Responsibilities of DBA

Question :: What are the Responsibilities of DBA ?
Answer:
One of the main reasons for using DBMSs is to have central control of both the data
and the programs that access those data. A person who has such central control
over the system is called a database administrator (DBA). The functions of a
DBA include:
• Schema definition. The DBA creates the original database schema by executing
a set of data definition statements in the DDL.
• Storage structure and access-method definition.
• Schema and physical-organization modification. The DBA carries out
changes to the schema and physical organization to reflect the changing needs of
the organization, or to alter the physical organization to improve performance.
• Granting of authorization for data access. By granting different types of
authorization, the database administrator can regulate which parts of the database
various users can access. The authorization information is kept in a special system
structure that the database system consults whenever someone attempts to access
the data in the system.
• Routine maintenance. Examples of the database administrator’s routine
maintenance activities are:

• Periodically backing up the database, either onto tapes or onto remoteservers, to prevent loss of data in case of disasters such as flooding.

•  Ensuring that enough free disk space is available for normal operations, andupgrading disk space as required.

•  Monitoring jobs running on the database and ensuring that performance isnot degraded by very expensive tasks submitted by some users.