The Twelve DBA Rules of Thumb... a summary

Over the past couple of months this blog has offered up some rules of thumb for DBAs to follow that can help you to build a successful and satisfying career as a DBA. These twelve rules of thumb worked well for me as I worked my way through my career and I have shared them with you, my faithful readers, so that you can benefit from my experiences. I hope you find them useful... and if I have missed anything, please post a comment with your thoughts and experiences on being a good DBA.

As a reminder of what we have discussed, I am posting a short synopsis of the Twelves DBA Rules of Thumb here, along with links to each blog post.

 1. Write Down Everything
 2. Automate Routine Tasks
 3. Share Your Knowledge
 4. Analyze, Simplify and Focus
 5. Don't Panic!
 6. Be Prepared
 7. Don't Be a Hermit
 8. Understand the Business, Not Just the Technology
 9. Ask for Help When You Need It
10. Keep Up-to-Date
11. Invest in Yourself
12. Be a Packrat


Good luck with your career as a DBA...

DBA Rules of Thumb - Part 12 (Be a Packrat)

Today's post in the DBA Rules of Thumb series is short and sweet. It can be simply stated as "Keep Everything!"

Database administration is the perfect job for you if you are a pack rat.

It is a good practice to keep everything you come across during the course of performing your job. When you slip up and throw something away, it always seems like you come across a task the very next day where that stuff would have come in handy... but you you threw it out!

I still own some printed manuals for DB2 Version 2. They are packed up in a plastic tub in my garage, but I have them in case I need them.

DBA Rules of Thumb - Part 11 (Invest in Yourself)

Most IT professionals continually look for their company to invest money in their ongoing education. Who among us does not want to learn something new — on company time and with the company’s money? Unless you are self-employed, that is!

Yes, your company should invest some funds to train you on new technology and new capabilities, especially if it is asking you to do new things. And since technology changes so fast, most everyone has to learn something new at some point every year. But the entire burden of learning should not be placed on your company.

Budget some of your own money to invest in your career. After all, you probably won’t be working for the same company your entire career. Why should your company be forced to bankroll your entire ongoing education? Now, I know, a lot depends on your particular circumstances. Sometimes we accept a lower salary than we think we are worth because of the “perks” that are offered. And one of those perks can be training. But perks have a way of disappearing once you are "on the job."

Some folks simply abhor spending any of their hard-earned dollars to help advance their careers. This is not a reasonable approach to your career! Shelling out a couple of bucks to buy some new books, subscribe to a publication, or join a professional organization should not be out of the reach of most DBAs.

A willingness to spend some money to stay abreast of technology is a trait that DBAs need to embrace. 

Most DBAs are insatiably curious, and many are willing to invest some of their money to learn something new. Maybe they bought that book on NoSQL before anyone at their company started using it. Perhaps it is just that enviable bookshelf full of useful database books in their cubicle. Or maybe they paid that nominal fee to subscribe to the members-only content of that SQL Server portal. They could even have forked over the $25 fee to attend the local user group.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that companies should not reimburse for such expenses. They should, because it provides for better-rounded, more educated, and more useful employees. But if your employer won’t pay for something that you think will help your career, why not just buy it yourself?

And be sure to keep a record of such purchases because unreimbursed business expenses can be tax deductible. 

DBA Rules of Thumb - Part 10 (Keep Up-to-Date)

If you wish to be a successful DBA for a long period of time, you will have to keep up-to-date on all kinds of technology — both database-related and other.

Of course, as a DBA, your first course of action should be to be aware of all of the features and functions available in the DBMSs in use at your site — at least at a high level, but preferably in depth. Read the vendor literature on future releases as it becomes available to prepare for new functionality before you install and migrate to new DBMS releases. The sooner you know about new bells and whistles, the better equipped you will be to prepare new procedures and adopt new policies to support the new features.

Keep up-to-date on technology in general, too. For example, DBAs should understand new data-related technologies such as NoSQL, Hadoop, and predictive analytics, but also other newer technologies that interact with database systems. Don’t ignore industry and technology trends simply because you cannot immediately think of a database-related impact. Many non-database-related “things” (for example, XML) eventually find their way into DBMS software and database applications.

Keep up-to-date on industry standards — particularly those that impact database technology such as the SQL standard. Understanding these standards before the new features they engender have been incorporated into your DBMS will give you an edge in their management. DBMS vendors try to support industry standards, and many features find their way into the DBMS because of their adoption of an industry standard.

As we've already discussed in this series, one way of keeping up-to-date is by attending local and national user groups. The presentations delivered at these forums provide useful education. Even more important, though, is the chance to network with other DBAs to share experiences and learn from each other’s projects.

Through judicious use of the Internet and the Web, it is easier than ever before for DBAs to keep up-to-date. Dozens of useful and informative Web sites provide discussion forums, script libraries, articles, manuals, and how-to documents. Consult my web site at http://www.craigsmullins.com/rellinks.html for a regularly-updated  list of DBMS, data, and database-related Web resources.

Remember, though, this is just a starting point. There are countless ways that you can keep-up-to-date on technology. Use every avenue at your disposal to do so, or risk becoming obsolete.

DBA Rules of Thumb - Part 9 (Call on Others for Help When Needed)

Use All of the Resources at Your Disposal

Remember that you do not have to do everything yourself. Use the resources at your disposal. We have talked about some of those resources, such as articles and books, Web sites and scripts, user groups and conferences. But there are others.

Do not continue to struggle with problems when you are completely stumped. Some DBAs harbor the notion that they have to resolve every issue themselves in order to be successful. Sometimes you just need to know where to go to get help to solve the problem. Use the DBMS vendor’s technical support, as well as the technical support line of your DBA tool vendors. Consult internal resources for areas where you have limited experience, such as network specialists for network and connectivity problems, system administrators for operating system and system software problems, and security administrators for authorization and protection issues.

As a DBA you are sometimes thought of as "knowing everything" (or worse a know-it-all), but it is far more important to know where to go to get help to solve problems than it is to try to know everything there is to know. Let's face it... it is just not possible to know everything about database systems and making them work with all types of applications and users these days.

When you go to user groups, build a network of DBA colleagues whom you can contact for assistance. Many times others have already encountered and solved the problem that vexes you. A network of DBAs to call on can be an invaluable resource (and no one at your company even needs to know that you called for outside help).

Finally, be sure to understand the resources available from your DBMS vendors. DBMS vendors offer their customers access to a tremendous amount of useful information. All of the DBMS vendors offer software support on their Web sites. Many of them provide a database that users can search to find answers to database problems. IBM customers can use IBMLink,^[1] and both Oracle and Microsoft offer a searchable database in the support section of their Web sites. Some DBAs claim to be able to solve 95 percent or more of their problems by researching online databases. These resources can shrink the amount of time required to fix problems, especially if your DBMS vendor has a reputation of “taking forever” to respond to issues.

Of course, every DBA should also be equipped with the DBMS vendor’s technical support phone number for those tough-to-solve problems. Some support is offered on a pay-per-call basis, whereas other times there is a prepaid support contract. Be sure you know how your company pays for support before calling the DBMS vendor. Failure to know this can result in your incurring significant support charges.

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[1]. IBMLink is a proprietary network that IBM opens up only to its customers.