We are arrogant as DBAs. We can sure come up with great rules for things.
I have written in the past about both using Identity values and whether every table needs a primary key. In both cases there were some great debates in the discussions.
I'm not sure that having those absolutes is always the best way for us to do our jobs, and I think it has contributed to the friction between developers and DBAs over the years. In many cases it's the reason that DBAs don't have great reputations with many other IT workers.
Without getting into the discussion of whether we should act that way or not, I know that everyone has certain rules that they do their job by. So for this Friday's poll:
What's your DBA Absolute?
Is there a rule that you absolutely want to always be followed or enforced? Is there something that you will fight for above all other things in your job?
For me, as someone that's primarily been an Operations or Production DBA, I have to say that getting good backups and ensuring they're scheduled according to the needs of the business, is my primary focus first and foremost. I need the space for full and log backups, tape resources to get them offsite, time in the workload of the server for them to run at an appropriate rate, and a place to test restores.
I'm sure backups are high on many people's lists, but if you have something else, please let us know. And if you agree, let me know I'm right 🙂
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
The podcast feeds are now available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com to get better bandwidth and maybe a little more exposure :). Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there.
or now on iTunes!
- Windows Media Podcast - 26.2MB WMV
- iPod Video Podcast - 21.1MB MP4
- MP3 Audio Podcast - 4.3MB
Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.
I really appreciate and value feedback on the podcasts. Let us know what you like, don't like, or even send in ideas for the show. If you'd like to comment, post something here. The boss will be sure to read it.