December 6, 2005 at 7:47 am
I am working with another "DBA" at my location who asked me the following questions after working with SQL Server for 5 years. Now maybe I am not as smart as I hoped but I thought that he should know theses. What do you think and how would you answer them.
I was thorugh back a little with these. Am I exspecting too much?
Stacey W. A. Gregerson
December 6, 2005 at 8:24 am
Stacey
1. Microsoft recommends having 1 Maintenance Plan per database. If the first step fails in the Maint Plan the remaining also fail - e.g. The first database backup fails, all other database backups will not be attempted. It also enhances troubleshooting analysis.
2. Subjective Choice - Unlimited growth means you can fill the HDD and might not even realize until users get errors while inserting data that the HDD is full - Windows, SQL Server and everything else will be slow or on a halt. And Limited growth means Database application users will complain more frequently if the database becomes full and more work for DBAs for monitoring and increasing the database file size. You can also create automated alerts to monitor growth. It depends on the number of inserts in the database - the baseline needs to be developed.
3. Windows Authentication has certain benefits over SQL Server Authentication, primarily due to its integration with the Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 security system. Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 security provides more features, such as secure validation and encryption of passwords, auditing, password expiration, minimum password length, and account lockout after multiple invalid login requests.
December 7, 2005 at 10:04 am
Having worked with SQl Server for about 5 years, I didn't know the answer to those questions either. However I know where to find the answers. Sometimes when you're working on a system the obvious stuff just gets thrown into the background and unless an issue comes up you just don't need to know.
As far as why you "HAVE" to use windows security for logins, that is a policy decision.
December 7, 2005 at 10:29 am
I don't think that you are expecting too much. These are all things that were covered when I took the SQL Server 7.0 Admin class (I never took the 2000 class - I just went ahead and took the certification test).
I consider this stuff to be foundational knowledge - not necessarily being able to rattle it off from memory, but knowing what is 'right' and being able to look it up to prove yourself.
December 7, 2005 at 2:33 pm
I'm with Chris, you aren't expecting too much. I would expect a DBA to know this after 5 months (maybe that is a bit of a stretch). At least show that they've thought through the potential issues. A DBA needs to be able to think logically and determine what the pros and cons are for each option.
Maybe if they've never run into these situations (after 5 years??) the answers may not be immediately obvious, I can accept that. But there are all kinds of resources available and would only take a few minutes to answer these questions for themselves. Just reading the info in BOL about these would be a great start.
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