System and Database Administration: Solid, fast and redundant infrastructure.
We set up your servers, databases and search infrastructure, improve their performance and make them redundant for business continuity.
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System and Database AdministrationIn short
System and database administration means setting up the servers, databases and search infrastructure your business applications run on, keeping them secure and fast, and making them resilient to failure. At CoreTechs we install, tune, patch and manage Linux and Windows Server systems as well as PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB and Elasticsearch environments, and we validate disaster recovery plans with regular drills.
Scope
System administration
- Linux and Windows Server installation
- Configuration
- Security hardening
- Patch management
- Virtualization
Database administration
- PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and MongoDB installation
- Performance tuning
- High availability and replication
- Backup and restore testing
Search and log infrastructure
- Elasticsearch cluster design
- Version upgrades
- Query and index optimization
- Centralized log management with ELK
Disaster recovery
- Business continuity plans
- Disaster recovery (DR) scenarios
- Regular drills
Who is it for?
- Businesses whose applications slow down as the database slows down, and that need query and index tuning
- Organizations that believe they have backups but have never tested a restore, and have no written disaster recovery plan
- Companies that prefer expert support over hiring a full-time database administrator (DBA) or system administrator
- Teams running operating system or database versions that are out of support and planning a safe upgrade
- Businesses whose Elasticsearch cluster becomes unstable as it grows, or that keep logs scattered across servers
- Systems that depend on a single server and need high availability through replication and redundancy
How we work
Health check and inventory
We review the configuration, versions, resource usage, backup routine and security posture of your servers, databases and search clusters. Findings are compiled in a written health report, ranked by risk and priority.
Hardening and patch plan
We disable unnecessary services, apply least-privilege access, and enable encryption and audit logging. Patches are applied on a schedule that accounts for downtime risk, after being validated in a test environment.
Performance tuning
We analyze slow queries, missing or redundant indexes, and memory and disk settings. Changes are applied with measurement, and before-and-after comparisons are reported.
High availability and backup
Depending on your needs, we set up replication, automatic failover and clustering. Backup policy is defined against your recovery objectives, with backups encrypted and stored in a separate location.
Disaster recovery drills and ongoing management
We test restores and failover to standby systems through planned drills and document the results. After that, systems are managed continuously with monitoring, patching, capacity planning and regular health checks.
How long does it take?
The duration of system and database administration work depends on the number of servers and databases, data volume, the state of the current configuration, whether version upgrades are needed and how often you can schedule maintenance windows. After a free 30-minute initial call, we usually start discovery within a week. One-off improvement projects proceed with a firm quote after discovery; ongoing management runs under our SLA-based maintenance and support model.
Phases
- Health checkInventory is mapped and risks and recommendations are presented in a prioritized report.
- Urgent risksHigh-risk findings such as non-working backups or known critical vulnerabilities are addressed first.
- Improvement and reconfigurationTuning, replication, version upgrades and hardening are applied in maintenance windows.
- DrillA disaster recovery scenario is tested, recovery time is measured and the plan is updated.
- Ongoing managementMonitoring, patching, capacity planning and regular health reports continue as a service.
What drives the cost?
The cost of database and system administration depends on whether you need a one-off project or ongoing management, and on the size of your environment. We share a budget range in the initial call and a firm quote after the health check. Database and operating system licenses are not included in the service fee.
| Factor | Effect on cost |
|---|---|
| Number of servers and databases | Every managed server and database instance adds monitoring, patching and backup effort. |
| Database engine and version variety | Managing Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL and MongoDB side by side requires more expertise than a single engine. |
| Data volume | Large databases take longer to back up, restore-test and migrate, and need more planning. |
| Availability target | Replication, automatic failover and a standby system in another location add setup and operating cost compared with a single-server setup. |
| Upgrade requirements | Upgrading out-of-support versions may require compatibility testing and changes on the application side. |
| On-premises or cloud | On-premises hardware brings virtualization and the hardware layer into scope; with managed cloud databases, that layer sits with the provider. |
| Support and response level | The difference between business-hours support and a 24/7 response commitment sets the ongoing management fee. |
Technology options
Operating systems
- Linux (Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Debian)
- Windows Server
Relational databases
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Oracle Database
NoSQL and caching
- MongoDB
- Redis
Search and logging
- Elasticsearch
- OpenSearch
- ELK (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)
Virtualization and cloud
- VMware vSphere
- Proxmox VE
- Hyper-V
- Amazon RDS
- Azure SQL
Backup and high availability
- pgBackRest
- Patroni
- SQL Server Always On
- Oracle Data Guard
- MongoDB replica sets
Automation and monitoring
- Ansible
- Prometheus
- Grafana
- Zabbix
Example solution scenario
A slowing database and untested backups
Representative scenario, not a real client project.
- Profile
- A distribution company keeping order and stock data on a single database server, running on on-premises virtual machines.
- Need
- Whenever month-end reports ran, the application slowed noticeably and users hit timeout errors. Nightly backups were taken, but a restore had never been tested, and there was no standby system to take over if the database server failed.
- Approach
- A health check identified the most resource-intensive queries, missing indexes and unsuitable memory settings.
- Queries and indexes were tuned, and reporting queries were routed to a separate read replica.
- A second database server was brought online with replication and automatic failover.
- The backup policy was redesigned so backups are encrypted and stored in a separate location.
- Restore and failover were tested in a planned drill and every step was documented.
- Technologies
- PostgreSQL
- Patroni
- pgBackRest
- Linux
- Prometheus
- Grafana
- Outcome
- Month-end reports now run without slowing down daily work. If the database server fails, the standby can take over, and how a restore is done and how long it takes is documented through a drill.
Frequently asked questions
How is working with you different from hiring a full-time DBA?
Instead of a single employee, you get access to a team experienced across multiple database engines and system administration. Leave, illness or turnover does not cause knowledge loss, because all configuration and procedures are documented. If your needs truly call for a full-time person, we will tell you so.
How can we be sure our backups actually work?
Having a backup is not enough; it has to be restored and verified. We run regular restore tests and disaster recovery drills and report the results along with the recovery time.
Does performance tuning require changing our application code?
Most improvements can be made on the database side, through indexes, configuration and query plans. If the root cause is how the application generates queries, we pass concrete recommendations to your developers or support the change with our own software team.
Will there be downtime during a version upgrade?
That depends on the database engine and the current architecture. With replication in place, downtime can usually be kept short. We test the upgrade in a staging environment first and, if downtime is required, perform it in a maintenance window you choose, with a rollback plan.
Which databases do you work with?
We provide installation, tuning and management for PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and MongoDB, as well as Elasticsearch and Redis. We work on on-premises servers and on managed database services from cloud providers.
How is your access to our data controlled?
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is signed before work begins. Access is granted through individual accounts with only the privileges required, and it is logged. In environments with personal data we follow data processing rules in line with KVKK and GDPR, and work with masked data wherever possible.
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Cloud, Infrastructure and Security
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