Database Administrator (DBA)

[IWYS]

Hi guys, i was wondering if you could help me get some advice for someone. They are very interested in becoming a DBA, however are unsure what option to take. Would it be best to stay in education and gain a computer science degree giving a broader knowledge of IT, or study a professional qualification like the Microsoft certification, i think its the Microsoft Certified Database Administrator or somethign like that? Also would a company take you on as an apprentice with no skills?

Any information would be great to pass on. They have read information online of all the options, but would be great to get some tips from someone who has maybe been there and done it and is now working in this field...

 

[DanielThomas1]

Hi guys, i was wondering if you could help me get some advice for someone. They are very interested in becoming a DBA, however are unsure what option to take. Would it be best to stay in education and gain a computer science degree giving a broader knowledge of IT, or study a professional qualification like the Microsoft certification, i think its the Microsoft Certified Database Administrator or somethign like that? Also would a company take you on as an apprentice with no skills?

Any information would be great to pass on. They have read information online of all the options, but would be great to get some tips from someone who has maybe been there and done it and is now working in this field...

Get a Computer Science Degree - if you can afford it Master with your Thesis in databases. Then go work for Oracle and make more money than any of us ever will!

If you want to be highly valuable to a company, get experience and qualifications with Oracle and Cisco (yea networking not database, but still looks good, and the first 1-3 quali's are easy to get). Microsoft stuff isnt bad, depends what size of company they'll wanna work for. MSSQL stuff goes from the really big to the really small. Oracle, jus the really big ;-)

 

[leemason]

I'd agree with going the Oracle route. MS SQL Server is much more of a commodity product. Oracle is used for seriously large databases with companies who can afford to pay a lot more for quality DBA skills.

 

[IWYS]

Thanks, i have passed this information on for him to mull over.

 

[leemason]

Oracle as highly sophisticated product so becoming a really good DBA is a very long term and intensive commitment. Have a look at the Oracle site on becoming certified and you will see what I mean: http://education.oracle.com/pls/web_prod-plq-dad/db_pages.getpage?page_id=39.

I've known many Oracle DBAs over the years and what you tend to find is that being an Oracle DBA can very often be a 24x7 commitment. Oracle is run by many very large organisations who have 24x7 operations and many database maintenance/upgrade activities must be done at anti-social hours (i.e. early morning, late night, bank holidays, etc) so be prepared for a job with very irregular hours.

MS SQL tends to be run in smaller database environments by smaller organisations in less critical applications. There are exceptions but you tend to find this so if you want an easier (not easy) life (but probably less lucrative) then go toward MS SQL.

 

[gregbrown54]

Microsoft SQL server is very much used in Enterprise. As our all microsoft products. Both Oracle and SQL are in-demand skills though...
I would advise your friend to pick up some broad knowledge of other microsoft products, such as Sharepoint and Active Directory... it's worth knowing how these things fit together.

He can get some free microsoft tools by searching for microsoft website spark... including sql server