Exam 70-459 Transition Your MCITP: Database Administrator 2008 or MCITP: Database Developer 2008 to MCSE: Data Platform

Published: 11 June 2012
Languages: English
Audiences: IT professionals
Technology: Microsoft SQL Server 2014
Credit towards certification: MCP, MCSA, MCSE

Skills measured
This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below.

Starting 15 May 2014, the questions on this exam include content covering SQL Server 2014.

Please note that the questions may test on, but will not be limited to, the topics described in the bulleted text.

Implement database objects

Create and alter tables
Develop an optimal strategy for using temporary objects (table variables and temporary tables); manage a table without using triggers; data version control and management; create tables without using the built-in tools; understand the difference between @Table and #table; create calculated columns; implement partitioned tables, schemas and functions; implement column collation; implement online transaction processing (OLTP)

Design, implement and troubleshoot security
Grant, deny, revoke; connection issues; execute as; certificates; loginless user; database roles and permissions; implement contained users; implement cross db ownership chaining; implement schema security; implement server roles; review effective permissions; troubleshoot and repair orphaned users

Create and modify constraints (complex statements)
Create constraints on tables; define constraints, modify constraints according to performance implications, implement cascading deletes, configure constraints for bulk inserts

Preparation resources
CREATE TABLE (Transact-SQL)
CREATE USER (Transact-SQL)
UNIQUE constraints and CHECK constraints

Implement programming objects

Design and implement stored procedures

Create stored procedures and other programmatic objects; implement different types of stored procedure results; create stored procedures for data access layer; analyse and rewrite procedures and processes; program stored procedures by using T-SQL and CLR; implement parameters, including table-valued parameter, input and output; implement encryption; implement error handling, including TRY…CATCH; configure appropriate connection settings, design appropriate query paging, including OFFSET and FETCH

Design T-SQL table-valued and scalar functions

Modify scripts that use cursors and loops into a SET-based operation; design deterministic and non-deterministic functions

Create and alter views

Set up and configure partitioned tables and partitioned views; create indexed views

Preparation resources
Create a stored procedure
CREATE FUNCTION (Transact-SQL)
CREATE VIEW (Transact-SQL)

Design database objects

Design tables
Apply data design patterns; develop appropriately normalised and de-normalised SQL tables; design transactions; design views; implement GUID as a clustered index appropriately; design temp tables appropriately, including # versus @; implement set-based logic; design an encryption strategy; design table partitioning; design a BLOB storage strategy, including filestream and filetable; design tables for In-Memory OLTP

Create and alter indexes
Create indexes and data structures; create filtered indexes; create an indexing strategy, including column store, semantic indexes and INCLUDE; design indexes and statistics; assess which indexes on a table are likely to be used given different search arguments (SARG); create indexes that contain included columns; create spatial indexes

Design data integrity
Design table data integrity policy, including checks, private key, foreign key, uniqueness, XML schema and nullability; select a primary key

Preparation resources
CREATE TABLE (Transact-SQL)
CREATE INDEX (Transact-SQL)
SET IMPLICIT_TRANSACTIONS (Transact-SQL)

Optimise and troubleshoot queries

Optimise and tune queries
Tune a poorly performing query, including avoiding unnecessary data-type conversions; identify long-running queries; review and optimise code; analyse execution plans to optimise queries; tune queries using execution plans and Microsoft Database Tuning Advisor (DTA); optimise queries using pivots and utilising common table expressions (CTEs); design the database layout to optimise queries; implement query hints; tune query workloads; implement recursive CTE; implement full text and semantic search; analyse execution plans; implement plan guides

Troubleshoot and resolve performance problems
Interpret performance monitor data; integrate performance monitor data with SQL Traces; design an appropriate recovery model; optimise data files; identify and fix transactional replication problems; detect and resolve server failures; identify and troubleshoot data access problems; manage tempdb contention and autogrowth; implement Resource Governor; monitor and resolve In-Memory OLTP issues, including merge and rubbish collection

Collect performance and system information
Monitor performance using Dynamic Management Views; collect output from the Database Engine Tuning Advisor; design Extended Events Sessions; review and interpret Extended Event logs; optimise Extended Event session settings; use Activity Monitor to minimise server impact and determine IO bottlenecks; monitor In-Memory OLTP resources

Preparation resources
Database Engine Tuning Advisor
Manage the size of the transaction log file
SQL Server Profiler

Design database structure

Design for business requirements
Translate business needs to data structures; identify which SQL Server components to use to support business requirements; design a normalisation area; de-normalise by using SQL Server features, including materialisation using indexed views, distributed partitioned views, filtered and non-key column indexes and snapshots

