February 1, 2010 at 7:37 am
OK, NOW:
Can you explain how much important it is for a DBA to know about system administration/HW/Servers? and why ?
AND
Does this also mean that an IT person has to change/leave IT to manage a department? Can they really understand and effectively handle the horses at a later stage ?
Cheers
February 1, 2010 at 7:58 am
Bill Gates-870674 (2/1/2010)
OK, NOW:Can you explain how much important it is for a DBA to know about system administration/HW/Servers? and why ?
AND
Does this also mean that an IT person has to change/leave IT to manage a department? Can they really understand and effectively handle the horses at a later stage ?
Cheers
I think it quite important that a DBA understand system administration, the OS, and the hardware. It isn't necessary to be an expert, but you have to be able to work with the system admin people, understand when the problems you are encountering aren't with the database but with the OS or the hardware.
You may also be involved in specing out new hardware, and if you don't understand hardware how are you going to help in that area. You need to work with the sys admin when building a new server to ensure it meets your requirements for separating the various files, mdf's, ldf's, tempdb, etc to ensure optimum performace.
Does an IT person need to leave IT to manage a department, no. They have to have they right mentality to manage. When you cross that line to management you become one of them. You no longer are a hands on person and need to rely on those you manage. In my opinion, you still need to maintain some level of technical skill, particularly at the lower level, but also at the higher level so that you don't fall for the marketing hype of the vendors and so that you understand what the technical people are telling you as well.
February 1, 2010 at 8:05 am
Can you explain how much important it is for a DBA to know about system administration/HW/Servers? and why ?
Does this also mean that an IT person has to change/leave IT to manage a department? Can they really understand and effectively handle the horses at a later stage ?
If you want to get promoted again and again, even as a DBA you'll possibly be asked about hardware requirements for a purchase or you could be asked to oversee a contract for hardware maintenance. And if you get promoted above that, eventually you'll be boss of someone other than DBAs and you'll need to have a rough grasp of what your employees are doing, or what they shouold be doing, and you could find yourself doing performance reviews or interviews for jobs you haven't done firsthand. Keep getting promoted and you'll be setting project priorities, settling turf wars over best practices between app and data architects, or deciding to keep work in-house or contract it out, or a hundred other IT duties that need to be handled by you, the guy who wants to be promoted but still can't see why learning other areas of IT is important.
And if that sort of seems to ignore your second question, that's because it does. The dirty little secret is that almost no one has direct experience in all these areas in a large organization. But good managers learn to rely on their people, pick up a smattering of the technical high points and avoid the expensive mistakes. It's more art than science. That's why people are telling you it all sort of depends, to stay flexible, to not be afraid of moving around or trying something new, and most of all figure out what you want so that you have something to help guide your decisions. Getting promoted is not a good thing if you hate going to work every day.
[font="Arial"]Are you lost daddy? I asked tenderly.
Shut up he explained.[/font]
- Ring Lardner
February 1, 2010 at 10:33 am
Great!
Now in a project life cycle, Ideally, who can best handle the project team ?
An experienced database (designer+administrator) OR an Application architect ? I think not System Administrator
Cheers
February 1, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Bill Gates-870674 (2/1/2010)
Great!Now in a project life cycle, Ideally, who can best handle the project team ?
An experienced database (designer+administrator) OR an Application architect ? I think not System Administrator
Cheers
Okay, tired now. Please, just get to the point. What are you after. Each question you have asked so far can really be answered with two words: It Depends.
February 1, 2010 at 1:02 pm
The best managers I had were conscientious, sought out expert knowledge, and wanted to succeed and lead. From your post it looks like you're on the right track if you want to head that direction.
Craig Outcalt
February 2, 2010 at 5:45 am
Thanks folks,
Don't get bored and frustrated 🙂
I believe that these questions can come to any beginner's mind and your experience can really help them deciding, if DBA is really a right track for life.
As per my experience, DBA is bridge between System Administrator and Application Architect.
Hanging between the two.
DBA needs knowledge and upto a certain level expertise of both fields to effectively work in a competitive environment. This gives you a feeling of not a specialist but Jack of all kind.
However captain should be a role model and specialist in his field. A leader must have knowledge, expertise and moral courage to lead the lions and not just followers all the time.
Being a DBA, i am not finding a strong reason to come out of this Hybrid situation which i really want. I really cannot see far too long.
Having these question in my mind, i am asking for expert guidance that gives boost to my moral and possibly gives me a clear guidance that which path with some milestones will take me to a better place.
Thank you very much for reading and sharing your views.
Have a good day.
Cheers!!!
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