Functions/Roles of a Database Administrator (DBA) –
- Deciding the Hardware Device – Depending upon the cost, performance and efficiency of the hardware, it is DBA who have the duty of deciding which hardware device will suit the company requirement. It is hardware that is an interface between end users and database so it needed to be of best quality.
- Software installation and Maintenance – DBA is responsible for installing the database software. He configure the software of database and then upgrades it if needed. There are many database software like oracle, Microsoft SQL, MySQL etc. in the industry so DBA decides how the installing and configuring of these database software will take place.If a new server is needed, the DBA handles the transfer of data from the existing system to the new platform.
- Managing Data Integrity – Data integrity should be managed accurately because it protects the data from unauthorized use. DBA manages relationship between the data to maintain data consistency.
- Database Backup and Recovery – If any company is having a big database, then it is likely to happen that database may fail at any instance. It is require that a DBA takes backup of entire database in regular time span. DBA has to decide that how much data should be backed up and how frequently the backup should be taken. Also the recovery of data base is done by DBA if they have lost the database.
- Tuning Database Performance – Database performance plays an important role for any business. If user is not able to fetch data speedily then it may loss company business. So by tuning an modifying sql commands a DBA can improves the performance of database.
- Capacity Planning – All the databases have their limits of storing data in it and the physical memory also has some limitations. DBA has to decide the limit and capacity of database and all the issues related to it.
- Database Accessibility – DBA writes subschema to decide the accessibility of database. He decides the users of the database and also which data is to be used by which user. No user has to power to access the entire database without the permission of DBA.
- Security – A DBA needs to know potential weaknesses of the database software and the company’s overall system and work to minimise risks. No system is one hundred percent immune to attacks, but implementing best practices can minimise risks.In the case of a security breach or irregularity, the DBA can consult audit logs to see who has done what to the data. Audit trails are also important when working with regulated data.
- Decides Validation Checks on Data – DBA has to decide which data should be used and what kind of data is accurate for the company. So he always puts validation checks on data to make it more accurate and consistence.
- Performance Monitoring – Monitoring databases for performance issues is part of the on-going system maintenance a DBA performs. If some part of the system is slowing down processing, the DBA may need to make configuration changes to the software or add additional hardware capacity.
