Crs 584
MySQL Database Administration

This is a comprehensive course on administering MySQL databases on both Linux, Unix, and Windows environments. It covers the usual DBA duties and responsibilities such as installation, backup and recovery, security, physical database design and optimisation. In addition it overviews more advanced topics such as compiling MySQL and MySQL's Replication Functionality

Course outline

Responsibilities of a DBA

  • Making data available
  • Maintaining Database Integrity
  • Data backup and recover
  • Disaster recovery
  • User support (helpdesk support)
  • Determining, specifying and enforcing standards

Physical Database Design

  • Database/Table model
  • Dedicated partitions
  • Table Types, Table Locks, and Columns
  • Indexes
  • File Descriptors
  • System memory
  • Log Files
  • RAID

Backup and Recovery

  • Checking and Repairing Tables
  • Devising and Implementing Backup and Recovery Plans

Optimisation

  • Benchmarking
  • Design optimisation
  • Application level optimisation
  • Query optimisation
  • SQL statement optimisation
  • Server configuration tuning
  • Recompiling MySQL

Security

  • MySQL Permissions Scheme
  • Devising and Enforcing a Security Policy
  • Setting permissions
  • Audit and security

Distributed Databases

  • Distributed database concepts
  • Delayed synchronisation
  • MySQL's Replication Functionality
  • Multiple server systems

Intended Audience

The course is for novice database adminisrators, as well as Web and system administrators who will be required to maintain and administer MySQL database servers. Many of the principles and techniques covered on the course are also applicable to other Database Management Systems - such as SQL Server, Oracle.

The course will cover the use of scripts for database administration and backup in a generic way. (i.e. knowledge of scripting languages such as Perl or Tcl, or of shells such as Bash or the Korn Shell will not be assumed). If needed (and if there is sufficient demand) this topic can be added as an extra (fifth) day of the course.

Key Skills

  • MySQL installation
  • Specifying and enforcing a security policy
  • Setting up accounts and conferring user priviledges
  • Backup and recovery - planning and execution
  • Optimisation
  • Database replication
  • Compiling MySQL from sources

Practical Work

About 40% of the course time will be allocated to practical exercises, and workshops.

Attendees will be given a CD containing the compiled and source code for the most recent stable release of MySQL, as well as a collection of applications that enhance the usefulness of MySQL. The CD will contain a selection of MySQL administrative tools, and the scripts necessary to install and run the class database.

  • Estimation of data volumes, transaction processing loads, time to perform a backup and recovery.
  • MySQL installation under Linux and Windows 2000
  • Building and dropping indexes
  • Implementing scripts (by studying and modifying a template script) for performing backups
  • Carrying out a full database recovery
  • Observing the effects of carrying out tuning and optimisation procedures
  • Exploring the security mechanisms present in MySQL