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Lumbago
Norsk Yak Master
3271 Posts |
 Posted - 2005-02-26 : 05:07:44
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Fellow yaks;I've currently let myself into the job-market and I've been called in for a job interview on monday for a DBA/network-engineer position. I have been told by the recruiters (is that how you spell it??) that they are very keen on clustering experience which I don't have at all. The thing is that I find this sort of odd because I have read several places that clustering really isn't that good. I've read that it's expensive, hard to maintain and doesn't always give you all that much better uptime but I lack the professional insight. Based on my current knowledge I would probably recommend log-shipping instead but then again this is a somewhat large company with about 200 servers in their datacenter so I'm really unsure what to say when they ask. My DBA-experience is from a production environment of only one single dedicated SQL-server standard edition ( ) but even though I'm probably underqualified I'm really keen on this job so I have to make a good impression.HELP!  --Lumbago"Real programmers don't document, if it was hard to write it should be hard to understand" |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2005-02-26 : 22:24:28
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| Damn! I thought this was going to be a clustered index question to which I thought I might know the answer. Sorry about that, but good luck. |
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byrmol
Shed Building SQL Farmer
1591 Posts |
Posted - 2005-02-26 : 22:48:14
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| Lumbago,If the job title just said "DBA", then I could understand the need to wing it. But the "network-engineer" aspect could imply being able to build a clustered enivornment from scratch. I've worked at a few sites with clustered environments from a DBA stand point only. Developing is essentially the same.Applying a service pack to a cluster has got to be the one of scariest DBA tasks out there. Are you up for it?DavidMA front-end is something that tries to violate a back-end. |
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derrickleggett
Pointy Haired Yak DBA
4184 Posts |
Posted - 2005-02-26 : 23:07:57
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| A couple question:1. What is their definition of a DBA?2. What is their definition of a network engineer?If they actually mean what both those imply, you would be insane to accept that position, unless they have like ohhhhhhhhh, ummmmm maybe 5 people working for them.MeanOldDBAderrickleggett@hotmail.comWhen life gives you a lemon, fire the DBA. |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2005-02-26 : 23:59:41
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| hehehe ... So they need a new "6th person", with clustering skills, to look after the 200 servers used by the other 5 people. Great place to work!But I'm glad you spotted that ... how can an outfit with 200 servers need a combination DBA/network engineer ?? Maybe what they want is a Database Clustering Engineer ... but that wasn't in the picklist on the recruitment company's system and DBA + Network Engineer seemed the same to the key-to-disk monkey :-(Kristen |
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Lumbago
Norsk Yak Master
3271 Posts |
Posted - 2005-02-27 : 03:42:07
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Well Derrick and Kristen; I haven't been there yet so I really don't know too much about what they are looking for and I'm sure you can belive that the recruiters aren't the best people to ask. She was damn good looking but *something* tells me she doesn't have a clue so I woun't even bother to ask.Now when it comes to your questions derric I know that they have about 70 employees of which 6 work in the it-departement. I have also been informed that they have a watch-plan (don't know any other word for it) that requires me to be on call for a week every 6 weeks so if something fails in the datacenter I have to be there and fix it within a certain amount of time. David: What are the actual implications when installing an SP? Knowing things like this would make it seem like I know what I'm talking about  EDIT: And yes, the job description is DBA so I'm quite sure they don't expect a fullbreed network engineer but who knows. These days you gotta know friggin everything to get a job around here...--Lumbago"Real programmers don't document, if it was hard to write it should be hard to understand" |
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derrickleggett
Pointy Haired Yak DBA
4184 Posts |
Posted - 2005-02-27 : 11:36:59
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| Sounds interesting. When I started here, we had about 2000 employees and one part-time DBA who was leaving. That SHOULD HAVE been a hint!!!! Basically, the main boss was a jackdonkey who knew nothing about databases or how to run an IT shop. Now, the company probably has around 3500 people and I head up a team with DBAs, data analysts, and reporting staff. We're still so far behind though, that it will take another year just to get our heads above water.Good opportunity...LOTS OF HOURS...great learning experience...jackdonkey boss "resigning". If the last one would have never happened, it would have been the worst decision of my life. As it's worked out, just the part about having to work with him was the worst.MeanOldDBAderrickleggett@hotmail.comWhen life gives you a lemon, fire the DBA. |
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)
7020 Posts |
Posted - 2005-02-28 : 17:24:25
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Sounds like you are not getting the whole story. I find it hard to believe that a company with 200 servers has only 70 people with 6 in IT. Maybe 200 servers for the whole company with only some of them at the location with 70 people and 6 IT people?If they really do have only 6 IT people to take care of 200 servers, that sounds like a very bad situation.quote:
Originally posted by Lumbago
Well Derrick and Kristen; I haven't been there yet so I really don't know too much about what they are looking for and I'm sure you can belive that the recruiters aren't the best people to ask. She was damn good looking but *something* tells me she doesn't have a clue so I woun't even bother to ask.Now when it comes to your questions derric I know that they have about 70 employees of which 6 work in the it-departement. I have also been informed that they have a watch-plan (don't know any other word for it) that requires me to be on call for a week every 6 weeks so if something fails in the datacenter I have to be there and fix it within a certain amount of time. David: What are the actual implications when installing an SP? Knowing things like this would make it seem like I know what I'm talking about EDIT: And yes, the job description is DBA so I'm quite sure they don't expect a fullbreed network engineer but who knows. These days you gotta know friggin everything to get a job around here...--Lumbago"Real programmers don't document, if it was hard to write it should be hard to understand"
Codo Ergo Sum |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2005-02-28 : 17:45:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Lumbago
I've read that it's expensive, hard to maintain and doesn't always give you all that much better uptime but I lack the professional insight. Based on my current knowledge I would probably recommend log-shipping instead but then again this is a somewhat large company with about 200 servers in their datacenter so I'm really unsure what to say when they ask.
