Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Exam 70-740 Installation, Storage, and Compute with Windows Server 2016 (beta)

Published: October 3, 2016
Languages: English
Audiences: IT professionals
Technology: Windows Server 2016
Credit toward certification: MCSA
Skills measured
This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below. View video tutorials about the variety of question types on Microsoft exams.

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

Do you have feedback about the relevance of the skills measured on this exam? Please send Microsoft your comments. All feedback will be reviewed and incorporated as appropriate while still maintaining the validity and reliability of the certification process. Note that Microsoft will not respond directly to your feedback. We appreciate your input in ensuring the quality of the Microsoft Certification program.

If you have concerns about specific questions on this exam, please submit an exam challenge.

If you have other questions or feedback about Microsoft Certification exams or about the certification program, registration, or promotions, please contact your Regional Service Center.

Install Windows Servers in host and compute environments (10–15%)
Install, upgrade, and migrate servers and workloads
Determine Windows Server 2016 installation requirements; determine appropriate Windows Server 2016 editions per workloads; install Windows Server 2016; install Windows Server 2016 features and roles; install and configure Windows Server Core; manage Windows Server Core installations using Windows PowerShell, command line, and remote management capabilities; implement Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) to install and maintain integrity of installed environments; perform upgrades and migrations of servers and core workloads from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2016; determine the appropriate activation model for server installation, such as Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA), Key Management Service (KMS), and Active Directory-based Activation
Install and configure Nano Server
Determine appropriate usage scenarios and requirements for Nano Server, install Nano Server, implement Roles and Features on Nano Server, manage and configure Nano Server, manage Nano Server remotely using Windows PowerShell
Create, manage, and maintain images for deployment
Plan for Windows Server virtualization; plan for Linux and FreeBSD deployments; assess virtualization workloads using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit; determine considerations for deploying workloads into virtualized environments; update images with patches, hotfixes, and drivers; install roles and features in offline images; manage and maintain Windows Server Core, Nano Server images, and VHDs using Windows PowerShell

Implement storage solutions (10–15%)
Configure disks and volumes
Configure sector sizes appropriate for various workloads, configure GUID partition table (GPT) disks, create VHD and VHDX files using Server Manager or Windows PowerShell, mount virtual hard disks, determine when to use NTFS and ReFS file systems, configure NFS and SMB shares using Server Manager, configure SMB share and session settings using Windows PowerShell, configure SMB server and SMB client configuration settings using Windows PowerShell, configure file and folder permissions
Implement server storage
Configure storage pools; implement simple, mirror, and parity storage layout options for disks or enclosures; expand storage pools; configure Tiered Storage; configure iSCSI target and initiator; configure iSNS; configure Datacenter Bridging (DCB); configure Multi-Path IO (MPIO); determine usage scenarios for Storage Replica; implement Storage Replica for server-to-server, cluster-to-cluster, and stretch cluster scenarios
Implement data deduplication
Implement and configure deduplication, determine appropriate usage scenarios for deduplication, monitor deduplication, implement a backup and restore solution with deduplication

Implement Hyper-V (20–25%)
Install and configure Hyper-V
Determine hardware and compatibility requirements for installing Hyper-V, install Hyper-V, install management tools, upgrade from existing versions of Hyper-V, delegate virtual machine management, perform remote management of Hyper-V hosts, configure virtual machines using Windows PowerShell Direct, implement nested virtualization
Configure virtual machine (VM) settings
Add or remove memory in running a VM, configure dynamic memory, configure Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) support, configure smart paging, configure Resource Metering, manage Integration Services, create and configure Generation 1 and 2 VMs and determine appropriate usage scenarios, implement enhanced session mode, create Linux and FreeBSD VMs, install and configure Linux Integration Services (LIS), install and configure FreeBSD Integration Services (BIS), implement Secure Boot for Windows and Linux environments, move and convert VMs from previous versions of Hyper-V to Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V, export and import VMs, implement Discrete Device Assignment (DDA)
Configure Hyper-V storage
Create VHDs and VHDX files using Hyper-V Manager, create shared VHDX files, configure differencing disks, modify virtual hard disks, configure pass-through disks, resize a virtual hard disk, manage checkpoints, implement production checkpoints, implement a virtual Fibre Channel adapter, configure storage Quality of Service (QoS)
Configure Hyper-V networking
Add and remove virtual network interface cards (vNICs), configure Hyper-V virtual switches, optimize network performance, configure MAC addresses, configure network isolation, configure synthetic and legacy virtual network adapters, configure NIC teaming in VMs, configure virtual machine queue (VMQ), enable Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) on network adapters bound to a Hyper-V virtual switch using Switch Embedded Teaming (SET), configure Bandwidth Management

