Thoughts on Being a DBA
I’ve been working as a DBA for about five years now, and here are a few observations I’ve made. These are pretty random.
- Most performance tuning issues are caused by bad design
- Vendors should have a DBA on staff to work with their developers
- I spend more time fighting with vendor database issues than things developed in-house
- Arguing with developers keeps your skills sharp
- Triggers are not my friend
- Implementing new systems is much more fun than babysitting existing systems
- I spend more time babysiting existing systems
- It helps to understand the application before diving into the data
- If you don’t understand the business, the data is meaningless
- Having a friend who is a business analyst can be helpful. They can explain what the application is trying to do.
- Vendors rarely comment their stored procedure and trigger code
- It helps to have a plan for when things go bump in the night.
- Things eventually DO go bump in the night
- Developers always want to use the latest and greatest technology. There is something to be said for that.
- There is also something to be said for using proven, stable technologies.
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Mike, good list, and I concur. I’d put “If you don’t understand the business, the data is meaningless” at the top of the list.