VygonDBA (8/3/2012)
...I don't feel that I'm getting the exposure to some of the more challenging issues DBA's are forced to deal with (i.e. data corruption, deadlocks, disk I/O problems, performance issues etc)
Be very careful of what you wish for 😀
If really into it... how about getting a job in a larger shop? Chances are your current employer would never provide the kind of challenges you are craving for and - trust me - a home lab database would never provide the level of complexity a large production environment would.
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Pablo (Paul) Berzukov
Author of Understanding Database Administration available at Amazon and other bookstores.
Disclaimer: Advice is provided to the best of my knowledge but no implicit or explicit warranties are provided. Since the advisor explicitly encourages testing any and all suggestions on a test non-production environment advisor should not held liable or responsible for any actions taken based on the given advice.