Episode 89
| March 28, 2017
| 52 minutes
Lone DBA
One of the neat benefits of putting the podcast together is talking to a wide spectrum of folks with varied backgrounds. As we get more feedback from listeners, the idea of the Lone DBA emerged. The Lone DBA is someone who is the only person responsible for database administration at their company. These tasks may have been assigned or they may have simply been required to help support an application. Steve and I thought we should explore this a bit and to help give us some context, we invited Monica Rathbun to chat with us about some of the challenges she’s faced.
Besides the challenges, Monica shares tactics and techniques to juggle many tasks while being a lone DBA. This includes using social media as a way of building connections with different experts, getting the right tools for the organization’s needs and making your boss your supporter. Have your own perspective on this? Let us know in the show notes for the episode.
SQL in the news
Episode Quotes
“To be a lone DBA, you’ve got to have 48 arms attached to you, doing 20 things at a time”
“It is important for the leaders in the community to mentor and pull people in”
“Making network connections gears you towards your future career”
Listen to Learn
- Techniques, tactics and challenges of being a lone DBA
- Using social media in building network connections
- Managing huge amount of task as a lone DBA
- Setting the right tools for the organization
Our Guest
Monica Rathbun
Monica is currently a Sr. Database Administrator/BI Architect at Massimo Zanetti Beverage, USA in Norfolk Virginia. She has been a Lone DBA for 15 years, working with all aspects of SQL Server and Oracle. She is co-leader for the Hampton Roads SQL Server User Group and can be found on Twitter daily. When she’s not busy with work, you will find her playing taxi for her two daughters back and forth to dance classes.
Meet the Hosts
Carlos Chacon
With more than 10 years of working with SQL Server, Carlos helps businesses ensure their SQL Server environments meet their users’ expectations. He can provide insights on performance, migrations, and disaster recovery. He is also active in the SQL Server community and regularly speaks at user group meetings and conferences. He helps support the free database monitoring tool found at databasehealth.com and provides training through SQL Trail events.
Eugene Meidinger
Eugene works as an independent BI consultant and Pluralsight author, specializing in Power BI and the Azure Data Platform. He has been working with data for over 8 years and speaks regularly at user groups and conferences. He also helps run the GroupBy online conference.
Kevin Feasel
Kevin is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and proprietor of Catallaxy Services, LLC, where he specializes in T-SQL development, machine learning, and pulling rabbits out of hats on demand. He is the lead contributor to Curated SQL, president of the Triangle Area SQL Server Users Group, and author of the books PolyBase Revealed (Apress, 2020) and Finding Ghosts in Your Data: Anomaly Detection Techniques with Examples in Python (Apress, 2022). A resident of Durham, North Carolina, he can be found cycling the trails along the triangle whenever the weather's nice enough.
Want to Submit Some Feedback?
Did we miss something or not quite get it right? Want to be a guest or suggest a guest/topic for the podcast?