Database Administration is the process building, organizing and maintaining custom databases for meeting the specific data requirements of an organization.
A Database Administrator (DBA) is the person in charge of all the procedures involved in database development, organization, retrieval and security. A DBA has to understand how data is related to other data in the system and then organize it accordingly.
Importance of Database Administration
Database is the backbone to any organization. Database administration is thus a priority to every enterprise. Due to globalization and the increase in employee and client base, companies need to manage very high volumes of data. Database administration is thus an essential requirement for every big company.
Tasks and Responsibilities of a DBA
The DBA is accountable for planning, designing, developing and managing new and existing databases. Some of the major tasks of a DBA are:
- Monitoring database access and security.
- Analysing performance and updating parameters for delivering faster access to front-end users.
- Data modelling and designing database as per the system storage requirements.
- Installing and analysing new versions of Database Management Systems (DBMS).
- Handling documentation, procedures and metadata.
- Managing user privileges and access permissions.
- Building and then testing back-up and recovery plans.
- Working collaboratively with programmers and IT project managers.
- Regularly interacting with technical staff for ensure database integrity and security.
Skill Requirement
Organization Skills: A DBA must have good organization skills for handling large databases. This is to ensure that the data is well organized to be easily accessible by users and also to improve performance. An imperfectly organized database will lead to slower data access, which might further result into user frustration and decrease in productivity.
Technical Skills: A DBA must possess excellent technical skills (either one of the SQL/ MySQL/ Oracle/DB-2 ). He must have knowledge about the storage and retrieval of data and how databases are build. They are also expected to know how database organization affects the performance of computers and network. A DBA should also be able to resolve any technical problems which may arise due to database design or malfunction (with minimal data loss).
Interpersonal Skills: A DBA has to work with programmers, clients and a number of other professionals in a domain. This clearly depicts the need and importance of good communication and interpersonal skills.
Business Skills: Business skills are essential for this job. A DBA should be able to analyse and understand the requirements of the clients and should also be able to handle their databases for avoiding any interruption of services. A DBA must have an understanding of how databases impact the business.
Educational requirements
A bachelor’s degree (or an equivalent diploma) in computer science or related field is a must for this job. For entry level positions some companies might prefer candidates with some relevant work experience but fresh graduates are also considered by a number of companies.
For managerial positions, companies prefer candidates with a master’s degree in Computer Sciences or database administration, plus certifications.
Certifications
Here are some certifications provided by some big organizations like Microsoft, IBM and Oracle:
- Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA)
- Oracle Database Administrator Certified Associate (OCA)
- IBM Certified Database Administrator
- My SQL Database Administrator
Career Scope
Due to a tremendous increase in global internet traffic, data has become a key aspect to every business. All organisations are now dependent on databases for both administrative and commercial purposes.
Since data storage is central to every business, the demand for database administrators is rising exponentially. Apart of data management, companies are also focusing on protecting their data from cyber attacks. Any expertise in this database administration can be a great asset for career growth and employment.
Database administration has been ranked 2nd in the “Best Technology Jobs” and 6th the “100 Best Jobs” list by usnews.com. If you’re interested in this domain, you can post your database administration training requirement here.
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