DBA Best Practices

Oracle DBA Best Practices Dennis Williams Senior Database Administrator Lifetouch, Inc About Me TCOUG member since 1990 years only DBA at Lifetouch, Inc Lawson Software Database Research Engineer Consultant - Fingerhut Control Data Contact me at dwilliams@lifetouch.com Audience Those considering DBA career DBAs who want to improve Those forced to tolerate DBAs There’s no asset more important than a company’s data You can’t give that responsibility to someone who doesn’t know how to handle it Malcom Fields, CIO Hon Industries Agenda Time - Until lunch is ready Left-brain portion - tech Issues Right-brain portion - softer issues Database audit form 75,610 DBAs U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2003 began tracking the IT workforce 6.46% unemployed There are 797,445 Software Engineers (5.3% unemployed) DBA supports about 10 developers 66% DBA growth by 2010 Where DBAs come from? Schools don’t offer a degree Developer DB developer System Administrator DBA is a role Like a policeman or teacher Unstated responsibilities, expectations Most people don’t know what a DBA does DBA time breakdown 22% Fire Fighting 33% Monitoring 12% Perf Tuning / Change Mgt 33% Development Support 0% Planning for growth 0% Backup & Recovery Planning 0% Learning Koopman Assignment Keep a personal time log - week Learn your time distribution Target improvements Study time management Oracle Licensing Install defaults to all - know what costs extra Consider Standard Version Understand the organization budget mechanisms Knowledgeable if not authorized Troubleshooting Never worked? Check installation Worked earlier, doesn’t work now? What changed? Intermittent? (worst kind) How does it vary? With time, system load, hardware? From Oracle Networking 101 by Marlene Theriault Documentation Key: What is essential? Don’t document what can easily be figured out Keeping up-to-date is the crucial aspect Obsolete documentation is treacherous Self-documenting where possible Data Modeling O-O Developer: Database is just a means to persist classes DBA: Good data modeling can ensure the data is usable across the enterprise Data architect is a DBA career path Participate in initial design where your leverage is large Learn data modeling software Tech Learning List Application interface methods Microsoft, Java, OCBC Server tuning Storage methods and options, strengths and weaknesses Effective communication proceeds from shared knowledge Self-Study When you can’t get experience Be aware of the limits Well-defined area? (books?) Can earn credentials? Area where you can gain significant knowledge with a reasonable effort? Average experience of competitors is short Enjoy after doing 10 years? Know your learning style Left-brain vs right-brain Four primary learning styles: Visual (diagrams) Auditory (reading) Tactile (hands-on) Kinesthetic (body) Your manager’s learning style People Skills Few people besides a DBA understand what a DBA does This makes it hard to communicate your value to the organization People don’t mind paying for what they value, but resist paying for what they don’t consider valuable If your manager is a DBA, less people skills are required, but this is career-limiting Respect Do you respect someone who doesn’t respect you? The root of much conflict is a mutual lack of respect Smartness paradox We are the hero of our own movie, we justify ourselves, never the bad guy Really care about the people you work with How to avoid problems Many bad reactions stem from a lack of warning Emotions play a large role in decision-making Work hard to warn people ahead of time of what will be coming Don’t know why? Assume stupidity A DBA appreciates a heads-up, why shouldn’t others? When you’re wrong, admit it, quickly Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error - Andrew Jackson Stress Feeling no control Constant interruptions DBA syndrome - responsible for everything, control nothing, nobody understands You hear yourself saying “nobody appreciates me” Antidote: study stress control, exercise visit clients, future changes That Problem Person Sandwich / Oreo approach by Rachel Carmichael 1-on-1 outside the office Begin with a complement Make statements addressing the problem, starting with “I” - “I feel”, “I think”, “what I see is” Listen Wrap with team-building “we can work together on this”, “I need your help” End with a nice complement Simple Explanations The most valuable people are those who can understand complex issues and explain them simply to others Makes other feel good about themselves Albert Einstein, Steve Hawking, Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman Database Audit Form Periodically audit each database Checklist for problems Form is terse, so I included a sheet describing the purpose of each check ... Types of DBAs: Development DBA May carry developer title Develop code ( PL/SQL ) “Hunter” personality (find/fix/forget) Best practices: Code Complete by McConnell Production Support DBA Keep... personality Where best practices really make a difference The hero isn’t the DBA that battles problems through the weekend, but the one that avoided the problem Application DBA Supports a business... years only DBA at Lifetouch, Inc Lawson Software Database Research Engineer Consultant - Fingerhut Control Data Contact me at dwilliams@lifetouch.com Audience Those considering DBA career DBAs who