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A Guide to the 70-981 Exam and SQL Server Installation & Configuration

The Microsoft 70-981 Exam, "Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases," is a core component of the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA): SQL Server 2012 certification track. This exam is specifically designed for database professionals who are responsible for the day-to-day management of a SQL Server environment. The target audience includes database administrators, system engineers, and developers whose roles involve installing, configuring, and maintaining SQL Server instances. It focuses on the practical, operational skills needed to keep a database environment running smoothly, securely, and efficiently.

Passing the 70-981 Exam validates that a candidate has the essential skills to manage a SQL Server 2012 infrastructure. The exam covers a wide range of administrative tasks, including installation, configuration, data management, security, and high availability. Unlike a "transition" exam, this test is designed for individuals who are learning the administrative aspects of SQL Server 2012 as their primary platform. Success demonstrates a solid foundation in the core responsibilities of a database administrator.

Planning a SQL Server 2012 Installation

A successful SQL Server deployment begins with careful planning, and the 70-981 Exam requires you to understand these crucial preliminary steps. Before you begin the installation, you must verify that the server meets all the hardware and software prerequisites. This includes ensuring the correct version of the Windows Server operating system is installed and that the necessary prerequisites, like the .NET Framework, are in place. You must also make an informed decision about which edition of SQL Server 2012 to install.

The different editions—Standard, Enterprise, Business Intelligence, and Web—offer varying levels of features, performance, and scalability. The Enterprise edition, for example, is the only one that includes the full suite of AlwaysOn Availability Groups features. You also need to plan which specific components to install. A typical installation will include the Database Engine Services and Management Tools, but you may also need Analysis Services (SSAS), Integration Services (SSIS), or Reporting Services (SSRS), depending on the server's purpose.

Installing SQL Server 2012

The installation process itself is a key topic for the 70-981 Exam. The installation is performed using the SQL Server Installation Center wizard, which guides you through a series of configuration choices. You will need to select the features you planned to install, and you will have to make a critical decision about the instance type. You can install a default instance, of which there can be only one per server, or one or more named instances.

During the installation, you will configure the service accounts that will be used to run the SQL Server services, such as the Database Engine and the SQL Server Agent. You must also choose the authentication mode. Windows Authentication mode is more secure and is the recommended option, while Mixed Mode is required if you need to support SQL Server logins with usernames and passwords. After the installation is complete, you should perform a series of checks to validate that all services are running correctly.

Configuring Server and Database Settings

Once SQL Server is installed, an administrator must perform several important post-installation configuration tasks. The 70-981 Exam will test your knowledge of these settings. The SQL Server Configuration Manager is the primary tool for managing services and network protocols. Here, you can enable or disable network protocols like TCP/IP and Named Pipes and configure the ports that SQL Server listens on.

You can configure many server-level settings using the sp_configure system stored procedure or the Server Properties dialog in Management Studio. Key settings to know include max server memory, which is critical for preventing the operating system from being starved of memory, and max degree of parallelism (MAXDOP), which controls how many processors a single query can use. At the database level, you must understand how to set the recovery model (Full, Bulk-Logged, or Simple), as this has a major impact on your backup and restore strategy.

Introduction to Contained Databases

A significant new feature introduced in SQL Server 2012, and a topic for the 70-981 Exam, is the contained database. In previous versions, databases had strong dependencies on the server instance where they were hosted. For example, database users were mapped to server-level logins. If you moved the database to a new server, the logins would not exist, resulting in "orphaned users" and connectivity problems.

A contained database solves this problem by storing its own metadata, including user information, directly within the database itself. This makes the database a self-contained, portable unit. You can create "contained users" with passwords that are stored inside the database, eliminating the need for a corresponding server login. This greatly simplifies the process of migrating databases between servers and is a very useful feature for certain high availability and disaster recovery scenarios.

