What advanced database administration concepts can you learn online?

Database Security Database security is one of the most critical aspects of database administration, as it involves protecting the data and the database system from unauthorized access, modification, or damage. Database security covers topics such as authentication, authorization, encryption, auditing, compliance, and threat detection.

DBA's role is pivotal in orchestrating and maintaining these essential aspects of database security, safeguarding the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of data one should consider following: 1. Authentication (Password,LDAP,CERT,MFA, Kerberos, Oauth etc) 2. Authorization (Role-Based Access Control ,Rule-Based Access Control etc) 3. Encryption(Data at Rest Encryption,Data in Transit Encryption - SSL/TLS,TDE etc) 4. Patch Management - Update & Upgrade Security and versions. 5. Auditing and Monitoring 6. Backup and Recovery ( Batch & Incremental) 7. Secure Configuration ( Host based Access , Connection Timeout etc) 8.Data Masking ( Mask PI & Sensitive Data) 9. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) 10. Compliance ( GDPR, HIPAA, CCA etc)

To improve your skills and knowledge, topics such as database security, backup and recovery, performance optimization, replication, high availability, NoSQL databases, and big data technologies are all the right areas for online learning. Nonetheless, security is a big concern in today's era, so paying attention to this area is the need of the time.

It's really interesting how cloud-based environments can improve with ease all the database security, in all layers of any solution. Starting in the edge, with a proper DDoS protection, bot detections and threat prevention tools, only secure communications using certificates, going thru all database specific tools and methods like data masking, activity auditing, sensitive data discovery, access control lists, vaults that store credentials and any secrets, all identity features like role-based-policies, tagging, multiple layers of authentication and policies to manage the authorization. That's why cloud computing will reign forever in the IT world...

In the world of public cloud services and Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), understanding the differences between row-based and column-based database architectures is crucial. With various cloud data warehousing solutions available, focusing on strategic use of columnar design techniques like partitioning and clustering is essential, not just a suggestion. Reviewing inefficient SQL queries and proactively implementing governance measures is highly important to prevent unexpected costs. It's a common misconception/myth that fully managed cloud databases automatically ensure top performance and eliminate the need for thorough administration.

One of the most important steps here is Database design. Database design is an iterative process. It's important to continuously monitor and evaluate the database's performance and adapt the design as needed to ensure optimal functionality over time.

As an oracle dba, I should say designing a database based on considering future of the project is one of the most important part of it. During this journey, performance tuning and also sql tuning in packages and codes with save you from many costs.

Performance thru Database Design is the most powerful known tool to avoid any kind of performance degradation. A classic example, for the persperctive of relational databases: less before-insert triggers, combined with sequences that have a cache (for the primary key value of tables with high intense workloads) will play a key role in order to get better performance of any bulk insert operations or even ETL data transformations.

When it comes to SQL Server, nobody is more adept at performance tuning than Brent Ozar. I would highly recommend anyone who wants to learn performance tuning on this platform check out his courses. They're excellent sources of information from beginner to export.

To ensure business continuity, risk management and compliance/regulatory requirement. Planning, implementing and testing backup and recovery process and procedures is essential for business sustainability. The use for proprietary backup tools and third party backup solution is necessary to avoid human errors.

Business continuity plan is must for any organization while designing the database. Planning scheduled backup and validating the integrity of data by recovering backups periodically is the best and very important practice that must be followed by every organization. Considering and designing disaster recovery sites is another approach to keep high availability of data during occurrence of natural calamities.

Backup and recovery is very important in any running business. Without backup and recovery systems in place, continuity of business wouldn’t be possible and loss of information result the business to collapse. From my experience only taking backup not assure business continuity or stability but testing each backup taken is also critical. At the time of challenge if taken backup not tested at the end it leads to data loss. To avoid data loss the backup procedure must be checked.

Having a good backup and recovery strategy is one of the most important things that a DBA can do to protect the organization's data. It is also a core functionality of the DBA job. DBAs are responsible for ensuring the integrity, availability, and reliability of the database, and a good backup and recovery strategy is essential for achieving this goal. In fact, many organizations measure the success of their DBAs by their ability to recover from data loss events. If a DBA can successfully recover from a data loss event, it is a sign that they have a good backup and recovery strategy in place. DBA should make sure they periodically test all the scripts and validation of the backups. A yearly tabletop/DR exercise is a must.

Regularly test your backups!. Creating a backup is not enough if it doesn't work. Keep audit trails of your tests. Automate the tests and email the results to yourself!

The ability to just increase the speed of a service without going through server migrations and testing etc is amazing. Tools like terraform allow you to create templates of your services which allows for easier deployment and with a small amount of effort your can create the "same" service in a different cloud platform.

As databases move to cloud platforms, understanding cloud database management is crucial. This includes learning about different cloud service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), cloud migration strategies, and managing databases in a cloud environment.

Data is raw material for business to achieve and aim for future goals. In the world of digitalization collecting data and storing it is the main challenge every organization faces. Data warehouse is one of the best process oriented solution to collect, store, analyze, process and evaluate large chunks of structured/unstructured data.

This involves the integration of data from multiple sources into a central repository to support business intelligence and analytics. Courses might cover data modeling, ETL processes, and data warehouse architecture.

You always need to start learning the SQL Architecture concept and how the SQL engine works. Then you need to learn the SQL Server installation and configuration options and methodology too. After that you can dig deeper with the SQL Server security, SQL Server Transaction log, Recovery model, backup and restore, Encryption and masking. Then you can learn more about the BI concepts starting from the ETL, DW, data governance and reporting. Performance tuning is an advanced object that can help you to become a master in the SQL Server field. Don't stop here and learn about the Big Data concept.

Operational Best Practices are key for long term success. Post-deployment, your database will need to operate successfully for the duration of its lifecycle. Operationally, you will need to measure and monitor the database performance, security, and availability. Harvesting base-line performance and security measurements obtained in your deployment and specification. Reduce these statistics to measurable, monitored, and alert driven metrics when your database fails to meet specification. Common models for successful DB operation can be found online in topics like IT Service Management (ITSM) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) frameworks.

Regarding the original question, the answer is "most of them". In fact, you almost have to. Every DBA has command of specific skills that are used on a regular basis. Backup/restore, performance analysis, etc. Where the DBA really proves his worth is handling the unexpected. How many DBAs have experienced data loss due to a hardware failure and were tasked with recovering as much as they could? It's an unlikely event in today's world, but when the need arises, no classroom training is available NOW to prepare you to do it in the next hour. Online research is your friend, and the only way to solve the issues that formal class doesn't prepare you for.

Why we might be tempted to go with Performance Tuning, which is an advanced DBA skill, and can be learnt online, the Advance level of Performance Tuning can only be learnt from experience unfortunately. Cloud Computing, in a sense, yes may qualify as an Advance DBA skill (I am still sceptical), this again you need hands-on experience to garner. However, one Advanced Skill I think a DBA can learn online is A thorough study of a DB Engine internals. Having a good knowledge of the internal Engine of the Database, goes a long way in improving your technical knowledge and skills in many other areas, especially Administration, Optimization, Performance Tuning, etc.

Database cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of a database and preserving its structure, content, and configuration. It enables various use cases, such as development, testing, disaster recovery, and data analysis, without affecting the original database. Cloning methods include backup and restore, export/import, snapshot cloning, replication, tools/software, scripting, containerization, and cloud services. It plays a crucial role in data management, offering efficiency, risk reduction, and data integrity maintenance. It can be combined with automation, data masking, security and storage/resource management, and regular updates as some of the best practices in the cloning area.