The field of database administration is far from glamorous. Even within the uncompromisingly geeky domain of information technology, database administration would be among the last fields picked for a game of proverbial kickball.
However, the future employment landscape for tech jobs remains uncertain in these changing times. Despite its somewhat unglamorous reputation, database management and administration is an industry experiencing rapid growth, persistent talent shortages, and significant changes brought by AI. This field has much potential for those willing to cash in on its viable career path.
These watershed moments invariably present significant opportunities as well as challenges. Percona, an open-source database software, support, and services firm, optimizes how databases and applications run. Dave Stokes, a technology evangelist and database veteran at the company, is passionate about helping today’s aspiring database administrators (DBAs) find their way.
Stokes has decades of experience in the DBA field. He often speaks on a wide range of cutting-edge topics regarding database operations. With his finger on the IT pulse, he offers the knowledge and expertise needed to mentor effectively.
Reshaping the Business World’s Database Needs
Perusing any industry report on the role of DBA in 2024 confirms that emerging trends and data solutions make for an ever-changing IT landscape. Today’s data environment generates more than two quintillion bytes of data per day.
Demands for higher-quality data and real-time results push various database platforms to their limits. As a result, DBAs require increasingly sophisticated skill diversification.
Artificial intelligence is only one factor. Other challenges include managing on-premises operations and handling cloud migration and security. Evolution, adaptation, and innovation define DBA’s morphing trends.
Open-source databases are now more popular than their commercial counterparts. More organizations are dependent on PostgreSQL and MySQL, according to Stokes.
“This standardization on the choice of databases provides DBAs with more employment opportunities and gives employers a vast talent pool from which to fish,” he said.
Insider’s View of the World of Database Administration
Until that impact escalates, trying to figure out how some data is structured and how it impacts ongoing operations is a tertiary consideration, he observed.
But there is good news about where DBA is headed. Some data workers are interested in the functions performed by a DBA, even if they do not have that title.
“Query tuning, defining data structures, server optimization, and administration of the instance itself have value,” he said.
TechNewsWord: What cutting-edge database technology is impacting this field?
Dave Stokes: Vector data for machine learning will consume unprecedented amounts of disk space, processor cycles, and administrative time. Moving a copy of a model to another location for training will incur expensive transfer fees, require monitoring, and take up even more disk space.
JSON is the data interchange of choice for most. Storing data in a JSON format is not as efficient as storing it in traditional data types. Extracting some JSON values and storing them as a traditional data type can speed processing but add complexity.
Replicated data over several data centers is very common. Managing that data, spread out over a continent or globe, is tricky.
How will automation and AI impact changes in DBA?
Stokes: AI is needed in the database itself. However, general AI adoption by an organization means more disk space, processor cores, data migrations, and backups.
An optimizer that can spot data usage patterns and recognize the need to cache specific data or autotune buffer usage would be a big plus. Smarter query optimizations and user usage patterns could shift server capacities to accommodate data needs.
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