The field of database administration is far from glamorous. Even within the uncompromisingly geeky domain of information technology, database administration would be among the last fields picked for a game of proverbial kickball.
However, the future employment landscape for tech jobs remains uncertain in these changing times. Despite its somewhat unglamorous reputation, database management and administration is an industry experiencing rapid growth, persistent talent shortages, and significant changes brought by AI. This field has much potential for those willing to cash in on its viable career path.
These watershed moments invariably present significant opportunities as well as challenges. Percona, an open-source database software, support, and services firm, optimizes how databases and applications run. Dave Stokes, a technology evangelist and database veteran at the company, is passionate about helping today’s aspiring database administrators (DBAs) find their way.
Stokes has decades of experience in the DBA field. He often speaks on a wide range of cutting-edge topics regarding database operations. With his finger on the IT pulse, he offers the knowledge and expertise needed to mentor effectively.
Reshaping the Business World’s Database Needs
Perusing any industry report on the role of DBA in 2024 confirms that emerging trends and data solutions make for an ever-changing IT landscape. Today’s data environment generates more than two quintillion bytes of data per day.
Demands for higher-quality data and real-time results push various database platforms to their limits. As a result, DBAs require increasingly sophisticated skill diversification.
Artificial intelligence is only one factor. Other challenges include managing on-premises operations and handling cloud migration and security. Evolution, adaptation, and innovation define DBA’s morphing trends.
Open-source databases are now more popular than their commercial counterparts. More organizations are dependent on PostgreSQL and MySQL, according to Stokes.
“This standardization on the choice of databases provides DBAs with more employment opportunities and gives employers a vast talent pool from which to fish,” he said.
Insider’s View of the World of Database Administration
We spoke with Stokes extensively about his view of the state of database management. He observed that the traditional DBA is virtually nonexistent “in the wild” today.
Percona Tech Evangelist
A significant portion of conventional work has been moved to site reliability engineers or cloud providers’ services. As databases have mushroomed in size and scope, some functions, such as query optimization, have been ignored.
“Much of what was handled by a DBA is now compensated for by purchasing ever larger cloud chunks,” Stokes told TechNewsWorld. “Institutional knowledge about an organization’s data was abandoned when the DBA role was supplanted.”
Until that impact escalates, trying to figure out how some data is structured and how it impacts ongoing operations is a tertiary consideration, he observed.
But there is good news about where DBA is headed. Some data workers are interested in the functions performed by a DBA, even if they do not have that title.
“Query tuning, defining data structures, server optimization, and administration of the instance itself have value,” he said.
Demystifying DBA Dilemmas: Q&A
Dave Stokes shared more insights on the latest trends, technologies, and challenges in the field of database administration. From the impact of cutting-edge technologies to the evolving role of DBAs, Stokes offered valuable perspectives on navigating the complex landscape of database management.
TechNewsWord: What cutting-edge database technology is impacting this field?
Dave Stokes: Vector data for machine learning will consume unprecedented amounts of disk space, processor cycles, and administrative time. Moving a copy of a model to another location for training will incur expensive transfer fees, require monitoring, and take up even more disk space.
JSON is the data interchange of choice for most. Storing data in a JSON format is not as efficient as storing it in traditional data types. Extracting some JSON values and storing them as a traditional data type can speed processing but add complexity.
Replicated data over several data centers is very common. Managing that data, spread out over a continent or globe, is tricky.
How are changing business and industry trends affecting database administration?
Stokes: The ability to add more processing power or disk space by clicking a checkbox on a webpage and paying for it with a credit card has revolutionized data administration. There is no more worrying about getting approval for a capital expenditure, capacity planning, or sweating the optimizations needed.
Lead time for expansion is now nonexistent. When a company may have had a dozen databases at the beginning of this century, they now can have tens of thousands of them.
Need to expand into AI? Then load billions of records into a cloud account and worry about the quality and quantity later. And as data lakes creep into data oceans, the data still needs to be managed, backed up, and monitored.
How will automation and AI impact changes in DBA?
Stokes: AI is needed in the database itself. However, general AI adoption by an organization means more disk space, processor cores, data migrations, and backups.
An optimizer that can spot data usage patterns and recognize the need to cache specific data or autotune buffer usage would be a big plus. Smarter query optimizations and user usage patterns could shift server capacities to accommodate data needs.
How is the shift in DBA from on-site to the cloud impacting business, or is it vice-versa?
Stokes: Those who could move their data to the cloud have found a big benefit in many cases. Scaling is now a function of using a credit card. Backups, server failovers, and software upgrades are handled by the cloud vendor.
For many, the need for an in-house DBA has been replaced by a dependency on their cloud provider. Some have found the cloud too expensive and have returned to on-premises operations. In these cases, they need to have staff to handle the traditional work of a DBA.
What role is cloud migration now playing in the cost and efficiency of DB operations?
Stokes: Costs are steadily increasing. Businesses used to be reluctant to spend money on capital expenditures, and upgrading servers was a complicated process, often taking months.
In the cloud, upgrades are an operational budget expense done on a credit card almost instantaneously. Why optimize data or a server when itemizing a bill is easier and faster?
Why is DBA still a relevant job in 2024?
Stokes: Although the title may not say DBA, someone will always be needed to monitor, tune, optimize, and guide database instances. These may be seen as hygiene factors, but the reliability of the data requires them.
How can young professionals find success in this industry?
Stokes: Learn Structured Query Language (SQL). There is a reason why it is the only computer language that survived from the 1970s. It matches business logic exceptionally well and is designed to deliver the information requested in a way it can be used.
Data normalization is also critical. Poorly defined data structures are slow and become challenging to manage over time.
Lastly, communication is key. The ability to express why a change to a table that seems simple to a requester can shut down a petabyte of information for hours can save an organization from disaster.
Where do you see DBA and its needs headed?
Stokes: Better data backup and faster data restoration are always needed. Much attention is paid to the time and financial costs of recovering data, and there will be a push to reduce these costs.
Security enhancements will be pursued. It is still too easy to have a minor slip-up, either in the cloud or on-premises, that leads to finding your data on the front page of a newspaper.
DBAs will need better tools to handle the explosive growth in the scope and scale of the instances they manage.
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