Exam 70-462 Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases

Plan installation o Evaluate installation requirements; design the installation of SQL Server and its components (drives, service accounts, etc.); plan scale-up vs. scale-out basics; plan for capacity, including if/when to shrink, grow, autogrow, and monitor growth; manage the technologies that influence SQL architecture (for example, service broker, full text, scale out, etc.); design the storage for new databases (drives, filegroups, partitioning); design database infrastructure; configure a SQL Server standby database for reporting purposes; Windows-level security and service level security; Core mode installation; benchmark a server before using it in a production environment (SQLIO, Tests on SQL Instance); choose the right hardware Install SQL Server and related services o Test connectivity; enable and disable features; install SQL Server database engine and SSIS (not SSRS and SSAS); configure an OS disk Implement a migration strategy o Restore vs detach/attach; migrate security; migrate from a previous version; migrate to new hardware; migrate systems and data from other sources Configure additional SQL Server components o Set up and configure all SQL Server components (Engine, AS, RS and SharePoint integration) in a complex and highly secure environment; configure full-text indexing; SSIS security; filestream; filetable Manage SQL Server Agent o Create, maintain, and monitor jobs; administer jobs and alerts; automate (setup, maintenance, monitoring) across multiple databases and multiple instances; send to "Manage SQL Server Agent jobs"

Preparation resources

Understanding surface area configuration Hardware and software requirements for installing SQL Server 2012 Quick-start installation of SQL Server 2012

Maintain instances and databases (17%)

Manage and configure databases o Design multiple file groups; database configuration and standardization: autoclose, autoshrink, recovery models; manage file space, including adding new filegroups and moving objects from one filegroup to another; implement and configure contained databases; data compression; configure TDE; partitioning; manage log file growth; DBCC Configure SQL Server instances o Configure and standardize a database: autoclose, autoshrink, recovery models; install default and named instances; configure SQL to use only certain CPUs (affinity masks, etc.); configure server level settings; configure many databases/instance, many instances/server, virtualization; configure clustered instances including MSDTC; memory allocation; database mail; configure SQL Server engine: memory, filffactor, sp_configure, default options Implement a SQL Server clustered instance o Install a cluster; manage multiple instances on a cluster; set up subnet clustering; recover from a failed cluster node Manage SQL Server instances o Install an instance; manage interaction of instances; SQL patch management; install additional instances; manage resource utilization by using Resource Governor; cycle error logs

Preparation resources

ALTER DATABASE file and filegroup options (Transact-SQL) Contained databases Data compression

Optimize and troubleshoot (14%)

Identify and resolve concurrency problems o Examine deadlocking issues using the SQL server logs using trace flags; design reporting database infrastructure (replicated databases); monitor via DMV or other MS product; diagnose blocking, live locking and deadlocking; diagnose waits; performance detection with built in DMVs; know what affects performance; locate and if necessary kill processes that are blocking or claiming all resources Collect and analyze troubleshooting data o Monitor using Profiler; collect performance data by using System Monitor; collect trace data by using SQL Server Profiler; identify transactional replication problems; identify and troubleshoot data access problems; gather performance metrics; identify potential problems before they cause service interruptions; identify

performance problems;, use XEvents and DMVs; create alerts on critical server condition; monitor data and server access by creating audit and other controls; identify IO vs. memory vs. CPU bottlenecks; use the Data Collector tool Audit SQL Server instances o Implement a security strategy for auditing and controlling the instance; configure an audit; configure server audits; track who modified an object; monitor elevated privileges as well as unsolicited attempts to connect; policy-based management

Preparation resources

blocked process threshold server configuration option Configure login auditing (SQL Server Management Studio) Data collection

Manage data (19%)

Configure and maintain a back-up strategy o Manage different backup models, including point-in-time recovery; protect customer data even if backup media is lost; perform backup/restore based on proper strategies including backup redundancy; recover from a corrupted drive; manage a multi-TB database; implement and test a database implementation and a backup strategy (multiple files for user database and tempdb, spreading database files, backup/restore); back up a SQL Server environment; back up system databases Restore databases o Restore a database secured with TDE; recover data from a damaged DB (several errors in DBCC checkdb); restore to a point in time; file group restore; page level restore Implement and maintain indexes o Inspect physical characteristics of indexes and perform index maintenance; identify fragmented indexes; identify unused indexes; implement indexes; defrag/rebuild indexes; set up a maintenance strategy for indexes and statistics; optimize indexes (full, filter index); statistics (full, filter) force or fix queue; when to rebuild vs. reorg and index; full text indexes; column store indexes Import and export data o Transfer data; bulk copy; bulk insert

Preparation resources

Back up and restore of SQL Server databases File restores (full recovery mode) DBCC INDEXDEFRAG (Transact-SQL)

Implement security (18%)

Manage logins and server roles o Configure server security; secure the SQL Server using Windows Account / SQL Server accounts, server roles; create log in accounts; manage access to the server, SQL Server instance, and databases; create and maintain user-defined server roles; manage certificate logins Manage database permissions o Configure database security; database level, permissions; protect objects from being modified Manage users and database roles o Create access to server / database with least privilege; manage security roles for users and administrators; create database user accounts; contained logins Troubleshoot security o Manage certificates and keys; endpoints

Preparation resources

Server-level roles Permissions (database engine) Database-level roles

Implement high availability (12%)

Implement AlwaysOn o Implement a mirroring solution using AlwaysOn; failover Implement database mirroring o Set up mirroring; monitor the performance of database mirroring
o

Troubleshoot replication problems; identify appropriate replication strategy

Preparation resources

AlwaysOn Availability Groups (SQL Server) Microsoft SQL Server AlwaysOn solutions guide for high availability and disaster recovery AlwaysOn architecture guide: Building a high availability and disaster recovery solution by using AlwaysOn Availability Groups