Datasheet

Since SQL Server 2000, there has been a trend away from full-time Production DBAs, and the role has
merged with that of the Development DBA. The trend may have slowed, though, with laws such as
Sarbanes-Oxley, where you need a separation of power between the person developing the change and
the person implementing the change. Other tasks that a Production DBA does are:
❑ Install SQL Server instances and service packs
❑ Monitor performance problems
❑ Install scripts from development
❑ Create baselines of performance metrics
❑ Configure the SQL Server optimally
❑ Create disaster recovery and scalability plans
❑ Ensure that backups have been run
In a large organization, a Production DBA may fall into the operations department, which would consist
of the network and Windows-support administrators. Placing a Production DBA in a development
group removes the separation of power that may be needed for some regulatory reasons. It may create
an environment where “rush” changes are immediately put into production, without proper inspection
and auditing.
Development DBA
Development DBAs also play a very traditional role in an organization. They wear more of a developer’s
hat and are the development staff’s database experts and representatives. This administrator ensures
that all stored procedures are optimally written and that the database is modeled correctly, both physi-
cally and logically. He or she also may be the person who writes the migration processes to migrate the
database from one release to the next. The Development DBA typically does not receive calls at two in
the morning, unless the Production DBA needs to escalate. Other Development DBA roles may be:
❑ Model an application database
❑ Create stored procedures
❑ Develop the change scripts that go to the Production DBA
❑ Performance-tune queries and stored procedures
❑ Possibly create any data migration
❑ Serve as an escalation point for the Production DBA
The Development DBA typically would report to the development group. He or she would receive
requests from a business analyst or another developer. In a traditional sense, Development DBAs should
never have modification access to a production database. They should, however, have read-only access
to the production database to debug in a time of escalation.
2
Chapter 1
04_055200 ch01.qxp 10/31/06 12:37 PM Page 2