[The Architect 2.0]

Hello,

What is the title of the person/people on the programming team responsible for designing the database? Specifically, the role would involve choosing to use local vs server databases for desktop applications, validating database recovery techniques, optimizing the database for speed, advising the front-end/business logic developers of API changes, and anything else I can't think of.

Generally, when I think 'database,' I think 'Database Administrator.' Is that what I'm looking for? I'm under the impression that database administrators are generally IT focused and maintain/optimize existing databases, rather than participate in the initial database design during development.

[RandomlyKnighted]

I think you're looking for Database Analyst.



If it helps, here is a position for a Database Analyst position at UPS. One of the sentences in the job description says:

Quote

This position interacts with the Data Modeler to create and maintain basic physical databases. He/She assists with administering and maintaining the enterprise’s production and development databases.

[baavgai]

I'm a DBA. The scope of the job can be quite broad or narrow, depending on the expectations of the employer. It never has anything to do with local databases. You don't hire someone full time to manage something that only exists on a client machine.

The fundamental role of a DBA is making sure the data is ALWAYS available. If a database server should melt into a molten mass, the DBA needs to be able to make the data available again, ASAP. If it's mission critical then only one server going down shouldn't disrupt business. So, most narrowly, a DBA keeps the data flowing.

More broadly, a DBA might also control user access, or some other kind of sysadmin might. A DBA might design the actual database schema, or a Database Analysis, or a Database Developer, or, simply, an Application Developer, might. A DBA might write server side code for applications, leaving the developers to use only the objects the DBA makes available to them. The DBA can, in some places, be the fascist dictator of all things database.

Titles only have meaning in the context of the company that gives them. The same title will mean very different things to different places. Very large companies with very large databases will often break the DBA job into many positions; don't ask me what the hell they call them. Conversely, some places will expect their Application Developers to know all things tech and set up the database servers, etc, entirely on their own.

This post has been edited by baavgai: 10 March 2013 - 09:02 AM