Episode 2: ORACLE8 Database Administration

In order to fairly gauge the meaning of "OCP certified" on DBA resumes, and as part of the background for my Advisory Board work on behalf of the Database Domain, I am going back through the DBA certification process. If you were certified on Oracle7.3, then you only need to take one test to be upgraded to Oracle8 certification. If you are new to the process, you have to pass five separate exams. Of those five, the first exam is on SQL and PL/SQL; the second exam is a general knowledge DBA exam.

Certification is still a sore subject with many experienced DBAs. Part of the problem is that certification tests are not based on being able to resolve problem situations, but rather focus on answering specific questions. This is a significant difference, and is perhaps best illustrated by an example from the tax preparation industry. In the US, tax preparers who work for a certain large tax preparation company must attend a minimum number of training class hours per year. Their tests are tax returns - they are given the documents they need, and they must prepare the tax return based on the documents. Thus, the test factors in both their knowledge of the law and their ability to apply it. It's an open-book test, because that's the way real life is.

By comparison, computer certification tests are closed-book tests that test only your knowledge, not your ability to apply it. That's part of the reason why experienced DBAs don't see value in certification - it only reflects one part of the job. So I'd like to propose additional certification test scenarios that tests real DBA skills. How about:

1. Your database is down, and you don't yet know when the backup tapes will be restored. How long do you tell the users the system will be unavailable?
2. How would you explain the costs and benefits of indexes to developers of an OLTP application? Give examples, figures, benchmarks, etc.
3. Given an ORA-0600 error, find a similar problem report via MetaLink, and escalate your TAR to get the patch. Download the patch and apply it properly, leaving a back-out path available. Document the reason for the availability outage for your CIO.
4. Figure out Oracle's pricing for network licenses of Web-based applications.

And so forth. There's a great opportunity for scenario-based testing like that, but it would obviously be difficult to set up and administer. As for the test at hand, its structure and content is discussed at Oracle's certification site. Experienced DBAs should take it to learn what those new DBAs who are claiming certification have accomplished - and how much more they may be able to accomplish in an open-book world.

Two down, three to go: Backup/Recovery, Performance Tuning, and networking. The problem with those general topics, of course, is that they may feature extensive coverage of rarely used tools like RMAN or CMAN. We shall see…