Working with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

SQL Server Management Studio, or SSMS, is the primary graphical tool for managing and administering SQL Server. Proficiency with SSMS is an absolute requirement for any DBA and is implicitly tested throughout the 70-981 Exam. The main window of SSMS is the Object Explorer, which provides a hierarchical tree view of all the objects on your server, such as databases, security logins, and SQL Server Agent jobs.

The Query Editor is where you write and execute Transact-SQL (T-SQL) queries. It provides features like IntelliSense for code completion and the ability to display query execution plans for performance tuning. Another key tool within SSMS is the Activity Monitor. It provides a real-time dashboard showing current user activity, running processes, resource waits, and recent expensive queries, giving you a quick overview of the server's performance.

Automating Administration with SQL Server Agent

A key responsibility of a database administrator is to automate routine maintenance tasks. The 70-981 Exam requires you to be proficient with the SQL Server Agent, which is the built-in job scheduling service. The SQL Server Agent allows you to create jobs, which are sequences of one or more steps that can be executed on a schedule. Each step can be a T-SQL script, a command-line program, a PowerShell script, or an SSIS package.

In addition to scheduled jobs, you can use the SQL Server Agent to create alerts. An alert is a response to a specific event, such as a SQL Server error of a certain severity or a performance condition being met. When an alert is triggered, it can execute a job or send a notification to a defined operator. This allows you to build a proactive monitoring system that can automatically respond to problems.

Preparing for the 70-981 Exam's Installation Topics

To prepare for the installation and configuration section of the 70-981 Exam, your approach should be both theoretical and practical. You need to memorize the key differences between the SQL Server editions, particularly which features are exclusive to the Enterprise edition. You must also understand the security implications of your choices during installation, such as the principle of least privilege for service accounts and the benefits of using Windows Authentication.

The best way to solidify this knowledge is to perform the tasks yourself. Build a virtual lab environment and walk through the SQL Server 2012 installation process several times. After installation, use SQL Server Configuration Manager and SSMS to explore and modify the key server and database settings. Practice creating logins, users, and SQL Server Agent jobs. This hands-on experience is the most effective way to prepare for the practical, scenario-based questions on the 70-981 Exam.

Designing a Database Storage Strategy

Effective database administration requires a solid understanding of how SQL Server stores data on disk. The 70-981 Exam will test your knowledge of this physical storage architecture. Every SQL Server database consists of at least two files: a primary data file (MDF) and a transaction log file (LDF). You can also create one or more optional secondary data files (NDF). These files can be grouped into logical containers called filegroups.

A critical best practice that you must know for the 70-981 Exam is the importance of separating these files onto different physical disks. The transaction log file has a very different I/O pattern (sequential writes) than the data files (random reads and writes). Placing them on separate physical storage prevents I/O contention and significantly improves performance. For very large databases, you can also improve performance by creating multiple data files and placing them in a single filegroup across different disks.

Creating and Managing Databases

The 70-981 Exam requires you to be proficient in the fundamental tasks of creating and managing databases. You can create a new database using the graphical user interface in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or by using the CREATE DATABASE Transact-SQL statement. When you create a database, you must specify the names and locations for its data and log files.

You also need to configure the initial size and the autogrowth settings for these files. The SIZE parameter sets the starting size, while the FILEGROWTH parameter determines how much the file will automatically grow when it runs out of space. It is a best practice to set a reasonable initial size to avoid frequent, small autogrowth events, which can cause file fragmentation. You also need to know how to perform maintenance tasks like manually growing or shrinking database files.

Understanding TempDB

The tempdb database is a special, system-wide resource that is critical to the performance of any SQL Server instance. The 70-981 Exam will expect you to understand its role and the best practices for its configuration. tempdb is used for a wide variety of operations, including storing temporary tables and table variables, handling sorting operations that are too large to fit in memory, and supporting features like the row versioning used by snapshot isolation.

Because it is so heavily used, tempdb can often become a performance bottleneck. The key best practice for configuring tempdb is to create multiple data files, typically one file for every four CPU cores, up to a maximum of eight. This helps to alleviate allocation contention. It is also crucial to place the tempdb data and log files on the fastest available storage, such as solid-state drives (SSDs), to ensure optimal performance.

