"One of Craig's hallmarks is his ability to write in a clear, easy-to-read fashion. The main purpose of any technical book is to transfer information from writer to reader, and Craig has done an excellent job. He wants the reader to learn—and it shows." —Chris Foot, Senior Oracle Certified Instructor, Contemporary Technologies

"I think every business manager and every IT manager should have a copy of this book."—Dan Hotka, Senior Technical Advisor, Quest Software Inc.

With Database Administration, database professionals now have a comprehensive sourcebook of strategies for delivering quality administration across today's challenging multi-DBMS environments. Filled with practical guidelines and strategies, this book provides the most comprehensive survey available of the administrator's world for the existing or aspiring database professional.

Part tutorial and part reference, Database Administration explains and examines each of the components that comprise the discipline of database administration. The book opens by providing an overview of the responsibilities of database administrators (DBAs) along with the various "flavors" of DBAs and their tasks. From there, the book proceeds chronologically through every task a DBA is likely to encounter. Although designed as a comprehensive survey of the entire DBA environment, the book's individual chapters are also well suited for quick look-up of specific information.

Highlights include:

• The world of the DBA: types, tasks, daily issues, and much more

• The DBA environment—installation and upgrading issues, standards, and procedures

• Data modeling and normalization

• Database design and application design

• Performance management, including system, database, and application performance

• Ensuring data integrity and database security

• Database back-up and recovery strategies and disaster planning

• Storage management and data warehouse administration

• Connectivity, metadata management, Internet-enabled database access, and additional DBA tools

• Platform-independent coverage applicable for all the major DBMS products including DB2, Oracle, and SQL Server

Whether you're a database analyst, architect, or application engineer, this book will provide the strategies and solutions you need to navigate the rocky terrain of today's complex data environments.

0201741296B05142002

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 8 Ratings

The DBA Book - 2006-04-05
Reviewer Rating:
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

Well Rounded Book That Does the Job - 2008-05-15
Reviewer Rating:
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.

used book for the iccp database administration exam - 2007-01-09
Reviewer Rating:
This was a good introductory book about all the different
terms and concepts in generic database administration.

This book does more to cover from the managers perspective of all the
extra stuff that managers would think about in terms of data
loss, disaster recovery, recovery, etc.

good book - 2009-03-12
Reviewer Rating:
A good book. I needed a book to refresh my memory of DBA.... a good choice.

Database Administration: The Complete Guide to Practices and Procedures - 2007-09-30
Reviewer Rating:
Database Administration: The Complete Guide to Practices and Procedures was delivered sucessfully. I enjoy the book.

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