Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
9.2 Identifying Administration Responsibilities
There are several ways to look at administration responsibilities. One is by role,
identifying and understanding the tasks for which data administrators are
responsible and those for which the database administrators are responsible.
When discussing these responsibilities, always keep in mind that the two
roles are closely tied to each other, will overlap, and may even be performed
by the same person. Guidelines established by the data administrator directly
impact how the database administrator does his or her job. Performance prob-
lems discovered by the database administrator can force the data administra-
tor to rethink and redesign some aspect of the database, as well as work with
application programmers to ensure that any necessary changes are made to the
application.
It can also be easy to lose track of who is responsible for what. When assign-
ing responsibilities, it's important that they be defined clearly and completely so
that everyone understands what they should be doing. Understand that terms
rely on context, and misunderstandings are easy. For example, say “database” to
a data administrator and the first thing likely to come to mind is the data—
defining entities, how tables are structured, and so forth. Say “database” to a
database administrator and the first thing to come to mind might be the phys-
ical database file, how it's physically stored on the server hard disks, and rela-
tionships between different distributed databases.
Table 9-1 lists general duties of the data and database administration roles.
However, when discussing these roles you need to keep in mind that these are
not hard and fast divisions. Responsibilities often overlap, with data or database
administrators working together or taking over duties traditionally assigned to
the other role.
Table 9-1: Data and Database Administration Roles
Data Administration
Database Administration
Data coordination
Performance monitoring
Data planning
Security
Data standards
Metadata management
Liaison requirements
Software management
Training
Troubleshooting
Arbitration
Publicity
Competitive advantage