Implementing Data Compression

As databases grow, the amount of storage they consume and the time it takes to read data from the disk can become a challenge. The 70-981 Exam covers the data compression features in SQL Server 2012, which can help to mitigate these issues. Data compression can reduce the physical size of your data on disk, which saves storage space and can also improve I/O performance because more data can be read into memory with a single read operation.

SQL Server 2012 offers two types of data compression: row compression and page compression. Row compression uses techniques like storing fixed-length data types in a variable-length format. Page compression is more aggressive and includes all the benefits of row compression, plus additional techniques like prefix and dictionary compression. You can use the sp_estimate_data_compression_savings stored procedure to estimate the potential benefits before you enable compression on a table or index.

Partitioning Tables and Indexes

For managing Very Large Tables (VLDBs), which can contain billions of rows, table partitioning is an essential feature. The 70-981 Exam requires a conceptual understanding of this technology. Partitioning allows you to horizontally divide a large table into smaller, more manageable chunks, or partitions. The data is split based on a partition key, which is typically a date column. For example, a large sales history table could be partitioned by month or year.

Partitioning provides two main benefits. First, it can improve query performance. If a query includes a filter on the partition key (e.g., WHERE OrderDate >= '2012-01-01' AND OrderDate < '2012-02-01'), the query optimizer knows it only needs to scan the relevant partition, not the entire table. Second, it simplifies data management. For example, in a "sliding window" scenario, you can easily archive old data by switching out an old partition and load new data by switching in a new one.

Importing and Exporting Data

A common task for a database administrator is to import data from or export data to external files. The 70-981 Exam covers the main tools available for these bulk data operations. The bcp (Bulk Copy Program) is a powerful command-line utility that has been a part of SQL Server for many years. It can be used to quickly export the contents of a table to a file or import data from a file into a table.

For use within a T-SQL script, the BULK INSERT statement provides similar functionality to bcp but can be executed directly from the Query Editor. For simpler, ad-hoc data transfers, the SQL Server Import and Export Wizard provides a user-friendly, step-by-step interface. This wizard can connect to a variety of data sources and destinations and is a great tool for one-time data migration tasks.

Introduction to SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)

For more complex and automated data integration tasks, the enterprise-level tool is SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). While a deep dive into SSIS development is beyond the scope of the 70-981 Exam, you are expected to understand its purpose and the key administrative changes introduced in SQL Server 2012. SSIS is the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) platform for SQL Server.

The most significant change in the 2012 version was the introduction of the Project Deployment Model. This new model allows you to deploy an entire SSIS project as a single unit to a new, centralized database called the SSIS Catalog (SSISDB). This catalog provides a central location for managing, securing, and executing your SSIS packages. It also automatically captures detailed logging and operational history, which greatly simplifies the administration and troubleshooting of your ETL processes.

Preparing for the 70-981 Exam's Data Management Topics

To prepare for the data management and storage section of the 70-981 Exam, your focus should be on the practical best practices. You must be able to explain why it is important to separate data and log files and why tempdb requires special configuration. For the more advanced features, focus on the "what" and "why." You should be able to explain what data compression is and the difference between row and page compression.

For partitioning, you should be able to describe the business problem it solves (managing very large tables) and its main benefits (performance and manageability). While you do not need to be an SSIS developer, you must know about the new Project Deployment Model and the SSIS Catalog, as this was a major architectural change in SQL Server 2012. Hands-on practice with creating databases, managing files, and using the bulk import tools is essential.

The SQL Server Security Model

A fundamental responsibility of any database administrator is to secure the data. The 70-981 Exam places a strong emphasis on the SQL Server security model. The model is based on a two-tiered hierarchy of principals. At the server or instance level, you have logins. A login is a principal that is allowed to connect to the SQL Server instance. At the database level, you have users. A user is a principal that is allowed to access objects within a specific database.

