Exam Profile: Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases (70-462)
Date: Oct 31, 2012
The 70-462 exam is meant to be taken by Database Professionals who perform installation, maintenance and configuration tasks as their primary areas of responsibility. They will often set up database systems and are responsible for making sure those systems operate efficiently. They also make sure that the data they store is backed up regularly, stored effectively, and that the data is secure from unauthorized access. Microsoft states that the exam is meant to be taken by those whose primary responsibilities may include:
- Audit SQL Server instances.
- Back up databases.
- Configure additional SQL Server components.
- Configure SQL Server instances.
- Configure SQL Server services.
- Deploy SQL Server.
- Implement a migration strategy.
- Implement columnstore indexes.
- Implement contained databases.
- Implement HADR (High-Availability and Disaster Recovery solution).
- Import and export data.
- Install SQL Server and related services.
- Maintain a database.
- Maintain indexes.
- Manage and configure databases.
- Manage data partitions.
- Manage database permissions.
- Manage database snapshots.
- Manage logins and server roles.
- Manage SQL Server Agent alerts.
- Manage SQL Server Agent jobs.
- Manage SQL Server Agent operators.
- Manage SQL Server instances
- Manage users and database roles.
- Manage, create, and design log files.
- Optimize queries.
- Plan installation.
- Restore databases.
- Troubleshoot security.
After passing the Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases (70-462) exam, you complete the requirements for the following certification(s):
- MCSA: SQL Server 2012
- MCSE: Data Platform
- MCSE: Business Intelligence
Exam Details
- Number of Questions: Approximately 45-55 questions (Since Microsoft does not publish this information, the number of exam questions may change without notice.)
- Type of Questions: This test format is multiple choice and multiple choice multiple answer. You may also see several scenario questions.
- Passing Score: 700
- Time Limit: 120 minutes
This passing score does not mean that you must answer 70 percent of the items correctly in order to pass the exam. The actual percentage varies from exam to exam and may be more or less than 70 percent. There is no penalty for guessing. No points are deducted for incorrect answers. If a question specifies that you must choose multiple correct answers, you must choose the exact number of correct answers specified in the question in order to earn a point for that item. Some of the questions on the exam may not count toward the calculation of your score. Microsoft will often throw a question in that is meant to gather data that will help them improve the exam.
Trouble Spots
As with any exam, it will vary from person to person as to what is deemed to be difficult. Be sure you are familiar with each of the topics in the exam objectives listed below.
Microsoft advises that customers utilize virtualization technologies to help ensure that they are licensing only the compute power that they need to run SQL Server 2012. If you do not need all of the computing power on a server, Microsoft will allow the customer to license software at the individual VM level. By doing this, you can carve out a portion of computing power on a large server and then license just the number of virtual cores that it has created within that virtual operating system environment.
For local installations, you must run Setup as an administrator. If you install SQL Server from a remote share, you must use a domain account that has read and execute permissions on the remote share.
Typical stand-alone instances of SQL Server 2012, whether default or named instances, do not use a non-default value for the Instance ID.
Following a SharePoint upgrade, your reporting services environment will be in a non-working state until SQL Server is upgraded.
A full backup will back up your users but not your logins. In order to back up your logins, you must to back up the Master database. To restore your database to a different server, you must synchronize your logins by using the sp_change_users_login command. A differential backup backs up only the data that has changed since the last full backup. A transaction-log backup will back up all transactions that occur in the database and will purge or clean up the log after the backup completes. Using a transaction-log backup gives you point-in-time recovery for a database. An incremental style repository aims to make it more feasible to store backups from more points in time by organizing the data into increments of change between points in time.
Preparation Hints
Review the Exam Objectives below and make sure that you are familiar with them. The Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases exam is designed for those who have experience in this environment. Always check the Microsoft site for the specific exam you are going to take. In this instance, the site is http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-462
There are many web sites and blogs that can help you to research topics, but be careful to fully research the information you read. It is not advisable to try to find sites that list questions and answers for several reasons. First, you don’t know if you will be asked a specific question and second, the answers given in a blog may be inaccurate and third, you need to understand the information to adequately prepare.
