Great feedback on what is first as a DBA
Had some great feedback on where to start when you come in to new systems, a new company, etc. Interestingly, none of the feedback agreed with the assertion that things may change if you’re working with cloud or mixed hosting solutions.
Sylvia passed along an article they had penned that gives you a great checklist, and it adds some elements that no one has brought up before. In particular, addressing source code management and controls over versioning, etc. Your can (and should) read more here: http://databasesarefun.blogspot.ch/2009/05/9-things-to-do-when-you-inherit.html – great reading.
One thing this brings up goes back to my thoughts on security (sorry), but with a difference. The keys. Make sure you’re backing up and have awareness of any and all access keys. This includes any hosting keys (perhaps for applications access or event overall hosting access), encryption keys, etc. You need to know that they are controlled and protected, right along side of your database scripts and source code.
Other feedback indicates that no matter what, the importance is in triage for your systems, making sure a recovery path is set, that access controls are in place and that you know where the resources are allocated and how they are working. These are pretty quick checks, particularly if things are in order. If not, you’ll know where to start.
(Shoot me a note, let me know what we’re missing)
Stephen Wynkoop
swynk@sswug.org