Logins are authenticated when they connect to the server. You can configure SQL Server to use Windows Authentication, where logins are based on Windows user and group accounts, or SQL Server Authentication, where logins are created with a username and password that are stored within SQL Server. Database users are then mapped to these server logins. This separation of logins and users is a core concept you must master for the 70-981 Exam.

Managing Server-Level Security

The 70-981 Exam will test your ability to manage security at the server level. This primarily involves creating and managing logins and assigning them to server-level roles. Logins can be created using T-SQL commands like CREATE LOGIN or through the graphical interface in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). To simplify the management of permissions, SQL Server provides a set of fixed server roles.

These roles, such as sysadmin, serveradmin, and securityadmin, have a predefined set of permissions that cannot be changed. For example, a member of the sysadmin role has complete control over the entire SQL Server instance. A significant new feature in SQL Server 2012, and a key topic for the exam, is the introduction of User-Defined Server Roles. This allows you to create your own custom server roles and grant them a more granular set of server-level permissions.

Managing Database-Level Security

Once a login has been granted access to the server, you must then grant it access to specific databases by creating a database user and mapping it to the login. This is a core task covered in the 70-981 Exam. Similar to the server level, the database level also has a set of fixed roles to simplify permission management. These roles include db_owner, db_datareader, and db_datawriter. A user who is a member of the db_datareader role can read data from any table in the database.

You can also create your own User-Defined Database Roles. This is a common practice where you create a role for a specific application or business function, grant the necessary permissions to that role, and then add users to the role. This role-based security model is much easier to manage than granting permissions directly to individual users.

Schemas and Object Permissions

Within a database, objects like tables, views, and stored procedures are organized into containers called schemas. Schemas are a key part of the security model, and you must understand their function for the 70-981 Exam. They allow you to group objects and manage permissions on the entire group. Once your objects are created, you can grant specific permissions on them to users or roles.

The primary permissions are SELECT (to read data), INSERT (to add new data), UPDATE (to modify existing data), and DELETE (to remove data). For stored procedures, the key permission is EXECUTE. These permissions are managed using the GRANT, DENY, and REVOKE T-SQL statements. GRANT gives a permission, REVOKE takes it away, and DENY explicitly blocks a permission, even if it is granted through a role.

Implementing Auditing

For compliance and security monitoring, organizations often need to track the activities that occur on their database servers. The 70-981 Exam requires you to know how to use the SQL Server Audit feature to meet these requirements. SQL Server Audit provides a robust and configurable framework for logging a wide range of server-level and database-level events.

The configuration involves three main components. The Audit itself defines the destination for the audit logs, which can be the file system, the Windows Security Log, or the Windows Application Log. The Server Audit Specification defines the server-level events to be audited (e.g., failed logins). The Database Audit Specification defines the database-level events to be audited (e.g., SELECT statements on a specific sensitive table).

Implementing Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) is a feature designed to protect against the threat of an offline attack, where a malicious party steals the physical database files. The 70-981 Exam covers the purpose and implementation of TDE. When TDE is enabled on a database, SQL Server automatically encrypts the entire database at rest. This includes the data files (MDF/NDF), the transaction log file (LDF), and all database backups.

The key benefit of TDE is that it is "transparent" to the application. The encryption and decryption happen automatically and in real-time as data is written to or read from the disk. No changes are required to the application code. The implementation of TDE involves creating a hierarchy of encryption keys: the Service Master Key, a Database Master Key, a certificate, and finally the Database Encryption Key that is used to protect the data.

Managing Backups and Certificates for Encryption

A critical operational task related to TDE, and a potential topic for the 70-981 Exam, is the management of the encryption keys. The entire security of TDE relies on the protection of the certificate (or asymmetric key) that is used to encrypt the Database Encryption Key. If you lose this certificate, you will not be able to restore the encrypted database, and the data will be permanently lost.

