Whether you are a newly minted database administrator or a highly experienced one, the first week at a new job can stretch your patience to breaking as you try to get answers to a wide range of questions about how things work and why things are done (or not done) a certain way. It is perhaps the most dangerous week you’ll have as a database administrator, because you do not know exactly what you do not know.

This whitepaper is meant to be a roadmap for that first week to help you make sure you are asking the right questions and prioritizing your efforts in a way to minimize risk. It is also to help you set expectations for yourself and those you work with.

The whitepaper describes nine tasks including taking notes, setting up a workstation, getting access, finding documentation, identifying instances, checking on free space and file growth, learning the change management process and maintenance windows, and checking on service packs.

The tasks outlined in the whitepaper are based on the experiences of the author during the first weeks as a database administrator new to an organization. The tasks form the basis for his own best practices during his first weeks. Follow these guidelines for a great start. They may well help identify follow up tasks that will take weeks to complete. Remember to prioritize the efforts so that one does the things that matter most first.