Have you ever heard this DBA terminology before ? Perhaps YES or NO. Yes for those who are already into IT industry for sometime now. NO for those who are not part of IT industry. They are either FRESHERS or working in any other industry where IT department exposure is bare minimum.

Are you interested in becoming a Database Administrator(DBA)? Let's see how to become a Database Administrator and what are the skills required for the same.

What Is Database Administrator(DBA)?:

In today's world, IT industry is growing like anything and DATA is playing vital role in any kind of decision making in IT industry. Database Administrator(DBA) is the person who is responsible for managing company's database. In other words, DBA's are gate keepers to protect and manage organization's database and make it available for application/business for application uptime/decision making. so, this indicates DBA is very critical role in any IT industry.

What are Most Popular Database Products:

Oracle, MS-SQL Server, MYSQL, PostgreSQL,Sybase,IBM-DB2 etc.

Education Qualification Required for Database Administrator(DBA):

DBA job openings will usually require a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology/Computer Science or any other equivalent engineering degree.

Skills required to Become DBA:

A database administrator plays a critical role in any IT Industry , so it is very important to ensure management, maintenance and security of company's database. It requires below skills to excel at the job role.

• Strong Technical Skills: Considering DBA job role is very crucial in any IT industry, A database administrator requires strong technical skills to perform their job quickly and efficiently with minimum guidance.
• Good Problem-Solving Skills: Considering DBA job role is very crucial in any IT industry, problem solving skill is very important as this shows your approach/thought process to resolve any particular database problem in very short span of time.
• Good Analytical Skills: Considering DBA job role is very crucial in any IT industry, Analytical skill plays very critical role to resolve any particular database problem quickly and efficiently within limited time frame.
• Strong communication skills. Many a times, DBA's have to co-ordinate with different-different teams to resolve particular issue. Moreover to this, they will have to talk to their management as well to explain any particular database issue. so, communication skill(talking/listening/writing) plays very crucial role in performing DBA job.
• Database Certifications/Programming knowledge: A DBA must have knowledge of any computer language and/or must have any database certifications. such skills will always have better chances of getting DBA jobs.

Roles and Responsibilities of DBA:

A database administrator role is one of the critical role in any IT firm. They control and manage database level access permissions and make it stable by regular checks and maintenance on it. Below are some of the roles and responsibilities of DBA.

• Installing and upgrading database servers as and when needed.
• Planning and implementing database backup/restore strategies.
• Schedule regular Backup for for all the databases.
• Ensure all database health is always GREEN and take necessary action when it is in RED.
• Schedule and perform regular database maintenance(like integrity checks/reorg/update stats etc.) to avoid any kind of performance issues.
• Ensure only authorized users can have access to database.
• Applying regular database security patches.
• Monitoring and managing database alerts.
• Monitoring and planning database system's physical requirements, such as memory, disk space etc.
• Plan and schedule database audits as per auditor and regulatory compliance.
• Minimize database downtime by proactively coordinating within teams and applying analytical/problem solving skills .
• Perform database restore on test servers as per application need.
• working with application teams to understand their project requirement and deliver the project on time.
• Ensure that database user information is always secured.
• Ensuring compliance with database vendor license agreement, including number of installations, and taking care of licensing renewals.
• Prepare SOP for all the database related tasks.
• etc. …etc…

Database Administrator Salaries:

According to Glassdoor and Payscale statistics, average salary of DBA is between 5-8 lacs per annum. Ultimately, DBA's salary varies depending on multiple factors, like:

• Experience level
• Level of knowledge in that field along with holding other skills(Multi skilled)
• Holding technology certifications
• Number of years spent in the company
• Location
• etc.