Introduction to

Database
Administration
SECP3713
DATABASE ADMINISTRATION
Semester 1 2022/2023
 Objectives
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
• Define the importance of database administration
• Define the role of database administrator
• Differentiate the roles of database administrator, data
administrator and system administration

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 Why Learn Database Administration?
• Data is at the center of today's applications; today's
organizations simply cannot operate without data.
• The better the design and utility of the database, the
better the organization will be positioned to compete
for business.
• One of the largest problems faced by IT organizations
is ensuring quality database administration. A survey
of IT managers conducted by Information Week
showed that the top two database management
execution issues faced by companies are ease of
administration and availability of qualified
administrators.
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INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS
Why Learn Database Administration?
• Both of these issues were cited by 58% of survey
respondents. Additionally, the Market Compensation
Survey conducted shows that DBA positions take
longer to fill than any other position.
• Clearly, there is no lack of demand for DBA skills in
today's job market.
• New demand – Data analytics/data scientist
A good DBA needs to enjoy challenges and be a good
problem solver.

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What Is a DBA?

• The need for a database administrator is greater

today than ever before. Why?

The CIO of Acme Corporation hires a management consulting company

to streamline their information technology (IT) operations. The
consultant, determined to understand the way Acme works, begins by
interviewing the CIO. One of his first questions is: "So, I see that you
have a DBA on staff. What does he do?"
The CIO replies, "Well, I'm told that we need the DBA to make sure our
Oracle databases stay online. I know that some of our critical business
processes like order entry and inventory use Oracle, but I really don't
know what the DBA does. But please don't tell me I need another one,
because we can barely afford to pay the one we have!"
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 Evaluating a DBA Job Offer
• Does the company offer regular training for its DBAs to
learn new DBMS features and functionality? What
about training for related technologies such as
programming, networking, e-business, transaction
management, message queuing, and the like?
• Does the company allow DBAs to regularly attend local
user groups? What about annual user groups at remote
locations?
• Are there backup DBAs, or will you be the only one on
call 24/7?

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Evaluating a DBA Job Offer
• Are there data administration and system
administration organizations, or are the DBAs
expected to perform all of these duties, too?
• Does the DBA group view its relationship with
application development groups as a partnership?
Or is the relationship more antagonistic?
• Are DBAs included in design reviews, budgeting
discussions, and other high-level IT committees and
functions?

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DBA Salaries
• DBAs are well paid, have challenging jobs, and are likely to be
engaged in the most visible and important projects. What's not
to like?
• DBAs are expected to know everything, not just about
database technologies, but about any thing remotely
connected to them.
• Database administration is a nonstop job, and DBAs work long days
with lots of overtime, especially when performance is suffering or
development projects are behind schedule.
• DBAs frequently have to work on weekends and holidays to maintain
databases during off-peak hours.
• A DBA must be constantly available to deal with problems, because
database applications run around the clock. Most DBAs carry pagers or
cell phones so they can be reached at any time. If there is a database
problem at 2:00 A.M., the DBA must get out of bed, clear his head, and
solve the problem to get the applications back up and running.

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DBA Salaries
• Failure to do so can result in database downtime, and that can
completely shut down business processes.
• DBAs frequently spend weekends in front of the computer
performing database maintenance and reorganizations during off
peak hours.
• You can't bring mission-critical databases down during the nine-to-
five day to maintain them.
• According to industry analysts at the META Group, the average DBA
works more than fifty hours per week, including an average of six
hours on weekends.

• Database administration is technically challenging and

rewarding; it can also be exhausting and frustrating. But
don't let that scare you. The positive aspects of the job far
outweigh the negative. 
Database administration is a
nonstop job.
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 Database Technology

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Database Technology

• A database is an organized store of data wherein the

data is accessible by named data elements.
• DBAs must be experts in the specific DBMS in use, and
there may be many in the organization. For example,
a large organization might use DB2 on the mainframe,
Oracle and Informix on several different UNIX
platforms, and SQL Server on Windows 2000. Small
company might only use MySQL, etc

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 Database Technology
• The DBA, therefore, must have expertise in each of these
different management systems and platforms.
• The DBA must be capable of determining which DBMS and
platform is best suited to the needs of each application. This can
be a difficult job fraught with politics and conflicting opinions.
• The DBA group must be able to act impartially and implement
decisions based on the best fit of application, DBMS, and
platform.

DBAs must implement decisions based on the

best fit of application, DBMS, and platform.
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 The Management Discipline of Database
Administration
• The DBA is responsible for managing the overall database
environment. Often this includes installing the DBMS and setting
up the IT infrastructure to allow applications to access
databases.
• These tasks need to be completed before any application
programs can be implemented. Ad hoc database access is a
requirement for many organizations.
• A good DBA is integral to the entire application development life
cycle. The DBA is "in demand" for his knowledge of data and the
way in which data is managed by modern applications.

