Mullins: Database Administration _p2

I bought this book as a required text for a class I was taking. While I find text books dry and difficult in many cases, this one was different. Mullen writes with some well placed humor, and yet covers a very large spectrum of information. This is not light reading, and it goes into quite a bit of depth on the various topics that a DBA needs to know, like backup and recovery or indexing. He doesn't get into how you mechanically do the procedure on each DBMS, but rather, he goes for an under the hood approach, so that you understand how/why the DBMS works. After each chapter he gives very good references for additional reading on each topic. Even though Mullen is a DB2 guy, this is not a DB2 book, it is well rounded non-platform specific. While some books can be TOO generic and not useful, the author treads a delicate balance and delivers value in every chapter of the book. One final note, he does convert real life experience into this text and I really appreciated the information he provided on denormalization and some other aspects that are not covered by other books.

I've forgotten how many times I've recommended this book to people. It's well written, to the point, and covers the topics that you need to know to become an effective DBA. - Scott Ambler Thought Leader, Agile Data Method

This is a well-written, well-organized guide to the practice of data base administration. Unlike other books on general database theory or relational database theory, this book focuses more directly on the theory and reality of database administration as practiced by database professionals today, and does so without catering too much to any specific product implementation. As such, Database Administration is very well suited to anyone interested in surveying the job of a DBA or those in similar but more specific roles such as data modeler or database performance analyst.Yet, even with that direct focus on database administration, the author succeeds in covering a great deal of ground and cutting a rather wide swathe across the database spectrum, doing so with rigor and expertise and the benefit of experience. While the book will not and is not intended to serve as a reference substitute for product documentation, it will nonetheless enhance your knowledge, and I find it of such quality and utility that I recommend it to anyone in the database field in general. Consider it a base text to serve alongside Date and Codd.Among the nice touches, the author includes discussion of database denormalization, often missing in discussions on database design. Chapters end with both a set of review questions and a Suggested Reading section, and I find myself in agreement with most of the suggestions. An excellent Bibliography section follows the text. I would have liked to see some discussion of the difference between relational domains in theory and their implementation in practice, particularly as it impacts the design of integrity constraints. Even so, Database Administration is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.- Sal Ricciardi

1. This is one of very few titles on general database administration. Most other similar books focus on particular DBMS products. 2. It has a very comprehensive and broad coverage on the subject. The table of contents speaks for itself. Due to its extensiveness, the coverage by and large stays at the strategic and conceptual level, which serves its purpose very well.3. It compares features of major database products on handling similar jobs.4. The author clearly has extensive real life DBA experience with different DBMS products and has shared that with a very easy to understand language.5. It has good resource links.6. This book would be a great introduction and reference to those who are not only interested in a particular DBMS product but would also like to have a holistic view of database administration.7. Finally the book has 660 pages before the index rather than 352 pages as stated on this site.

This book has three things going for it: (1) It describes the DBA function as it exists in the real world. More importantly, it breaks the categories of "DBA" out into specialities, such as system DBA, data architect, analysts and modelers, developers and data warehouse DBAs - each speciality is vastly different in practice - and provides skill profiles and roles and responsibilities for each. (2) Proposes an organizational structure for all DBAs, regardless of database (DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, etc.) and skill. As a consultant who specializes in IT organizational management and processes I heartily endorse this structure. It's also consistent with recommendations made in "IT Organization: Building A Worldclass Infrastructure " by Harris Kern, Stuart Galup and Guy Nemiro, and "Building Operational Excellence: Strategies to Improve It People and Processes" by Dale Kutnick and Bruce Allen. (3) A complete and comprehensive listing of tasks and responsibilities for DBAs, ranging from creating the database environment to data warehouse administration, and everything in between (data modelling, performance and capacity management, tuning, back-up and recovery, etc.) While achieving the recommendations for organizational structure is a daunting and complex task, assimilating the extensive list of tasks and recommendations can be accomplished quickly. One way to attain immediate value from this book at the organizational level is to derive database administration policies and processes from this book, and refer to this book for the procedures. The ideal audience for this book includes IT managers who need to understand the complexity and scope of the DBA function under their cognizance, senior DBAs who want to implement consistent procedures, and HR specialists who develop job descriptions and recruit DBAs.