When building products that interact with multiple database platforms, the complexity can be both a challenge and an opportunity. For Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), observing design decisions made without sufficient knowledge of underlying database architecture can be particularly frustrating. These moments highlight the critical need for architectural foresight and platform-specific expertise to avoid pitfalls that compromise scalability, performance, and maintainability. I’ve been managing multiple platforms for a couple decades and in recent years, building products that support the most popular enterprise and open-source databases today. I’m keenly aware of lacking documentation, either due to limited resources or hopes of directing…
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One undeniable truth is that we often lean towards what’s familiar to us. Open-source solutions might be cost-effective and supported by their enthusiastic communities, but there’s a correlation between value and investment. Enterprise relational systems, backed by substantial licensing revenues, can afford to innovate and introduce advanced features—capabilities that sometimes surpass what open-source can offer. However, it’s essential to understand that not every application necessarily demands an enterprise-level relational database. Amidst the evolving narrative about AI/ML’s potential to replace our jobs and the rising prominence of object storage seemingly poised to replace traditional database systems, one principle remains: “We gravitate…
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No matter how far my career and role has shifted, I will always view myself as a database administrator. I know this because when I fill out any form asking me what role I fulfill in IT, I still choose “DBA” from the list. No matter what claims the media and leading sources state, DBAs are an important role, even as technology shifts and traditional database tasks move to the cloud. Deeper relational database skills are still quite relevant when working in complex technical scenarios. The Experts Companies work to ensure they hire the right technical specialists. They don’t understand database…
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Just over a year ago, an alarm of emails, posts and projects arose in Europe surrounding the General Data Protection Regulation, also known with the acronym, GDPR. It was as if someone had poked the sleeping bear of IT and woke it and boy, was it grumpy. Suddenly EU technologists were learning all about advanced system security, how to encrypt and mask data, multi-tier authentication, along with creating procedures when a user requested to be forgotten. Projects and money were being allocated to take on this demand that considering its initiative was passed back in 2014, you’d think would have…
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My brain has a tendency to wake up way before everything else in the house, so I try to keep it occupied best I’m able without disturbing anyone. This may explain why so many if my plans are well flushed out, as I have a tendency to hash them out in the early morning hours as a way of letting the rest of the household sleep. This morning, on the eve of Christmas, I may have let my brain offer a Database Administrator twist to an old Christmas favorite… Yes, to the tune of “the 12 Days of Christmas “…
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The first edition of the free eBook is available for download at Delphix! It took us a bit to get the final updates to the eBook version completed and I want to thank everyone at Delphix who helped get the content updated with the latest additions, including the bossman, Eric Schrock and for helping me keep it all organized and finalized, shoutouts to Rita Rosenberg. If you’re interested in downloading a PDF copy, simply go to this link and get a version for yourself and find out what you need to know as a DBA about where we fit into…
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I’m a Leaf on the Wind, Watch How I Soar. This is one of my favorite lines from the movie Serenity. Without Alan Tudyk’s character dying and all at the end of this, (sorry if I ruined the movie for anyone…) this is how a DBA should be in the database environment- skilled, reliable and maybe a little off our rockers. Our job is to protect the data, the database and all of the database. With that said, I’m going to list my Ten Rules of Database Administration. Fixing a performance problem with hardware is the best way to guarantee the return…