A good DBA is integral to the entire

application development life cycle.
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 Database, Data, and System
Administration
• Many organizations combine data administration into the
database administration role.
• Data Administration: A high-level function that is responsible
for the overall management of data resources in an
organization, including maintaining corporate-wide definitions
and standards
• Database Administration: A technical function that is
responsible for physical database design and for dealing with
technical issues such as security enforcement, database
performance, and backup and recovery
• System Administration: The SA is responsible for the
installation and setup of the DBMS. The SA typically has no
responsibility for database design and support. Instead, the
DBA is responsible for the databases and the SA is responsible
for DBMS installation, modification, and support.
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Data Administrator
The DA is responsible for issues such as:
• Identifying and cataloging the data required by business users
• Production of conceptual and logical data models to
accurately depict the relationship among data elements for
business processes
• Production of an enterprise data model that incorporates all
of the data used by all of the organization’s business
processes
• Setting data policies for the organization
• Identifying data owners and stewards
• Setting standards for control and usage of data

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Database, Data, and System
Administration

DA vs. DBA
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 Data Administrator =
Chief Data Officer
• Not about technology, about data and its meaning
in the organization
• Responsible for rallying the organization to treat
data as the corporate asset it truly is
• Deal with metadata as well as data
• Organizations truly concerned about data quality,
integrity, and reuse will invariably implement and
staff the DA function.

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Chapter 22 “Metadata Management”
System Administrator
• Installation and setup of computing resources
• Pure technologist
• No responsibility for database design and support
• Infrastructure support
• Sometimes called a systems programmer

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Database Administrator
• Works with DA and SA
• Accepts logical models from DA to implement as
physical databases
• Works with SA to schedule and implement system
software (e.g. DBMS) and to tune the environment
appropriately
• Of course, the remainder of the course will explain
exactly what the role of the DBA is…

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 System DBA
IT Infrastructure (if no SA)
Administrator

Data & Metadata Policy Data Database

Administrator Administrator
(if no DA)
Analysis

DA, SA, and Design

DBA Database
Administrator
responsibilities
Development

Testing

Implementation (Databases, applications)

Maintenance and Tuning

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Evolving Approaches to Data
Administration

• Data administration and database administration

practises that can be made at each stage of the
traditional database development life cycle:
• Database planning
• Database analysis
• Database design
• Database implementation
• Operation and maintenance
• Growth and change

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 DBA Tasks
• Ensuring that an organization's data and databases are
useful, usable, available, and correct requires the DBA
to perform a variety of tasks in a variety of areas.
• database design  A poor relational design can result in
poor performance.
• performance monitoring and tuning
• database availability  Ensuring database availability is a
multifaceted process.
• security and authorization
• backup and recovery  The majority of recoveries today
occur as a result of application software error and human
error.
• data integrity  physical, semantic, and internal.
• release migration  The task of keeping the DBMS running
and up-to- date is an ongoing effort that will consume many
DBA cycles.
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Your Tasks:
• In 10 minutes, discuss with the student who sit next
to you:
• Refer to chapter 1 – describe what are these tasks? Why
is it important? What skill(s) or knowledge that a DBA
must have in order to perform these task efficiently?

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 Types of DBAs
• System DBA
• Database Architect
• Database Analyst
• Data Modeler
• Application DBA
• Task-Oriented DBA
• Performance Analyst
• Data Warehouse Adminsitrator

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Types of DBA: System DBA

• System DBA
• Focuses on technical rather than business issues, primarily
in the system administration area.
• Physical installation & performance of DBMS,
• 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
 Types of DBA: DB Architect
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• Database Architect
• The database architect is involved in new design and
development of new database only; not involved in
maintenance, administration, or tuning of established
databases and applications
• 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
Type of DBA: DB Analyst
• There is really no standard definition for the
Database Analyst job
• Could be:
• Junior DBA
• Database Architect
• Data Administrator or Data Analyst
• Or could just be another term used for DBA

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Type of DBA: Data Modeler
When the DA role is not defined or staffed there may be a data
modeler role defined. A data modeler is usually responsible for
a subset of the DA’s responsibilities.
Data modeling tasks include:
• the collection of data requirements for development projects
• analysis of the data requirements
• design of project-based conceptual and logical data models
• creation of a corporate data model and keeping the
corporate data model up-to-date
• working with the DBAs to ensure they have a sound
understanding of the data models
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 Types of DBA: Application
DBA
• Application DBA
• Focuses on database design and the ongoing support and
administration of databases for a specific application or
applications.
• The application DBA is likely to be an 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.

