What is Remote Database ?

In remote database administration (remote DBA), a client computer is monitored and professionally managed from a remote location, usually by a third-party company, to ensure that the database and computer system that is being monitored continues to run properly and efficiently over time.

In many cases, the third-party company also supplies some form of additional services such as availability monitoring software, access to a best practices and resolution knowledge base, monthly reports for the "client", service calls or telephone calls with the client. There are various forms and variations on each of the above items, each providing different levels of quality and service.

Growing Need for Database Support
All organizations have data – they cannot operate without it.  Data comes in all forms, from employee files stored in file cabinets to complex data warehouses accessed by thousands of concurrent end-users.  For decades, organizations have increasingly begun to realize how inefficient it is to store their data in hard copy format and process it manually.  In the early 1990s, there seemed to be an increased awareness of the need for many organizations to investigate electronic data storage.  Prior to that time period, electronic databases had already appeared and been in use in many Government and commercial organizations with large technology budgets.  The mid 1990s brought forth an explosion of awareness and growth in technology with Web and database technologies.  More database options were available which made the database market more competitive.  Major players in the market included Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, IBM, and Informix.  Today, the database market is even more competitive, people are better trained in database technologies, and the art of storing and managing electronic data has been refined.  Greater understanding is derived from knowledge and past experiences, and now people are starting to understand the true importance of data in the enterprise.  People are starting to realize how long it takes to collect data and build a useful database.  People are also starting to fully realize the consequences of lack of database availability, poor performance, and data loss.

Figure 1.1       Relationships of Organizations, Customers, and Data

Figure 1.1 illustrates the basic relationship between an organization and its customer, and between people and data.  Data is used by everyone in some form, and in many cases, critical data is shared between organizations and its customers.  In most cases, organizations and customers are completely dependent on their data.  Loss or unavailability of data equates to either drastically slowed production or cease of operations.  In both cases, this means monetary penalties, loss of revenue, and potentially loss of customers.

Database Administration Responsibilities
The database administrator (DBA) is the mechanic for a database.  The DBA is the patient’s doctor and the investor’s financial consultant.  For every database that exists, a certain amount of routine maintenance must be accomplished.  A large database environment may require a team of DBAs where a small database may require only a handful of man hours per year.  What an organization must do is determine the level of DBA support required for its database and allocate resources to make sure the database is managed responsibly.  Then, the greatest risk is investing a controlled amount of resources into DBA support and minimizing or eliminating the chance for database failure and data loss – which is the whole point of DBA support.  A major objective for any IT manager is to balance the amount of resources invested into database support with the desired (and measured) results of DBA support. 

Figure 2.1       Database Administration Responsibilities

Basic Remote Database Support Infrastructure
With a remote DBA support solution, it is common for the remote DBA to periodically visit the client site for critical meetings, planning, and critical reporting.  The money saved with remote DBA support will offset any travel expenses.  Software media can typically be loaded by any competent person on-site.  Normally, the remote DBA has a technical or semi-technical point of contact at each client site for general communication, software media loading, hardware support, and so forth.  However, network connectivity issues may pose a problem to the remote DBA if there are not backup connection methods.  A typical remote DBA connection plan for a client might include a primary T1 connection, a secondary T1 or DSL, and a backup modem for dial-up access as a last resort.  All methods can be secured using technologies such as Virtual Private Networking (VPN) and Secure Shell (SSH).  Figure 3.1 below illustrates a basic infrastructure for remote database support.

Figure 3.1       Basic Remote Database Support Infrastructure

Advantages of Remote DBA Support
Remote DBA is most advantageous when consolidating information technology resources and full-time DBA support is not necessarily required by a company.  There are two major advantages of remote DBA support.  They are:

• Cost savings.  Money is saved by not having to staff a full-time DBA for part-time DBA work.  Money that would normally be spent to staff the full-time DBA can be invested towards additional resources, or simply be absorbed back into the company, showing a greater net profit.  For example, 50 hours per month (as apposed to 160) may be spent providing proactive database monitoring and routine DBA support.  A company only pays for hours in excess of 50 per month as needed.  This allows the recurring cost of DBA support to be kept to a minimum while maintaining the availability of additional DBA support as needed.  So basically, an organization is able to pay only for what it needs.  Investment is based on specific business requirements, not salary requirements of a qualified DBA that will likely be hammered by employment offers from different firms.

