21st Oracle DBAs: Types of DBA's

Types of DBAs:

How many different types of DBAs are there? Well, there are DBAs who focus on logical design and DBAs focus on Physical design; DBAs who specialize in building systems and DBAs who specialize in maintaining and tuning systems; specialty DBAs and general purpose DBAs. Truly, the job DBA encompasses many roles.

Some organizations choose to split DBA responsibilities into separate jobs. Of course, this occurs most frequently in larger organizations, because smaller organizations often cannot afford the luxury of having multiple, speciality DBAs.

Still other companies simply hire DBAs to perform all of the tasks required to design, create, document, tune, and maintain the Organization’s data, databases, and database  management systems. Let’s take a look at some of the more common types of DBA

SYSTEM DBA:

                A System DBA focuses on technical rather than business issues, primarily in the system administration area. Typical tasks center on the physical installation and performance of the DBMS software and can include:

• ·         Installing new DBMS versions and applying maintenance fixes supplied by the DBMS vendor
• ·         Setting and Tuning system parameters
• ·         Tuning the operating system, network, and transaction processors to work with the DBMS
• ·         Ensuring appropriate storage for the DBMS
• ·         Enabling the DBMS to work with storage devices and storage management software.
• ·         Interfacing with any other technologies required by database applications.
• ·          Installing third-party DBA tools.

System  DBAs are rarely involved with actual implementation of databases and applications. They might get involved in application tuning when operating system parameters or complex DBMS parameters need to be altered.
Indeed, the Job of system DBA usually exists only if the organization does not have an official system administration or systems programming department.

 Database Architect:

       Some organizations create a seperate position,  database architect, for design and implementation of new databases. The database architect in new design and development work only; he is not involved in maintenance, administration, or tuning of established databases and applications. The database architect designs new databases for new or existing applications.

       The rationale for creating a seperate position is that the skills required for designing new databases are different from the skills required to keep an existing database implementation up and running. A database architect is more likely than a general-purpose DBA to have data administration and modeling expertise.

Typical tasks performed by the Database Architect include:

•  Creating a logical data model (if no DA or data modeler position exists)
• Translating logical data models into physical database designs
• Implementing efficient databases, including specifying physical characteristics, designing efficient indexes, and mapping database objects to physical storage devices.
• Analyzing data access and modification requirements to ensure efficient SQL and Optimal database design
• Creating backup and recovery strategies for new databases.

Not every organization will staff a seperate database architect position, instead requiring DBAs to work on both new and established database projects.

Database Analyst:

       Another common staff position is the database analyst. There is really no set definition for this position. Sometimes junior DBAs are referred to as database analysts. Sometimes a database analyst performs a role similar to that of the Database Architect. Sometimes the data administrator is referred to as the database analyst or perhaps as the data analyst. And sometimes a database analyst is just another term used by some companies instead of database administrator.

 

Data Modeler:

       A data modeler is usually responsible for a subset of the data architect's responsibilities. A data modeler is usually not considered a DBA, but ths is not a hard and fast rule.

Application DBA:
       In direct contrast to the system DBA is the application DBA. The application DBA focuses on database design and the ongoing support and administration of databases for a specific application or subset of applications. The application DBA is likely to be expert at writing and debugging complex SQL and understands the best ways to incorporate database requests into application programs. The application DBA must also be capable of performing database change management, performance tuning, and most of the other roles of the DBA. The difference is the focus of the application DBA--it is on a specific subset of applications rather than the overall DBMS implementation and database environment.

Not every organization staffs application DBAs. However, when application DBAs exist, general-purpose DBAs are still required to support the overall database environment and infrastructure. When application DBAs do not exist within an organization, general-purpose DBAs are likely to be assigned to support specific applications while also maintaining the organization's database environment.