DATABASE ADMINISTRATION - Concepts of Database Management

Database Reference

In-Depth Information

Summary

The DBA is the person who is responsible for supervising the database and the use of the DBMS.

The DBA formulates and enforces policies about those users who can access the database, the portions

of the database they may access, and in what manner they can access the database.

The DBA formulates and enforces policies about security, which is the prevention of unauthorized access,

either intentional or accidental, to a database. The DBA uses the DBMS's security features and special

security programs, if necessary, and monitors database usage to detect potential security violations.

The DBA creates and implements backup and recovery procedures as part of a disaster recovery plan to

protect an organization's data from physical damage.

274

The DBA formulates and enforces policies that govern the management of an archive for data that is no

longer needed in the database but that must be retained for reference purposes or for compliance with

federal laws.

The DBA leads the effort to evaluate and select a new DBMS. The DBA develops a checklist of desirable

features for a DBMS and evaluates each prospective purchase of a DBMS against this checklist.

The DBA installs and maintains the DBMS after it has been selected and procured.

The DBA maintains the data dictionary, establishes naming conventions for its contents, and provides

information from it to others in the organization.

The DBA provides database and DBMS training and coordinates and schedules training by outside

vendors.

The DBA verifies all information-level database designs, completes all physical-level database designs,

and creates documentation standards. The DBA also evaluates changes in requirements to determine

whether he or she needs to change the database design and the data in the database.

The DBA controls the production system, which is accessible only to authorized users. Other than when

authorized by the DBA to access the production system in exceptional situations, programmers access a

separate test system. The DBA migrates tested programs to the production system and makes any

required database changes.

The DBA tunes the database design to improve performance. Included among the performance tuning

changes the DBA makes are creating and deleting indexes, splitting tables, and denormalizing tables.

Key Terms