A Database Administrator (DBA) keeps an organization's data safe, fast, available and recoverable. You install and upgrade database software, control who can see what, tune slow queries, test changes before they reach production, and restore service when something breaks. Think of yourself as the person who makes sure the company's memory never gets lost or corrupted. The path: learn SQL and relational theory first, then one engine deeply (PostgreSQL is free and widely used), then backup and recovery, security and performance tuning, then automation and cloud. Most employers list a bachelor's
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Stage 1 of 4 · about 10 weeks
Write SQL confidently (SELECT, JOIN, GROUP BY, subqueries, window functions), understand tables, keys, normalization (1NF-3NF) and transactions (ACID). Get comfortable at the Linux command line. Install PostgreSQL locally and build a small database of your own, such as a bookstore with customers, orders and inventory.
Linux command line basics
Most production databases run on Linux servers, and you will reach them through a terminal. If you can move around, read logs and edit files there, nothing on the job feels foreign.
SQL querying: SELECT, JOIN, GROUP BY, subqueries, window functions
SQL is the language you will use every day to inspect data, find problems, verify fixes and help developers. Fluent SQL also makes performance tuning later much easier because you understand what the database is being asked to do.
Relational design: tables, keys, normalization
Bad design causes duplicated data, wrong totals and painful changes later. As a DBA you review designs, so you need to see problems before they reach production.
Transactions and ACID
Databases exist to keep data correct when many things happen at once or something fails mid-way. Understanding transactions is the base for backups, recovery and diagnosing locking problems later.
Installing PostgreSQL and using psql
Having your own engine lets you experiment safely and break things without consequences. This is where theory becomes habit.
Then 3 more stages (about 74 weeks in all) with lessons, drills, projects, 10 interview questions with strong answers and free resources.