Re: Oracle versus MS Sql Server

From: Dino Hsu <dino1.nospam_at_ms1.hinet.net>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 18:39:05 +0800
Message-ID: <58cqttk9pp2j6sfmmgadcoqidvgpg1carg@4ax.com>

Dear Michael,

Two more points:

1.I don't find your English hard to understand in any way, nor are there any symantic or syntactic ambiguities following this thread. Therefore, it is not the language problem that we have to worry about here. Besides, I am not a native English speaker, either (my mother toung is Chinese).

2.I am quite interested in the "somebody" who is responsible for data modeling. Can you tell me whether this "somebody" is an IT person or not? In case this person is not technically sophisticated or technically responsible, I guess he or she is more of a "data administrator" than a "database administrator", as is defined in the book <<Data Warehouse Project Management>> by Sid Adelman and Larissa Terpeluk Moss. I used to attend Drs. Moss' speech in a data warehousing seminar, as defines the roles in a data warehouse project of data administrator, data analyst, database administrator, application developer, user, user liaison, user support, security officer, auditor, project manager, technical services, strategic architect, and advisory boards. The distinction between a data administrator and a database administrator is particurly intriguing.

The respective responsibilies are as follows:

2-1.data administrator:

.Creates the "logical data model"
.Ensures the quality and integrity of the data model
.Develops data standards
.Manages the data models
.Captures and manages the meta data
.Responsible for administering, managing and controlling the CASE

tools and the repository (who is allowed to access, update, create and delete repository objects)
.Helps Data Analyst with dirty data discoveries .Participates with DBA in physical design

2-2.database administrator:

.Designs the DW target databases
.Creates physical database structures
.Responsible for performance (Monitoring, tuning, reorganization,

backup and recovery)
.Participates in extracting and loading data from the legacy systems to the DW databases

.Implements database security
.Reponsible for internal support of DBMS
.Responsible for understanding how the query tools access the DBMS

Note also the differences between the logical and the physical data modelings and between business and technical meta data. Of course this is just a framework and not necessarily the real implemetations of the enterprises today, I don't see any company in my country who makes this distiction yet or I don't know, if any. However, if your company is kind of like this, I am more than willing to know how and why you are doing this.

Thanks,
Dino

On Fri, 26 Oct 2001 11:06:09 +0200, "Michael G. Schneider" <mgs_at_mgs-software.de> wrote:

>"Sybrand Bakker" <postbus_at_sybrandb.demon.nl> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
>news:tti1ohc07vft35_at_corp.supernews.com...
>
>> You are consistently trying to offend DBAs by stating 'I don't need your
>> expertise'
>
>I just explained, that the word DBA does not fit to the examples that have
>been given (primary keys, constraints, cursors, etc.). This understanding
>comes late in this thread, but finally it is here.
>
>
>> In my formal function description 'designing the data model' is included.
>
>Applying data modelling techniques is definitely no "Database
>Administration" task. It has nothing to do with administration.
>
>Ok, I am not natively English speaking. Is there any English person reading
>this thread, who can either affirm or reject my impression that
>"administration" has nothing to do with "data modelling"?
>
>
>> I am quite aware most developers, and you seem to be a perfect and very
>> example of it, look down on DBAs.
>
>NOT AT ALL (sorry for shouting). And I do not know, how you come to this
>opinion.
>
>
>> Please don't expect I am going to respond to your newbie questions which
>> will inevitably turn up soon.
>
>I can certainly live with that.
>
>But maybe, you should think about the fact, that anything I said about DBAs
>was based on the understanding of these three letters "DBA". Obviously the
>immediate understanding of "DBA" leads to a narrow description of your
>actual work (which I tried to summarize in my previous post). I do discuss a
>data modell with somebody, who is responsible for Data Modelling. This is
>task not done by somebody, who is "administering the database".
>
>Michael G. Schneider
>
Received on Mon Oct 29 2001 - 04:39:05 CST