Exam 1
Configure data access and auditing (20–25%)
· Configure encryption
· Implement cell-level encryption, implement Always Encrypted, implement backup encryption, configure transparent data encryption, configure encryption for connections, troubleshoot encryption errors
· Configure data access and permissions
· Manage database object permissions, create and maintain users, create and maintain custom roles, configure user options for Azure SQL Database, configure row-level security, configure dynamic data masking
· Configure auditing
· Configure an audit on SQL Server, query the SQL Server audit log, manage a SQL Server audit, configure an Azure SQL Database audit, analyze audit logs and reports from Azure SQL Database
Manage backup and restore of databases (20–25%)
· Develop a backup strategy
· Back up very large databases, configure alerting for failed backups, back up databases to Azure, manage transaction log backups, configure database recovery models, configure backup automation
· Restore databases
· Perform piecemeal restores, perform page recovery, perform point-in-time recovery, restore file groups, develop a plan to automate and test restores
· Manage database integrity
· Implement database consistency checks, identify database corruption, recover from database corruption
Manage and monitor SQL Server instances (35–40%)
· Monitor database activity
· Monitor current sessions, identify sessions that cause blocking activity, identify sessions that consume tempdb resources, configure the data collector
· Monitor queries
· Manage the Query Store, configure Extended Events and trace events, identify problematic execution plans, troubleshoot server health using Extended Events
· Manage indexes
· Identify and repair index fragmentation, identify and create missing indexes, identify and drop underutilized indexes, manage existing columnstore indexes
· Manage statistics
· Identify and correct outdated statistics, implement Auto Update Statistics, implement statistics for large tables
· Monitor SQL Server instances
· Create and manage operators, create and manage SQL Agent alerts, define custom alert actions, define failure actions, configure database mail, configure Policy-Based Management, identify available space on data volumes, identify the cause of performance degradation
Manage high availability and disaster recovery (20–25%)
· Implement log shipping
· Configure log shipping, monitor log shipping
· Implement AlwaysOn Availability Groups
· Configure Windows clustering, create an availability group, configure read-only routing, manage failover, create distributed availability groups
· Implement failover cluster instances
· Manage shared disks, configure cluster shared volumes
Exam 2
Implement SQL in Azure (40–45%)
· Deploy a Microsoft Azure SQL Database
· Choose a service tier, create servers and databases, create a sysadmin account, configure elastic pools
· Plan for SQL Server installation
· Plan for an IaaS or on-premises deployment, select the appropriate size for a virtual machine, plan storage pools based on performance requirements, evaluate best practices for installation, design a storage layout for a SQL Server virtual machine
· Deploy SQL Server instances
· Deploy a SQL Server instance in IaaS and on-premises, manually install SQL Server on an Azure Virtual Machine, provision an Azure Virtual Machine to host a SQL Server instance, automate the deployment of SQL Server databases, deploy SQL Server by using templates
· Deploy SQL Server databases to Azure virtual machines
· Migrate an on-premises SQL Server database to an Azure virtual machine, generate benchmark data for performance needs, perform performance tuning on Azure IaaS, support availability sets in Azure
Manage databases and instances (30-35%)
· Configure secure access to Microsoft Azure SQL Databases
· Configure firewall rules, configure Always Encrypted for Azure SQL Database, configure cell-level encryption, configure dynamic data masking, configure transparent data encryption (TDE)
· Configure SQL Server performance settings
· Configure database performance settings, configure max server memory, configure the database scope, configure operators and alerts
· Manage SQL Server instances
· Create databases, manage files and file groups, manage system database files, configure tempdb
Manage Storage (30–35%)
· Manage SQL Storage
· Manage SMB file shares, manage stretch databases, configure Azure storage, change service tiers, review wait statistics, manage storage pools, recover from failed storage
· Perform database maintenance
· Monitor DMVs, maintain indexes, automate maintenance tasks, update statistics, verify database integrity, recover from database corruption