October 1, 2015 at 5:48 am
Hi DBA'S..can you help me in Preparing Checklist for Knowledge Transfer for SQL Server from the old/previous DBA. We got a new project and i have to get KT from the previous DBA.if you have any document relater to this please share with me, it would be grate. Thanks in advance.
October 1, 2015 at 6:53 am
An almost identical question was asked a few years back.
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/FindPost1279217.aspx
- At least a couple of weeks before the old DBA walks out the door, ask him to add you to the SYSADMIN role. You don't know what you don't know, so many questions will come to mind only after you start exploring on your own.
- Ask if he has a documented operations guide or a set of "run books".
- Ask him for an explanation of the internal workings of each job, SSIS package, scheduled job, etc. Don't trust him to tell you about each one, look for yourself about what all is running.
- Ask him about maintenance plans: what has been setup and why specific tasks are being performed.
- Ask him what type of issues routinely or occasionally come up and how he has dealt with them in the past. Don't just trust him to reveal everything, also check the SQL Server error and run logs yourself to see if you can spot anything unusual.
- Go through the process of restoring a full backup to a staging server, just to insure that such a things actually exists and is accessible when needed.
- Ask business managment or end users about what issues regularly or occasionally occur with the database server. They may reveal important information that the DBA either forgets to tell, doesn't consider relevent, or would have you discover on your own after he's gone.
Especially in regards to the disaster recovery plan, don't just let the DBA tell you what it is, insist that each step be documented.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 1, 2015 at 7:54 am
In addition to the above, find out what the Recovery Time Objective and Recovery Point Objective is for each of the databases in production. I would also find out if there is a bug tracking system and if it's used for oncall issues (it should be), where it is and how to work with it. Find out how new code is delivered to production.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
October 1, 2015 at 8:07 am
Don't forget to ask where ALL the passwords are kept.
For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]
October 1, 2015 at 8:43 am
If you've only got 2 weeks until the old DBA leaves, then I'd highly recommend blocking off two or three days and asking the 20 really important questions first. The most important questions should require short and straightforward answers. If you ask the DBA a simple question like "Give me a list of all the database instances you manage.", "Where and how often do we archive backups?", or "Who else should have sysadmin access?" and what you get in return is a fifteen minute spiel with no concrete answers worth writing down, then you know you've got problems.
What you don't want to happen is for management to task the DBA with sitting off in a corner finishing up some sored procedure or other work in progress, and then he disappears having never given you the important stuff you really need from him.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
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