Microsoft Database Fundamentals
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Skills measured
This exam measures the 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 are likely to see on that content area on the exam.
Understanding core database concepts (20–25%)
Understand how data is stored in tables
- Understand what a table is and how it relates to the data that will be stored in the database; columns/fields, rows/records
Understand relational database concepts
- Understand what a relational database is, the need for relational database management systems (RDBMS), and how relations are established
Understand data manipulation language (DML)
- Understand what DML is and its role in databases
Understand data definition language (DDL)
- Understand how T-SQL can be used to create database objects, such as tables and views
Create database objects (20–25%)
Choose data types
- Understand what data types are, why they are important, and how they affect storage requirements
Understand tables and how to create them
- Purpose of tables; create tables in a database by using proper ANSI SQL syntax
Create views
- Understand when to use views and how to create a view by using T-SQL or a graphical designer
Create stored procedures and functions
- Select, insert, update, or delete data
Manipulate data (25–30%)
Select data
- Utilize SELECT queries to extract data from one table, extract data by using joins, combine result sets by using UNION and INTERSECT
Insert data
- Understand how data is inserted into a database, how to use INSERT statements
Update data
- Understand how data is updated in a database and how to write the updated data to the database by using the appropriate UPDATE statements, update by using a table
Delete data
- Delete data from single or multiple tables, ensure data and referential integrity by using transactions
Understand data storage (15–20%)
Understand normalization
- Understand the reasons for normalization, the five most common levels of normalization, how to normalize a database to third normal form
Understand primary, foreign, and composite keys
- Understand the reason for keys in a database, choose appropriate primary keys, select appropriate data type for keys, select appropriate fields for composite keys, understand the relationship between foreign and primary keys
Understand indexes
- Understand clustered and non-clustered indexes and their purpose in a database
Administer a database (10–15%)
Understand database security concepts
- Understand the need to secure a database, what objects can be secured, what objects should be secured, user accounts, and roles
Understand database backups and restore
- Understand various backup types, such as full and incremental, importance of backups, how to restore a database