Let's face it...as developers we're expected to know a lot of stuff about a lot of things: Database design, application design, numerous languages and constructs, testing, debugging, etc. I don't know about you guys, but my head can only hold so much information before an implosion is imminent. Do yourself a favor and make buddies with a DBA near you (in my case, a guy 2 cubes over). More than likely they've devoted their entire careers to RBDMS of numerous varieties, and chances are even better...