posted Wednesday, November 07, 2007 3:00 AM

SSCommitted

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Friday, February 15, 2013 4:42 AM
Points: 1,798, Visits: 177

how can be a lawyer be Perfect?

Post #419508

Brandie Tarvin

Posted Thursday, November 08, 2007 7:17 AM

SSCertifiable

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 6:04 AM
Points: 6,661, Visits: 5,687

You never said what your job title is or what the job description is, so your comment about "proving yourself as a good DBA" is a little vague.

Post some details about the job you have and we can give you more specific advice, but if you're trying to prove yourself a good DBA and you don't even have access to do proper DBA work, it's going to be a long, uphill battle.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database Administrator, MCDBA, MCSA

Webpage: http://www.BrandieTarvin.net
LiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/
On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.

Freelance Writer: Shadowrun
Latchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

Post #420049

neotokyo

Posted Thursday, November 08, 2007 8:58 AM

Old Hand

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 2:48 PM
Points: 345, Visits: 234

unfortunately; by the time you feel like you are getting a successful or near proficient
grasp on the current sql envrironment or material... it will be time for the next release,
and you start all over again.

this is what makes some of the IT industry frustrating, and by that point after spending all
that time in the trenches getting to know this stuff; you are about ready to do something
else.

the caveat is that your so vested in databases that it's easier to drudge through it again
meanwhile griping all the way on how you would like to do something else. possibly not in IT.

catch 22

_________________________

Post #420127

« Prev Topic | Next Topic »

33 posts, Page 2 of 4

««1 2 3 4 »»»

Permissions