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Why is a good DBA so hard to find?...or, we didn't crash last week, why would we this week?

Well, I told many of you about DumbCo a while back (though it may have been in the comments stream of another blog here) and we were somehow able to keep the company going (no promises for how long).

Well, I just came across this poor company that blames the demise of their company on bad timing and bad DBA's.

This is why I always tell people to do SOMETHING and make sure you test it. Button mashing never helps a situation, but you must do some risk mitigation.

I can't believe how many companies I've seen go months without a competent DBA because they are looking for that perfect candidate "just in case they need them."(Job decription requires "RMAN version X.x" or "Federated database log shipping - 5 years exp.)

When you need a competent DBA is when you don't have one! If you're not ready to buy, then rent one! You can't walk 10 blocks in any major city without finding a company that will rent you a DBA for a couple of weeks or at least put one on standby for you.

A good DBA is primarily for ensurance (yes, with an "e"). To ensure that nothing terribly bad happens and that if something bad does happen, recovery will be as quick and painless as possible.

Everything else (performance, scalability, design, etc.) is a bonus.

Ask yourself this question: "If I go unplug the database and throw it in the dumpster, could our company survive?"

If the answer is yes, you may either have a poorly designed system or just like wasting a lot of money on databases.

If, however, your answer is no, stop everything and test a restore of your backups.

Yes, I know there's no time, yes I know you don't have a box big enough to test a full restore, yes I know a consultant set it up for you and promised it would work. Yes, I have two full pages of excuses.

If you rely on high availability and business continuity solutions to worry about that for you, you're fooling yourself.

If you can't prove it works, you have to assume it doesn't.

And if you don't have (competent) professionals to protect you, I hope your luck continues.

Read 3 comments


Well I can see your back with a vengeance. four blogs in 24 hours! Unfortunately us IT guys are like mushrooms, they keep us in the dark and feed us ____(four letter word starting with s, ending in t). But when something goes wrong who ya gunna call, not the ghostbusters for sure. Business cant survive without computers nowdays as I am sure Dratz has seen.
I believe this is true. I am a inspiring Database Administrator but I have done a 2 year DBA internship and have had one other IT job. I have done a 3 year non degree program, studdied 2.5 years at a community college and I'm struggling to find a job. I see alot of interviews I have had lately they go with the "idiot" dba. I tell them I know what I'm doing and its second nature for me and they go with someone else. Idiots. Thats fine. Go ahead, let your dba break your system, let them delete a database, have bad performance problems and let that man take forever fixing end user problems. Your going to discriminate against me because I'm a woman well hey I got news for you that man you hire can't do it as good as me. :)
Perhaps its your grammar, or sense of entitlement for attending "college"? I have been around and didn't go to college and I have never had an issue finding a job. If you are striking out consistently, there is something wrong that you are doing/saying. I doubt its anything to do with gender. Most businesses have EOE policy that gives you an advantage. The "Idiot DBA" maybe " can't do it as good as you", but they are doing the interview better than you.

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