September 20, 2012 at 10:49 pm
plz send some interview scenarios on sql dba
September 21, 2012 at 12:49 am
Jeff Moden (9/3/2012)
Also, have you considered doing any kind of background investigation, drug testing, etc?
Yikes! Pleased to be on a different continent:alien:
September 21, 2012 at 6:44 am
raghu14319 (9/20/2012)
plz send some interview scenarios on sql dba
Gosh... just do a Google search and you'll get more questions and answers (caution... some are wrong!) than you can shake a stick at.
Also, heed the warnings given throughout this thread. Just because someone has memorized answers to some technical questions doesn't mean that the person will make a good DBA.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
September 21, 2012 at 7:13 am
Jeff Moden (9/21/2012)
raghu14319 (9/20/2012)
plz send some interview scenarios on sql dbaGosh... just do a Google search and you'll get more questions and answers (caution... some are wrong!) than you can shake a stick at.
Also, heed the warnings given throughout this thread. Just because someone has memorized answers to some technical questions doesn't mean that the person will make a good DBA.
Or that they'll pass an interview.
Here's a question I frequently ask in interviews. I'll give it to you for free, because, unless you really know what you're doing, this is the one that separates the real DBAs from the wanna-be's:
You get a phone call from one the users. They tell you the database is slow. What do you do?
You answer that reasonably well, you're hired. You start talking junk, you're not.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
September 21, 2012 at 8:19 am
You get a phone call from one the users. They tell you the database is slow. What do you do?
You answer that reasonably well, you're hired. You start talking junk, you're not.
I'd start with the usual suspects like server memory, cpu, disk, network etc.... who said the real problem is with SQl Server anyway?!
am I talking junk yet or am I hired?! 😛
---------------------------------------------------------
It takes a minimal capacity for rational thought to see that the corporate 'free press' is a structurally irrational and biased, and extremely violent, system of elite propaganda.
David Edwards - Media lens[/url]
Society has varying and conflicting interests; what is called objectivity is the disguise of one of these interests - that of neutrality. But neutrality is a fiction in an unneutral world. There are victims, there are executioners, and there are bystanders... and the 'objectivity' of the bystander calls for inaction while other heads fall.
Howard Zinn
September 21, 2012 at 8:25 am
Abu Dina (9/21/2012)
You get a phone call from one the users. They tell you the database is slow. What do you do?
You answer that reasonably well, you're hired. You start talking junk, you're not.
I'd start with the usual suspects like server memory, cpu, disk, network etc.... who said the real problem is with SQl Server anyway?!
am I talking junk yet or am I hired?! 😛
No hints in a public forum. Follow-up question for you, what would you look for in regards to memory to tell if/why something is performing poorly?
See, this gets fun quick. I love this question.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
September 21, 2012 at 8:36 am
Grant Fritchey (9/21/2012)
Abu Dina (9/21/2012)
You get a phone call from one the users. They tell you the database is slow. What do you do?
You answer that reasonably well, you're hired. You start talking junk, you're not.
I'd start with the usual suspects like server memory, cpu, disk, network etc.... who said the real problem is with SQl Server anyway?!
am I talking junk yet or am I hired?! 😛
No hints in a public forum. Follow-up question for you, what would you look for in regards to memory to tell if/why something is performing poorly?
See, this gets fun quick. I love this question.
This question could last an entire interview.............
---------------------------------------------------------
It takes a minimal capacity for rational thought to see that the corporate 'free press' is a structurally irrational and biased, and extremely violent, system of elite propaganda.
David Edwards - Media lens[/url]
Society has varying and conflicting interests; what is called objectivity is the disguise of one of these interests - that of neutrality. But neutrality is a fiction in an unneutral world. There are victims, there are executioners, and there are bystanders... and the 'objectivity' of the bystander calls for inaction while other heads fall.
Howard Zinn
September 21, 2012 at 9:07 am
Abu Dina (9/21/2012)
Grant Fritchey (9/21/2012)
Abu Dina (9/21/2012)
You get a phone call from one the users. They tell you the database is slow. What do you do?
You answer that reasonably well, you're hired. You start talking junk, you're not.
I'd start with the usual suspects like server memory, cpu, disk, network etc.... who said the real problem is with SQl Server anyway?!
am I talking junk yet or am I hired?! 😛
No hints in a public forum. Follow-up question for you, what would you look for in regards to memory to tell if/why something is performing poorly?
See, this gets fun quick. I love this question.
This question could last an entire interview.............
Exactly. This question, as far as anyone's ability and knowledge as a DBA, is the question. And then the interactions as we go along also act as a teamwork "do you fit" type of interview.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
September 21, 2012 at 9:31 am
=====UPDATE=====
We brought a guy in that indicated he was very experienced as a dba. He had lots of stuff on the resume that sounded right.
As it turns out, he freely admitted to using nefarious methods to get done what needed done rather than go through official channels to ask for access, etc. Not a good thing to say during an interview; however, it really put a cloud over the interview.
He seemed to trip all over some of the questions and we just didn't get a good feel.
Thankfully, I've been reading ya'lls stuff and decided pretty quickly he wasn't a match....
Thanks all for the help and input on this.. I'm getting quite an education into the dark underbelly of the DBA world. It's apparently not all peaches and cream....
Will post more as progress is made.
Thanks
Crusty.
September 21, 2012 at 9:32 am
Grant Fritchey (9/21/2012)
Abu Dina (9/21/2012)
Grant Fritchey (9/21/2012)
Abu Dina (9/21/2012)
You get a phone call from one the users. They tell you the database is slow. What do you do?
You answer that reasonably well, you're hired. You start talking junk, you're not.
I'd start with the usual suspects like server memory, cpu, disk, network etc.... who said the real problem is with SQl Server anyway?!
am I talking junk yet or am I hired?! 😛
No hints in a public forum. Follow-up question for you, what would you look for in regards to memory to tell if/why something is performing poorly?
See, this gets fun quick. I love this question.
This question could last an entire interview.............
Exactly. This question, as far as anyone's ability and knowledge as a DBA, is the question. And then the interactions as we go along also act as a teamwork "do you fit" type of interview.
This is a hell of lengthy quote; however, this particular conversation deserves more discussion as I'm very interested in the details.
Thanks again people...
September 21, 2012 at 10:07 am
Well I might get shot down for this but here goes nothing.
I'm no expert.. but if someone tells me a database is slow, I would want to check the machine running the SQL server first. I think it's a valid to find out if other applications are running on the box and hugging the memory?
..etc ...etc....
---------------------------------------------------------
It takes a minimal capacity for rational thought to see that the corporate 'free press' is a structurally irrational and biased, and extremely violent, system of elite propaganda.
David Edwards - Media lens[/url]
Society has varying and conflicting interests; what is called objectivity is the disguise of one of these interests - that of neutrality. But neutrality is a fiction in an unneutral world. There are victims, there are executioners, and there are bystanders... and the 'objectivity' of the bystander calls for inaction while other heads fall.
Howard Zinn
September 21, 2012 at 10:28 am
as I said, this one question could last an entire interview.... it all depends on how nasty the interviewer wants to be!
I'm sure some expert will come along now and shoot me down and tell me I'm talking rubbish checking memory. What if the SQL Server has its own dedicated box and using max memory?
See what I mean..
---------------------------------------------------------
It takes a minimal capacity for rational thought to see that the corporate 'free press' is a structurally irrational and biased, and extremely violent, system of elite propaganda.
David Edwards - Media lens[/url]
Society has varying and conflicting interests; what is called objectivity is the disguise of one of these interests - that of neutrality. But neutrality is a fiction in an unneutral world. There are victims, there are executioners, and there are bystanders... and the 'objectivity' of the bystander calls for inaction while other heads fall.
Howard Zinn
September 21, 2012 at 10:37 am
Abu Dina (9/21/2012)
as I said, this one question could last an entire interview.... it all depends on how nasty the interviewer wants to be!I'm sure some expert will come along now and shoot me down and tell me I'm talking rubbish checking memory. What if the SQL Server has its own dedicated box and using max memory?
See what I mean..
Just to throw this out, if SQL Server had its max memory configured as default when installed, it could be starving the OS as it may not have enouh memory to run. Happened on a 64 bit test server on me. I had forgotten to set max memory to a value that gave the OS 2 GB of its own. Fun watching a server with 32 GB RAM not run because the OS was starved of memory.
September 21, 2012 at 11:08 am
Checking memory's valid, but it would hardly be the first thing I'd do.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
September 21, 2012 at 11:38 am
ok, I have my own my knee jerk reactions for the things to review.
Grant wanted to avoid putting the answers on the forum, but i'd kind of like to see how i would stack up agaisnt other's ideas.
should i post my ideas out here or keep them to myself?
Lowell
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