5 tricks to boost DBA productivity

There are limited hours in the day, DBA workloads continue to grow, how you utilise the time is  key to a productive DBA . What approaches and methods can a DBA adopt to become more efficient? I’m always looking for work methods to improve productivity but ensuring  the risk of the database performance and availability is maintained

Here are some ideas .You may find , some initial work is required upfront to adjust current working practises, but before you know it , you'll have endless amounts of time for new learning experiences! 

 1.Avoid manual tasks - Think about which tasks you habitually perform manually. Some prime candidates are:

Manual SQL Server Install

Reading Error Logs manually - Powershell and SQL Error Logs

SQL Server database maitenance

SQL Server DBA Top 10 automation tasks

2.Too much fire fighting , not focusing enough on pro active tasks

Proactive includes having alerts by exception, reporting by exception

SQL Server – Daily Health Check Script with Powershell - SQL ...

3.Lack of standardisation – If you are managing hundreds of  Production SQL Servers , if you are not standardising certain things, you’ll discover quickly a nightmare scenario.

Consider standardisations for:

Base install files

SQL Server \ OS versions

Security standards and Security Risk Analysis - SQL Server - Security Risk Analysis and database security

 4. Not configuring SQL Servers correctly – Spend loads of time researching or get a consultant to advise on how configure SQL Server optimally.  There isn’t just one way of configuring , but there are some excellent beast practises which could save you loads of time troubleshooting.

SQL Server Install Checklist

 5.Not documenting what they have learnt – Everyday the typical DBA confronts problems. A key task is solve the problem asap . With experience this gets easier. But not enough DBAs spend time documenting what they’ve learnt.

Read more on documenting and the 7 habits of highly effective DBAs

Your aiming to automate as many processes\tasks . This will free up your time , allowing increased opportunities for new learning experiences.

Read More on DBA productivity

Find the Root cause of a SQL Server Performance downgrade - SQL ...

DBA and the end of time management

SQL Server – DBA productivity and less is more