I wanna be a DBA! What should I do?

  • Hi There,

    I wanna be a DBA! What should I do?

    Is there any free video tutorials out there ? or suggest me the good way to get there.

  • vignesh.ms (2/19/2015)


    Hi There,

    I wanna be a DBA! What should I do?

    Is there any free video tutorials out there ? or suggest me the good way to get there.

    If you want videos pluralsight would be a good place to start. Another excellent learning place is right here at SSC. Click that link over there on the left called "Stairways". Pick a topic you are interested in learning and dig in.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Need help? Help us help you.

    Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.

    Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.

    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/

  • vignesh.ms (2/19/2015)


    Hi There,

    I wanna be a DBA! What should I do?

    Is there any free video tutorials out there ? or suggest me the good way to get there.

    The first step would be to buy a copy of the Developer's Edition (~$60USD through Amazon) so that you can try things out. It's the Enterprise Edition with special licensing and will work on a desktop/laptop box without having to have Windows Server installed.

    The next thing would be to get onto the MS Website and look for "SQL Server Certification" because, if you don't already have DBA experience, you'll need a cert to "break in" to the field job-wise.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • Pluralsight is great and very current but may cost you.

    For free vids you could look here; https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/ff977043

    Good luck!

    --------------------------------------------

    Laughing in the face of contention...

  • Volunteer to build databases for organizations in your area, soup kitchens, synagogues, Scouts, whatever. That'll get you experience, which is the most needed commodity when looking for a job.

    "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

  • Get a copy of and read DBA Survivor: Become a Rockstar DBA



    Del Lee

  • Download Express edition from Microsoft site. Buy DBA books and do read the book throughly and try the steps out in your local sql server engine

    Thanks.

  • SQL Server Central is a goldmine. Read the stairways (which has already been mentioned), the blogs and the free redgate press books (especially the "Accidental DBA book".)

    I would suggest also going to your local SQL user group, SQL Saturday, SQL in the City, etc... and ask the same question there.

    "I cant stress enough the importance of switching from a sequential files mindset to set-based thinking. After you make the switch, you can spend your time tuning and optimizing your queries instead of maintaining lengthy, poor-performing code."

    -- Itzik Ben-Gan 2001

  • Good to know that you want to become DBA.

    Everyday check http://www.sqlservercentral.com/ , read articles published. Check the scripts added by other user, solve the question of the day,stairways series. Check out forums, ask questions, and also help others in community and in your organization.

    Read books - SQL Joes 2 Pros. (http://blog.sqlauthority.com/sql-server-books/sql-joes-2-pros-five-book-combo-list-of-best-sql-server-books/) these are good reads for newbee to SQL Server Development / DBA

  • Check out the Stairway series here on SSC, also go to the Redgate and look at the free ebooks that they have available for download. I have a directory of 50+ free ebooks that I've accumulated from various sources that I keep loaded in Dropbox so I can pull them up on my iPad as needed.

    It helps to learn about database development. Lots of people here are hybrids, we do both development and DBA work. It's a good crossover and can lead to career development and promotion.

    If you have any good used book stores, or check Powells or Amazon, find a copy of SQL Server 2008 Database Development Training Kit and SQL Server 2012 Step By Step. You'll learn a lot on both sides of the developer/administrator side by working through the exercises. 2008 is recent enough that the UI is largely the same as 2012 and 2014, and you should be able to find it cheap.

    LOTS of reading, LOTS of experimentation. IMO the basic skills are setting up backups and restores and DBCCs so you can look for trouble. There are books that show you how to break databases so that the DBCCs will show something bad has happened, then you get to figure out how to go in and fix it. (I personally don't like maintenance plans as they hide the level of information that I want, plus SQL Server is really good at maintaining internal consistency on their databases these days, it's been a long time since I saw a DBCC output actually show a real problem and not a momentary glitch.)

    -----
    [font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]

  • Great response, Wayne

    Thanks.

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