Exam 70-467

Designing Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2012

$150.00 USD*

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SQL Server 2012 logo
  • Published: June 11, 2012
  • Language(s): English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified)
  • Audience(s): IT professionals
  • Technology: Microsoft SQL Server 2012
  • Credit toward certification: MCSE

Convince your boss email

Copy the following content into an email message to your boss and update [the bracketed text] with the appropriate content.

Dear [your boss's name]:

I'd like to expand and prove my technical skills by earning a Microsoft Certification. My next step is taking Exam 70-467: Designing Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2012. The registration fee is $150.00 USD.

When I pass this certification, you'll have proof of my ability to work with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 . Microsoft has training and online resources to help me prepare for the exam. I believe I'll be more effective and productive after achieving this valuable technical certification.

Let me know if you have any questions. In the meantime, you can find out more about this exam at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam-70-467.aspx. As you can see, the exam validates skills that are crucial to our team's success.

Thank you for your support,

[your name]

Skills measured

This exam measures your 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 you are likely to see on that content area on the exam.

Please note that the questions may test on, but will not be limited to, the topics described in the bulleted text.

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  • Plan for performance

    • Optimize batch procedures: extract, transform, load (ETL) in SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)/SQL and processing phase in Analysis Services; configure Proactive Caching within SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) for different scenarios; understand performance consequences of Unified Dimension Model (UDM) and Data Warehouse (DWH) design; analyze and optimize performances of Multidimensional Expression (MDX) and Data Analysis Expression (DAX) queries; optimize queries for huge data sets; understand the difference between partitioning for load performance versus query performance in SSAS; appropriately index a fact table; optimize Analysis Services cubes in UDM; create aggregations using Usaged Based Optimizations

  • Plan for scalability

    • Multidimensional OLAP (MOLAP); Relational OLAP (ROLAP); Hybrid OLAP (HOLAP)

  • Plan and manage upgrades

    • Plan change management for a BI solution

  • Maintain server health

    • Design an automation strategy

Preparation resources

  • Design a security strategy

    • Configure security and impersonation between database, analysis services and frontend; implement Dynamic Dimension Security within a cube; configure security for an extranet environment; configure Kerberos security; skills in authentication mechanisms, ability to build secure solutions end to end; design security roles for calculated measures; understand the tradeoffs between regular SSAS security and dynamic security; plan and implement security requirements of a BI solution

  • Design a SQL partitioning strategy

    • Choose the proper partitioning strategy for the data warehouse and cube; implement a parallel load to fact tables by using partition switching; use data compression in fact tables

  • Design a backup strategy

    • Design a High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) trategy; proactively prevent issues

  • Design a logging and auditing strategy

    • Design a new SSIS logging infrastructure (for example, information available through the catalog views); validate data is balancing and reconciling correctly

Preparation resources

  • Design a Reporting Services dataset

    • Data query parameters; creating appropriate SQL queries for an application (MDX queries); managing data rights and security; extracting data from analysis services; balancing query-based processing versus filter-based processing; managing data sets through the use of stored procedures

  • Manage Excel Services/reporting for SharePoint

    • Configure data refresh schedules for PowerPivot published to SharePoint; publish BI info to SharePoint; use SharePoint to accomplish BI administrative tasks

  • Design a data acquisition strategy

    • Identify the data sources that need to be used to pull in the data; determine the changes (incremental data) in the data source (time window); identify the relationship and dependencies between the data sources; determine who can access which data; what data can be retained for how long (regulatory compliance, data archiving, aging); design a data movement strategy; profile source data

  • Plan and manage reporting services configuration

    • Native mode

  • Design BI reporting solution architecture

    • Linked reports, drill-down reports, drill-through reports, migration strategies, access report services API, sub reports, code-behind strategies; identify when to use Reporting Services, Report Builder, or Crescent; design/implement context transfer when interlinking all types of reports (RS, RB, Crescent, Excel, PowerPivot); implement BI tools for reporting in SharePoint (Excel Services versus Performance Point versus Reporting Services); select a subscription strategy