First, yes clustering can be expensive depending on the solution you go with. You need a SAN behind them so that they share disks. It does give you better uptime when it comes to server maintenance. Let's say you have to install Windows security patches. You can move your instances to the other node with usually around 30-90 seconds of downtime. Then install the patches on the node without any instances. Once complete, move your instances over to the node with the patches installed for an additional 30-90 seconds of downtime, then install the patches on the other node. So you've got about 60-180 seconds of downtime total for installing security patches. How long would it take to do the same on a non-clustered box, probably about 15 minutes considering reboots and installation time. Also, log shipping is a disaster recovery solution; clustering is a whole nother beast. Clustering allows you to take down a node and have the instances fail over to the other node. We use clustering and log shipping for our mission critical applications that require high availability. Clustering for maintenance type activities or hardware failures at the one site and log shipping for site duplication for disaster recovery purposes. We're going to be switching to clustering over a WAN so we won't need log shipping anymore, but that's down the road and is going to require a lot of work.Tara |
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Lumbago
Norsk Yak Master
3271 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-01 : 15:52:29
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| Ok, I was at the interview and naturally the guy asked me if I had any clustering experience and when I replied "No, unfortunately not but I have read alot about it" he simplay said that "not very many have" which I belive is basically true. So overall I think I made a good impression (at least I hope so). When I was there I also learned that most of the servers in their datacenter are actually some sort of phone centrals that works as a gateway for phonecalls and that they have two dedicated network engineers to maintain these, which made me somewhat releaved. I thank you all for your input and and I hope you have your fingers crossed for me as I'm *really* hoping to get this job --Lumbago"Real programmers don't document, if it was hard to write it should be hard to understand" |
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byrmol
Shed Building SQL Farmer
1591 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-01 : 16:33:01
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| Lumbago,Sounds like they where fishing with the "network engineer" tag.Good luck mate!DavidMA front-end is something that tries to violate a back-end. |
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rockmoose
SQL Natt Alfen
3279 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-03 : 07:02:10
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| Get up to date quickly [url]http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/bknight/clustering_a_sql_server_machine_.asp[/url]Very good clustering article.(I have no personal clustering experience, wish I thought of this article when I first read your post)rockmoose |
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spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 13:13:20
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so lumbago my man! did you get it??Go with the flow & have fun! Else fight the flow  |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 13:22:02
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| Or at least a follow up interview?Brett8-) |
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Lumbago
Norsk Yak Master
3271 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 13:28:27
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Bad news, didn't get it  Didn't even get a second interview so I'm still holding on for something else. It seems that I'm doing something wrong in these interviews...I have been in 3 interviews in 2 places (6 alltogether) + 1 interview in two other places and I haven't gotten any of them. As of right now I don't have any leads at all...bummer :(--Lumbago"Real programmers don't document, if it was hard to write it should be hard to understand" |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 13:32:22
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| Make sure you send each one a thank you letter for the interview. In it you can ask them what their overall impression of you was and what specifically they were looking for that you didn't have.Hey, it's worth a shot.Also, it'll make a good impression, and it may be that you may see them again.Chin up!Margarita's down the hatch!Brett8-) |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 13:32:46
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| Don't give up. I was in a similar situation a few years ago before I landed my current position. The job market was and probably is still down in the IT industry. You just have to keep at it and make sure to network with people that you have previously worked with as often times those are the people that are able to lead you to a new position. When the IT industry is down, sometimes knowing someone will give you a one up on someone else applying for the same position.Tara |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
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Lumbago
Norsk Yak Master
3271 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 13:39:36
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| To be honest I'm not really worrying too much about it just yet, but I must admit that it conserns me somewhat that I'm getting interviews but not the jobs. I still have to the end of april so there's time. And I belive I can work a month or two extra at my current job so I guess there's nothing to worry about just yet --Lumbago"Real programmers don't document, if it was hard to write it should be hard to understand" |
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spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 13:39:48
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| sorry bro... you'll land a good one. you'll see!Go with the flow & have fun! Else fight the flow |
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Lumbago
Norsk Yak Master
3271 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 13:52:20
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| Thx brett but no such luck: "No jobs matched your search criteria". Searched for "sql" in Oslo, capitol of Norway, and I found nothing. But there are plenty of websites to search and in the mean time I'll just bug the crap out'ya'll trying to learn new stuff --Lumbago"Real programmers don't document, if it was hard to write it should be hard to understand" |
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Clustering - good or bad