One DBA and his job.
This blog post is, in some part, dedicated to John Sansom (Twitter: @SQLBrit), and to all the SQL Server Community wherever you are.
John invited guest bloggers to his site (www.johnsamson.com) to explore what it means to be a be a DBA. I thought I\’d have a go at that – what could be easier than talking at length about your favourite subject – but as it turns out, this is the hardest thing I\’ve had to do for quite some time. I\’ve been kicking around a few ideas \’in this space\’ for a while, but where to start ? And what to say (and, importantly, what not to say). So here goes…
How did I get here ?
I never thought, as a youth, that I would end up doing what I do. The stars seemed to have auspiced a future as an Estate Agent, a Lawyer, and perhaps something in the medical profession, but since I\’m not a good liar, have a sense of right and wrong, and don\’t really like being around sick people, I didn\’t feel I could pursue those career options with the dedication they would have required. Also, I\’m a bit of a lazy bum, and didn\’t want to put the hours in. And yes, I now see the irony in that.
In my time I have worked for the DSS, worked in a call center, cut cucumbers in a greenhouse, been a Legal Executive, made sweets and Christmas Cakes in several factories, and sold burglar alarms door-to-door, but none of these seemed quite right. Don\’t get me wrong, manufacturing is GREAT fun, and I made lots of good friends along the way, but it just didn\’t suit me at the time.
I\’ve been around computers since the early 1980\’s, when my dad bought a Dragon 32, running something called a Microsoft BASIC Interpreter (the fore-runner of MSX and MS-DOS). I cut my word processing teeth on a Norwegian version of WordPerfect 4.2 (a long story), and got a bit good at Lotus 123 release 3, in so far as anyone could be good with such limited processing power. While making cakes for a living, a secondment came up doing Production Planning and Material Variance Analysis on a IBM PC clone running Windows 3.1, and it kind of snowballed from there. Another chance to fill a skills gap at another employer led to me picking up the SQL mantle, at version 6.5. As far as I know, that system is still running. I\’m still working with SQL Server, and I\’m still learning.
What do I do now ?
The workload varies greatly. One moment, I\’m tuning errant stored procedures, the next propping up Sharepoint content databases. In half an hour\’s time, I could be discussing how to implement some of the cooler features of SQL Server 2012 with Architects, advising projects on the best use of SSIS, or just attending a meeting to discuss the next SAN infrastructure exploitation. Other duties include (but are in no way limited to) writing PowerShell scripts to automate system maintenance, building servers, patching and service packing, dealing with production issues, and mentoring some of the junior members of the team. Oh, and occasionally there\’s a fight with the network guys over their IDP rules 🙂 It helps to have a wide background these days, from Active Directory to MOM and everything in between.
What does being a DBA mean ?
I really don\’t like lists in blogs, but sometimes it\’s the only way of being concise and to the point. It also helps focus the mind a little, so here goes….
1. You\’ll get varied work – You need to keep quite mentally agile in this job because you never know what you\’ll come across next. Sometimes it\’s a new problem, sometimes an old one, but since each case must be studied on its merits, no two solutions are the same.
2. You need a good memory – Sometimes, the best solutions are so low-tech they\’re off many people\’s radars, like using BCP to import and export data. It may be low tech, but that doesn’t mean it\’s not the right thing to do. Whistles and bangs are cool and funky, but they can get in the way of a really \’elegant\’ solution. Mentoring others means you really have to know your stuff deep down, because mentees ask such interesting questions, and I know I would hate to be given \”Because.\” as a one-word answer. And can you really remember the difference between sp_updatestats and DBCC UPDATEUSAGE() ?
3. You might work long hours – If you work in a production environment with customer-facing systems that need 24×7 availability, there will be times when you have to start work in the middle of the night and carry on with the day job when you\’ve finished. It kind of goes with the times we all live in.
4. You don\’t know everything – The more I know about SQL Server, the more I realise that there\’s so much more that I don\’t know. Keeping an open mind and being receptive to other people\’s ideas is key. It\’s how we all learn and grow.
5. Get used to vending machine coffee – It\’s a side effect of point 3 above. These days, I actually miss the rubbish that comes from the vending machines if I\’m out of office for more than a week.
6. You\’ll meet great people – OK, I know that we all have to work with people that we don\’t always see eye-to-eye with, but generally, DBAs are a friendly bunch. We like to see a job well done, we congratulate those who succeed, we support those who don\’t, and we feel each other\’s pain keenly if it all goes wrong.
What\’s the best thing a DBA can have ?
In a word, courage.
Courage to stand your ground when required, courage to support those around you who may be struggling, and courage to know when to lead and when to follow.
One of the best bits about being a DBA is that you\’re never really alone. There are always people ready to help, and sometimes that help comes from unexpected quarters. The SQL Server MVPs are a useful source of advice, wisdom and knowledge, but sometimes all you need is to share a coffee with a colleague…
So, enough about me and what I think. Time to get back to work.
Thanks for reading, though. And @SQLBrit, if you\’re reading this, feel free to comment or plagiarise as you see fit. But only @SQLBrit. The rest of you should ask my permission first. It\’s an IP thing 🙂
Back soon…
The Modern Dataist 