🚀 Architecting Databases, Building Reliability — My Technical Journey
Welcome — I’m Prahlad Kumar Sharma. Over the past 17 years, I’ve focused on making databases dependable, performant, and easily maintainable across enterprise environments. This blog explores the practical problems I solve every day: high availability, backup & recovery strategy, performance tuning, and migrating systems to safer, scalable platforms.
🛠 Expertise & Technical Focus
My work spans both legacy enterprise systems and modern database stacks. I combine hands-on operational experience with a structured approach to reliability:
- Oracle (8i → 11g) — RMAN backups, Data Pump, patching, upgrades, RAC and ASM environments.
- MySQL (5.x → 8.0) — master/slave replication, HA setups, performance tuning, schema migrations.
- Platforms: Solaris, AIX, Linux, Windows — I design solutions that fit the underlying OS and infra model.
- Operational excellence: capacity & space management, automated backups, and runbook-driven incident response.
📂 Career Highlights
UTI Infrastructure Technology & Services Ltd (UTI-ITSL) — Deputy Manager (IT) (Sept 2012 – Present)
At UTI-ITSL I own database availability for business-critical financial systems. Responsibilities include team leadership, SLA compliance, designing standby and DR mechanisms, and managing Oracle & MySQL ecosystems.
HCL Technologies — Database Administrator (Dec 2007 – Sept 2012)
Worked on large-scale environments: SanDisk and Direct Brands projects involved hundreds of databases across multiple OS platforms, including SAP database support and complex refresh & migration tasks.
Sutherland Global Services — Technical Support Executive (Feb 2007 – Oct 2007)
Customer-facing technical troubleshooting for enterprise hardware and connectivity — an early role that sharpened diagnostic and communication skills.
🏅 Certifications & Continuous Learning
- Oracle Certified Associate (10g)
- Oracle Certified Professional — Cloud Infrastructure Architect
- Oracle Certified Specialist — Cloud Database Migration & Integration
- Oracle Certified Specialist — Cloud Database Services
🔍 My Approach to Real Problems
I prefer pragmatic solutions that combine automation, observability, and clear runbooks. A few principles that guide my work:
- Design for failure: assume components will fail and automate safe recovery.
- Measure everything: visibility drives accurate troubleshooting and performance tuning.
- Keep changes reversible: maintain snapshot/backup strategies and structured change windows.
📬 Connect & Work Together
If you’re looking for a pragmatic DBA who emphasizes uptime, performance, and clarity in operations — let’s talk.
© Prahlad Kumar Sharma — All content reflects professional experience and technical opinions. Last updated: