Database Administrator

Database Administrator: The database administrator (DBA) plays an important role in DBMS environment. In a database management system, the primary resource is the database itself and the secondary resource is the DBMS and related software. Administering these resources and overall security of the database system is the responsibility of the DBA. The DBA is also responsible for designing, coordinating and monitoring the database system. The DBA is an IT professional. He must be technically competent, having excellent communication and management skills. The management skills such as (plan and coordinate) have importance for the database development phases, and to supervise the staff. The technical skills is another most important factor because DBA has to implement the database system. He must be expert to install and operate complex hardware and to handle the hardware problems. He must also have the knowledge of general purpose programming languages, database languages and to handle complex software.

The DBA is the central authority for managing the database system. The Database Administrator is also responsible for creating users and authorizing access to them. The Database Administrator has an account in Database Management System, sometimes called a system or super-user account.

Functions of DBA

The Database Administrator performs various functions in the database system. The DBA has to perform many tasks, especially during the database development and maintenance phases. The major functions and duties of the Database Administrator are as follows

1. Database Planning
2. Identifying User’s Requirements
3. Developing and Maintaining Data Dictionary
4. Designing the Logical Model
5. Selecting a DBMS
6. Developing a Physical Model
7. Creating and Loading Database
8. Developing Users views
9. Training the Users
10. Monitoring Performance
11. Tuning and Reorganizing
12. Keeping Database System Up-to-Date
13. Creating and Maintaining User Account
14. Maintaining Database Security
15. Backup and Recovery of Data

These are the major functions performed by DBA.

Data Administrator

Data Administrator is the person who is responsible for the entire data resources of an organization. He develops functional requirements for the database being used in the organization. The main job of the Data Administrator is to decide what data should be stored in the database and to establish policies for maintaining data, once it has been stored. Usually, the Data Administrator is a manager of the organization and not an IT professional.

Normally, the Data Administrator serves as a bridge between users and the database administrator. His major duties may be following.

• He shares in developing the logical design for each database.
• He establish the data standards.
• He supervises the data distribution within the organization and communicates with the user when necessary.
• He also participates in developing the data dictionary and prepares the documentation.
• He conducts user training when needed.

Phases In Database Development Process