• Better quality support.  When an organization out-sources remote database support, the remote database support company takes on the burden of recruiting/maintaining DBA staff, funding employee benefits, office space, equipment, employee training and other related costs of having an employee.  Furthermore, a remote DBA company should be able to provide a DBA staff with depth and diverse database knowledge.  Ideally, the company requiring remote DBA support would have access to all of the resources of the company providing remote DBA services, not just a single employee.

Figure 4.1       Benefits of Outsourced Remote Database Support

At first, it may not appear that Figure 4.1 reflects the benefits of remote database support.  As you study the figure, the number of advantages just might amaze you. 

First, focus on the components surrounding the “Clients and Their Database Environments.”  Organizations typically have limited database support personnel and resources.  And of those limited resources, the quality may vary drastically.  Consider that any organization which implements a remote database support solution with a successful service provider will have access to virtually an unlimited number of not only database experts, but system, web, application, and network experts.  Ideally, an organization has a primary point of contact for remote database support.  If properly implemented, support will go beyond the primary DBA.  There will be multiple backup DBAs, subject matter experts on hand, emergency support will be immediate, and your database environment will be handled more efficiently and cost-effectively than ever before.

The obvious benefits of remote database support involve costs and levels of support directly related the support staff.  Now consider corporate support and overhead.  With permanent employees, the following overhead is implied:

• Hiring costs
• Benefits
• Taxes
• Paid time off (unavailability)
• Equipment
• Training costs
• Turnover costs (after they get trained and experienced)

Remote database support can be used to supplement existing staff, or in place of hiring permanent staff.  There is a growing need for qualified database administrators and a low supply.  This means that database administrators, once trained, will leave employment for more money in many cases.  Therefore, the challenges to most organizations are:

• Finding qualified database administrators
• Keeping them challenged
• Keeping them

A good remote database service provider can attract and retain excellent DBAs.  Service providers can pay a premium for DBA talent because a good DBA can support multiple clients, whereas a permanent employee DBA can only support one client, his employer.  In return, remote database service providers can offer competitive rates to clients, providing expert database support at a fraction of the cost of a client hiring a full-time DBA.  The client only purchases the level of support required.  Think of an accounting firm.  How many organizations can afford to hire a full-time accountant?  Of those that can, how many do you think are able to retain their accountants in the long run?

Disadvantages of Remote DBA Support
There are not that many disadvantages to remote database support as long as the solution is carefully researched and applied to an organization.  However, remote DBA support may not be for every organization.  For organizations requiring full-time DBA support, particularly if multiple DBAs are required, it may be more cost-effective to hire employees as opposed to outsourcing its database support.  Even in this scenario, it often makes sense to supplement your current staff with outsourced database experts.  An obvious disadvantage of using a remote DBA solution is that the DBA will not be seen on a daily basis.  However, a reputable remote DBA company should ensure that its DBAs are easily accessible to clients, and that backup DBAs are provided.  Teleconferences and on-site visits can be scheduled as required by the client company to bridge any potential communication gaps.

ITRI Remote Database Administration & Monitoring activities include:

• Database Administration - Maintain database structures. Perform table space management. Perform archive and database log file maintenance. Implement required database configuration changes based on client's requirements and in conjunction with established change management guidelines. Capacity Planning - Perform proactive database level capacity planning and performance tuning as required
• Vendor Management - Interface with database vendor as single point of contact to resolve database related problems.
• Version & Patch Management - Installation of database updates and patches as required and as directed by client.
• Backup & Recovery - Implement database level backup & recovery procedures to meet client's requirements.
• Security - Implement database security to only allow authorized access. Manage user ids, rights, and privileges.
• Replication Administration - Administer database replication if required.
• 24/7 Support and Troubleshooting - 24/7 database troubleshooting, problem determination and resolution in response to critical errors and events.
• Database Monitoring - 24/7 monitoring of database instances for errors and events.
• Automated Alert System - Paging and e-mail notification of alerts to pre-determined escalation contacts by monitoring system.
• Customer Portal - Client access to a secure web accessible portal that provides reporting and monitoring information for the hosted systems.

