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What qualifications are needed to be a Database Administrator?

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  • 14-05-2009 11:09am
    #1
    MacAttack84
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭


    Hi,

    I have an honors degree in computer science and i am currently working on a helpdesk, want to get out of it as there is absolutely no career progression where i am. Would like to get into database administration but have no idea what route i would have to take to be qualified, my degree had a fair bit of database work in it mainly using sql. Anybody know what courses/exams i would have to take for this kind of career?

    Cheers...


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    #2
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    Essentially, no qualifications are necessary. However, you won't get a job with no qualifications, especially in this climate. Also, you won't get a job without hands-on experience either.

    The two more widely used databases are Oracle and MS SQL server. I am an Oracle DBA myself, and I have done two thirds of the Oracle 10g certification. There are also Microsoft Certifications for MS SQL server.


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    #3
    MacAttack84
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭MacAttack84


    Hi Tom, thanks for the reply, just wondering, what kind of qualifications or experience did you have before you started as a dba?


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    #4
    seamus
    Registered Users Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    Most databases have relevant DBA certification paths, which is probably what you should aim for.
    By far the most popular DBMS's are MySQL, MSSQL, and Oracle.

    I would imagine that most people who "end up" as DBA's, got there through first doing some database development & reporting, then doing the relevant courses for that, before become the database "guy" and moving onto getting certification. As most peope do some form of helpdesk/support straight out of college, I doubt that many people immediately drop into junior DBA roles.

    It's worth noting that unless you're a DBA in a very large company, you'll need a good OS grounding too, so aim for OS certifications, which should give you a leg up, maybe allow you to move into Sys Admin. From there you can aim for DBA certifications.


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    #5
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    MacAttack84 wrote: »
    Hi Tom, thanks for the reply, just wondering, what kind of qualifications or experience did you have before you started as a dba?

    Pretty much the same as yourself - a degree.

    I started off in tech support, which incorporated databases, became team lead/2nd level support, then DBA.


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    #6
    MacAttack84
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭MacAttack84


    Hi Seamus, thanks for the reply, would you recommend or know of any courses around Dublin that would be good to get me started?

    Also which form of database administration would be the more popular? mssql, mysql or oracle?

    Thanks.


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    #7
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    MacAttack84 wrote: »
    Hi Seamus, thanks for the reply, would you recommend or know of any courses around Dublin that would be good to get me started?

    It all depends on what you wanted to get started on.
    MacAttack84 wrote: »
    Also which form of database administration would be the more popular? mssql, mysql or oracle?

    It all depends on the application. :)

    MySQL you will find behind a lot of websites and non-mission critical applications.

    MS SQL server you will also find behind a lot of websites, along with some mission-critical applications.

    Oracle you may be surprised to find, is behind the odd website, but is more usually found in large-scale, multi-user, mission-critical, high-availability applications.

    So, it all depends on where you want to go.


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    #8
    MacAttack84
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭MacAttack84


    Tom Dunne wrote: »
    It all depends on what you wanted to get started on.

    It all depends on the application. :)

    Oracle you may be surprised to find, is behind the odd website, but is more usually found in large-scale, multi-user, mission-critical, high-availability applications.

    So, it all depends on where you want to go.

    Would more than likely be edging towards going for an oracle course if thats the case, would much rather be involved more with applications than the web side of things even tho a lot of my course in college was aimed towards web development.


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    #9
    ifah
    Registered Users Posts: 576 ✭✭✭ifah


    tbh - doing an oracle course is not really going to help you - it's the experience side of things you really need to get. I've been working as a dba (Oracle mainly but also sybase,db/2, mssql, mysql, ...) for past 13 years and would never have considered hiring anyone as a junior w/o any relevent experience (exp on the dev side of things would be fine). No experience is fine for a trainee position but i can't see many of these going around these days.

    there are two potential paths you could follow :
    junior developemt position with a database slant
    or else junior sys admin (most likely in a MS site) with the potential to some exposure to MS databases. My experience is that the sysadmins in mssql sites have more scope to cross train as dba's than the larger oracle sites where you prob have unix/linux sysadmins working alongside the dba teams.


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