DB Admin checklist

[richieasir]

Hi Team,

I need to prepare a checklist in case if any database got crashed, what are the administrativve steps to be carried out, for preventive measure i can say.In simple "Create a checklist of steps to execute during a database administrative activity".

Could you please suggest me with some checklist points please...

Thanks,
Your Friend.

 

[Rob Fitzpatrick]

Checklist Step 0: Read the Protecting Your Data section (at the very least) in the Database Administration manual.

You can then attempt to build the checklist yourself, or at least formulate informed questions about it. If you haven't read it then frankly, you aren't yet ready to be in charge of the checklist that protects your company from data loss.

 

[cj_brandt]

First question - Is AI enabled ?

Looking for information on database analysis, proutil -C dbrpr and probably proutil -C idxcheck would probably be a good start. You should know how long these take to run - you may not want the db down for 5 hours while you run dbrpr.

 

[RealHeavyDude]

IMHO - a checklist alone is not sufficient. You need to implement a disaster recovery strategy because a crash or power loss of the server machine is not the only bad thing that can happen to your production system and your database.

• You need to do an assessment and taxonomy of possible risks (ranging from a database crash to disasters caused by nature.
• You need to have an service level agreement that defines how much down time and how much data loss you can afford.

Based on that risk assessment and the SLA you can then develop a disaster recovery strategy which might involve the checklist you require.

Heavy Regards, RealHeavyDude.

 

[richieasir]

Hi all,

Thanks for the reply. But in general for "Create a checklist of steps to execute during a database administrative activity", what are the steps will be included in the checklist.

Thanks.

"

 

[RealHeavyDude]

What would a "database administrative activity" exactly be?

Heavy Regards, RealHeavyDude.

 

[richieasir]

Hi All,

If a Database is down then what are steps to be taken as a database administrative activity? to make the DB up.... i need to fill the steps in the checklist....

Thanks.

 

[RealHeavyDude]

When a Progress database crashed for whatever reason in most cases ( 99.9 % ) you just restart it - it will automatically do the crash recovery for you. If it doesn't start then you need to restore it from your last good backup and roll your AI forward.

So there is only one step. If it doesn't work and you don't have a good backup and don't use AI your hosed.

Heavy Regards, RealHeavyDude.

 

[TomBascom]

Before I restart, I check the .lg file. I want to know why the db crashed.

The steps after that depend greatly on what is found in the .lg file and any subsequent investigations.

0) Preserve the evidence: make a backup copy of the .lg file, hunt down and preserve all core, procore & protrace files, make copies of system log files.

1) If a simple corrective action is indicated by the error messages, take that action (maybe you ran out of disk space or exceeded a kernel limit; the list of possibilities is nearly endless).

2) Restart.

3) If a restart does not work: restore and roll forward. Never restore on top of the damaged database -- if your restore fails for some reason (maybe you have a bad tape, or maybe the tape doesn't have what you think it has on it...) Always restore into a "recovery" area. If you absolutely must restore on top of the existing database make a backup of it first (it will need to be an OS level back because probkup won't work.)

If you do not have after-imaging enabled -- stop pursuing this checklist question and:

1) Bring your resume up to date. Remove all references to "Progress DBA".

2) Implement after-imaging. Test it thoroughly. You may find this: After Imaging helpful.

3) Revisit your resume. You may now make references to "Progress DBA".