Top 20 Things I Learned: Day in the Life of a Database Administrator
As explained at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, a database administrator (DBA) is the information technician responsible for directing or performing all activities related to maintaining a successful database environment. A DBA makes sure an organization’s database and its related applications operate functionally and efficiently. If you are wondering what it is like to be one, here are 20 things we learned when it comes to a day in the life of a database administrator.
Checking on servers
Whether one is responsible for the hardware or not, there are plenty of things a database administrator will want to do to check up on servers on a day-to-day basis as per RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. This includes things like checking logs and keeping tabs on the SQL Server Agent, and much more.
‘Rotation’ schedules
In some environments as a database administrator, you may not have enough time to review details for every server every day. This is why DBAs set up a ‘rotation’ schedule where they make sure to keep looking at their most important (most mission-critical) servers daily and then ‘cycle’ through semi-daily or conduct weekly reviews of non-essential servers based on priority.
Establishing baselines
As a database administrator, performance tuning and throughput will typically be a major part of your day according to RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Without performance baselines to compare current activity against, you will quickly find that you are running blind, hence why setting up baselines is key.
Testing and validating backups
If you are not regularly testing your backups to make sure you can restore them, then you are not building the skills necessary to respond to a disaster and are running the risk that a change somewhere within your environment will ruin your ability to either get your backups working or allow users/applications to see backups should they end up being deployed to another host, data center, etc.
Performance analysis and tuning
With baselines and a sense of what your current workloads are, you will be able to spot when and where problems crop up. From there, you will typically spend a decent amount of your time as a database administrator tuning those operations to consume fewer resources.
Coordinating data pushes and changes
Depending on one’s role, environment, and data, a DBA might be periodically required to push application changes and upgrades (with corresponding tweaks to schema and code) or regularly ensure that ‘data pushes’ from staging to production and the likes are operating efficiently as articulated at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com.
Patch management
Patch management is another activity that makes up the day-to-day activities of a database administrator. As a DBA, you will commonly need to schedule, address, and coordinate patch management during your workday.
Code reviews
Code reviews are usually up there with the popular activities in the day of a database administrator as captured at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Reviewing code with developers to make sure everything is as it should be is among the most fun activities a DBA engages in.
Interactions with developers
Code reviews involve interactions with developers. Database administrators help developers in the company improve their craft, better understand SQL Server and internals, and reinforce the idea that everyone is working in the same team.
Meetings
Meetings also make up a major part of the day of a database administrator’s workday. Meetings are required to address differences of opinion and focus between developers, DBAs, and management. Database administrators actually spend a lot of time in meetings.
Capital improvements and initiatives
As a DBA, you will probably be involved in various initiatives or capital improvements throughout the year as covered at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. These ongoing projects commonly ebb and flow but can consume a large amount of one’s time.
Data analysis
The main responsibility in managing a database is understanding the kind of information being stored, as this influences the database design and data input. A database administrator will also set policies that limit access to the data and set out how the data will be used.
Maintaining older database systems
When a business grows, data loads generally increase as described at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, which means that changes and upgrades to older database systems are required. This is one of the daily activities a DBA engages in as it ensures that the system will always function optimally because of upgrade hardware.
Building new database systems
The database administrator may decide to create new databases after analyzing the current system. They are then responsible for overseeing the initial design process to final implementation. Debugging, testing, and integrating older databases are also responsibilities a DBA has to deal with in a day.
Troubleshooting
Even though databases are very carefully designed, they encounter some problems from time to time. This is why every day the database administrator ensures that troubleshooting is done and the necessary changes are made.
Training
As already mentioned, building new databases is a key part of a DBA’s duties. After finishing setting up a brand new database, the database administrator holds regular training sessions to show other staff members how to use the new system for their daily duties as discussed at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com.
Disaster recovery
Disaster recovery is another task a DBA may be required to undertake. Database administrators get the pleasure of restoring the databases to a working backup and hoping that restoration media didn’t get stored on-site if the office has been damaged.
Database support
As revealed at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, virtually everything is database-driven these days. When something goes wrong, the end users’ first response is to open a trouble ticket and blame the database. A database administrator spends a lot of time going through these requests and figuring out how many of them actually need to go to the help desk.
Cost analysis
Database administrators also don’t work in a vacuum and are required to have the best interest of the company at heart. This is why one of the duties of a DBA is to carry out a cost analysis. This will reveal the cost of performing activities such as backups from a business perspective.
Security
The final daily responsibility of a database administrator is ensuring their databases are secured with the latest security protocols. This prevents the company from losing valuable information stored in its databases.
These are some of the things to expect in the day-to-day life of a database administrator, with more on this topic, and then some, to be found over at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com.