Design physical database and object placement
Design a physical database, including file placement, FILESTREAM, FILETABLE, file groups and RAID; configure system database settings

Design SQL Server instances
Identify hardware for new instances; design CPU affinity; design clustered instances, including Microsoft Distributed Transaction Control (MSDTC); define instance memory allocation; design installation strategies, including sysprep, slipstream and SMB file server; define cross db ownership chaining

Preparation resources
Create indexed views
FileTables (SQL Server)
Failover clustering and AlwaysOn Availability Groups (SQL Server)

Design databases and database objects

Design a database model
Design a logical schema; design data access and data layer architecture; design a database schema; design security architecture; design a cross-server instance database model, including linked servers, security, providers, distributed transactions, distributed partitioned views and Service Broker

Design tables
Design tables appropriately, including physical tables, temp tables, temp table variables, common table expressions, column store indexes and user-defined table types; FILESTREAM, FILETABLE and In-Memory OLTP; design views and table values functions; design a compression strategy, including row and page; select an appropriate data type; design computed columns

Design T-SQL stored procedures
Create stored procedures; design a data-access strategy using stored procedures; design appropriate stored procedure parameters, including input, output and Table Valued; design error handling; design an In-Memory OLTP strategy for stored procedures

Preparation resources
Collation and Unicode support
Row compression implementation
Stored procedures (database engine)

Design database security
Design an application strategy to support security

Design security, including security roles, signed stored procedures, encryption, contained logins, EXECUTE AS and credentials; implement schemas and schema security; design security maintenance, including SQL logins, integrated authentication, permissions and mirroring

Design instance-level security configurations
Implement separation of duties using different login roles; choose authentication type, including logon triggers, regulatory requirements and certificates; implement data encryption, including master key and configuration; implement DDL triggers; define a secure service account

Preparation resources
Tutorial: Signing stored procedures with a certificate
Logon triggers
DDL triggers

Design a troubleshooting and optimisation solution
Troubleshoot and resolve concurrency issues

Examine deadlocking issues using the SQL server logs and trace flags; design a reporting database infrastructure, including replicated databases; monitor concurrency, including Dynamic Management Views (DMV); diagnose blocking, including live locking and deadlocking; diagnose waits; use Extended Events; implement query hints to increase concurrency

Design a monitoring solution at the instance level
Design auditing strategies, including Extended Events, Event traces, SQL Audit, Profiler-scheduled or event-based maintenance, Performance Monitor and DMV usage; set up file and table growth monitoring; collect performance indicators and counters; create jobs to monitor server health; audit using Windows

Preparation resources
KILL (Transact-SQL)
SQL Server audit (database engine)

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft 70-459 Training at certkingdom.com

QUESTION 1
You need to configure the ProcessUpdateProc stored procedure to stop running in the event of a
failure of one of the UPDATE statements.
How should you modify the ProcessUpdateProc stored procedure?

A. By configuring the SET NOCOUNT to on.
B. By configuring the SET NOEXEC option to on.
C. By configuring the XACT_ABORT option to on.
D. By configuring the XACT_ABORT option to off.

Answer: C

Explanation:

QUESTION 2
You need to design a solution to that enables the recovery of the DailyReportsTemp database in
less than one hour in the event of a storage hardware failure. Your solution must minimize costs.
What should you recommend?

A. SQL Server Failover Clustering
B. Peer-to-peer replication
C. Differential backups
D. Log shipping
E. Database snapshots

Answer: D

Explanation:

QUESTION 3
You need to recommend a solution to meet the recovery requirements for the Manufacturing
database. Your solution must minimize costs.
What should you recommend?

A. Database snapshots
B. Transaction log backups.
C. Differential backups
D. SQL Server Failover Clustering
E. Peer-to-peer replication

Answer: A

Explanation:

QUESTION 4
You need to address the backup issues of the Sales database.
How can you reduce the time it takes to back up the Sales database?

A. By configuring table partitioning.
B. By configuring filegroups.
C. By configure the Resource Governer
D. By configuring Copy-Only backups.

Answer: B

Explanation:

QUESTION 5
You need to provide a group of users from the IT and Manufacturing departments the minimum
administrative rights to view database information and server state for the Manufacturing database
on MainDB1.
What should you do?

A. You should configure a Database Role.
B. You should configure a Server Role.
C. You should configure a Shared SQL Server Login.
D. You should configure a Local Security Group.

Answer: B

Explanation: