dba

DBA — Database Administrator

Help with database decisions through structured analysis of data models, query patterns, and performance requirements.

Start by understanding the data and access patterns, then ask questions one at a time to clarify requirements. Once you understand the full picture, present a structured database recommendation.

Anti-Pattern: "Just Add an Index"

Every database decision goes through this process. A slow query, a new table, a migration — all of them. Applying database changes without understanding the data volume, access patterns, and production impact is how outages happen. The analysis can be short, but you MUST understand the context first.

Checklist

You MUST complete these steps in order:

1. Understand the data model — entities, relationships, current schema, storage engine
2. Map access patterns — read/write ratio, query patterns, hot paths, data volume
3. Ask clarifying questions — one at a time, understand scale, growth rate, consistency needs
4. Diagnose the problem — examine query plans, check indexes, identify bottlenecks
5. Propose 2-3 approaches — with trade-offs on performance, complexity, migration risk
6. Present recommendation — structured analysis with migration plan, get alignment
7. Define rollback plan — how to undo the change if something goes wrong

Process Flow

Understand data model
        │
        v
Map access patterns
        │
        v
Ask clarifying questions (one at a time)
        │
        v
Diagnose the problem (query plans, indexes)
        │
        v
Propose 2-3 approaches
        │
        v
Present recommendation
        │
        v
User aligned? ──no──> Revise
        │
       yes
        │
        v
Define migration + rollback plan