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Question of the Day

Using CHOOSE()

The Voice of the DBA

The DBA is Dead! Long Live the !

I'm sure I've never mentioned this before, but I'm a little aged. I'm not real far from 40 years in IT, and I got started a little late in life. Regardless, I've heard this tale of woe before.

And no, this isn't going to be a rehash of all the old stories ("self-tuning" SQL Server 7.0, ORM, NOSQL, etc.). I'm also not going to go on some tear about how Agentic AI is/is not going to eliminate the DBA. Nope. This one is different, and I think it might stick. We may be truly seeing the death of the DBA.

Let's also add this. I'm not saying that your skill set is dead. You've spent years, decades even, learning about high availability, disaster recovery, parameter tuning, query tuning, deployment automation and more. With your skills, you can both secure a data platform, and automate deployments to it so that they're fast, efficient, and yet, safe. Nope, your skill set is absolutely vital to the modern era. If anything, AI, it's use, it's horrific misuse, reinforces the need for your skills. No technology currently in our hands, and none immediately visible on the horizon, is bringing about the death of the DBA. And yet, I stand by my statement. The DBA is dying.

OK, if it's not the tech, what's killing it?

Our replacements.

Go and talk to younger IT pros. I take every opportunity I have, and I do get quite a lot, to talk to people in their 20s and 30s working in IT. I want to understand them. I really want to get an understanding of where and how they gain knowledge. Most of all, I want to find out what mechanisms of communication they're using the most. I do this, because I think it's vital that we reach these people and do everything in our power to lift them up and help get them going. As I said above, the skills we've spent decades building are still needed. They're needed by the younger generation too. The younger generation, at least the ones I've spoken with, embrace this as well. There is one thing, and one thing only, they are absolutely NOT embracing. The title. They do not want to be called "Database Administrator."

Data or Database Engineer
Data Developer
Database Architect
Data Professional (I use this one)
Cloud Data Architect
Database Reliability Engineer

These are the most common terms I'm seeing (and multiple LLMs agree). Anything, everything, but not DBA. I've had conversations with someone where I've asked what they do. They go on to describe the job of a DBA. I say, "Oh, so you're a DBA." I get a very cross look and an immediate denial "I'm not a DBA. I'm a . " I get this a lot. All over the place. Younger data pros simply do not want to be associated with what they see as an old job for, let's face it, old people.

This means, this time, I think it's going to stick: The DBA is dead!

Grant Fritchey

Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums

Featured Contents

Re-Seeding a Broken Log Shipping Secondary (Without Touching the Primary)

LukaMK from SQLServerCentral

A SQL Server upgrade left a log shipping secondary unable to accept transaction logs. Re-seeding it without touching the primary or its mirror is straightforward in principle — drop, restore full + diff + log with NORECOVERY, hand back to the job — but three undocumented traps will stop you along the way. Here's what they are and how to get past them.

Should your SQL Server database use foreign key constraints?

Additional Articles from SimpleTalk

Should SQL Server databases enforce foreign key constraints? A veteran DBA breaks down the real arguments

From the SQL Server Central Blogs - The SUM of Nothing: #SQLNewBlogger

Steve Jones - SSC Editor from The Voice of the DBA

I caught this interesting item over on Pinal Dave’s blog: Eleven Interview Questions that Look Too Easy. I decided to give you a few thoughts from me on the...

From the SQL Server Central Blogs - How to Move the SSMS Status Bar to the Top and Color-Code SQL Server Connections

Hemantgiri S. Goswami from SQL Server Citation - SQL Blog by Hemantgiri S. Goswami, SQL MVP

I use color-coded connections in SSMS to distinguish Production, Pre-Production, UAT, and Development. But why keep this important visual warning at the bottom of the screen? In this post,...

Introduction to PostgreSQL for the data professional

Site Owners from SQLServerCentral

Adoption and use of PostgreSQL is growing all the time. From mom-and-pop shops to large enterprises, more data is being managed by PostgreSQL. In turn, this means that more data professionals need to learn PostgreSQL even when they have experience with other databases. While the documentation around PostgreSQL is detailed and technically rich, finding a simple, clear path to learning what it is, what it does, and how to use it can be challenging. This book seeks to help with that challenge.

Question of the Day

Today's question (by Steve Jones - SSC Editor):
	Using CHOOSE()
We have this code that sets some status values and then queries them using the CHOOSE() function in SQL Server 2025. CREATE TABLE Status ( StatusID INT, StatusDescription VARCHAR(20) ); GO INSERT dbo.Status ( StatusID, StatusDescription ) VALUES (0, 'Uncategorized'), (1, 'Active'), (2, 'Inactive'), (3, 'Temp'); GO SELECT CHOOSE(StatusID, 'Unknown', 'Active', 'Inactive', 'Temporary') FROM Status; When the SELECT runs, what is returned?
Think you know the answer? Click here, and find out if you are right.

Yesterday's Question of the Day (by Steve Jones - SSC Editor)

Checking the Error Log III

If I want to run sp_readerrorlog on SQL Server 2025, what permissions do I need?

Answer: View Server State only

Explanation: If a user has VIEW SERVER STATE, they can run this procedure. This code worked on SQL Server 2025.

USE master
GO
CREATE LOGIN JoeNormal WITH PASSWORD = 'Demo1234'
go
CREATE USER JoeNormal FROM LOGIN JoeNormal
GO
GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE TO JoeNormal;

Logging in as JoeNormal allowed sp_readerrorlog to run. Ref: sp_readerrorlog - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-readerrorlog-transact-sql?view=sql-server-ver17

Discuss this question and answer on the forums

Database Pros Who Need Your Help

Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, visit the forums.

SQL Azure - Administration

Azure SQL Database Event Log Limitations - Hi, Do you know if there is a way to get more detailed logging from an Azure SQL Database? In sys.event_log, I can only see successful and failed connection events. I'm looking for additional details about what is happening within the database. is possible to obtain more detailed information about database activities and events. Thanks

Editorials

Today's AI - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Today's AI

Four Rules for Adding AI Without Breaking What Already Works - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Four Rules for Adding AI Without Breaking What Already Works

Development Is Fun - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Development Is Fun

Article Discussions by Author

Split Large Queries in Athena with a Simple Modulo Trick - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Split Large Queries in Athena with a Simple Modulo Trick

Finding Trailing Spaces - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Finding Trailing Spaces

Hyperscale Replicas III - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Hyperscale Replicas III

Optimized Locking in SQL Server 2025 - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Optimized Locking in SQL Server 2025

Adding new column with DEFAULT II - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Adding new column with DEFAULT II

SQL Server 2022 - Administration

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SQL Server Storage Optimization: Multiple Files in a Filegroup vs Dedicated File - Hello, I would like to get some feedback regarding the best storage optimization strategy for a large SQL Server database. Option 1: Add multiple data files within the same filegroup and distribute them across different storage LUNs/disks, allowing SQL Server to spread allocations using the Proportional Fill algorithm. Option 2: Create a separate filegroup on […]

SQL Server 2025 section missing? - Hello, the title says it all. Is the SQL Server 2025 section missing?

SQL Server 2022 - Development

A design question in a parent child relationship - I am not sure which is the best way to proceed. I have parent child relationship where I have to determine if every vendor completed a task (this is a fictitious example). I have a task record and typically 13 or fewer vendors who each have to complete that task. My application needs to know […]

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