Implement Windows containers (5–10%)
Deploy Windows containers
Determine installation requirements and appropriate scenarios for Windows containers, install and configure Windows Server container host in physical or virtualized environments, install and configure Windows Server container host to Windows Server Core or Nano Server in a physical or virtualized environment, install Docker on Windows Server and Nano Server, configure Docker daemon start-up options, configure Windows PowerShell for use with containers, install a base operating system, tag an image, uninstall an operating system image, create Windows Server containers, create Hyper-V containers
Manage Windows containers
containers using Windows PowerShell, manage container networking, manage container data volumes, manage Resource Control, create new container images using Dockerfile, manage container images using DockerHub repository for public and private scenarios, manage container images using Microsoft Azure

Implement high availability (30–35%)
Implement high availability and disaster recovery options in Hyper-V
Implement Hyper-V Replica, implement Live Migration, implement Shared Nothing Live Migration, configure CredSSP or Kerberos authentication protocol for Live Migration, implement storage migration
Implement failover clustering
Implement Workgroup, Single, and Multi Domain clusters; configure quorum; configure cluster networking; restore single node or cluster configuration; configure cluster storage; implement Cluster-Aware Updating; implement Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade; configure and optimize clustered shared volumes (CSVs); configure clusters without network names; implement Scale-Out File Server (SoFS); determine different scenarios for the use of SoFS versus clustered File Server; determine usage scenarios for implementing guest clustering; implement a Clustered Storage Spaces solution using Shared SAS storage enclosures; implement Storage Replica; implement Cloud Witness; implement VM resiliency; implement shared VHDX as a storage solution for guest clusters
Implement Storage Spaces Direct
Determine scenario requirements for implementing Storage Spaces Direct, enable Storage Spaces direct using Windows PowerShell, implement a disaggregated Storage Spaces Direct scenario in a cluster, implement a hyper-converged Storage Spaces Direct scenario in a cluster
Manage failover clustering
Configure role-specific settings, including continuously available shares; configure VM monitoring; configure failover and preference settings; implement stretch and site-aware failover clusters; enable and configure node fairness
Manage VM movement in clustered nodes
Perform a live migration; perform a quick migration; perform a storage migration; import, export, and copy VMs; configure VM network health protection; configure drain on shutdown
Implement Network Load Balancing (NLB)
Install NLB nodes, configure NLB prerequisites, configure affinity, configure port rules, configure cluster operation mode, upgrade an NLB cluster

Maintain and monitor server environments (10–15%)

Maintain server installations
Implement Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) solutions; configure WSUS groups; manage patch management in mixed environments; implement an antimalware solution with Windows Defender; integrate Windows Defender with WSUS and Windows Update; perform backup and restore operations using Windows Server Backup; determine backup strategies for different Windows Server roles and workloads, including Hyper-V Host, Hyper-V Guests, Active Directory, File Servers, and Web Servers using Windows Server 2016 native tools and solutions
Monitor server installations
Monitor workloads using Performance Monitor; configure Data Collector Sets; determine appropriate CPU, memory, disk, and networking counters for storage and compute workloads; configure alerts; monitor workloads using Resource Monitor

Tuesday, 18 October 2016

Exam 70-743 Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA: Windows Server 2016 (beta)

Published: July 22, 2016
Languages:  English
Audiences: IT professionals
Technology: Windows Server 2016
Credit toward certification: MCSA

Skills measured
This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below. View video tutorials about the variety of question types on Microsoft exams.

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

Do you have feedback about the relevance of the skills measured on this exam? Please send Microsoft your comments. All feedback will be reviewed and incorporated as appropriate while still maintaining the validity and reliability of the certification process. Note that Microsoft will not respond directly to your feedback. We appreciate your input in ensuring the quality of the Microsoft Certification program.

If you have concerns about specific questions on this exam, please submit an exam challenge.

If you have other questions or feedback about Microsoft Certification exams or about the certification program, registration, or promotions, please contact your Regional Service Center.