Therefore, it is absolutely essential that you back up the certificate and its private key immediately after you create it. You must also back up the Service Master Key, which protects all the other keys on the instance. These backups must be stored in a secure, off-server location. This is one of the most important post-configuration steps for TDE, and failing to do it can have catastrophic consequences.

Preparing for the 70-981 Exam's Security Topics

To prepare for the security section of the 70-981 Exam, you must have a crystal-clear understanding of the difference between logins (server-level) and users (database-level). This is the foundation of the entire security model. The most important new feature introduced in SQL Server 2012 that you need to master is User-Defined Server Roles, as this was a significant enhancement over previous versions.

For the more advanced topics, focus on the "what" and "why." You should be able to explain the business purpose of SQL Server Audit and Transparent Data Encryption (TDE). Practice the high-level steps required to implement each of them. In a lab environment, create a login, create a user, grant permissions, and then test those permissions. This hands-on practice will be invaluable for the scenario-based questions on the 70-981 Exam.

Understanding Backup and Recovery

A robust backup and recovery strategy is the most fundamental responsibility of a database administrator. The 70-981 Exam places a heavy emphasis on this critical topic. The ability to perform backups and restores is essential for protecting against data loss due to hardware failure, user error, or logical corruption. The foundation of any backup strategy is the database recovery model, which is a database setting that controls how transactions are logged.

There are three recovery models to choose from. The Full recovery model provides the highest level of protection by logging all transactions, which allows you to perform point-in-time restores. The Simple recovery model provides the lowest level of protection and is the easiest to manage, but you can only restore to the time of the last full or differential backup. The Bulk-Logged recovery model is a hybrid model used for specific bulk operations.

Performing Backups

The 70-981 Exam will test your practical knowledge of how to perform the different types of backups. A Full backup is a complete copy of the entire database. A Differential backup is a copy of only the data that has changed since the last full backup. A Transaction Log backup, which is only possible in the Full or Bulk-Logged recovery models, is a copy of the transaction log records since the last log backup.

These backups can be initiated using the graphical user interface in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or by using the BACKUP DATABASE and BACKUP LOG Transact-SQL statements. You should also be familiar with common backup options, such as WITH COMPRESSION to reduce the size of the backup file and WITH VERIFYONLY to check the integrity of an existing backup file without actually restoring it.

Performing Database Restores

Knowing how to back up your data is useless if you do not know how to restore it. The 70-981 Exam requires you to be proficient in the database restore process. The sequence of operations is critical. To restore a database to the most recent point in time, you must first restore the latest full backup, then the latest differential backup (if one exists), and finally, all the transaction log backups that were taken after the differential backup, in chronological order.

During this sequence, you must use the WITH NORECOVERY option on all but the final restore command. This leaves the database in a restoring state so that subsequent backups can be applied. The final restore command uses the WITH RECOVERY option to bring the database online. You must also know how to perform a point-in-time restore by using the STOPAT clause on the final transaction log restore.

Introduction to High Availability in SQL Server 2012

In addition to traditional backup and restore, SQL Server provides several technologies for High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR). The 70-981 Exam covers both the older technologies and the major new features introduced in SQL Server 2012. The older, established technologies include Log Shipping, which provides a warm standby server, and Database Mirroring, which provides a hot standby with the option for automatic failover.

SQL Server 2012 introduced the "AlwaysOn" marketing brand to encompass a suite of integrated HA/DR solutions. This includes an enhanced version of traditional failover clustering, now called AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances, and a brand-new, revolutionary technology called AlwaysOn Availability Groups. A deep understanding of these AlwaysOn features is one of the most important requirements for the 70-981 Exam.

AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances (FCIs)

AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances (FCIs) are the evolution of the traditional SQL Server failover clustering that has been available for many years. An FCI provides high availability at the instance level. The entire SQL Server instance is installed as a clustered resource on a Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC). If the active node of the cluster fails, the SQL Server instance automatically fails over to a passive node.

