Course: MS2786 Designing a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Infrastructure

This two-day instructor-led course provides database administrators working in enterprise environments with the knowledge and skills to design a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database infrastructure. The course focuses on the development of strategies for data archiving, consolidation, distribution, and recovery. The course also stresses the importance of capacity analysis and emphasizes the trade-offs that need to be made during design.

This is the first course in the database administration curriculum and will serve as the entry point for other courses in the curriculum.

This course is intended for current professional database administrators who have three or more years of on-the-job experience administering SQL Server database solutions in an enterprise environment.

Before attending this course, students must:

Understand the trade-offs among the different redundant storage types. For example, what RAID levels mean, how they differ from a Storage Area Networks (SAN), etc.
Understand how replication works and how replication is implemented.
Be familiar with reading user requirements and business-need documents. For example, development project vision/mission statements or business analysis reports.
Have some knowledge of how queries execute. Must be able to read a query execution plan and understand what is happening.
Have basic knowledge of the dependencies between system components.
Be able to design a database to third normal form (3NF) and know the trade-offs when backing out of the fully normalized design (denormalization) and designing for performance and business requirements in addition to being familiar with design models, such as Star and Snowflake schemas.
Have monitoring and troubleshooting skills.
Have knowledge of the operating system and platform. That is, how the operating system integrates with the database, what the platform or operating system can do, and how the interaction between the operating system and the database works. For example, how integrated authentication interacts with Active Directory directory service.
Have knowledge of application architecture. That is, how applications can be designed in three layers, what applications can do, interaction between application and the database, interaction between database and the platform or operating system.

Must already know how to use:
A data modeling tool
Microsoft Visio (to create infrastructure diagrams)
Be familiar with SQL Server 2005 features, tools, and technologies.
Have a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 credential or equivalent experience.

In addition, it is recommended, but not required, that students have completed:

Course 2778, Writing Queries Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Transact-SQL.
Course 2779, Implementing a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database.
Course 2780, Maintaining a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database.

Delegates will learn how to:

Analyze storage, CPU, memory, and network capacity needs.
Design a strategy for data archiving.
Design a strategy for database server consolidation.
Design a strategy for data distribution.
Design a database server infrastructure.
Design a strategy for data recovery.
Establish database conventions and standards.

This course will help prepare for the following Microsoft examinations:

70–443 - Designing a Database Server Infrastructure by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005
70–447 - MCDBA Skills to MCITP Database Administrator by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Module 1: Analyzing Capacity Needs

This module explains how to gather data about the current capacity of key system resources such as storage, CPU, memory, and network bandwidth. It also explains how the resulting data can be used to estimate future capacity needs.

Lessons

Estimating Storage Requirements
Estimating CPU Requirements
Estimating Memory Requirements
Estimating Network Requirements

Lab 1: Analyzing Capacity Needs

Gathering Requirements that Impact or Affect Capacity Needs
Estimating Capacity Needs

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Estimate disk storage requirements.
Estimate CPU requirements.
Estimate memory requirements.
Estimate network bandwidth requirements.

Module 2: Designing a Strategy for Data Archiving

This module explains how to identify the requirements that affect data archiving, determine the structure of archival data, select an appropriate storage format, and develop a data movement strategy. It also describes the key elements of a data archival plan and the process of creating it.

Lessons

Identifying Requirements that Affect Data Archiving
Determining the Structure of Archival Data
Creating a Data Archival Plan

Lab 2: Designing a Strategy for Data Archiving

Designing an Archiving Solution
Defending Your Archiving Solution

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Identify the requirements that affect data archiving.
Determine the structure of archival data.
Create a data archival plan.

Module 3: Designing a Strategy for Database Server Consolidation

This module describes the benefits of consolidating database servers in various ways and explains how to use multiple SQL Server instances to optimize the design of a database server infrastructure. It also details the process of designing a database server consolidation plan.

Lessons

Overview of Database Server Consolidation
Designing a Strategy for SQL Server Instances
Designing a Database Server Consolidation Plan

Lab 3: Designing a Database Server Consolidation Strategy

Designing a Consolidation Strategy
Defending Your Consolidation Strategy

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Identify the benefits of different ways to consolidate database servers.
Design a strategy for SQL Server instances.
Design a database server consolidation plan.

Module 4: Designing a Strategy for Data Distribution

This module describes the various tools that are provided by SQL Server 2005 for data distribution and explains how to select an appropriate tool based on the requirements of an organization. It also details the process of creating a data distribution plan specifically for replication.

Lessons

Overview of Data Distribution
Creating a Data Distribution Plan Using Replication

Lab 4: Designing a Data Distribution Strategy Using Replication

Designing a Data Distribution Strategy
Defending Your Data Distribution Strategy

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Select an appropriate tool for data distribution.
Create a data distribution plan using replication.

Module 5: Designing a Database Server Infrastructure

This module explains how to evaluate the current database server infrastructure of an organization and gather requirements for modifying it. It also provides guidelines and best practices for designing modifications to the current infrastructure and describes the hardware and software trade-offs involved in the design process.

Lessons

Evaluating the Current Database Server Infrastructure
Gathering Requirements for Changing a Database Server Infrastructure
Designing Modifications to a Database Server Infrastructure

Lab 5: Designing a Database Server Infrastructure

Designing Modifications to the Database Server Infrastructure
Defending Modifications to the Database Server Infrastructure

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Evaluate the current database server infrastructure.
Gather requirements for changing a database server infrastructure.
Design modifications to a database server infrastructure.

Module 6: Designing a Strategy for Data Recovery

This module explains how to create a backup and recovery strategy. It also describes the key components of a database disaster recovery plan and the process of creating it.

Lessons

Creating a Backup and Restore Strategy
Creating a Database Disaster Recovery Plan

Lab 6: Designing a Data Recovery Solution

Devising a Recovery Strategy
Sharing Lessons Learned from Disaster Recovery

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Create a backup and recovery strategy.
Create a database disaster recovery plan.

Module 7: Establishing Database Conventions and Standards

This module describes how well a database naming convention simplifies administration and provides guidelines for establishing such a convention. It also explains how to define Transact-SQL (T-SQL) coding, database access, and deployment process standards.

Lessons

Creating Database Naming Conventions
Defining Database Infrastructure Standards

Lab 7: Establishing Database Conventions and Standards

Proposing Improved Object Naming Conventions
Proposing Improved Coding Standards

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Create database naming conventions.
Define database infrastructure standards.

Recommended follow on course
MS2787 Designing Security for Microsoft SQL Server 2005
MS2788 Designing High Availability Database Solutions Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005
MS2789 Administering and Automating Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Databases and Servers
MS2790 Troubleshooting and Optimizing Database Servers Using Microsoft SQL Server