Install Windows Servers in host and compute environments
Install, upgrade, and migrate servers and workloads
Determine Windows Server 2016 installation requirements; determine appropriate Windows Server 2016 editions per workloads; install Windows Server 2016; install Windows Server 2016 features and roles; install and configure Windows Server Core; manage Windows Server Core installations using Windows PowerShell, command line, and remote management capabilities; implement Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) to install and maintain integrity of installed environments; perform upgrades and migrations of servers and core workloads from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2016; determine the appropriate activation model for server installation, such as Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA), Key Management Service (KMS), and Active Directory-based Activation
Install and configure Nano Server
Determine appropriate usage scenarios and requirements for Nano Server, install Nano Server, implement Roles and Features on Nano Server, manage and configure Nano Server, manage Nano Server remotely using Windows PowerShell
Create, manage, and maintain images for deployment
Plan for Windows Server virtualization; plan for Linux and FreeBSD deployments; assess virtualization workloads using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit; determine considerations for deploying workloads into virtualized environments; update images with patches, hotfixes, and drivers; install roles and features in offline images; manage and maintain Windows Server Core, Nano Server images, and VHDs using Windows PowerShell

Implement storage solutions
Implement Server Storage
Configure storage pools; implement simple, mirror, and parity storage layout options for disks or enclosures; expand storage pools; configure Tiered Storage; configure iSCSI target and initiator; configure iSNS; configure Datacenter Bridging (DCB); configure Multi-Path IO (MPIO); determine usage scenarios for Storage Replica; implement Storage Replica for server-to-server, cluster-to-cluster, and stretch cluster scenarios
Implement Data Deduplication
Implement and configure Deduplication, determine appropriate usage scenarios for Deduplication, monitor Deduplication, implement a backup and restore solution with Deduplication

Implement Hyper-V
Install and configure Hyper-V
Determine hardware and compatibility requirements for installing Hyper-V, install Hyper-V, install management tools, upgrade from existing versions of Hyper-V, delegate virtual machine management, perform remote management of Hyper-V hosts, configure virtual machines using Windows PowerShell Direct, implement nested virtualization
Configure virtual machine (VM) settings
Add or remove memory in running a VM, configure dynamic memory, configure Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) support, configure smart paging, configure Resource Metering, manage Integration Services, create and configure Generation 1 and 2 VMs and determine appropriate usage scenarios, implement enhanced session mode, create Linux and FreeBSD VMs, install and configure Linux Integration Services (LIS), install and configure FreeBSD Integration Services (BIS), implement Secure Boot for Windows and Linux environments, move and convert VMs from previous versions of Hyper-V to Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V, export and import VMs; implement Discrete Device Assignment (DDA)
Configure Hyper-V storage
Create VHDs and VHDX files using Hyper-V Manager, create shared VHDX files, configure differencing disks, modify virtual hard disks, configure pass-through disks, resize a virtual hard disk, manage checkpoints, implement production checkpoints, implement a virtual Fibre Channel adapter, configure storage Quality of Service (QoS)
Configure Hyper-V networking
Add and remove virtual network interface cards (vNICs), configure Hyper-V virtual switches, optimize network performance, configure MAC addresses, configure network isolation, configure synthetic and legacy virtual network adapters, configure NIC teaming in VMs, configure virtual machine queue (VMQ), enable Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) on network adapters bound to a Hyper-V virtual switch using Switch Embedded Teaming (SET), configure Bandwidth Management

Implement Windows containers
Deploy Windows containers
Determine installation requirements and appropriate scenarios for Windows containers, install and configure Windows Server container host in physical or virtualized environments, install and configure Windows Server container host to Windows Server Core or Nano Server in a physical or virtualized environment, install Docker on Windows Server and Nano Server, configure Docker daemon start-up options, configure Windows PowerShell for use with containers, install a base operating system, tag an image, uninstall an operating system image, create Windows Server containers, create Hyper-V containers
Manage Windows containers
Manage Windows or Linux containers using the Docker daemon, manage Windows or Linux containers using Windows PowerShell, manage container networking, manage container data volumes, manage Resource Control, create new container images using Dockerfile, manage container images using DockerHub repository for public and private scenarios, manage container images using Microsoft Azure

Implement high availability
Implement high availability and disaster recovery options in Hyper-V
Implement Hyper-V Replica, implement Live Migration, implement Shared Nothing Live Migration, configure CredSSP or Kerberos authentication protocol for Live Migration, implement storage migration
Implement failover clustering
Implement Workgroup, Single, and Multi Domain clusters; configure quorum; configure cluster networking; restore single node or cluster configuration; configure cluster storage; implement Cluster-Aware Updating; implement Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade; configure and optimize clustered shared volumes (CSVs); configure clusters without network names; implement Scale-Out File Server (SoFS); determine different scenarios for the use of SoFS versus clustered File Server; determine usage scenarios for implementing guest clustering; implement a Clustered Storage Spaces solution using Shared SAS storage enclosures; implement Storage Replica; implement Cloud Witness; implement VM resiliency; implement shared VHDX as a storage solution for guest clusters
Implement Storage Spaces Direct
Determine scenario requirements for implementing Storage Spaces Direct, enable Storage Spaces direct using Windows PowerShell, implement a disaggregated Storage Spaces Direct scenario in a cluster, implement a hyper-converged Storage Spaces Direct scenario in a cluster
Manage failover clustering
Configure role-specific settings, including continuously available shares; configure VM monitoring; configure failover and preference settings; implement stretch and site-aware failover clusters; enable and configure node fairness
Manage VM movement in clustered nodes
Perform live migration; perform quick migration; perform storage migration; import, export, and copy VMs; configure VM network health protection; configure drain on shutdown