The key architectural requirement for an FCI is the need for shared storage, such as a Storage Area Network (SAN), that is accessible by all nodes in the cluster. This shared storage is where the database files reside. While FCIs provide excellent high availability for the entire instance, they do not protect against a failure of the shared storage itself. The 70-981 Exam will expect you to understand the use case and requirements for FCIs.

AlwaysOn Availability Groups (AGs)

The flagship new HA/DR feature in SQL Server 2012, and a critical topic for the 70-981 Exam, is AlwaysOn Availability Groups (AGs). AGs provide high availability and disaster recovery at the database level. You can group a set of related user databases together and have them fail over as a single unit. The most significant architectural difference from FCIs is that AGs do not require shared storage.

In an AG, each server, or replica, has its own local copy of the database files. The data is kept synchronized between the primary replica and the secondary replicas by shipping transaction log records over the network. This "shared-nothing" architecture provides greater flexibility and protects against storage failures. SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition supports one primary replica and up to four secondary replicas for each availability group.

Configuring and Managing Availability Groups

To implement an Availability Group, you must first have a Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) in place, as the WSFC provides the underlying platform for health monitoring and failover coordination. The 70-981 Exam will expect you to be familiar with the key terminology and configuration options for AGs. You must understand the difference between the synchronous-commit and asynchronous-commit availability modes and their impact on performance and data protection.

A key component is the Availability Group Listener, which is a virtual network name that provides a single connection point for applications. The listener automatically directs traffic to the current primary replica, which means that client applications do not need to be reconfigured after a failover. You must also be aware of the major new benefits offered by AGs, such as the ability to use secondary replicas for read-only workloads and for performing backups.

Preparing for the 70-981 Exam's HA/DR Topics

The backup, restore, and high availability section is one of the most heavily weighted areas of the 70-981 Exam. Your preparation must be thorough. You absolutely must know the difference between the three recovery models and be able to describe a full restore sequence, including the NORECOVERY and RECOVERY options. For high availability, AlwaysOn Availability Groups are the star of the show.

You must be able to compare and contrast AGs with the older technologies like Database Mirroring and with FCIs. Create a study chart that outlines the key characteristics of each technology: the level of protection, storage requirements, and key features. The best way to learn this is to build it. Setting up a two-node WSFC and configuring a basic Availability Group in a lab environment will provide invaluable hands-on experience.

Monitoring SQL Server

Proactive monitoring is a key discipline for any database administrator, and the 70-981 Exam requires you to be familiar with the primary tools and techniques for this. A good starting point for real-time monitoring is the Activity Monitor in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). It provides a quick dashboard view of current processes, resource waits, and recent expensive queries. For more in-depth analysis, you must be comfortable with querying Dynamic Management Views (DMVs).

DMVs are a set of system views that expose a wealth of information about the internal state of the SQL Server engine. You should be familiar with key DMVs like sys.dm_os_wait_stats for identifying performance bottlenecks and sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats for analyzing index usage. At the operating system level, you can use Performance Monitor (PerfMon) to track important SQL Server counters over time, such as the "Buffer Cache Hit Ratio" and "Page Life Expectancy."

Indexing and Performance

A well-designed indexing strategy is crucial for query performance. The 70-981 Exam will expect you to understand the fundamentals of indexing. You must know the difference between a clustered index, which physically orders the data in a table, and a non-clustered index, which is a separate structure that points back to the data. Designing effective indexes involves analyzing your application's query workload to create indexes that cover the most frequently used search predicates and join conditions.

Indexes are not a "set it and forget it" feature. Over time, as data is inserted, updated, and deleted, indexes can become fragmented, which can degrade performance. Therefore, a key maintenance task is to regularly check for fragmentation and perform index maintenance. This involves either reorganizing the index, which is an online operation, or rebuilding the index, which is more thorough but can be an offline operation in the Standard edition.