Preparation resources

  • Design the data warehouse

    • Design a data model that is optimized for reporting; design and build a cube on top; design enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and OLAP cubes; choose between natural keys and surrogate keys when designing the data warehouse; use the facilities available in SQL Server to design, implement and maintain a data warehouse (partitioning, slowly changing dimensions (SCD), change data capture (CDC), Clustered Index Views, etc.); identify design best practices; implement a many to many relationship in an OLAP cube; design a data mart/warehouse in reverse from an Analysis Services cube (or empty Analysis Services cube that was created referring requirements); use rowstamp in the data warehouse; choose between performing aggregation operations in the SSIS pipeline or the relational engine; select surround architecture

  • Design a schema

    • Multidimensional modeling starting from a star schema; relational modeling for a Data Mart; choose or create a topology

  • Design cube architecture

    • Produce efficient aggregated cubes; partition cubes and build aggregation strategies for the separate partitions; design a data model; choose the proper partitioning strategy for the data warehouse and cube; design the data file layout for a data warehouse keeping maximum performance in mind; given a requirement, identify the aggregation method that should be selected for a measure in a MOLAP cube; design cube aggregations to maintain a balance between storage and performance; performance tune a MOLAP cube using aggregations; design a data source view; cube drill-through and write back actions

  • Design fact tables

    • Design a data warehouse that supports many to many dimensions with factless fact tables

  • Design BI semantic models

    • Plan for a multidimensional cube; write a UDM model with many to many (this is related to MDX/BISM code, but it is a good example for exercises); choose between UDM and BISM depending on the type of data and workload

  • Design and create MDX calculations

    • MDX authoring; identify the structures of MDX and the common functions (tuples, sets, topcount, SCOPE etc.); identify which MDX statement would return the required result (single result and multiple MDX options provided to test taker); implement a custom MDX or logical solution for a pre-prepared case task

Preparation resources

  • Design SSIS package execution

    • Using new project deployment model; passing values at execution time; share parameters between packages

  • Plan to deploy SSIS solutions

    • Deploy the package to another server with different security requirements; secure integration services packages that are deployed at the file system; demonstrate awareness of SSIS packages/projects and how they interact with environments; decide between performing aggregation operations in the SSIS pipeline or the relational engine

  • Design package configurations for SSIS packages

    • Avoid repeating configuration information entered in SSIS packages and use configuration files

Preparation resources

Preparation options

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Find training near you

  • avatar image

    Study Materials for Exam?

    Posted by ShawnAllen on 09 Apr 2013 at 16:01 GMT

    Will Microsoft, or anyone really, be releasing materials to help study for this exam?

    I've tried to look online for articles, white papers, etc., on the topics not covered in previous exams (70-463, 70-466), but I'm not having any luck.

    Can anyone point me in the right direction to help pass this exam?

    Thanks!!
    Shawn

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Who should take this exam?

This exam is intended for business intelligence (BI) architects, who are responsible for the overall design of a BI infrastructure and how it relates to other data systems in use.

More information about exams

We recommend that you review this exam preparation guide in its entirety and familiarize yourself with the resources on this website before you schedule your exam. See the Microsoft Certification exam overview for information about registration, videos of typical exam question formats, and other preparation resources. For information on exam policies and scoring, see the Microsoft Certification exam policies and FAQs.

This preparation guide is subject to change at any time without prior notice and at the sole discretion of Microsoft. Microsoft exams might include adaptive testing technology and simulation items. Microsoft does not identify the format in which exams are presented. Please use this preparation guide to prepare for the exam, regardless of its format. To help you prepare for this exam, Microsoft recommends that you have hands-on experience with the product and that you use the above training resources. These training resources do not necessarily cover all of the topics listed in the "Skills measured" section.