Implement Domain Name System (DNS)
Install and configure DNS servers
Determine DNS installation requirements, determine supported DNS deployment scenarios on Nano Server, install DNS, configure forwarders, configure Root Hints, configure delegation, implement DNS policies, implement DNS global settings using Windows PowerShell, configure Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), configure DNS Socket Pool, configure cache locking, enable Response Rate Limiting; configure DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities (DANE), configure DNS logging, configure delegated administration, configure recursion settings, implement DNS performance tuning, configure global settings using Windows PowerShell

Implement IP Address Management (IPAM)
Install and configure IPAM
Provision IPAM manually or by using Group Policy, configure server discovery, create and manage IP blocks and ranges, monitor utilization of IP address space, migrate existing workloads to IPAM, configure IPAM database storage using SQL Server, determine scenarios for using IPAM with System Center Virtual Machine Manager for physical and virtual IP address space management
Manage DNS and DHCP using IPAM
Manage DHCP server properties using IPAM, configure DHCP scopes and options, configure DHCP policies and failover, manage DNS server properties using IPAM, manage DNS zones and records, manage DNS and DHCP servers in multiple Active Directory forests, delegate administration for DNS and DHCP using role-based access control (RBAC)

Implement network connectivity and remote access solutions
Implement virtual private network (VPN) and DirectAccess solutions
Implement remote access and site-to-site (S2S) VPN solutions using remote access gateway, configure different VPN protocol options, configure authentication options, configure VPN reconnect, create and configure connection profiles, determine when to use remote access VPN and site-to-site VPN and configure appropriate protocols, install and configure DirectAccess, implement server requirements, implement client configuration, troubleshoot DirectAccess

Implement an advanced network infrastructure
Implement high performance network solutions
Implement NIC Teaming or the Switch Embedded Teaming (SET) solution and identify when to use each, enable and configure Receive Side Scaling (RSS), enable and configure network Quality of Service (QoS) with Data Center Bridging (DCB), enable and configure SMB Direct on Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) enabled network adapters, enable and configure SMB Multichannel, enable and configure virtual Receive Side Scaling (vRSS) on a Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ) capable network adapter, enable and configure Virtual Machine Multi-Queue (VMMQ), enable and configure Single-Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) on a supported network adapter
Determine scenarios and requirements for implementing software-defined networking (SDN)
Determine deployment scenarios and network requirements for deploying SDN; determine requirements and scenarios for implementing Hyper-V Network Virtualization (HNV) using Network Virtualization Generic Route Encapsulation (NVGRE) encapsulation or Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) encapsulation; determine scenarios for implementation of Software Load Balancer (SLB) for North-South and East-West load balancing; determine implementation scenarios for various types of Windows Server Gateways, including L3, GRE, and S2S, and their use; determine requirements and scenarios for distributed firewall policies and network security groups

Install and configure Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
Install and configure domain controllers
Install a new forest, add or remove a domain controller from a domain, upgrade a domain controller, install AD DS on a Server Core installation, install a domain controller from Install from Media (IFM), resolve DNS SRV record registration issues, configure a global catalog server, transfer and seize operations master roles, install and configure a read-only domain controller (RODC), configure domain controller cloning

Implement identity federation and access solutions
Install and configure Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)
Upgrade and migrate previous AD FS workloads to Windows Server 2016; implement claims-based authentication, including Relying Party Trusts; configure authentication policies; configure multi-factor authentication; implement and configure device registration; integrate AD FS with Microsoft Passport; configure for use with Microsoft Azure and Office 365; configure AD FS to enable authentication of users stored in LDAP directories
Implement Web Application Proxy (WAP)
Install and configure WAP, implement WAP in pass-through mode, implement WAP as AD FS proxy, integrate WAP with AD FS, configure AD FS requirements, publish web apps via WAP, publish Remote Desktop Gateway applications; configure HTTP to HTTPS redirects, configure internal and external Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs)

Thursday, 13 October 2016

Exam 70-761 Querying Data with Transact-SQL (beta)

Published: October 18, 2016
Languages: English
Audiences: IT professionals
Technology: SQL Server
Credit toward certification: MCP, MCSA

Skills measured
This 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. View video tutorials about the variety of question types on Microsoft exams.