Understanding Query Plans and Statistics

To troubleshoot a slow-running query, you must be able to analyze its execution plan. The 70-981 Exam requires a basic understanding of this process. The execution plan is a graphical representation of the steps that the SQL Server Query Optimizer has decided to take to execute a query. You can view the estimated or actual execution plan directly within SSMS. By examining the plan, you can identify costly operators, such as table scans, and find opportunities for optimization, such as adding a missing index.

The Query Optimizer's ability to create a good execution plan is heavily dependent on having accurate statistics. Statistics are objects that contain information about the distribution of values in a column. SQL Server uses these statistics to estimate how many rows will be returned by a query operator. It is important to ensure that statistics are kept up to date, especially after large data modifications.

Troubleshooting Common Performance Issues

The 70-981 Exam will expect you to know how to diagnose common performance problems. One of the most frequent issues in a multi-user environment is blocking. Blocking occurs when one session holds a lock on a resource, and a second session is forced to wait to acquire a conflicting lock. You can use DMVs or the Activity Monitor to identify blocking sessions. A deadlock is a more serious situation where two sessions are blocking each other, and SQL Server must intervene by killing one of the sessions.

To trace and diagnose these issues, you can use the traditional SQL Profiler tool. However, the 70-981 Exam will also expect you to be aware of the modern, more lightweight tracing framework called Extended Events. SQL Server 2012 introduced a user-friendly graphical interface for Extended Events, making it the preferred tool for advanced troubleshooting.

SQL Server Error Logs and Agent History

When problems occur, the first place an administrator should look for information is the SQL Server error log. The 70-981 Exam requires you to know where to find this log and what it contains. The error log is a text file that records important system-level events, errors, and informational messages. You can view it using SSMS or by reading the file directly from the file system. It is the primary source of information for diagnosing startup failures or other serious server-level issues.

For problems related to automated tasks, you need to check the SQL Server Agent job history. The job history provides a detailed log of every execution of every job, showing whether it succeeded or failed, how long it took to run, and any error messages that were generated. Regularly reviewing the job history for failures is a critical part of maintaining a healthy and reliable SQL Server environment.

Data Collection and the Management Data Warehouse

For long-term performance monitoring and trend analysis, SQL Server provides a feature called the Data Collector. The 70-981 Exam covers the basics of this tool. The Data Collector allows you to define and run collection sets that gather various performance metrics from your SQL Server instance over time. This collected data is then stored in a central relational database called the Management Data Warehouse (MDW).

Once the data is in the MDW, you can use a set of built-in reports in SSMS to analyze it. These reports provide historical views of disk usage, query statistics, and server activity. This allows you to perform trend analysis, identify performance changes over time, and do proactive capacity planning. The Data Collector and MDW provide a powerful, out-of-the-box framework for historical performance monitoring.

Final 70-981 Exam Preparation Strategy

Your final preparation for the 70-981 Exam should be focused on consolidating your practical, hands-on skills. This is an administrator's exam, and it is designed to test your ability to perform the core tasks required to manage a SQL Server instance. You should be able to confidently perform a backup and restore, create and manage security principals, and use the key monitoring tools to diagnose a basic performance problem.

The best way to prepare is to work through a series of lab exercises that cover the main exam objectives. Use high-quality practice exams to get a feel for the style and difficulty of the questions. This will also help you identify any remaining weak areas that you need to focus on in your final days of study. A systematic and hands-on approach is the key to success on the 70-981 Exam.

Conclusion

On the day of the 70-981 Exam, remember to manage your time wisely. Read each question carefully, as some may be scenario-based and require you to interpret a set of requirements. If you are unsure of an answer, use the process of elimination and make your best educated guess. Passing this exam is a major step in your career as a database professional.

Earning the MCSA: SQL Server 2012 certification is a valuable credential that is recognized throughout the industry. It proves that you have the essential skills needed to manage a mission-critical database platform. This certification serves as a strong foundation and is a prerequisite for pursuing the more advanced MCSE (Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert) certifications in the Data Platform and Business Intelligence tracks, opening up further opportunities for career growth.

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