Our Unique Selling Proposition
ITRI Remote DBA Service offers a cost-effective alternative to full-time System Administrators and PROGRESS DBAs. Using our team of experts and sophisticated monitoring techniques, ITRI offers world-class remote Operating System Support and PROGRESS DBA Service at affordable prices. Our Remote DBA Service offers various levels of System Monitoring and Administration. ITRI will monitor critical factors within your Operating System, PROGRESS DB and/or MFG/PRO environment, and provide preventive maintenance for your systems and databases. Our alerting system will keep you notified of issues as they arise and Monthly Reporting and Trend Analysis keeps you posted on past activity. We are strongly committed to our customers' success and value each opportunity given to us. We strive to deliver the highest quality monitoring and support solutions through the best possible processes.

Whether it's 24/7, 8-5 or "after-hours" support you need, ITRI can cost-effectively keep your database infrastructure running at peak performance. Our services have been proven to reduce IT operating costs by 50% or more while increasing services levels substantially.

Oracle Remote support and consulting services
ITRI Remote DBA provides world-class Oracle remote support and consulting services that are customized according to the needs of your company. Many companies are getting better quality remote Oracle DBA services while saving tens of thousands of dollars yearly by replacing expensive full-time DBAs with remote DBA services. ITRI has a staff of highly trained DBAs in our response centers who constantly monitor your databases, fixing problems before they effect your end-users.

Because of our extensive experience with automating Oracle database administration  tasks, we are able to offer professional remote Oracle DBA support at affordable prices. ITRI is providing world-class Oracle support and consulting services customized according to the needs of your company.

Using our special techniques we have been successful in designing and implementing some of the world's most sophisticated Oracle databases. We also specialize in automating many routine database monitoring and alert tasks. Our copyrighted Artificial Intelligence allows constant remote monitoring of the database. Because of our extensive experience with automating Oracle database administration tasks, we are able to offer professional Oracle support at affordable prices. 

There are three main reasons our clients site for using a remote DBA service:

- High Quality - Junior Oracle DBA's are the bane of corporate America. Oracle Corporation white papers suggest that more than 75% of all Oracle database outages are attributable to human error. By hiring the services of recognized Oracle experts, companies avoid the potential downtime.

- Low Cost - With remote DBA services, you buy only those DBA services that you require, and only at the levels you require the service. Full-time Oracle DBAs commonly cost over $80,000/year and require more than $5,000 in training per year to keep them current with the technology. Many corporations with stable Oracle databases cannot justify the costs of a full time DBA. According to Computerworld Magazine, "These days, an Oracle database administrator -- any database administrator -- is worth his weight in gold".

- High Availability - With remote DBA support you can be assured that your database is supported by a competent professional who is thoroughly familiar with your database. With a full-time DBA, high attrition has become a major problem. Large personnel companies have noted that the average Oracle DBA can be expected to leave their current positions every four years.

Automated Remote DBA Reports and alerts
ITRI uses a sophisticated set of proprietary scripts that will completely automate Oracle reporting, capacity planning and pre-outage alerts. By addressing the conditions that cause an outage before your database crashes, your databases will benefit from constant monitoring. Our monitor software falls into three areas:

Tuning Reports 
ITRI uses new Oracle monitoring techniques that are not available anywhere else to perform proactive tuning for the Oracle database. Our reports identify I/O problems at the object level and automatically perform caching operations. In addition, our DBAs are alerted to potentially serious performance problems such as missing indexes.

Trend Reports 
The trend reports are used to establish the baseline signature for the database. From this signature, exception reports will identify abnormal conditions. Trend reports are created for all major areas of the Oracle database including I/O, memory usage, CPU consumption and Oracle internal metrics.

Exception Reports 
Our exception reports are e-mailed to the in-house manager daily. These reports show all times when the database is experiencing stress. Our reports go beyond ordinary Oracle monitoring and monitor the processing environment, reporting on CPU and RAM-related problems.

Capacity Planning Reports 
These reports provide the in-house manager all of the summary information from the prior weeks activity. Weekly statistics reports show the total growth for the week and show all object activity within Oracle.

Alerts 
These reports trigger a page to the on-call DBA for immediate resolution. The alerts warn the on-call DBA whenever a pending problem may cripple the database.