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

Do you have feedback about the relevance of the skills measured on this exam? Please send Microsoft your comments. All feedback will be reviewed and incorporated as appropriate while still maintaining the validity and reliability of the certification process. Note that Microsoft will not respond directly to your feedback. We appreciate your input in ensuring the quality of the Microsoft Certification program.

If you have concerns about specific questions on this exam, please submit an exam challenge.

If you have other questions or feedback about Microsoft Certification exams or about the certification program, registration, or promotions, please contact your Regional Service Center.

Manage data with Transact-SQL (40–45%)
Create Transact-SQL SELECT queries
Identify proper SELECT query structure, write specific queries to satisfy business requirements, construct results from multiple queries using set operators, distinguish between UNION and UNION ALL behaviour, identify the query that would return expected results based on provided table structure and/or data
Query multiple tables by using joins
Write queries with join statements based on provided tables, data, and requirements; determine proper usage of INNER JOIN, LEFT/RIGHT/FULL OUTER JOIN, and CROSS JOIN; construct multiple JOIN operators using AND and OR; determine the correct results when presented with multi-table SELECT statements and source data; write queries with NULLs on joins
Implement functions and aggregate data
Construct queries using scalar-valued and table-valued functions; identify the impact of function usage to query performance and WHERE clause sargability; identify the differences between deterministic and non-deterministic functions; use built-in aggregate functions; use arithmetic functions, date-related functions, and system functions
Modify data
Write INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements; determine which statements can be used to load data to a table based on its structure and constraints; construct Data Manipulation Language (DML) statements using the OUTPUT statement; determine the results of Data Definition Language (DDL) statements on supplied tables and data

Query data with advanced Transact-SQL components (30–35%)
Query data by using subqueries and APPLY
Determine the results of queries using subqueries and table joins, evaluate performance differences between table joins and correlated subqueries based on provided data and query plans, distinguish between the use of CROSS APPLY and OUTER APPLY, write APPLY statements that return a given data set based on supplied data
Query data by using table expressions
Identify basic components of table expressions, define usage differences between table expressions and temporary tables, construct recursive table expressions to meet business requirements
Group and pivot data by using queries
Use windowing functions to group and rank the results of a query; distinguish between using windowing functions and GROUP BY; construct complex GROUP BY clauses using GROUPING SETS, and CUBE; construct PIVOT and UNPIVOT statements to return desired results based on supplied data; determine the impact of NULL values in PIVOT and UNPIVOT queries
Query temporal data and non-relational data
Query historic data by using temporal tables, query and output JSON data, query and output XML data

Program databases by using Transact-SQL (25–30%)
Create database programmability objects by using Transact-SQL
Create stored procedures, table-valued and scalar-valued user-defined functions, and views; implement input and output parameters in stored procedures; identify whether to use scalar-valued or table-valued functions; distinguish between deterministic and non-deterministic functions; create indexed views
Implement error handling and transactions
Determine results of Data Definition Language (DDL) statements based on transaction control statements, implement TRY…CATCH error handling with Transact-SQL, generate error messages with THROW and RAISERROR, implement transaction control in conjunction with error handling in stored procedures
Implement data types and NULLs
Evaluate results of data type conversions, determine proper data types for given data elements or table columns, identify locations of implicit data type conversions in queries, determine the correct results of joins and functions in the presence of NULL values, identify proper usage of ISNULL and COALESCE functions

Monday, 10 October 2016

Exam 70-762 Developing SQL Databases (beta)

Published: August 26, 2016
Languages: English
Audiences: Developers
Technology: SQL Server
Credit toward certification: MCP, MCSA

Skills measured
This 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. View video tutorials about the variety of question types on Microsoft exams.

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

Do you have feedback about the relevance of the skills measured on this exam? Please send Microsoft your comments. All feedback will be reviewed and incorporated as appropriate while still maintaining the validity and reliability of the certification process. Note that Microsoft will not respond directly to your feedback. We appreciate your input in ensuring the quality of the Microsoft Certification program.

If you have concerns about specific questions on this exam, please submit an exam challenge.

If you have other questions or feedback about Microsoft Certification exams or about the certification program, registration, or promotions, please contact your Regional Service Center.

