Functions of DBA (Database Administrator)

    The functions of DBA include the following:

1.    Backup and recovery.
2.    Data integrity.
3.    Security.
4.    Performance tuning.
5.    Availability.

Backup is an activity of storing a copy of database in a separate place i.e. storing database outside the affected area of an anticipated disaster. Thus in way the risk of data being lost or damaged is minimized. Recovery is a process of recovering the database from the backup when data lost or database damage condition occurs.

Data integrity is a process by which database can be manipulated correctly and consistently. Data integrity has two types-
•    entity integrity.
•    referential integrity.

Database security involves securing database from attacks from the outside world by having some strong policy. Securing the database actually involves establishing adequate access controls and that is done by DBA.

Database performance tuning means eliminating the causes for performance degradation like delay in response time to applications. The work of the DBA in performance tuning is to find the root of the problem and correct it to ensure that efficiency of the database is maximum.

Database availability means that the database is available to the users all the time, so that users can access data at any time. It is a most important part of work for the DBA, as certain organizations need data to be accessed at all times i.e. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.