Exam 98-364 TA: Database Administration Fundamentals

Exam Design
The Basics This is a Microsoft Technolo ! Associate "MTA# exam desi ned to assess candidates$ fundamental %no&led e of database administration' MTA is a ne& certification under the Microsoft (ertification )ro ram that *alidates the foundational %no&led e needed to be in buildin a career in Microsoft technolo ies' +t can also ser*e as a ste,,in stone to the Microsoft (ertified Technolo ! -,ecialist exams' -uccessful candidates for this exam &ill earn an MTA certification as &ell as access to benefits of the Microsoft (ertification )ro ram' The ,rimar! tar et audience for the MTA certification is students attendin hi h schools and t&o-!ear colle es' .e are s,ecif!in an item ,ool of /0 uni1ue multi,le-choice items2 &hich &ill be used on 3 form' A,,roximatel! /4 ,ercent of the items should be &ritten to the %no&led e5com,rehension le*el and about 34 ,ercent to the a,,lication le*el' For more information about co niti*e le*els2 refer to the (o niti*e Domain in 6loom$s Taxonom!'

(ate ories in the co niti*e domain of 6loom7s Taxonom! "Anderson 8 9rath&ohl2 :443# The follo&in anatom! is re1uired of each %no&led e-le*el item in this exam: ;uestion -tatement "ex: .hat should !ou do<# Ans&er (hoices ")referabl! Multi,le (hoice2 choose 32 &ith 3 distracters# o Ex: .hich of the follo&in is a *alid A-)'=ET *ariable name< A' >foo? 6' 8foo? (' foo@? D' foo 3

The follo&in anatom! is re1uired of each a,,lication-le*el item in this exam: (oncise scenario2 includin an! constraints5re1uirements necessar! to ma%e distracter ans&ers 344A incorrect Boal -tatement " Cou need to D# ;uestion -tatement "ex: .hat should !ou do<# Ans&er (hoices ")referabl! Multi,le (hoice2 choose 32 &ith 3 distracters# Target Audience (andidates for this exam are see%in to ,ro*e introductor! %no&led e of and s%ills &ith databases2 includin relational databases such as MicrosoftE -;F -er*erE' +t is recommended that candidates be familiar &ith the conce,ts of and ha*e handson ex,erience &ith the technolo ies described here either b! ta%in rele*ant trainin courses or b! &or%in &ith tutorials and sam,les a*ailable on M-D=E and in Microsoft Gisual -tudioE' Althou h minimal hands-on ex,erience &ith the technolo ies is recommended2 Hob ex,erience is not assumed for these exams' (andidates for this exam are in the ,rocess of ex,andin their %no&led e and s%ills in the follo&in areas: core database conce,ts relational database conce,ts securit! re1uirements for databases and the data stored in them database obHects2 such as tables and *ie&s ra,hical tools and T--;F scri,ts database 1ueries stored ,rocedures

Objective Domain
1. Understanding Core Database Concepts 3'3'Inderstand ho& data is stored in tables' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin &hat a table is and ho& it relates to the data that &ill be stored in the database? columns5fields2 ro&s5records 3':'Inderstand relational database conce,ts'

This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin &hat a relational database is2 the need for relational database mana ement s!stems "JD6M-#2 and ho& relations are established 3'3'Inderstand data mani,ulation lan ua e "DMF#' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin &hat DMF is and its role in databases 3'4'Inderstand data definition lan ua e "DDF#' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin ho& T--;F can be used to create database obHects such as tables and *ie&s

2. Creating Database Objects :'3'(hoose data t!,es' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin &hat data t!,es are2 &h! the! are im,ortant2 and ho& the! affect stora e re1uirements :':'Inderstand tables and ho& to create them' This objective may include but is not limited to: ,ur,ose of tables? creatin tables in a database b! usin ,ro,er A=-+ -;F s!ntax :'3'(reate *ie&s' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin &hen to use *ie&s and ho& to create a *ie& b! usin T--;F or a ra,hical desi ner' :'4'(reate stored ,rocedures and functions' This objective may include but is not limited to: selectin 2 insertin 2 u,datin 2 or deletin data 3. Manipulating Data 3'3'-elect data' This objective may include but is not limited to: utiliKin -EFE(T 1ueries to extract data from one table? extractin data b! usin Hoins? combinin result sets b! usin I=+L= and +=TEJ-E(T 3':'+nsert data' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin ho& data is inserted into a database? ho& to use +=-EJT statements 3'3'I,date data'

This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin ho& data is u,dated in a database and ho& to &rite the u,date data to the database b! usin the a,,ro,riate I)DATE statements? u,date b! usin a table 3'4'Delete data' This objective may include but is not limited to: deletin data from sin le or multi,le tables? ensurin data and referential inte rit! b! usin transactions

4. Understanding Data Storage 4'3'Inderstand normaliKation' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin the reasons for normaliKation2 the fi*e most common le*els of normaliKation2 ho& to normaliKe a database to third normal form 4':'Inderstand ,rimar!2 forei n2 and com,osite %e!s' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin the reason for %e!s in a database2 choosin a,,ro,riate ,rimar! %e!s2 selectin a,,ro,riate data t!,e for %e!s2 selectin a,,ro,riate fields for com,osite %e!s2 understandin the relationshi, bet&een forei n and ,rimar! %e!s 4'3'Inderstand indexes' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin clustered and non-clustered indexes and their ,ur,ose in a database 5. Administering a Database 0'3'Inderstand database securit! conce,ts' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin the need to secure a database2 &hat obHects can be secured2 &hat obHects should be secured2 user accounts2 and roles 0':'Inderstand database bac%u,s and restore' This objective may include but is not limited to: understandin *arious bac%u, t!,es2 such as full and incremental2 im,ortance of bac%u,s2 ho& to restore a database