In this article I am going to discuss the bad practices that mostly DBA's do. Lets check out the list and see if we come under the category of good DBA's or bad DBA'S.

Use Bad Approach for inserting columns:

A bad DBA thinks that adding a new column to a table is a four step process: create a new table, copy  all the data over, drop the old table, and rename the new table.

Changing column names:

They can't understand why changing column names break the application

Prefer Performance Tuning:

A bad DBA think that performance tuning is equivalent to buying better hardware

Misconceptions about Stored Procedures:

Believe a Stored Procedure which compiles is production ready. They also prefix all stored procs with ‘sp_' – so as to be consistent with the Microsoft naming convention

Prefer Indexing:

Forcefully argue that indexing every field in the databases is the best way to increase performance (right after buying better hardware). They index all the fields in database to improve the performance.

Misconception about Data Copying:

They think that 9 hours to copy one million records across databases is ‘good performance'. Also they think a stored procedure is the best way to copy one million records across databases.

SQL Bugs:

A bad DBA is convinced that the error generated by trying to insert a duplicate primary key value, is a bug in SQL. They also think it is bug in SQL Server when two NULL values compared with each other but SQL Server does not say they are equal to each other. They believe there is bug with SQL Server that it auto creates Clustered Index every time Primary Key is created on table.

Avoid Renaming Triggers:

They do not rename the trigger name thinking it will not work after it is rename.

Foreign Key constraints:

Believe that adding a foreign key constraint with the ‘Enforce Relationship' checkbox unchecked is the best of both worlds, it defines relationships without having to deal with the constraint errors when modifying data.

Reinstall SQL Server:

They reinstall the SQL Server if they forget the password of SA login.

Index Scan and Table Scan:

They are looking for difference between Index Scan or Table Scan on Google.

Use model databases:

They use model database for testing their script.

SELECT Statement:

They believe SELECT * is better than including all the columns name in SELECT as SQL has to read less syntax.

Misconception about Rules:

They believe Rules are better than Constraints and try to convert all constraints to rules.

 More Oracle Articles, Database Articles and DBA Tips
   Database Security: Step by step guideline
   Beware of Oracle Index Rebuild Locking Issues!!
   Great Tips on solving Temporary Tablespace Problems!
   DBA Tips: Limiting User Commands, Roles & Sessions!!
   Add Flexibility to your database – Use Database Abstraction Layer