Dennis, thanks for thoughtful and thought-provoking reply. I guess there is more volatility ( new apps, upgrades, migrations, new customers, etc) and less volatility (tighter standards maintenance, more teamwork, fewer "just this once" databases, fixes, etc) I'd imagine ASP DBAs need more/better in the way of monitoring and alerting.....and going out on a limb, i'd imagine they are *more* likely to do SA and DBA work -- can't back this up by experience as I have none, but my gut tells me that. My concern is that life as an ASP DBA would be a hamster wheel tedium of upgrades, patches and answering the same question for seventy different clients...and that it would be harder to fix problems because of the isolated/distributed nature of the clients, and the fact that they'd be more likely to be using canned crApplications. -----Original Message----- From: DENNIS WILLIAMS [mailto:DWILLIAMS@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Fri 7/9/2004 8:58 PM To: 'oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx' Cc: Subject: RE: ASP DBAs Ross I'm hardly an expert, but based on my limited exposure to ASP DBAs, I'll give my opinions and that may provoke some more expert opinion. I think the major differences at an ASP (and this may depend on the specific ASP) is that you may be more visible. If the ASP is hosting specific applications then you need to be expert in how those applications interact with the database. Presumably handling a variety of versions of the application, migrating customers between versions, etc. If the ASP is offering the database as a product, then you will be more visible to the customers. In theory you are supporting many databases. So creating standards so all the databases look alike could be key. Or obeying the standards of a large team. Most of us support many databases, but my assumption is that at an ASP the situation would be more volatile, bringing up new customers, moving customers from one server to another, etc. To me the key issue is that the customer needs to have clearly communicated what you are and what you aren't doing. Most of the unhappiness results when the customer thinks you are taking care of all issues and your understanding is that you are taking care of a limited amount. Monitoring is a big deal at least being able to tell a good story for potential customers. Enjoy working weird hours and weekends. Dennis Williams DBA Lifetouch, Inc. dwilliams@xxxxxxxxxxxxx I said it "looked" clear - Riddick -----Original Message----- From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ]On Behalf Of Mohan, Ross Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 10:19 AM To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: ASP DBAs LoL...nice.... Yes, Application Service Provider. I was trying to be hip and fit in with the in-crowd by using acronyms and got myself into a RAC of trouble. I guess I'll just have to get into my yoga pose and hum "OEMMMM" until things get better. But...on topic...i am trying to find out more about the life of a hardcore ASP DBA. -----Original Message----- From: DENNIS WILLIAMS [mailto:DWILLIAMS@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:DWILLIAMS@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ] Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 10:30 PM To: 'oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx' Subject: RE: ASP DBAs Ross Usually they change the "P" to a second "S" when they refer to me as "that DBA". I'm just guessing here, ASP = Application Service Provider? Dennis Williams DBA Lifetouch, Inc. dwilliams@xxxxxxxxxxxxx I said it "looked" clear - Riddick -----Original Message----- From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ]On Behalf Of Mohan, Ross Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 4:56 PM To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: ASP DBAs Before I begin a painful archive search, does anyone recall there being a long and/or fruitful discussion of the who/what/when/where/how/why's of being an ASP DBA? Thanks ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com <http://www.orafaq.com> ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ <//www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/> FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html <//www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html> ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com <http://www.orafaq.com> ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ <//www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/> FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html <//www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html> ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com <http://www.orafaq.com> ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ <//www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/> FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html <//www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html> ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com <http://www.orafaq.com> ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ <//www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/> FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html <//www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html> ----------------------------------------------------------------- -- Binary/unsupported file stripped by Ecartis -- -- Type: application/ms-tnef ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------