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SSChampion
Group: Administrators
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SSC-Enthusiastic
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I think the inherent contradiction in your own editorial highlights the biggest problem with DBAs. Quoting your own words...
"Too often we find people acting as a DBA, even having that title, without the experience to really understand if they have a problem."
But then you go on to say...
"From anyone but a DBA that might not seem like an argument..."
In one case you acknowledge that there is no good definition of what a DBA is, and then you contradict yourself by saying "anyone but a DBA" as though that has a more rigid and clear definition!
And therein is the problem, has been the problem, and will be the problem - there is no standard for what a DBA is. Why can't we come up with a clear set of boundaries, knowledge and talents that warrants the title "DBA"? Why can't we have a title something like DBS (Database Specialist) for those who do some DBA-style duties, but don't really know enough to warrant the title DBA?
In my career I have probably interviewed 50 to 100 people applying for DBA positions. I would venture a guess that maybe 10 of those people had the kind of knowledge and talents that actually warrant the DBA title. The rest? They were called "DBA" in given jobs because they did backups and maybe wrote a couple stored procedures, but they did not know SQL Server in any breadth or scope.
Based on that kind of logic... I know how to work a steering wheel, and I can step on some pedals, and I know how to push levers forward and back, and I can also flip switches and talk over a radio... Therefore, I MUST be a fully qualified 747 pilot!!! Right?
There's no such thing as dumb questions, only poorly thought-out answers...
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Mr or Mrs. 500
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 2:43 AM
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| I agree the hardware can hide an awful lot of bad and inefficient code. For a small business - why hire an expensive DBA, you can get a dual processor quad-xeon raid server for the price of the recruitment agencys fees, never mind the salary. Get one of the developers doing the DBA role. Its been like this in most places I've worked.
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SSC Eights!
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blandry (5/21/2009)
I think the inherent contradiction in your own editorial highlights the biggest problem with DBAs. Quoting your own words...
"Too often we find people acting as a DBA, even having that title, without the experience to really understand if they have a problem."
But then you go on to say...
"From anyone but a DBA that might not seem like an argument..."
In one case you acknowledge that there is no good definition of what a DBA is, and then you contradict yourself by saying "anyone but a DBA" as though that has a more rigid and clear definition!
And therein is the problem, has been the problem, and will be the problem - there is no standard for what a DBA is. Why can't we come up with a clear set of boundaries, knowledge and talents that warrants the title "DBA"? Why can't we have a title something like DBS (Database Specialist) for those who do some DBA-style duties, but don't really know enough to warrant the title DBA?
In my career I have probably interviewed 50 to 100 people applying for DBA positions. I would venture a guess that maybe 10 of those people had the kind of knowledge and talents that actually warrant the DBA title. The rest? They were called "DBA" in given jobs because they did backups and maybe wrote a couple stored procedures, but they did not know SQL Server in any breadth or scope.
Based on that kind of logic... I know how to work a steering wheel, and I can step on some pedals, and I know how to push levers forward and back, and I can also flip switches and talk over a radio... Therefore, I MUST be a fully qualified 747 pilot!!! Right?
I think Steve's question still stands, Do You Have A Problem? Even if your 'DBA' is not a 'DBA' in the sense that you imply, if your shop doesn't have any major issues, then "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". It simply becomes a software issue rather than hardware.
That's a joke about flesh, not programming. funnier in my head.
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For Best Practices on posting questions that get answered quickly, see http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
and
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
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SSC Veteran
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 9:06 AM
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is the DBA qualified to do their job?
Who cares?
As long as nothing breaks then they're a success!!
The problem in a smaller company is that no one in the company is qualified to tell if the success was down to the DBA or the hardware or just luck
Bringing in an external expert to carry out a one day system audit once a year could save some potential red faces
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SSC Rookie
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, September 24, 2009 7:38 AM
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You forgot something very important that I learned very early on in my career. Sometimes, you just have to sit back and let bad things happen, or now one knows you're there.
We had one guy that was in charge of four alpha-clusters and seven other Vaxen. Of those, three instances of Oracle were being maintained. One guy was responsible for System Administration and DBA. Repeatedly, he asked for advancement opportunities or just a chance to step out into something new. Finally, disgusted, he voted with his feet.
No one cared. These systems were so stable that he seldom did anything but stare at his computer and write new scripts. He wouldn't be missed.
In the end, he was replaced with three system administrators and two DBAs. It took five people to do what this guy was doing single-handed. And, I don't know whether these guys were just more politically savvy, or if he was just that good, but before he left, these machines (except for the one development box) had 0.0000% unscheduled downtime. Something never again repeated to that degree.
I'm not sure how one goes about fixing that. But the fact of the matter is, most managers and other industry leaders just don't have the know-how to measure computer administration performance.
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SSC Eights!
Group: General Forum Members
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If the company and the users are happy with the database performance then as far as they are concerned it is working. My company doesn't have a real DBA, only me. No developers either.
However, thanks to sites like yours and others I now monitor my SQL servers and also do updates for them. So please keep providing the training for those who want it. I'd like to think real DBAs aren't born they develop, sometimes under pressure.
For those of us who have to perform multiple functions besides DBA, having a working system is sometimes all we can hope for.
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SSChasing Mays
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 8:20 AM
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DBAs aren't born they develop, sometimes under pressure
I agree on that Dave, Every one learns something new every day, and as it says CHANGE is the word that never Changes 
As others said no company knows what an DBA does, Mostly on small companies, Commercial department thinks DBA as a waste of money, I work for a small company, when i am hired a year ago all the systems are not maintained, no backup and no DR strategy, i changed every thing in this year ( not being a big head or something), but still my managing director thinks that i am not doing any job that makes him money , but its my IT director who backs me up since he has seen the systems improve after i came, not evey one have this luxury.
But still there is an attitude as Steve said "if it ayent broken why fix it"
I answered this as, if you maintain its not broken, if you want me not to do that then it will break and then i can fix it , its a bit rude but its the fact
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Forum Newbie
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, May 21, 2009 10:08 AM
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I fall into that group of people that have been recruited to do DBA work from another field. I did receive some training, but I'm still not anywhere near the level of a well-trained DBA.
Looking at your "DBA's That Need Your Help" section, it is apparent that there are many more like me (and some with no training at all) also doing DBA work. While some of the questions indicate sophisticated problems, many of them are at a very basic level which indicates a very low level of training.
This IS a problem, both for the DBA profession and for the IT profession in general. Some problems cannot be solved with hardware.
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SSC Eights!
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rboggess (5/21/2009)
You forgot something very important that I learned very early on in my career. Sometimes, you just have to sit back and let bad things happen, or now one knows you're there.
Wow. Wag the Dog, anyone? Should our Army/Navy/Marines just let someone come take over the country, so that we value their services more?
As a DBA, (or any other employee, for that matter, from the guy flipping burgers to the CEO of a major corporation) your duty is to make sure things run smoothly, not stroke your ego by letting things break and fixing them up to look good. If you're not good enough to document all the things that you do, and the stellar performance level it operates at, then perhaps there are other issues.
---------------------------------------------------------
For Best Practices on posting questions that get answered quickly, see http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
and
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
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