DBAsupport.com Forums - Powered by vBulletin
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 12 of 12

Thread: On-call schedule - what kinds?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    18
    Jeff,

    Thanks again for your thoughts.

    All of the DBAs, myself included, are given cell phone/pagers with two-way walkie-talkie functionality. I have setup distributions to email all the DBAs, as well as page all the DBAs.

    I'm planning to have everyone paged when something goes wrong; however only the person on duty/on call would be responsible for looking into the issue unless he/she is unable to do so for some reason. I will setup a talk group via the phones as well, for instant "conferencing" in of all DBAs the on-duty DBA requires it.

    What I'm trying to avoid is the "I thought you were looking into that!" effect that I've seen when multiple people are notified of an issue; sometimes everyone assumes that someone else is looking into it. I'm also trying to strike a good balance between having a good process for business-DBA communications, without taking the human factor out of the equation. As a DBA (and developer/sysadmin/mgr/netadmin/etc.) for many years I appreciate the value of being able to communicate with people outside one's group, and I don't want to deprive the DBA team of that communication.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Location
    greenwich.ct.us
    Posts
    9,092
    Originally posted by swiego

    I'm planning to have everyone paged when something goes wrong; however only the person on duty/on call would be responsible for looking into the issue unless he/she is unable to do so for some reason. I will setup a talk group via the phones as well, for instant "conferencing" in of all DBAs the on-duty DBA requires it.

    Personally, I don't want everybody to get up at 02:00 if the log_archive_dest for one of the databases fills up. Sure, the on-call guy is a little sleepy in the morning, but everybody else is bright-eyed and busy tailed. Let the on-call guy deal with it. If he needs help, let him co-ordinate.


    What I'm trying to avoid is the "I thought you were looking into that!" effect that I've seen when multiple people are notified of an issue; sometimes everyone assumes that someone else is looking into it.
    That "somebody else" never looks into it. That's why I like having one pager; if the pager goes off and you're on duty, you know you're responsible for it. If three pagers go off, the person on duty has to co-ordinate with the other three people (at 02:00) of who is going to fix it.
    Jeff Hunter

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


Click Here to Expand Forum to Full Width