• Database administration
  • Also data administration
  • Data administration normally means the entire organization.
  • It is a management function.
  • Database administration normally referes to a technical function.
  • Database administration tasks
    • Manage the database structure.
    • Control concurrent processing
    • Manage processing rights and responsibilities.
    • Develop database security.
    • Provide disaster recovery
    • Manage the DBMS
    • Maintain the data repository.
  • Each of these topics forms a portion of this chapter.
  • Some of these are non-issues for a single user database.
  • ALL are issues for a multi-user database.
  • In small companies, this is a single person task.
  • In larger companies, this is a group project.
  • The Database Administrator is also refered to as a DBA.
• Manage the Database Structure
  • Design and Implementation
    • Should be involved from the beginning of the project.
    • Evaluate alternatives, including DBMS and hardware
    • Helps design structure.
    • Intimate knowledge of implementation of DB
    • Hardware/Softwzare installation. (Disk layout, configuration parameters, ...)
    • Table creation,
    • Functions/triggers/procedures
    • Index creation
    • Database is populated.
  • Modification and Maintenance
    • Again, involved in planning.
    • Collect information and discuss with the community the need for a change.
    • Assess the impact of the change.
    • Carefully plan the change including recovery if the change goes wrong.
    • Plan for rollback if necessairy.
    • Databases are most vulerable to failure after a structural change.
  • Documentation.
    • The initial design, as well as all changes need to be documented.
    • This includes testing plan and results.
    • "... maintaining documentation is tedious and unfulfilling..."