I was reading a lot of blogs lately on various aspects of SQL Server development and it started to hit me that most of them either have a distinct programmer flavor or they don't. I know that developers and DBAs tend to be different types of people, and it got me thinking about an interesting Friday poll.
First I know that many of you wear both hats. I've done it and despite all the "best practices" that say to separate the developer from the production guy, it doesn't always work. Heck, if your company agrees to hire a DBA are you going to complain you really need two so that one can handle each side?
I think not. So this Friday we're looking for your opinion on this topic:
What skills are important for DBAs?
I'm thinking here of the core skills, those that you think are important to focus on first and gain some experience for most any DBA. These are the things you'd want to be sure that a junior DBA learned first.
Or perhaps you'll answer with core SQL Server skills for a developer.
Personally I think backup and restore, at least a restore using many transactions logs, are the first skills you need to understand. The second skill would be basic T-SQL query writing, with at least 2 inner joins. There are so many functions and views now that you need these basic T-SQL skills to get information about your SQL Server. Third I'd add in that you should understand basic security, meaning logins, users, roles, grants, revokes, and how to determine permissions.
I'm sure there are more, but give me your top 3-5 skills that are important for everyone to know.
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
The podcast feeds are now available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com to get better bandwidth and maybe a little more exposure :). Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there.
or now on iTunes!
- Windows Media Podcast - 26.6MB WMV
- iPod Video Podcast - 19.5MB MP4
- MP3 Audio Podcast - 4MB
Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.
I really appreciate and value feedback on the podcasts. Let us know what you like, don't like, or even send in ideas for the show. If you'd like to comment, post something here. The boss will be sure to read it.