Why Outsource the DBA function?
To some degree, every IT organization is uniquely designed to support your specific business needs. Some managers or DBAs will argue that much of their DBA’s time is spent in support of the application development process. In reality, even in the most dynamic of development environments, at least 40% of your DBA’s time is spent doing low-level administration work on production environments.

If you were to analyze the day-to-day lives of a DBA, a pattern of predictable and repetitive tasks begins to emerge. Checking alert logs, monitoring performance levels, tuning, applying patches, performing upgrades, installing agents, validating the backup and recovery process, following change management procedures, responding to request from applications developers, O/S Administrators, and end users are all examples.1 Some of these tasks are technical in nature, but many are not. All are critical to the support of your organization, but rarely are they directly
related to a company’s core competencies around generating revenue.

The Real ROI
In a recent study conducted by the Advisory Council of New York, 20 companies
that use Remote DBA Services were polled. Here are the most common reasons
for partnering with a remote database services partner.

Reduced IT budgets
In tough economic times, IT Managers are faced with more work and less funding.
Management is looking across the organization for ways to stretch existing budgets.
Selective outsourcing strategies, such as Remote Administration, are among
the most popular ways for achieving cost reductions.

Increase team productivity
IT Managers are choosing to move their most valuable IT staff away from lowlevel
administration work to focus on more strategic projects. The best DBA are
being redeployed on the most visible IT projects. This shift can leave a database
environment vulnerable.

A second pair of eyes
Some companies would prefer to have another level of support within their infrastructure,
but lack the budget or authority to raise headcount. Third Party vendors come equipped with teams of Sr. DBAs, and the service can be implemented at a fraction of the cost of carrying additional headcount. It has been described as an insurance policy for an IT organization.

24x7 mentoring
Companies looking to provide their employees with extra training and on-call technical support have found Remote DBA vendors a strategic partnership. This is especially true among IT Managers who are adopting new technologies or managers who only have junior level DBAs

Turnover, extended leave or “sick days”
Companies looking to mitigate the risk of a single point-of-failure (one DBA) are
turning to Remote DBA Outsourcing. The added risk of internal resources leaving
has compelled some IT Managers to consider third party arrangements. Maternity
leave, H1B, and a lack of career advancement have also been cited as areas of
concern.

Accelerate problem resolution
Since Remote DBA programs focus 100% on administrative support, the response
time for user requests, performance related issues and development support is
typically reduced. Problem resolution is quickly achieved in a 24x7 environment.

Increase availability on 24x7
Outsourcing development work to overseas firms can cause major gaps in administrative
support because time zones are radically different. It can also put significant
off-hours strain on their staff. Having a local, remote partner can mitigate
many of these risks.

Leverage state-of-the-art monitoring tools
Companies looking to purchase off-the-shelf monitoring
tools have found third party outsourcing as a cost-effective
solution without having to purchase and implement additional software.

Reduce head count
IT Managers who are being asked to reduce headcount have found that Remote
DBA programs offer a viable alternative. Many Fortune 2000 companies employ
no DBAs at all.

Our Services, Your Benefits
A highly trained DBA partners with your IT staff to assess your use of ITRI Database Technology and will take on ownership of maintaining that environment for you. This benefits your IT team by:

• Controlling Costs. No need to dedicate full time staff to maintain your ITRI Database
environments. No need to continuously train your DBA staff.
• Improving Service Levels. By having experienced DBAs perform needed maintenance tasks,
systems perform more and are less likely to experience outages from known, and already
fixed, issues.
• Aligning IT With Your Business. Using ITRI DBA staff allows you to focus your staff on business specific issues rather than product and database maintenance tasks.

What You Will Get
• Highly experienced DBA staff available 24 x 7
• Yearly on-site visit to review your installation and create an ongoing support plan
• SLA based response times to critical issues • Regularly maintain your ITRI database
environment remotely — no need for travel expenses to bring someone on-site
• Monitor backups for proper completion
• Performance tuning
• Coordinate activities with ITRI support as needed
• Periodic reporting customized to your needs
• Flexible time packages accommodate a wide range of installation and client needs
• Work closely with your staff to coordinate all activities.