The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

Evidence of the following is essential:

Assessment must confirm the ability to implement back-up and recovery procedures, with minimum disruption to the business and if necessary, to introduce contingency plans.

To demonstrate competency in this unit the learner will require access to:

Documentation standards

Back-up and recovery policies

Database package with data

Server and networked PC on which to conduct back-up and recovery procedures

Context of and specific resources for assessment

Modern business practice requires organisations to implement efficient and effective methods of capturing, storing and retrieving business-critical information and data. The security and back-up of data repositories is of critical importance to most organisations.

Organisational databases are no longer static repositories of information rather they are dynamic, interactive and frequently 'live'. Client and customer access to on-line information can occur at any time and a key capability of any database system is the successful back-up in an efficient and timely manner without disruption or loss of data.

This unit addresses these three major elements in maintaining the integrity of an electronic database system - through creating periodic 'snapshot' back-ups of the open data files and then restoring them to working order.

The breadth, depth and complexity of knowledge and skills in this competency would cover a broad range of varied activities or application in a wider variety of contexts most of which are complex and non-routine. Leadership and guidance would be involved when organising activities of self and others as well as contributing to technical solutions of a non-routine or contingency nature.

Assessment of this unit of competency will usually include observation of the back-up and restore procedures, including the planning and the carrying out of the back-up and restore procedures, from determining what would be the best time to back up, to back up media, to the actual restore processes, including the use of particular tools or systems.

Performance that involves evaluating and analysing current practices, to develop new criteria and procedures for performing current practices and for provision of some leadership and guidance to others, in the application of these skills.

Assessment must ensure:

Performance of a broad range of skilled applications including the requirement to evaluate and analyse current practices, develop new criteria and procedures for performing current practices and provision of some leadership and guidance to others in the application and planning of the skills would be characteristic.

Applications may involve responsibility for, and limited organisation of, others

Method of assessment

The purpose of this unit is to define the standard of performance to be achieved in the workplace. In undertaking training and assessment activities related to this unit, consideration should be given to the implementation of appropriate diversity and accessibility practices in order to accommodate people who may have special needs. Additional guidance on these and related matters is provided in ICA05 Section 1.

Competency in this unit should be assessed using summative assessment to ensure consistency of performance in a range of contexts. This unit can be assessed either in the workplace or in a simulated environment. However, simulated activities must closely reflect the workplace to enable full demonstration of competency.

Assessment will usually include observation of real or simulated work processes and procedures and/or performance in a project context as well as questioning on underpinning knowledge and skills. The questioning of team members, supervisors, subordinates, peers and clients where appropriate may provide valuable input to the assessment process. The interdependence of units for assessment purposes may vary with the particular project or scenario.

Guidance information for assessment

Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, for example:

ICAB4060B Identify physical database requirements

ICAB4061B Monitor physical database implementation

ICAB4136B Use structured query language to create database structures and manipulate data

ICAS4113C Identify and resolve common database performance problems

ICAS4114B Implement maintenance procedures

ICAS4125B Monitor and administer a database

ICAS4127B Support system software

An individual demonstrating this competency would be able to:

Demonstrate broad knowledge of database concepts

Identify and apply skill and knowledge areas to open file back-up procedures and restore operations

Additionally, an individual demonstrating this competency would be able to:

Demonstrate understanding of a broad knowledge base incorporating some theoretical concepts

Apply solutions to a defined range of unpredictable problems

Identify and apply skill and knowledge areas to a wide variety of contexts, with depth in some areas

Identify, analyse and evaluate information from a variety of sources

Take responsibility for own outputs in relation to specified quality standards

Take limited responsibility for the quantity and quality of the output of others

Maintain knowledge of industry products and services

Required skills

Analysis skills in relation to non-routine work processes

Project planning skills in relation to set benchmarks and identified scope

Report writing skills for business requiring depth in some areas, analysis and evaluation of information in a defined range of areas

Problem solving skills in non-routine work processes

Open file back-up procedures and restore operations

Research skills for identifying, analysing and evaluating broad features of a particular business domain and best practice in back-up and recovery strategies

Required knowledge

General knowledge of structured query language

Detailed knowledge of database administration

Basic knowledge of tuning methodologies

General knowledge of the principles of databases

Broad knowledge of diagnostic tools

Detailed knowledge of back-up and recovery methods

Detailed knowledge of database security

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.

Architecture may include but is not limited to:

Operating system: Novell NetWare 5 or above or any operating system that has multi-user ability, Linux, Mac OS, Windows 2000 or above

Database software: Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft SQL server, Ingres, DB2, Informix, mSQL, MySQL, SQL server

Configuration: small memory model, large memory model, requests per second

Database may include but are not limited to:

relational databases

object-relational databases

proprietary databases

commercial off the shelf (COTS) database packages

Standards may include:

ISO/IEC/AS standards

organisational standards

project standards (for further information refer to the Standards Australia website at: www.standards.com.au)

Back-up may involve:

single or multiple tape units or DVD or CD back-up to more comprehensive and complex back-up facilities across the network or the internet

Organisational guidelines may include but are not limited to:

personal use of emails and internet access

content of emails

downloading information and accessing particular websites

opening mail with attachments

virus risk

dispute resolution

document procedures and templates

communication methods

financial control mechanisms

Documentation may follow:

ISO/IEC/AS standards

audit trails

naming standards

version control

project management templates and report writing

maintaining equipment inventory

client training

satisfaction reports