Design and implement database objects (25–30%)
Design and implement a relational database schema
Design tables and schemas based on business requirements, improve the design of tables by using normalization, write table create statements, determine the most efficient data types to use
Design and implement indexes
Design new indexes based on provided tables, queries, or plans; distinguish between indexed columns and included columns; implement clustered index columns by using best practices; recommend new indexes based on query plans
Design and implement views
Design a view structure to select data based on user or business requirements, identify the steps necessary to design an updateable view, implement partitioned views, implement indexed views
Implement columnstore indexes
Determine use cases that support the use of columnstore indexes, identify proper usage of clustered and non-clustered columnstore indexes, design standard non-clustered indexes in conjunction with clustered columnstore indexes, implement columnstore index maintenance

Implement programmability objects (20–25%)
Ensure data integrity with constraints
Define table and foreign key constraints to enforce business rules, write Transact-SQL statements to add constraints to tables, identify results of Data Manipulation Language (DML) statements given existing tables and constraints, identify proper usage of PRIMARY KEY constraints
Create stored procedures
Design stored procedure components and structure based on business requirements, implement input and output parameters, implement table-valued parameters, implement return codes, streamline existing stored procedure logic, implement error handling and transaction control logic within stored procedures
Create triggers and user-defined functions
Design trigger logic based on business requirements; determine when to use Data Manipulation Language (DML) triggers, Data Definition Language (DDL) triggers, or logon triggers; recognize results based on execution of AFTER or INSTEAD OF triggers; design scalar-valued and table-valued user-defined functions based on business requirements; identify differences between deterministic and non-deterministic functions

Manage database concurrency (25–30%)
Implement transactions
Identify DML statement results based on transaction behavior, recognize differences between and identify usage of explicit and implicit transactions, implement savepoints within transactions, determine the role of transactions in high-concurrency databases
Manage isolation levels
Identify differences between Read Uncommitted, Read Committed, Repeatable Read, Serializable, and Snapshot isolation levels; define results of concurrent queries based on isolation level; identify the resource and performance impact of given isolation levels
Optimize concurrency and locking behavior
Troubleshoot locking issues, identify lock escalation behaviors, capture and analyze deadlock graphs, identify ways to remediate deadlocks
Implement memory-optimized tables and native stored procedures
Define use cases for memory-optimized tables versus traditional disk-based tables, optimize performance of in-memory tables by changing durability settings, determine best case usage scenarios for natively compiled stored procedures, enable collection of execution statistics for natively compiled stored procedures

Optimize database objects and SQL infrastructure (20–25%)
Optimize statistics and indexes
Determine the accuracy of statistics and the associated impact to query plans and performance, design statistics maintenance tasks, use dynamic management objects to review current index usage and identify missing indexes, consolidate overlapping indexes
Analyze and troubleshoot query plans
Capture query plans using extended events and traces, identify poorly performing query plan operators, create efficient query plans using Query Store, compare estimated and actual query plans and related metadata, configure Azure SQL Database Performance Insight
Manage performance for database instances
Manage database workload in SQL Server; design and implement Elastic Scale for Azure SQL Database; select an appropriate service tier or edition; optimize database file and tempdb configuration; optimize memory configuration; monitor and diagnose scheduling and wait statistics using dynamic management objects; troubleshoot and analyze storage, IO, and cache issues; monitor Azure SQL Database query plans
Monitor and trace SQL Server baseline performance metrics
Monitor operating system and SQL Server performance metrics; compare baseline metrics to observed metrics while troubleshooting performance issues; identify differences between performance monitoring and logging tools, such as perfmon and dynamic management objects; monitor Azure SQL Database performance; determine best practice use cases for extended events; distinguish between Extended Events targets; compare the impact of Extended Events and SQL Trace; define differences between Extended Events Packages, Targets, Actions, and Sessions

Exam 70-762 Developing SQL Databases (beta)

Published: August 26, 2016
Languages: English
Audiences: Developers
Technology: SQL Server
Credit toward certification: MCP, MCSA

Skills measured
This 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. View video tutorials about the variety of question types on Microsoft exams.

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

Do you have feedback about the relevance of the skills measured on this exam? Please send Microsoft your comments. All feedback will be reviewed and incorporated as appropriate while still maintaining the validity and reliability of the certification process. Note that Microsoft will not respond directly to your feedback. We appreciate your input in ensuring the quality of the Microsoft Certification program.

If you have concerns about specific questions on this exam, please submit an exam challenge.

If you have other questions or feedback about Microsoft Certification exams or about the certification program, registration, or promotions, please contact your Regional Service Center.