When taking the exam, read each question carefully. Microsoft is notorious for adding a lot of unneeded information in their questions. Make sure that when you click on a choice, that it is really marked. Be careful clicking anywhere on the screen. I found that by inadvertently clicking near the scroll bar on the right of the screen, I actually changed an answer. You get a single piece of paper and a marker for writing. You can use a small amount of time before you even start the exam to make notes once you enter the test area. Sometimes there is even a questionnaire at the beginning of the test that does not count against your test time. You can even use this time to write down notes, facts, tables or other information by taking your time between answers.
Recommended Study Resources
Training Kit (Exam 70-462): Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases by Orin Thomas, Peter Ward and Bob Taylor (Jul 16, 2012)
Learning Plans and Classroom Training 10775A: Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases (5 Days)
Exam Objectives
The exam objectives are broken up into six different categories. The 70-462 exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below.
The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam. The higher the percentage, the more questions you are likely to see on that content area on the exam.
The objectives for Exam 70-462 as stated by Microsoft are as follows:
Install and Configure (19%)
- Plan installation.
- Install SQL Server and related services.
- Implement a migration strategy.
- Configure additional SQL Server components.
- Manage SQL Server Agent.
May include but not limited to: 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 (e.g., 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
May include but not limited to: test connectivity; enable and disable features; install SQL Server database engine and SSIS (not SSRS and SSAS); configure an OS disk
May include but not limited to: restore vs detach/attach; migrate security; migrate from a previous version; migrate to new hardware; migrate systems and data from other sources
May include but not limited to: setup 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
May include but not limited to: 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"
Maintain Instances and Databases (17%)
- Manage and configure databases.
- Configure SQL Server instances.
- Implement a SQL Server clustered instance.
- Manage SQL Server instances.
May include but not limited to: 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
May include but not limited to: 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
May include but not limited to: install a cluster; manage multiple instances on a cluster; set up subnet clustering; recover from a failed cluster node
May include but not limited to: install an instance; manage interaction of instances; SQL patch management; install additional instances; manage resource utilization by using Resource Governor; cycle error logs
Optimize and Troubleshoot (14%)
- Identify and resolve concurrency problems.
- Collect and analyze troubleshooting data.
- Audit SQL Server instances.
May include but not limited to: 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
May include but not limited to: 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
May include but not limited to: 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
Manage Data (19%)
- Configure and maintain a back up strategy.
- Restore databases.
- Implement and maintain indexes.
- Import and export data.
May include but not limited to: 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); backup a SQL Server environment; back up system databases
May include but not limited to: 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
May include but not limited to: 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
May include but not limited to: transfer data; bulk copy; bulk insert
Implement Security (18%)
- Manage logins and server roles.
- Manage database permissions.
- Manage users and database roles.
- Troubleshoot security.
May include but not limited to: 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
May include but not limited to: configure database security; database level, permissions; protect objects from being modified
May include but not limited to: create access to server / database with least privilege; manage security roles for users and administrators; create database user accounts; contained logins
May include but not limited to: manage certificates and keys; endpoints
Implement High Availability (12%)
- Implement AlwaysOn.
- Implement database mirroring.
- Implement replication.
May include but not limited to: implement a mirroring solution using AlwaysOn; failover
May include but not limited to: set up mirroring; monitor the performance of database mirroring
May include but not limited to: troubleshoot replication problems; identify appropriate replication strategy
Where to Go from Here
After you pass the Designing Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 exam, you may want to take the following exams:
- Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-461)
- Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-463)
- Developing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases (70-464)
- Designing Database Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-465)
- Implementing Data Models and Reports with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-466)
- Designing Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-467)