DBA Training

[jdpjamesp]

I've just been told that the company is going to get a DBA expert in from Progress to give us a day's training. Apparently he will tailor the day to our requirements so my team leader has asked me (as assistant DBA), and the main DBA to come up with a program for the day. I've got some ideas, but just so everything is covered, what would you be asking them to cover for:

1) Assistant DBA with no formal training and little experience;
2) DBA with plenty of experience but very little formal training?

 

[TomBascom]

Everyone is different and quite a lot depends on your particular situation but you might find some ideas for topics here: http://pugchallenge.org/downloads/311_Congrats_Now_What.pptx

 

[Rob Fitzpatrick]

As Tom said, "it depends". It depends on your organization's level of sophistication, as viewed from your perspective. When you're starting out on OpenEdge, you don't fully appreciate the scope of your ignorance until you begin to realize how much there is to know. So where you are on that continuum between ignorance and knowledge will factor into deciding which topics would be best covered in one day.

Some, perhaps many, of the topics presented at PUG Challenge would have been way over my head when I first started out, as I lacked the foundations required to grasp them. So a "good day's training" may be different for me than for you, or even different for me now versus me a year from now. You will have to assess what level of content is at the right level that it isn't review and it isn't beyond you.

There is only so much you can cover in meaningful depth in one day so you will have to be selective. In coming up with a curriculum it may be helpful to factor in recent business challenges.
Have customers (or internal resources) challenged you on the use of security best practices? Maybe a review of database and OS configuration and user management is in order.

• Are you creating simple (or even Type 1) database structures, and you want to learn how to optimize database layout on disk to improve performance, maintainability, and flexibility? Schedule a session on storage optimization.
  
• Are you experiencing application performance challenges? Then spend time on tools and techniques for monitoring, benchmarking, and holistic assessment and mitigation of performance bottlenecks. Also be sure to establish a solid grounding in database startup parameters, BI/AI configuration, helper processes, and utilities.
  
• Are you challenged to provide robust business continuity options? Then make sure you cover after imaging and OE Replication. Have you had any recent (or memorable) failures in process? Maybe someone had an "oops" moment? ("Prod? I thought this was the dev box. Ummm...") Talk to the expert about creating solid processes and procedures that are repeatable, verifiable, contain appropriate logging and/or alerting, and are sufficiently documented that even a manager can execute them.
• Foster continuing education in your organization: ensure all staff aware aware of and have access to the breadth of knowledge resources available to them, including but not limited to:
  • this forum ;
  • the PEG;
  • the Progress Communities forums;
    
  • the public knowledge base;
  • the partner knowledge base (if applicable);
  • the downloadable ProKB Windows app;
  • the PDF documentation set for your release (includes sample code, if downloaded and installed from ESD);
    
  • PSC tech support (no, really! ); get a ProgressID now if you don't have one;
    
  • the OE Lifecycle and Product Availability Guide for your release; contains info not in the docs;
  • the Progress computer-based training or web-based training DBA courses (Intro, Advanced, Perf Tuning), if you can find them; start here: Progress Education;
    
  • the service pack release notes for your service pack; also contains info not in the docs (available on PSDN or ESD).
    In particular, every DBA-like person should have read these manuals:
    • Installation and Configuration
      
    • New and Revised Features
      
    • Database Essentials
    • Database Administration
    • Core Business Services (and Identity Management, in 11.x)
      
    • SQL Development & SQL Reference (if applicable)
• Don't focus too much on how-tos (e.g. how do I encrypt a table with TDE?) that can be learned via documentation and experimentation. Build a solid foundation for your DB team. Try to spend that day ensuring that you cover your existing practices, determining which are good, which need work, and which you need to stop doing right now.
• Ask lots of questions and write down the answers; record the sessions if you can, and if you're allowed.

 

[jdpjamesp]

Thanks both. That's really helpful.