Introduction

Having been a DBA for about 9 years, I am frequently asked by some

programmers, “I am tired of coding, now I want to switch my career to be a DBA,

so where should I start?” I promised that I would write an article to answer

these questions based on my experience, so this article is mainly based on my

experience as a SQL Server and DB2 DBA, and I welcome other DBAs to share their

experiences on this topic.

Strategies for Junior DBAs

Focusing on the basic DBA tasks: first thing first.

The quickest way to be a qualified junior DBA is to understand the scope of

daily DBA tasks and grasp the necessary skills to do these tasks. I figure that

a junior DBA’s work accounts for at least 40% of daily DBA tasks. The following

is a list of tasks essential to every DBA.

• SQL Server installation. Knowledge needed: SQL Server components (EM,

  Profiler, Query Analyzer, other tools etc), edition of SQL Server and its

  environment requirements (hardware, OS, network protocols etc), remote /

  automatic / manual installation

• Backup/Restore. Knowledge needed: recovery models, backup / restore

  tools and SQL statements for backup / restore, and how to adapt your

  recovery plan to your business needs.

• Security: roles/login/user accounts. Knowledge needed: authentication

  modes, types of roles, how to manage security accounts, grant /revoke

  permission to access data and how to make a security plan matching your

  business needs.

• Database Maintenance. Knowledge needed: some DBCC commands (dbcc checkdb

  / dbreindex / checkcatalog / inputbuffer are among my favorites), sp_who,

  sp_kill and all the SQL task wizards.

Focusing on programming with SQL: foundation for future growth

T-SQL is a powerful tool that enables DBAs to personate their database

management styles by scripting their daily tasks such as auditing, backups /

restores, performance tuning etc. Most of application performance issues in real

world are related to bad SQL statements. I cannot over emphasize the importance

of writing good SQL scripts.

The following are the essential SQL statements to me:

a) CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) statements about database, table,

view, UDF, triggers, stored procedures.

b) T-SQL programming control statements, such as if…else…, begin…end,

while…break…continue and case statement and use of cursor.

c) SQL Server internal functions, such as @@identity, @@spid, substring(),

covert/cast(), etc.

Strategies for intermediate DBAs

• Focusing on data modeling: beyond data and into business. Knowledge

  needed: knowledge of business for which the database is going to be built;

  knowledge of logical / physical model (3rd norm); expertise in the modeling

  tools, like ERWin, Visio etc. A good data model will not only improve an

  application performances but also reduce the database maintenance. For

  example, I once reviewed a data model of a government agency, which stores

  all employees’ salary information in several tables, the original idea was

  to facilitate the quick summery reports needed by different departments but

  later is found too costly to synchronize all the information in terms of

  time and speed. (Some tables have triggers, which increase delays during

  synchronizations.)

• Focusing on performance tuning: fun and challenges. Knowledge/Skills:

  table/index architecture, Index choice/building; server / database /session

  options; execution plan; use of profiler to optimize and audit SQL

  statements, dbcc statements. Performance tuning is where a DBA can shine.

  Challenges always hide somewhere for a DBA to tackle so that a query can run

  within 2 seconds instead of two minutes. Believe me, it is fun to do

  performance tuning!

• Focusing on advanced management: key to being an expert. Knowledge /

  Skills: VBScript, DTS, SQL-DMO, replication. I always believe that a DBA who

  does not know VBScript cannot be creative in managing SQL Server system.

  Because Microsoft has made VBScript so powerful that it can be used to

  facilitate the administration of most Window-based applications, SQL Server

  is no exception. When combining VBScript with DTS and SQL-DMO, I bet almost

  all administration work can be scripted and automatically run under a

  schedule.

Strategies for senior DBAs

• Focusing on soft skills: key to career. As a senior DBA, you spend most

  time in doing requirements analysis with clients and providing guidance to

  other team members, here soft skills, such as time management,

  communication, negotiation and leadership etc, play more important roles

  than the technical skills. Without soft skills, you can hardly be a valuable

  DBA. I learnt the lesson the hard way. I still remembered my story happened

  a long time ago. I was assigned as a database architect for a project, and

  had to discuss with clients in different departments regarding their

  requirements. From time to time, I would release a new version of data

  model. However, during this process, there were a few columns that I made

  constant changes, by either adding them to different tables or simply

  getting removed or renamed. The problem was I forgot to document why I made

  the change based on my talk with whom. When I was challenged with the

  differences between version 1.0.04 (four weeks ago) and version 1.0.06 on a

  specific column, I could not tell why the column appeared in 10.04 but

  disappeared in 1.0.05 and then reappeared in 1.0.06. I was accused of being

  incapable of my role even though my project manager assured of my technical

  capability. Later, I was removed from my role because the project manager

  had to satisfy the client’s concern. How stupid I was! From then on, I

  formed the habit to record each reason behind every change I made to my base

  line project document.

• Focusing on innovations: the last step to glory. Innovation is to use

  the current technology and resources to create new processes / methods that

  can make better solutions in terms of time or economic efficiency. As a

  senior DBA, one needs to have a broader view and interests in contributing

  to your employer’s business bottom line. In the e-business era, more

  business are relying on data for decision and operation, and this gives all

  DBAs, esp. the senior DBAs more opportunities to creatively manipulate the

  data at each stage of the data value chain, from data collecting,

  processing, mining, to reporting, distributing and storing.

Conclusion

To be a qualified DBA, you have to master the right skills at the right time.

You do not have to know everything to start your career as a DBA, but you have

to know where to start. There is no distinct line between a junior DBA and an

intermediate DBA or an intermediate DBA and a senior DBA. But my personal

feeling is that when your rank goes higher, you need more than technical skills

to demonstrate your values. My final word to those who are interested in DBA

career:

“Do not think of database management as a routine job, but think of it as an art

work that you can demonstrate your imagination and creativity.”