dba or sysadmin?

[User_2]

Is dba a step up from sys admin? would that be the next level? i have the choice of being a sysadmin or dba and would like to choose the "better" position. What do you all think, what would you rather be?

[Steffi Jones_1]

Hello ,

this question is not easy to answer with a yes or no.
dba means that you will be taking care of database applications whereas a sysadmin takes care of the os on the box.

So it is really up to what area you prefer more OS or Application.

But I'm sure that in this forum you will hear a lot more thoughts about this which will help you form your opinion.

Steffi Jones

[Suhas_2]

Hi,
My initial reaction to this question was.."GOOD QUESTION !!!...:-)"..

See, in any organization a dba and a system admin are a must. Both are equally important positions.

A DBA is supposed to take care of data base design, application level resource management, crash recovery...the list is endless.

Sysadmin is responsible for os related activity, system design, kernel tuning, system monitoring, capacity planning, co-ordinating with the hardware & software vendors,......this list is also endless.

Now it depends on the interest of the person, which field he should take. Both the profiles have equal interaction with users and management, and in my view they have equal importance.

In situations of emergency, they have to co-ordinate with each other and give a "jointless" service to the users and/or clients.

I hope to see more on this from the forum...
Ciao'

Suhas.

[paul courry]

To be *strictly* mercenery about it.....

There are more sys admin positions available then dba's. You would have to run a salary check to see which pays better in your area.

Also, you need to look at the type of person you are. If you prefer small companies (less beuracracy), they are less likely to need dba's. If you prefer large companies (more
beuracracy), then they need both dba's and sys admin's.

Again, YMMMV.

[Tim Malnati]

Sysadmins are primarily interested in the operation of the machine hardware and the operating system and DBA's are focused on the application database file structures and the database engine itself. DBA's usually have a closer relationship with the application programmers and often sort of end up in the middle between the application people and the SA's. Over the years I have played extensively in all three of these arenas and all of them really have equal importance. It's sort of like a three ring circus and management is the ringleader. A good machine is one where all three of the groups communicate and cooperate well. Which direction you head toward is more a case of your interests than anything else. Application people tend to have a lot more end user contact; SA's and DBA's are much more back room. Good people are not necessarily financially any better off in any particular group. Some salary studies suggest thet SA's and DBA's tend to earn a little more than the Apps developers, but I would suggest that a lot of the reason for this is the additional night and weekend hours that SA's and DBA's must put up with as part of this little package.

[Darrel Louis]

Hi,

This is from my point of view and experience.
In my previous job I've been a DBA and Sysadmin.
When you're choosing for the DBA site your role won't be less important.
What you should try is, do DBA and Development in one, then the job will be interesting and will give you a better position in the market we are now.

As a Sysadmin you will be in the middle of everything and everybody(DBA, Appl. adm., Netw.), A Busy M/F.
Good Sysadmins are hard to find!!!!!!

To be honest, I've dropped the DBA part.
Working as a Unix Consultant now.

Good luck

[CHRIS_ANORUO]

Hello User,

I am a Sys Admin, with a lot understanding and action of a DBA too. It helps you to understand what the other guys are doing.
You have heard it all, now please award your Xmas points!

[Rita C Workman]

Hmm, I agree good question.
Well I would have to say the System Administration (to me..)means involvement overall. DBA means involvment at the database/application level.
As a UNIX Administrator, I have found, my education with SQL and Database Administration has been invaluable. But as UNIX administration is really 'system and network' administration plus being able to interact and help resolve database needs and issues....I guess I would tend to lean more to the System Administration type positions.
One last thing....a tip..check how the company/management see's/defines these positions. I've been in places where they used the terminology of Systems Analysts and applied it to computer operator/data entry type roles. Honest !! So be sure that what you see as the role of a Sys Admin or DBA is the same way mgmt sees that role.

Best Wishes in whatever role you chose,
/rcw

[Madhu Sudhan_1]

Hello User !
It is a tough question to answer. If you give choice I will prefer Unix Administrator as there are lot of areas you can spread your knowledge.

Enjoy !
...Madhu

[Patrick Wallek]

I was going down the list of hp-ux forums and saw this thread in the databases forum first, so I responded there.

