Your only DBA is on leave, ill or gone
One person knows the estate and is not available. We step in, document as we go, and hand it back, or keep going as your remote DBA.
Remote DBA by the monthBusiness hours 08:30 to 17:30 CET
SQL Server DBA on demand · Netherlands & Belgium · remote worldwide
Extra senior DBA hands. Booked today, on your SQL Server this week.
24x7DBA gives your team a senior Microsoft SQL Server database administrator on demand: by the hour for an incident, by the month as your remote DBA, or for the project nobody has time for. No ticket queue and no junior first line. You book a slot and talk to the engineer who will do the work.
- Senior DBAs only, 15+ years on Microsoft SQL Server
- Start within days, often within 48 hours
- Dutch and English, on-site in the Netherlands and Belgium
- A DatabaseOnline brand, database experts since 2001
Called in by teams inReferences available on request, under NDA
- LogisticsNetherlands · WMS on SQL Server
- Software vendorsSaaS · multi-tenant
- HealthcareAlways On · audited
- ManufacturingERP · Azure SQL MI
- MSPs & IT partnerswhite-label DBA
When teams call us
You know the moment. That is when you call 24x7DBA.
Most of our work starts on a day that was supposed to be about something else. These are the six calls we get most often.
An incident is running right now
Blocking, a full log drive, a failed restore, a suspect database at 09:05. Request a call-back and a senior DBA joins your bridge within two business hours.
Request an urgent call-backDevelopers are doing DBA work on the side
Backups, indexes and patching compete with the sprint. Give your developers their time back and give the databases someone who does this every day.
Database administrationAn upgrade or migration is overdue
SQL Server 2014 is out of support, the licence renewal is due, or Azure is the plan. We scope, test and execute, with a rollback path for every step.
Upgrades and migrationsYou are an MSP with a SQL Server question
Your customer runs SQL Server, your team runs everything else. We are your specialist on the bench, under your name if you prefer.
Hour bundles for partnersYou want a second opinion before you sign
A vendor says you need bigger hardware or an Enterprise licence. Two hours with a DBA who reads wait statistics often says otherwise.
Book a technical deep-diveServices
Three ways to use extra hands
Everything on this page is Microsoft SQL Server, on-premises and in Azure. Each service is delivered by the same senior engineers, by the hour, as a bundle or as a monthly retainer.
01
Database administration
Proactive management of your SQL Server estate: backups that actually restore, patching, index and statistics maintenance, security hardening and capacity planning.
- Backup and restore strategy, tested
- Patching and cumulative updates
- Index, statistics and integrity maintenance
- Logins, permissions and auditing
- Monthly health and capacity report
02
On-demand support
Get help when you need it most: incidents, performance problems, blocking, failed jobs and the questions your team cannot answer alone.
- Performance, blocking and deadlock analysis
- Incident response with a named DBA
- Query and index tuning, measured
- Always On, clustering and disaster recovery
- Upgrades, migrations and Azure moves
03
Custom development
Database work that fits your product: schemas, stored procedures, ETL and integrations, built and reviewed by DBAs who also run production systems.
- Schema design and refactoring
- T-SQL, stored procedures and views
- ETL with SSIS and Azure Data Factory
- API and vendor data integration
- Code review for your developers
How it works
From booking to a DBA on your system in three steps
No intake forms, no account manager, no procurement round before anyone technical has looked at your problem.
-
Book a 20-minute call
Pick a slot on the booking page. You receive a Microsoft Teams invitation from a senior DBA, not from a sales desk. Free and without obligation.
-
We scope it together
Versions, symptoms, deadlines. You leave the call with a clear proposal: hourly, a bundle or a monthly retainer, and a start date.
-
Access, NDA, go
Named account, your VPN or jump host, an NDA and a data processing agreement if you need them. Most engagements start within 48 hours.
Something on fire? Skip the steps: request an urgent call-back and a senior DBA calls you within two business hours.
Rates
Senior hours, priced simply
Every hour is a senior hour. No account managers, no minimum number of days, and the first call is free.
Pay as you go
For incidents, questions and small jobs. Start this week, stop when it is done.
€ 125per hourexcl. VAT, per 15 minutes after the first hour
- Minimum
- 1 hour
- Start
- Same week
- Invoice
- Monthly, in arrears
- Senior SQL Server DBA, nobody junior
- Business hours, CET
- Remote, on-site by arrangement
- Short written summary per job
40-hour bundle
For a project, a quarter of cover or an MSP bench. Hours are drawn down as you use them.
€ 4.400per bundleexcl. VAT, € 110 per hour, valid 12 months
- Valid
- 12 months
- Start
- Within 48 hours
- Invoice
- Upfront
- Everything in pay as you go
- Priority scheduling
- Monthly statement of hours
- 10-hour bundle also available
Remote DBA retainer
Your DBA by the month: a named senior engineer, a fixed number of hours and monitoring on top if you want it.
€ 1.750per monthexcl. VAT, 16 senior hours, from
- Hours
- 16, 32 or 64
- Response
- 4 business hours
- Term
- 3 months, then monthly
- Named DBA and a named backup
- Monthly health and capacity report
- Patch planning and change advice
- 24x7x365 monitoring available
Prices exclude VAT and are invoiced in euros. Planned out-of-hours and weekend work at 150%. Full details, including what an hour typically covers, on the rates page.
Why teams keep our number
What you get that a ticket queue does not give you
We are a small team of senior engineers, not a service desk with a database tier somewhere at the back. That shapes everything below.