Design and implement database objects (25–30%)
Design and implement a relational database schema
Design tables and schemas based on business requirements, improve the design of tables by using normalization, write table create statements, determine the most efficient data types to use
Design and implement indexes
Design new indexes based on provided tables, queries, or plans; distinguish between indexed columns and included columns; implement clustered index columns by using best practices; recommend new indexes based on query plans
Design and implement views
Design a view structure to select data based on user or business requirements, identify the steps necessary to design an updateable view, implement partitioned views, implement indexed views
Implement columnstore indexes
Determine use cases that support the use of columnstore indexes, identify proper usage of clustered and non-clustered columnstore indexes, design standard non-clustered indexes in conjunction with clustered columnstore indexes, implement columnstore index maintenance

Implement programmability objects (20–25%)
Ensure data integrity with constraints
Define table and foreign key constraints to enforce business rules, write Transact-SQL statements to add constraints to tables, identify results of Data Manipulation Language (DML) statements given existing tables and constraints, identify proper usage of PRIMARY KEY constraints
Create stored procedures
Design stored procedure components and structure based on business requirements, implement input and output parameters, implement table-valued parameters, implement return codes, streamline existing stored procedure logic, implement error handling and transaction control logic within stored procedures
Create triggers and user-defined functions
Design trigger logic based on business requirements; determine when to use Data Manipulation Language (DML) triggers, Data Definition Language (DDL) triggers, or logon triggers; recognize results based on execution of AFTER or INSTEAD OF triggers; design scalar-valued and table-valued user-defined functions based on business requirements; identify differences between deterministic and non-deterministic functions

Manage database concurrency (25–30%)
Implement transactions
Identify DML statement results based on transaction behavior, recognize differences between and identify usage of explicit and implicit transactions, implement savepoints within transactions, determine the role of transactions in high-concurrency databases
Manage isolation levels
Identify differences between Read Uncommitted, Read Committed, Repeatable Read, Serializable, and Snapshot isolation levels; define results of concurrent queries based on isolation level; identify the resource and performance impact of given isolation levels
Optimize concurrency and locking behavior
Troubleshoot locking issues, identify lock escalation behaviors, capture and analyze deadlock graphs, identify ways to remediate deadlocks
Implement memory-optimized tables and native stored procedures
Define use cases for memory-optimized tables versus traditional disk-based tables, optimize performance of in-memory tables by changing durability settings, determine best case usage scenarios for natively compiled stored procedures, enable collection of execution statistics for natively compiled stored procedures

Optimize database objects and SQL infrastructure (20–25%)
Optimize statistics and indexes
Determine the accuracy of statistics and the associated impact to query plans and performance, design statistics maintenance tasks, use dynamic management objects to review current index usage and identify missing indexes, consolidate overlapping indexes
Analyze and troubleshoot query plans
Capture query plans using extended events and traces, identify poorly performing query plan operators, create efficient query plans using Query Store, compare estimated and actual query plans and related metadata, configure Azure SQL Database Performance Insight
Manage performance for database instances
Manage database workload in SQL Server; design and implement Elastic Scale for Azure SQL Database; select an appropriate service tier or edition; optimize database file and tempdb configuration; optimize memory configuration; monitor and diagnose scheduling and wait statistics using dynamic management objects; troubleshoot and analyze storage, IO, and cache issues; monitor Azure SQL Database query plans
Monitor and trace SQL Server baseline performance metrics
Monitor operating system and SQL Server performance metrics; compare baseline metrics to observed metrics while troubleshooting performance issues; identify differences between performance monitoring and logging tools, such as perfmon and dynamic management objects; monitor Azure SQL Database performance; determine best practice use cases for extended events; distinguish between Extended Events targets; compare the impact of Extended Events and SQL Trace; define differences between Extended Events Packages, Targets, Actions, and Sessions

Sunday, 2 October 2016

Exam 70-767 Implementing a SQL Data Warehouse (in development)

Published: October 18, 2016
Languages: English
Audiences: IT professionals
Technology: SQL Server
Credit toward certification: MCP, MCSA

Skills measured
This 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. View video tutorials about the variety of question types on Microsoft exams.

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

Do you have feedback about the relevance of the skills measured on this exam? Please send Microsoft your comments. All feedback will be reviewed and incorporated as appropriate while still maintaining the validity and reliability of the certification process. Note that Microsoft will not respond directly to your feedback. We appreciate your input in ensuring the quality of the Microsoft Certification program.

If you have concerns about specific questions on this exam, please submit an exam challenge.

