openSUSE, and Wikipedia (all of which now use MariaDB). The good
news is that anything you learn about MySQL from this chapter is likely to
apply perfectly to the other options mentioned.The database administrator (DBA) for an organization has several
responsibilities, which vary according to the size and operations of the
organization, supporting staff, and so on. Depending on the particular
organization’s structure, if you are the organization’s DBA, your
responsibilities might include the following:
Installing and maintaining database servers—You might install and
maintain the database software. Maintenance can involve installing
patches as well as upgrading the software at the appropriate times. As a
DBA, you need to have root access to your system and know how to
manage software (see Chapter 9, “Managing Software”). You also need
to be aware of kernel, file system, and other security issues.
Installing and maintaining database clients—The database client is the
program used to access the database (you learn more about that later in
this chapter, in the section “Database Clients”), either locally or remotely
over a network. Your responsibilities might include installing and
maintaining these client programs on users’ systems. This chapter
discusses how to install and work with the clients from both the Linux
command line and through its graphical interface database tools.
Managing accounts and users—Account and user management include
adding and deleting users from the database, assigning and administering
passwords, and so on. In this chapter, you find out how to grant and
revoke user privileges and passwords for MySQL and PostgreSQL.
Ensuring database security—To ensure database security, you need to
be concerned with things like access control, which ensures that only
authorized people can access the database, and permissions, which
ensure that people who can access the database cannot do things they
should not do. In this chapter, you learn how to manage Secure Shell
(SSH), web, and local graphical user interface (GUI) client access to the
database. Planning and overseeing the regular backup of an
organization’s database and restoring data from those backups is another
critical component of securing the database.
Ensuring data integrity—Of all the information stored on a server’s
hard disk storage, chances are the information in the database is the most
critical. Ensuring data integrity involves planning for multiple-user
access and ensuring that changes are not lost or duplicated when more
than one user is making changes to the database at the same time.