Sybase DBA Tasks

Hi and welcome to the Sybase forum here at DBForums! I'm mostly an ASE guy (and those are most of the queries we get) so these are mostly ASE-related links/tips (with some exceptions).

Some important links:
Offical Sybase Documentation -- this is your one-stop-shop for everything ASE. If you have a question, I'm more then sure you'll find it here.

Sybase Tools and Documentation by Rob Verschoor -- contains the Complete Sybase ASE Quick Reference Guide. Between this pocket manual (which I own) and the Sybase online documentation there isn't a question you can't find an answer to!

Sybase.com Downloads -- Pick up an evaluation copy of ASE here!

International Sybase Users' Group -- discounts, discussion lists, and more!

ISUG Presentations -- Ranging from PowerBuilder to RepServer to ASE, a lot of good papers/presentations are here for you to read!

Sybase Database Administration Tasks -- List of things that you can do to help keep your ASE instance running smooth as silk!

Sybase FAQ -- This FAQ is courtesy of the International Sybase Users Group (ISUG).

Ed Barlow's Sybase Shareware -- some useful tools.

DBA Devil.com -- French site with optional tools for ASE.

ASE on Linux FAQ -- answers some common questions for installing and running ASE on Linux.

Dell Introduction and Installation Guide for ASE -- useful info from Dell although somewhat dated (only covers up to ASE11.9.2).

Essential DBA Tasks (courtesy of the Complete Sybase ASE Quick Reference Guide)

• Perform database and transaction log dumps (daily/hourly)
• Run dbcc checkstorage for all database and follow up on any problems found (weekly)
• Run update index statistics on user tables (weekly/as needed)
• Regular preventative stop and restart of ASE server (they suggest monthly but in my experience, other than applying EBFs you don't ever need to take down the server)
• Monitor server errorlog for anomalies (daily)
• Troubleshoot unforeseen emergences (ad-hoc read: daily )
• Attend to (end) user / developer needs (whenever)

Additional/Optional DBA Tasks (also courtesy of the Complete Sybase ASE Quick Reference Guide)

Monitor growth of data volume and log space usage (daily/weekly)
Defragment tables (reorg or (re)build clustered index) (monthly/quarterly)
Monitor/tune server resource usage with sp_sysmon (when possible)
Report problems to Sybase Technical Support (when necessary)
Install EBFs or upgrades for ASE (when necessary)
Set up the dbccdb database for dbcc checkstorage (once)
Set up the sybsyntax database (once)

Whew!

Again, welcome to the site and the world of Sybase!