Here is the link to the question in the hp-ux > databases forum.

http://forums.itrc.hp.com:80/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,1150,0x3ab214a24fd1d4118fef0090279cd0f9,00.html

[Alexander M. Ermes]

Hi there.
Look at my answer on the database forum.
Rgds
Alexander M. Ermes

[Paula J Frazer-Campbell]

Hi
If you go for Sys Admin them your employment area is far wider than specialising in a particular database.

IMHO.

Paula

[Shailesh_3]

Hi
This is really a difficult question. If you are a sys admin person, Its always a advantage if you have knowledge of database. You can always demand more on your compensation part if you have knowldege of both. both the areas have broad scope.

[Stefan Schulz]

Whats best depends pretty much on where you are and what you prefer.

If you are in an area (or willing to move in an area) with a lot of big companies dba and sysadmin are equally needed. So you can decide what you like more.

In an area with small companies i would prefer to be as sysadmin. There is a smaler market for dba's. So you have less job options and presumabely less salary.

One more thing to keep in mind is that you have to take care not to specialize to much if you plan to move to another companie. If you plan to stay with your companie then specialize in the best payed field ;-)

I think a sysadmin with a good database knowledge has the best chances to find a job wherever he or she likes. But this is a personal opinion.

Hope my english was good enough.

[Volker Borowski]

Hi,
it really depends on the database !
Oracle is quite a challange.
Others are more simple to administrate as i.e. ADABAS D (or SAP DB in SAP environment). Being a DBA for database with few things to administrate (i.e. ADABAS D) would be very boaring..... -> Stay on the sysadmin.
just my 2 cent
Volker

[f. halili]

I believe both have equal stress levels!!!

[Roger Baptiste]

It depends on your background, aptitude and intrest. It's difficult
to start off from scratch into
Sysadmin, unless the company is
willing to spend money training
you and being lenient in giving
you time to "learn on the job".
If the sysadmin position is going
to be a part of a Sysadmin team,
then you may find it relatively better
to ask and find your way around
on the job.

Regarding DBA, if you have some
database experience, atleast
at a user level, you should find
some things familiar to start off
with and can get kickstarted
with little help from manuals,
atleast for inital tasks like creating
tables, ts, monitoring etc. But,
handling producting db's is out
of the question for atleast six months.

Personally, i would prefer to
be a Unixadmin, since the scope
in terms of learning is endless.
We coordinate with DBA's, users,
Application providers; and unlike
DBA's, we get to handle lot of
other things too. That means
more stress ;-) But, i have rarely
seen any Unixadmin who doesnt
like his job, irrespective of stress.


Regarding Salary and opportunities, there is equal
demand for both DBA's and Sysadmins with excellent salary
range for people with the right
experience and skills.



Hope this helps .
raj

[Donald Kok]

Good question,
In our company we do not have a dba, and are thinking of how to take care of the (now not done) work. For a long time I am thinking of doing the job apart from my sysadm job. Looks interresting to me from one point. I'm a busy sysadm so I'm afraid of the workload too.

Is there anybody who did this. (the db=ingres)
are there conflicts in responsibility?

[KARTHIKEYAN SUNDARARAJA]

Good Question!!!!.
My view is that be a SysAdmin and select a RDBMS
and try to be a DBA only on System side but not on
applications oriented.
That will be useful and pay you good money.

[Seth Patterson]

Good one. If you work in a large production shop like I do, you might want to think about the "on-call" arrangement as well. As an SA, I am in the data center at all kinds of hours. A DBA with a laptop may never need to be in after hours because their job does not deal with hardware or system uptime. The SA also deals with a larger audience, as there are various databases and people involved. However, I would much rather be an SA with DBA working knowledge because their is a wider range of learning opportunities. Good luck!

[Mike McJunkin]

The latest SANS salary survey listed the avarage UNIX sysadmin making $71K a year. I have seen several DBA positions in the paper for $85k - $120K. ORACLE seems to pay better than SQL Server. The killer job, however, is CISCO Certified network engineer: $150K with relocation (in Austin, TX).