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 Types of DBA: Application
DBA

Focus of the application DBA

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 Application DBA: Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
• Application DBAs can better focus on an individual • Application DBAs can lose sight of the overall
application which can result in better service to the data needs of the organization because of
developers of that application.
their narrow focus on a single application.
• The Application DBA is more often viewed as an
integral component of the development team and • The application DBA can become isolated.
therefore is better informed about new Lack of communication with a centralized
developments plans and changes to plans. DBA group (if one exists) can result in
• Because the application DBA consistently works on a diminished sharing of skills.
specific set of applications he can acquire a better
overall understanding of how each application works • When application DBAs implement useful
enabling him to better support application procedures it takes more effort to share
developers. these procedures among the other DBAs.
• With a more comprehensive understanding of the • Due to the application-centric nature of an
application, an application DBA will have a better application DBA he can lose sight of new
understanding of how the application impacts the
overall business. This knowledge will likely result in features and functionality being delivered by
the execution of DBA tasks to better support the the DBMS group.
organization.
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Type of DBA: Task-Oriented
DBAs
• DBAs who focus on a narrow subset of database
administration tasks
• For example:
• Backup & Recovery DBAs
• Database Designer
• Performance Analysts

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Types of DBA: DW Administrator
• Must be capable DBAs, but with a thorough
understanding of the differences between a database
that supports OLTP and a data warehouse.
• Business intelligence, query, and reporting tools
• Database design for read-only access
• Data warehousing design issues such as star schema
• Data warehousing technologies such as OLAP (including
ROLAP, MOLAP, and HOLAP)
• Data transformation and conversion
• Data quality issues
• Data formats for loading and unloading of data
• Middleware

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Staffing Considerations
• How Many DBAs?
• One of the most difficult things to determine is the
optimal number of DBAs required to keep an
organization's databases online and operating efficiently.
• Determining how many DBAs is optimal is not a precise
science. It depends on many factors:

• Number of databases • Performance requirements

• Size of the databases • Type of Applications
• Number of users • DBA staff experience
• Number of applications • Programming staff experience
• Service-level agreements (SLAs) • End user experience
• Availability requirements • Variety of DBMSs
• Impact of downtime • DBA tools
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 DBA Reporting Structures
• To whom should the DBA group report? Different companies
have taken different approaches to the DBA reporting
structure, but a few reporting hierarchies are quite common.
Typical DBA reporting
structure

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DBA Reporting Structures

Application DBA reporting structure

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DBA Reporting Structures

Recommended Data Resource Management

(DRM) reporting structure
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 Environments
For a quality db implementation, at least 2 separate environments
must be created:
1) Production 2)Test (development)

• System Design • Application • Operational

• Database Design Shakeout Status
• Application • Testing With
Development Related Systems
• Unit Testing • Volume Testing
• Integration
Testing

Quality
Test Assurance Production
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Procedural DBA
• Triggers, user-defined function (UDF) and stored
procedures  provide the ability to define business
rules to the DBMS instead of in separate,
application programs.
• These features tightly couple application logic to the
database server
• steps need to be taken to ensure they are managed
properly. DBAs must grapple with the issues of quality,
maintainability, efficiency, and availability.

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Procedural DBA Duties

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A Virtual, Extended Infrastructure

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 Cloud Computing
• Cloud computing offers a new model for the delivery of IT
resources to users. The primary defining characteristic of Cloud
Computing is to give the illusion of on-demand access to an
infinite amount of computing resources.
– A good example of a Cloud Computing service is offered by
Salesforce.com, which delivers access to a CRM application over the web.
• Another aspect prevalent with Cloud computing offerings is that
users can rent computing power with no commitment. Instead of
buying a server, you can rent the use of one and pay just for what
you use.
– This used to be referred to as utility computing because it mimics how
people pay for utilities, such as water or electricity.
– It is a “pay as you go” service.
• Pervasive devices such as smart phones often are used to interact
with data in the cloud.
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The DBA in the Cloud?
• DBAs may be called upon to administer the
databases used by cloud computing
• Similar duties, availability becomes more of an
issue

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 DBA Certification
• Professional certification is offered by the leading
DBMS vendors
• IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, others
• General concept: a certified DBAs should be
capable of performing DBA tasks and duties
• But passing a test is not always a viable indicator of
being able to perform a complex job like DBA.

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Should You Certify?
• Yes, it can make you more employable
• Some companies hire only certified DBAs
• But on-the-job experience is probably a better
indicator of DBA capabilities than passing a
certification exam…

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Preparing to Certify
• DBA certification tests sometimes
ask arcane syntax questions
• You will need to study
• Books, self-learning software

• If you earn certification, display it

proudly on your resume
• and business card, if allowed

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