If you have other questions or feedback about Microsoft Certification exams or about the certification program, registration, or promotions, please contact your Regional Service Center.

Design and implement a data warehouse (30–35%)
Design and implement dimension tables
Design shared and conformed dimensions, determine support requirements for slowly changing dimensions, determine attributes, design hierarchies, determine star or snowflake schema requirements, determine the granularity of relationship by using fact tables, determine auditing or lineage requirements, determine keys and key relationships for a data warehouse, implement dimensions, implement data lineage of a dimension table
Design and implement fact tables
Identify measures, identify dimension table relationships, create composite keys, design a data warehouse that supports many-to-many relationships, implement semi-additive measures, implement non-additive measures
Design and implement indexes for a data warehouse workload
Design an indexing solution; select appropriate indexes; implement clustered, non-clustered, filtered, and columnstore indexes
Design storage for a data warehouse
Design an appropriate storage solution, including hardware, disk, and file layout
Design and implement partitioned tables and views
Design a partition structure to support a data warehouse, implement sliding windows, implement partition elimination, design a partition structure that supports the quick loading and scale-out of data

Extract, transform, and load data (35–40%)
Design and implement an extract, transform, and load (ETL) control flow by using a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package
Design and implement ETL control flow elements, including containers, tasks, and precedence constraints; create variables and parameters; create checkpoints, sequence and loop containers, and variables in SSIS; implement data profiling, parallelism, transactions, logging, and security
Design and implement an ETL data flow by using an SSIS package
Implement slowly changing dimension, fuzzy grouping, fuzzy lookup, audit, blocking, non-blocking, and term lookup transformations; map columns; determine the appropriate transform object for a given task; determine appropriate scenarios for Transact-SQL joins versus SSIS lookup; design table loading by using bulk loading or standard loading; remove extra rows or bad rows by using deduplication
Implement an ETL solution that supports incremental data extraction
Design fact table patterns, enable Change Data Capture, create a SQL MERGE statement
Implement an ETL solution that supports incremental data loading
Design a control flow to load change data, load data by using Transact-SQL Change Data Capture functions, load data by using Change Data Capture in SSIS
Debug SSIS packages
Fix performance, connectivity, execution, and failed logic issues by using the debugger; enable logging for package execution; implement error handling for data types; implement breakpoints; add data viewers; profile data with different tools; perform batch clean-up
Deploy and configure SSIS packages and projects
Create an SSIS catalog; deploy packages by using the deployment utility, SQL Server, and file systems; run and customize packages by using DTUTIL

Integrate solutions with cloud data and big data (15–20%)
Integrate external data sources with SQL Server by using Polybase
Integrate with Hadoop, integrate with text files stored in the Azure Blob service, manage external tables, access data in Hadoop databases with Transact-SQL, access data in the Azure Blob service by using Transact-SQL, import data from Hadoop or blobs as regular SQL Server tables, export data to Hadoop or the Azure Blob service
Extract, transform, and load data from SQL Data Warehouse by using Polybase
Integrate Azure SQL Data Warehouse with on-premises data warehouses, implement bi-directional data synchronization between Azure and on-premises systems, load data into SQL Data Warehouse from Polybase, design an incremental load strategy by using Polybase and the Azure Blob service
Design and implement an Azure SQL Data Warehouse
Create a new Azure SQL Data Warehouse database by using the Azure portal, create an Azure SQL Data Warehouse database by using Transact-SQL, select the appropriate method to load data into Azure SQL Data Warehouse
Manage and maintain a SQL Data Warehouse
Manage queries by using labels; manage statistics; manage partition distribution; scale out the data warehouse; grow, shrink, and pause the data warehouse

Build data quality solutions (15–20%)
Create a knowledge base
Create a Data Quality Services (DQS) knowledge base, determine appropriate use cases for a DQS knowledge base, perform knowledge discovery, perform domain management
Maintain data quality by using DQS
Add matching knowledge to a knowledge base, prepare a DQS for data deduplication, create a matching policy, clean data by using DQS knowledge clean data by using the SSIS DQS task, install DQS
Implement a Master Data Services (MDS) model
Install MDS; implement MDS; create models, entities, hierarchies, collections, and attributes; define security roles; import and export data; create and edit a subscription; implement entities, attributes, hierarchies, and business rules
Manage data by using MDS
Use MDS tools, use the Master Data Services Configuration Manager, create a Master Data Manager database and web application, deploy a sample model using MDSModelDeploy.exe, use the Master Data Services web application, use the Master Data Services Add-in for Excel, create a Master Data Management hub, stage and load data, create subscription views