Practice set for DBA Lecture 1. Read the full lesson first: What Does a Database Administrator (DBA) Do? Role, Duties and Types on eLecturesAI.
Reading a topic and knowing a topic are two different things. The quickest way to find out which one you have is to answer questions without looking at your notes.
This page has 20 MCQs, 5 short questions and a score guide, all based on DBA Lecture 1: using vs administering a database, who a DBA is, the main duties, the types of DBA, a typical day and the golden rule.
- Click the option you think is correct. It turns green if you are right and red if you are wrong.
- Read the explanation that opens under the question.
- If you got it wrong, use the Revise link to go back to that exact part of the lesson.
- Check your score at the end and follow the guide.
Section 1: Using vs administering a database
Q1Which question is a DBA more likely to ask than a developer?
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Answer: B. Users and developers ask what data they need. A DBA asks whether the database itself is safe, fast and available.
Q2Which of these is a main worry of a DBA, rather than of an ordinary user?
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Answer: D. A user worries about a wrong query result. A DBA worries about crashes, data loss and slow systems.
Q3A database stores data. What does database administration do?
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Answer: A. Database administration is about keeping the database running and protected. That is what this course is about.
Q4In the apartment building example, who plays the role of the DBA?
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Answer: C. Residents are the users. The building manager looks after the whole building, just as the DBA looks after the whole database.
Section 2: Who is a DBA?
Q5A DBA is responsible for the database’s:
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Answer: B. Availability, security, performance and recovery are the four main responsibilities.
Revise: Who is a DBA?
Q6Why must a DBA prevent problems before they happen?
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Answer: A. Banks, hospitals and universities depend on their databases. If the database stops, the whole organization stops, so waiting for a failure is too late.
Revise: Who is a DBA?
Q7A hospital’s records system goes down at night. Who typically gets the call?
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Answer: C. The DBA is responsible for availability and recovery, so the DBA is the person who gets the call.
Revise: Who is a DBA?
Q8Which of these is NOT one of the four main responsibilities of a DBA?
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Answer: D. The four responsibilities are availability, security, performance and recovery. Advertising has nothing to do with them.
Revise: Who is a DBA?
Section 3: What a DBA does
Q9Setting up Oracle on a server is which DBA duty?
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Answer: B. Installing and configuring the database software is the first duty. In this course it is covered in Lab 1.
Revise: What a DBA does
Q10Creating users and granting only the rights they need belongs to:
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Answer: A. Creating users and giving each one only the rights they need is the security duty (Lecture 7).
Revise: What a DBA does
Q11Starting and stopping the database and watching sessions is which duty?
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Answer: C. Starting, stopping and watching sessions is instance management (Lecture 9).
Revise: What a DBA does
Q12Restoring data after a failure belongs to which duty?
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Answer: D. Backup and recovery covers making copies of the data and restoring them after a failure (Lecture 11).
Revise: What a DBA does
Q13Making a slow query fast is an example of:
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Answer: B. Finding out why something is slow and making it fast again is performance tuning (Lecture 12).
Revise: What a DBA does
Section 4: Types of DBA
Q14A DBA who mainly handles installation, servers, backup and security is a:
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Answer: C. The System DBA focuses on installation, servers, backup and security.
Revise: Types of DBA
Q15A DBA who looks after the databases of one particular application, such as a university portal, is a:
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Answer: A. An Application DBA focuses on the databases of a particular application.
Revise: Types of DBA
Q16In a small organization, how many people usually do all three DBA roles?
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Answer: D. In a small organization, one person does all three roles. In a large one, each role has a separate team.
Revise: Types of DBA
Section 5: A DBA's day and the golden rule
Q17Which work does a DBA typically do in the morning?
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Answer: B. The morning starts with checking that last night’s backup worked and reading the alert messages.
Revise: A day in the life of a DBA
Q18Why do DBAs do maintenance and changes in the evening?
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Answer: A. When few users are online, maintenance and changes disturb the fewest people.
Revise: A day in the life of a DBA
Q19Most of a DBA’s work is:
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Answer: C. Most of the work is routine checking. That quiet work is what prevents the big disasters.
Revise: A day in the life of a DBA
Q20What is the golden rule of a DBA?
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Answer: D. With a backup, a mistake is a bad ten minutes. Without one, it can be a bad month.
Short questions (write the answers in your own words)
Don’t just read these. Write each answer on paper in 2-3 lines, then compare.
S1. Explain the difference between using a database and administering it. Give an example.
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A user or developer works with tables and queries and asks “what data do I need?” A DBA works with servers, storage, users and backups and asks “is the database safe, fast and available?” Example: a student runs a query for results (using). The DBA makes sure the database is backed up and running when results day comes (administering).
S2. Name four duties of a DBA and give a one-line example of each.
Show model answer
Install and configure: set up Oracle on a server. Security: create users and grant only the rights they need. Instance management: start, stop and watch sessions. Backup and recovery: restore data after a failure. (Performance tuning: make a slow query fast, is the fifth.)
S3. Compare the three types of DBA.
Show model answer
A System DBA focuses on installation, servers, backup and security. An Application DBA looks after the databases of one particular application, such as a university portal. A Development DBA helps developers design tables and queries. In a small organization, one person does all three roles.
S4. Describe a typical day of a DBA.
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Morning: check last night’s backup and the alert messages. Daytime: handle user requests such as new accounts, access problems and slow queries. Evening: maintenance and changes when few users are online. Night: automatic backups run and the DBA stays on call.
S5. Why is “never change anything without a backup” the golden rule? Give an example.
Show model answer
Any change can go wrong. With a backup, the DBA can restore the data and the problem is small. Without one, the data may be lost for good. Example: a DBA drops a table believed to be unused, but a payroll report needed it. With a backup, the table is restored quickly.
Check your score
Count your correct MCQs (out of 20):
| Score | What it means | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| 18 – 20 | Excellent. The concepts are solid. | Move on to the next lecture. |
| 14 – 17 | Good, with a few gaps. | Re-read only the sections linked under the questions you missed. |
| 10 – 13 | Half-way there. | Read the lesson again slowly, then retry this quiz tomorrow. |
| Below 10 | The basics are not settled yet. | Read the full lesson once more, write the duties table from memory, then retake the quiz. |
Go back to the full lesson: What Does a DBA Do? →
Frequently asked questions
Are these MCQs enough for the exam?
They cover the whole of Lecture 3, but real exams also ask you to write short answers. Practice the five short questions above as well.
What is the best way to use an MCQ quiz?
Answer first, check later. Reading the answer without trying the question gives a false feeling of knowing it.
Where do I learn the topic if I got most answers wrong?
Start with the lesson on eLecturesAI: What Does a Database Administrator (DBA) Do?. Each question above also links to the exact section to revise.
Written by Engnr.Dr.Muhammad Tahir Dlbar
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