Database Administration, from the ground up
A structured mentorship program covering the full lifecycle of database management — design, performance tuning, backups, and operational security. Each phase builds directly on the previous one, so gaps don't accumulate.
What the curriculum actually covers
Mentorship at Hesbo Jundal — established in 2019 — is built around the real work of database administrators: schema decisions that hold up under load, query plans that don't surprise you in production, and recovery procedures you've actually tested.
Each session addresses a concrete task, not a theoretical module.The program covers PostgreSQL and MySQL in depth, with attention to indexing strategies, transaction isolation, replication setup, and routine maintenance like vacuuming and statistics updates. You won't just read documentation — you'll run the commands, read the output, and discuss what it means with someone who has seen those errors before.
Progress depends on how much time you put in between sessions. Most participants work through the core material over four to six months, with one or two sessions per week. The pacing adjusts based on your existing background and the specific problems you're dealing with at work.
Sessions stay close to the problems you're facing right now.
Fundamentals audit
Reviewing your current setup, identifying gaps in schema design and query patterns before adding anything new.
Performance & indexing
Reading EXPLAIN output, building useful indexes, and recognizing when an index is doing more harm than good.
Replication & HA
Setting up streaming replication, failover, and understanding where consistency guarantees actually break down.
Backup & recovery drills
Testing restore procedures, point-in-time recovery, and documenting a runbook that holds under pressure.
Program depth
months of guided work, adjusted to your pace and existing experience level
Topics covered
- Schema design and normalization decisions
- Query optimization and execution plans
- Transactions, locks, and isolation levels
- Replication, failover, and monitoring
- Backup strategies and recovery testing
- Routine maintenance and autovacuum tuning
Working with your mentors
Orest Klymenko
Senior DBA, PostgreSQL specialist
Thirteen years working on transactional systems, with a focus on replication and large-schema migrations. Prefers working through real production logs rather than toy examples.
Daryna Holub
Database engineer, performance & monitoring
Focused on observability and capacity planning. Has helped teams move from reactive firefighting to consistent monitoring without adding fragile tooling.
Bohdan Sachuk
Junior DBA at a logistics company
After three months I stopped guessing at index choices. The sessions helped me actually read query plans instead of copying solutions from Stack Overflow. It takes consistent work, but the difference in how I think about problems is real.
Vasyl Trush
Backend developer moving into DBA work
Coming from an application background, I had gaps in how databases actually behave under concurrent load. The mentorship gave me a realistic picture — not just syntax, but the trade-offs involved in every configuration decision.
Iryna Kovalets
Systems administrator
I appreciated that sessions never felt scripted. We worked through things that were actually broken in my environment. Progress wasn't fast at first, but the foundational work made the later material much easier to absorb.