Database Administrator salary in us is one of the 10 most in-demand tech jobs in 2021,The future for these big data specialists looks bright
You probably have a lot of questions if you’re considering a career as a database administrator. We talked with Audra Kremer McLaughlin, Career Specialist, Purdue University Global, to answer some frequently asked questions about database administrators.
What is Database Administrator?

A database administrator (DBA) is the information technician responsible for directing or performing all activities related to maintaining a successful database environment. A DBA makes sure an organization’s database and its related applications operate functionally and efficiently.
What does Database Administrator do?
Database administrators typically have these responsibilities:
- Identifying user needs to create and administer databases.
- Ensuring that the database operates efficiently and without error.
- Making and testing modifications to the database structure when needed.
- Maintaining the database and updating permissions.
- Merging old databases into new ones
- Backing up and restoring data to prevent data loss.
What Is the Job Outlook for a Database Administrator?
The BLS expects employment of database administrators to keep growing through 2030. McLaughlin says the growth is tied to the expansion of big data.
“The data science field as a whole is really growing,” she says. “All organizations are using more data than ever. From credit card information or statistical information, to web browsers and social media companies, many companies are gathering a lot of information.
“The more information out there, the more there is a need for people to manage it.”
What Skills Are Needed to Be a Database Administrator?
Data modeling and database design:- The DBA must possess the ability to create an efficient physical database design from a logical data model and application specifications. If the data resource management discipline has not been created, the DBA also must be responsible for data modeling, normalization, and conceptual and logical design.
Metadata management and repository usage:– The DBA, or sometimes the Data Architect (DA), must collect, store, manage, and enable the ability to query the organization’s metadata. Without metadata, the data stored in databases lacks true meaning.
Database schema creation and management:- A DBA must be able to translate a data model or logical database design into an actual physical database implementation and to manage that database once it has been implemented.
Backup and recovery:- Implementing robust backup and recovery procedures is the insurance policy of the DBA. The DBA must implement an appropriate database backup and recovery strategy based on data volatility and application availability requirements.
Ensuring data integrity:- DBAs must be able to design databases so that only accurate and appropriate data is entered and maintained. To do so, the DBA can deploy multiple types of database integrity including entity integrity, referential integrity, check constraints, and database triggers. Furthermore, the DBA must ensure the structural integrity of the database.
Performance management and tuning:- Dealing with performance problems is usually the biggest post-implementation nightmare faced by DBAs. As such, the DBA must be able to proactively monitor the database environment and to make changes to data structures, SQL, application logic or the DBMS subsystem to optimize performance.
Ensuring availability:- Applications and data increasingly are required to be up and available 24×7. The DBA must be able to ensure data availability using non-disruptive administration tactics.
SQL code reviews and walk-thrus:- Although application programmers usually write SQL, DBAs usually are blamed for poor performance. Therefore, DBAs must possess in-depth SQL knowledge so they can understand and review SQL and host language programs and to recommend changes for optimization.
Procedural skills:- Modern databases manage more than merely data. The DBA must possess procedural skills to help design, debug, implement, and maintain stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions that are stored in the DBMS.
Data security:- The DBA is charged with the responsibility to ensure that only authorized users have access to data. This requires the implementation of a rigorous security infrastructure for production and test databases. And a database auditing capability to document compliance.
Capacity planning:- As data consumption and usage continue to grow, the DBA must be prepared to support more data, more users, and more connections. The ability to predict growth based on application and data usage patterns and to implement the necessary database changes to accommodate the growth is a core capability of the DBA.
General database management:- The DBA is the central source of database knowledge in the organization. As such he must understand the basic tenets of relational database technology and be able to accurately communicate them to others.
General systems management and networking skills:– Because once databases are implemented they are accessed throughout the organization and interact with other technologies, the DBA must be a jack of all trades. Doing so requires the ability to integrate database administration requirements and tasks with general systems management requirements and tasks (like job scheduling, network management, transaction processing, and so on).
ERP and business knowledge:- For businesses doing enterprise resource planning (ERP) the DBA must understand the requirements of the application users and be able to administer their databases to avoid interruption of business. Most ERP applications (SAP, PeopleSoft, etc.) use databases differently than homegrown applications. DBAs require an understanding of how the ERP packaged applications impact the business and how the databases used by those packages differ from traditional relational databases.
Extensible data type administration:- The functionality of modern DBMSs can be extended using user-defined data types. The DBA must understand how these extended data types are implemented by the DBMS vendor and be able to implement and administer any extended data types implemented in their databases.
Web-specific technology expertise:- For e-businesses, DBAs are required to have knowledge of Internet and Web technologies to enable databases to participate in Web-based applications. Examples of this type of technology include XML, CGI, Java, Ruby on Rails, TCP/IP, Web servers, firewalls, SSL, and so on.
Storage management techniques:– The data stored in every database resides on disk somewhere (unless it is stored on one of the new main memory DBMS products). DBAs must understand the storage hardware and software, including how it interacts with the DBMS.
Who Would Make a Good Database Administrator?
McLaughlin says someone considering being a database administrator should enjoy problem-solving and should be familiar with “big data” database tools related to machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Among other interests, database administrators typically are interested in:
Deductive Reasoning—Using a set of rules to solve problems
Inductive Reasoning—Making general rules or coming up with answers from data
Information Ordering—Ordering or arranging data
Oral Comprehension—Listening and understanding other people
Problem Sensitivity—Being on the lookout for when problems happen
What Certification Is Needed to be a Database Administrator?
1. Oracle Certified Associate – Oracle9i Database Administrator (OCA)
2. Oracle Certified Professional – Oracle 9i Database Administrator (OCP)
3. Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA)
4. Oracle 9i Database Administrator – Professional (OCP)
5. Oracle Database 10g Administrator Certified Professional
6. Pro: Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator (MCITP)
7. TS: SQL Server 2008, Implementation and Maintenance (MCTS)
8. Teradata 14 Certified Master
9. Oracle Database 11g Administrator Certified Associate
10. Developing Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014 Databases
11. Oracle Database 12c Administrator Certified Professional – upgrade from 7.3, 8, 8i, 9i, 10g, 11g DBA OCP Certification
12. Computer Service Technician (CST)
13. IBM Certified Database Associate — DB2 9 Fundamentals.
Where Do Database Administrators Work?
With the growing use of big data, not only are the number of jobs growing, but so are the places where database administrators can work.
“There is a lot of hiring of database administrators and other data science careers,” McLaughlin says. “There are even opportunities in government organizations and nonprofit organizations, along with the tech sector, education, and management.”
According to the BLS, these are the largest employers of database administrators:
Computer systems design and related services 13%
Educational services; state, local, and private 6%
Management of companies and enterprises 6%
Insurance carriers and related activities 6%
Data processing, hosting, and related services 3%
Which degrees to get for becoming Database Administrator?
Earning a degree can give you the knowledge you need for database administrator certifications and can help you hone your skills in learning labs. You also may choose to gain real-world experience with an internship.
Purdue University Global offers a few degree plans for those interested in becoming a database administrator.‡ You could pursue a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity, a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management, or a Master of Science in Information Technology.
What is the Salary of Database Administrator?
According to PayScale the average salary of DBA in India is Rs 458,317.
Note – Salary varies according to job location, CTC, experience, knowledge, certifications, and many more such factors that effect.