Actually I'm a generalist, but that wasn't quite as interesting a title.
I did an interview recently with Buck Woody, the guy that did a lot of work on SQL Server 2005's Books Online. He's an interesting fellow and I'd urge you to check out the interview, and has an interesting blog. One of his recent entries talked about the how much should a DBA care about the Operating System or lower levels of our computing infrastructures.
I came up in a similar way to Buck, though not really a mainframe guy, I did start learning about networks and operating systems before I moved on to databases. I've set up and administered file servers, domain controllers, Exchange, print servers, SMS servers, DNS servers, routers, and more. While I definitely have specialized on SQL Server, I understand databases in general, and more importantly, how the network and OS work together.
That's not to say I can run an Active Directory like some of my friends, but I have a good general idea of how the various software components fit together and what I would expect ot happen. Over the years, I've seen less and less generalists-turned-specialists, and more specialists-grown-up-as-specialists.
I'm constantly amazed how many basic security questions or shell-type questions I see posted in the forums, leading me to worry that many DBAs don't have the valuable knowledge that really helps you to troubleshoot and solve problems. It's good to specialize and gain skill and technique in one area, it helps advance society overall as we specialize. However we need some rough knowledge of how the rest of the world works.
In college I wondered why a computer science major had to take chemistry or physics or history. Shouldn't we specialize in our chosen field and get all the knowledge we can? As I've aged I realize that being a more rounded person helps out in all aspects of my life, from "getting" comedic references, to being able to understand something I've read in the news, to applying the learning skills I used in college to better understand some other aspect of business.
I'm a big fan of rotating people out to different jobs periodically and cross training. I heard someone at PASS complain that their operations team was going to be cross trained so that each person could handle the other's job. This person was not pleased as he wanted to remain a database specialist. I think it's important to be good at your job, but cross training doesn't mean you're the expert at another position. It just means you can fill in during when the need arises or possibly in an emergency you'll have some knowledge of what to do.
I argue with my kids about this as they all have various subjects they think are a waste of time. They might be, and you might never use the knowledge. But challenge yourself to learn it as well as you can and take advantage of the opportunity. You never know when it might come in handy. As a final note. I hated English and writing in high school. I chose computer science in college to get away from the writing.
Now it's my job.
Podcast Notes
I appreciate all the feedback from people and I really am working on video. Mostly it's a question of getting some decent editing skills and then building up my pipeline so I can support a daily video editorial as well as the audio. Actually I'd be interested to know which you prefer. Send me a note.
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And if you're in a band, send me a sample of some music. I'd love to feature some SQLServerCentral.com community talent.
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