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dataswirl
Starting Member
6 Posts |
 Posted - 2009-08-16 : 14:02:56
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 Hi all,I wanted to ask some SQL veterans about the general kind of tasks and roles being carried out on a daily basis as a DBA. I am currently studying for a MS cert. in SQL, and i am learning the how but the thing with study is that it cant replicate real hands on experience. I dont know if you guys agree but it's a lot easier to understand the how-to if you have an understanding of the why and the when.So, i ask, what are some of the daily duties as a DBA? For instance, I know that bulk imports can be carried out using BCP utility and if it's a regular task can be handled by Server Agent but what kind of situation would you be using import/export? Anybodies two pence (cents) worth would be much appreciated  |
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lionofdezert
Aged Yak Warrior
885 Posts |
Posted - 2009-08-17 : 01:31:34
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| 1. Get a cup of coffee. This is afterall the most important thing in the morning. 2. Backups. If you can't recover from a total disaster, then you won't have a job for long. Backups should be the #1 concern of any DBA. The recovery plan should be documented and tested so in the event of a disaster there is no confusion or delay in bringing the databases back online.3. ErrorLog Monitoring, SQL Server and Windows. Most problems can be caught immediately by monitoring the Event and Error Logs on a server. Important events like login failures, memory set trimming, unloading of app domains, all get logged immediately.4. Performance Monitoring the key counters for both Windows and SQL Server.5. Monitoring Disk Space on the Server6. Monitoring available space in your database files, and logs.7. Running Database integrity Checks8. Performing Index Maintenance9. Monitoring DMV's/SQL Traces for poor performing queries10. Test Upgrades, new service packs, and hotfixes early.11. Deploying code updates and updates/hotfixes onto production servers.12. Monitoring system performance/Applying critical updates13. Monitoring/maintaining scheduled jobs14. Deploying stored procedures/db objects to production15. Stored procedure optimization (with development team)16. Fullfilling ad-hoc reporting requests17. DB object compare/synch, data compare/synch18. Ad-hoc data loads/Building data transfer packages (DTS/SSIS)19. Database design, answering developers questions20. Infrastructure design/maintenance: log-shipping, mirroring, replication21. Database migration/backup database/restore database/backup test |
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dataswirl
Starting Member
6 Posts |
Posted - 2009-08-17 : 17:06:08
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Wow! Reading that list I can see how the coffee can be the most important part of the day Thanks for the response, it gives me a good insight into how i will be putting all this new found knowledge to use. From what i gather from your list it's a case of going through the check list one at a time everyday to make sure everything is running smoothly.
SQL DBA in training |
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A day in the life of a DBA!