Senior only
Every hour is delivered by a DBA with more than fifteen years on Microsoft SQL Server. There is no first line to get past.
Fast start
An intro call today, a proposal the same day, work started within 48 hours once access is arranged. Urgent call-backs within two business hours.
Your tools, your rules
We work in your ticketing, your change process and your maintenance windows. Nothing is changed on production without a logged reason.
Documented
Every job ends with a written summary: what we found, what we changed, what we recommend. Your next DBA will thank you.
Dutch and English
Calls, reports and runbooks in the language your team works in. On-site in the Netherlands and Belgium when it helps.
Independent
We sell hours, not hardware or licences. When the honest answer is "you do not need Enterprise edition", that is the answer you get.
24x7 cover available
Add DatabaseOnline 24x7x365 monitoring and an on-call DBA responds to critical alerts at night and at the weekend.
Azure and on-premises
SQL Server 2008 through 2022, Azure SQL Database, Managed Instance and SQL Server on Azure VMs. Migrations in either direction.
Results
What it looks like when extra hands arrive in time
A recent engagement, anonymised at the customer's request and delivered by the same engineers under the DatabaseOnline name. A reference is available in a call.
Warehouse picking stopped twice a week. Blocking was the reason, and nobody was watching.
- Situation
- A warehouse management system on SQL Server 2016 with nightly blocking chains, log backups that had silently failed for weeks and no DBA on staff since the previous one left.
- What we did
- Health check in week one. Read Committed Snapshot Isolation, index fixes and an Always On availability group for the WMS in weeks two to six. Monitoring from day one, so the on-call DBA saw the next blocking chain before the warehouse floor did.
"For the first time the database team calls us before the warehouse does."IT manager, logistics group
- 9 → 0blocking incidents per month affecting picking
- 25 minplanned downtime for the WMS cut-over to Always On
- 0log backup gaps since go-live, verified nightly
- 6 wksfrom first call to a fully documented, monitored estate
Questions we get before the first call
Hiring a SQL Server DBA on demand, explained
How fast can a DBA start?
For an incident, the same day during business hours: request an urgent call-back and a senior DBA calls you within two business hours. For planned work, usually within 48 hours of the scoping call, as soon as access is arranged.
Do you work on-site or only remotely?
Remote by default, which keeps the rate low and the start fast. On-site in the Netherlands and Belgium by arrangement, for example for a migration weekend or a workshop with your developers. Travel is agreed in advance.
Which SQL Server versions and platforms do you cover?
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 through 2022 on Windows and Linux, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server on Azure virtual machines, including Always On availability groups, failover clusters, replication and log shipping.
Is there a minimum commitment?
No. Pay as you go starts at one hour. Bundles and retainers exist because they are cheaper per hour and give you priority, not because we require them.
How do you get access to our systems?
With a named account that you create, over your VPN or jump host, with multi-factor authentication. Nothing is changed on production without a logged reason, and access is withdrawn the day the work ends. Details are on the how we work securely section.
Do you cover nights and weekends?
Yes, in two ways. Planned out-of-hours work, such as a migration weekend, is scheduled in advance at the out-of-hours rate. Round-the-clock cover is delivered through DatabaseOnline 24x7x365 monitoring, where an on-call DBA responds to critical alerts.
How is it invoiced?
Monthly, per 15 minutes after the first hour, in euros and excluding VAT. Bundles are invoiced upfront and drawn down; you receive a statement of hours every month. Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance.
Do you sign an NDA and a data processing agreement?
Yes, ours or yours. As a Dutch company we are used to the Dutch verwerkersovereenkomst and to supplier questionnaires from security and compliance teams.
The hands
Who you actually get
You talk to the engineer who does the work, from the first call to the last report. This is who picks up.
Danny Riebeek
Founder · principal SQL Server DBA
Founded DatabaseOnline in 2001, builds SQLTreeo, the SSMS add-in used by SQL Server teams worldwide, and has run production SQL Server estates for logistics, healthcare, software and manufacturing companies for more than two decades. Leads every 24x7DBA engagement and still takes on-call shifts.
What every engagement includes
Whether it is one hour or a year, these four things are always there.
- Named DBAOne senior engineer owns your work and knows your estate. A named backup covers holidays.
- Written scopeWhat we will do, what we will not touch, and what it costs, agreed before we start.
- Change logEvery change on production has a reason, a script and a rollback. You can request the log at any time.
- ReportA short written summary after every job and a monthly report on retainers, in Dutch or English.
A DatabaseOnline brand
The on-demand arm of a database company that has been around since 2001
24x7DBA is the fast-booking service brand of Databaseonline B.V. in Roosendaal, the company behind SQLTreeo and the DatabaseOnline SQL Server practice. Same engineers, same standards, one contracting party: your agreement and invoices come from Databaseonline B.V.
About 24x7DBA and DatabaseOnline- Based in
- Roosendaal, North BrabantOn-site across the Netherlands and Belgium
- Remote delivery
- WorldwideSecure remote access, your VPN or jump host
- Working hours
- 08:30 to 17:30 CETOut-of-hours by arrangement, 24x7 via monitoring
- Languages
- Dutch & EnglishReports and runbooks in either
Book a slot
Talk to the DBA, not to sales.
Twenty minutes, free, with a senior Microsoft SQL Server engineer. Bring the symptom, the version numbers and the deadline; leave with a plan.