8 DBAs talk about their jobs

OdinJobs.com interviewed eight different DBAs from completely different backgrounds and careers.  The one thing we’ve got in common is that we blog, but outside of that, we’ve got wildly different points of view about the career and what we like about SQL Server.

I shall now copy/paste Jason Massie’s hard work at listing each person’s blog URL and feed, because I have no shame:

The Panel Blogroll

• Brent Ozar (subscribe, twitter)
• Brian Kelly (subscribe, twitter)
• Cristian Lefter (subscribe)
• Andrew Fryer (subscribe)
• Namwar Rizvi (subscribe)
• Denny Cherry (subscribe)
• Chris Shaw (subscribe)
• Pinal Dave (subscribe)

Inside the articles, the links don’t work too well, so you can jump to the three parts from here:

• Part 1: MS SQL beats the “ACID” test for Database Technology in Features, Ease & Cost
• Part 2: Stress, Pet Peeves, Roles and Responsibilities of a SQL Server DBA/Developer
• Part 3: Becoming a SQL Server MVP and other Career Choices

I love reading articles like this because they tell me a lot about the people answering the question.  I got a chuckle out of Pinal Dave’s answer to the question about the differences between production DBAs, development DBAs, and SQL Server Developers.  (Pinal – if you read this, no, we are not all the same, and I’ll buy you a drink at PASS to tell you about some horror stories there.)

More DBA Career Articles

• Moving from Help Desk to DBA – a reader asked how to do it, and I gave a few ways to get started.
• Development DBA or Production DBA? – job duties are different for these two DBA roles.  Developers become one kind of DBA, and network administrators or sysadmins become a different kind.  I explain why.
• Recommended Books for DBAs – the books that should be on your shopping list.
• Ask for a List of Servers – DBA candidates need to ask as many questions as they answer during the interview.
• Are you a Junior or Senior DBA? – Sometimes it’s hard to tell, but I explain how to gauge DBA experience by the size of databases you’ve worked with.
• So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star – Part 1 and Part 2 – wanna know what it takes to have “SQL Server Expert” on your business card?  I explain.
• Becoming a DBA – my list of articles about database administration as a career.

Brent Ozar

Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.

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