At a glance

Maintaining production database platform
Updating an upgrading core production systems
Recruiting and training a database team
Providing out of hours support
Supporting the development team
40 servers in continuous use

Database Administration - Case study

By Mat Scales

Introduction

The Magic Number team were approached by a major online consumer electronics retailer to help them with their database systems. The client offers more than 100,000 products for sale and services over 1.5 million registered customers. Their existing database administrator was leaving and they were struggling to find the right replacement. We came in to fill the gap while the recruitment process was completed.

The process

Nice to meet you! We'd love to meet up and chat about your ideas. If you want a day out we can highly recommend our local wine bar/bistro, the Milestone, as a great place to sit and discuss. Alternatively, we can travel to wherever is most convenient for you! Close For this project we were recommended by an existing member of the management team at the client company. We had worked with him before and he knew we could get the job done.		What they needed During the discovery phase we build up a complete software requirements specification. This document is a complete description of the system that will be developed. Close The existing database platform was reaching its limits, and to make matters worse recruitment difficulties threatened to leave them without support.

The build The process by which we create software is an Agile method closely associated with "Extreme Programming". The basic premise of Extreme Programming (XP) is that, instead of trying to finish the whole project in one go, you break the software down into discrete functional pieces and work on one at a time. This gives very short (1-2 weeks) cycles allowing the project to be steered in new directions as the needs of the user and/or client business change. Close The client needed someone to come in and not only keep their existing system running, but give a long needed overhaul. We were also asked to help them build the team that would support the system going forward.		Our proposal We offered to spend four months on-site to provide bridging support until they found suitable full time replacements.

Delivery There were 40 or so servers in production use which needed monitoring and (occasionally) fixing. Serious problems were rare but dealt with quickly and effectively, to the delight of management.		All done! The final part of the task was to help recruit and train a new Database Administration team to take over the work we had been doing full-time. We played a significant role in the interview process and provided a full training programme for the new hires.

		The future After finishing the project we were asked to be "on-call" over the busy Christmas period in case any problems arose. We were happy to oblige and even happier to see that the groundwork we had done meant that we weren't needed once!