February 10, 2012 at 11:36 am
hi all,
If production is down What must be steps we need to take as a dba
February 10, 2012 at 11:41 am
I think we need more details.
February 10, 2012 at 11:42 am
Well to begin with you would have to define production down and the roles and responsibilities of the DBA in your company. Then in the event of production being down you would have to decide upon the level of "down". Is this server down? Database down? Single user having access problems?
Two quick examples:
For example if you don't manage the server and the hardware is down what would your role be? Nothing other than engaging with the admin team. Although hopefully you would have some kind of HA solution or a DR server that you could cut over to.
If production down has happened because of a code change you would hopefully have rollback scripts to fix things back to the way they were. Although what if it was an application level change, not database, at that point there would be nothing that you could do.
As you can see a DBAs tasks could be very varied based upon the scenario presented. There is no one answer that could be provided.
February 10, 2012 at 12:03 pm
It all depends upon what is down...SQL Server, a particular database, Windows Server, the Cluster or a node on a cluster?
Ed Watson aka SQLGator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
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February 10, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Interview question?
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February 10, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Boy does that sound like an interview question.
Let's assume it is, the answer you give has to basically be, how do you decide if it's a DBA problem or not. For example, I hear, "Production is down." I'm going to check my connectivity to the server. From there, things begin to break. In an interview I would expect to be lead along. I say to the interviewer "Well, first thing I do is a quick ping to see if I can see the server, can I?" Then depending on their answers, we role play through a set of diagnostics and responses to what those diagnostics tell you.
That's what they're looking for. Knowledge. If you've been through a few of those "production is down" phone calls, you can explain that knowledge to the interviewer. If you have never been through one, say that, and then guess at what your responses might be based on your knowledge of SQL Server. If you have nothing to add to this conversation, then maybe the job isn't for you.
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February 10, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Just dont say...'Man that sucks, good night' and then <click>
Ed Watson aka SQLGator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
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February 11, 2012 at 4:06 am
First, get 3 envelopes... 😉
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
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