Exam 70-234:

Designing and Implementing Solutions with Microsoft Commerce Server 2000

Published:	December 10, 2001
Language(s):	English
Audience(s):	IT Professionals
Technology:	Microsoft Commerce Server 2000
Type:	Proctored Exam

Audience Profile

Candidates for this exam operate in small to very large computing environments that use Microsoft Commerce Server 2000. Candidates have a minimum of one year of experience developing e-commerce Web sites and two years of experience designing applications by using Microsoft technologies. Candidates have a working knowledge of development tools such as Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual C++, COM+, and ASP. Candidates also have a working knowledge of Windows 2000, Active Directory, Internet Information Services (IIS), SSL, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database management system (DBMS), and SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services. Candidates have a conceptual knowledge of network load balancing and firewalls.

Credit Toward CertificationWhen you pass Exam 70-234: Designing and Implementing Solutions with Microsoft Commerce Server 2000, you complete the requirements for the following certification(s):

Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)

Exam 70-234: Designing and Implementing Solutions with Microsoft Commerce Server 2000: counts as credit toward the following certification(s):

Elective credit toward Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer on Microsoft Windows 2000 certification
Elective credit toward Microsoft Certified Solution Developer for Microsoft .NET certification
Elective credit toward Microsoft Certified Solution Developer certification
Elective credit toward Microsoft Certified Application Developer for Microsoft .NET certification

Note 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.

Skills Being MeasuredThis 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.

Analyzing Business Requirements

Analyze architecture requirements.

Analyze the scope of a project.
Analyze performance requirements.
Analyze maintainability requirements.
Analyze availability requirements.
Analyze scalability requirements.
Analyze reliability requirements.

Analyze security requirements.
Analyze integration requirements.

Analyze current architecture.
Analyze current business processes.
Plan migration strategy.
Analyze partner requirements.
Analyze existing company methodologies, standards, and limitations.

Analyze functional requirements.

Analyze profile requirements.
Analyze catalog requirements.
Analyze campaign requirements.
Analyze deployment requirements.
Analyze data-analysis requirements.

Designing a Commerce Server Solution

Develop the site design.

Design user profiles.
Design catalog structure.
Design targeting strategy.
Design shopping strategy and checkout strategy.
Design a Data Warehouse and reporting model.
Design site navigation and the user interface. Considerations include identifying input validation procedures that should be integrated into the user interface, and evaluating methods of providing online user assistance, such as HTML Web forms and client-side scripts.
Design a state-management strategy.

Design the security infrastructure.

Design the perimeter-network architecture.
Design an authentication and authorization strategy.

Design the deployment architecture. Considerations include security, performance, maintainability, extensibility, availability, scalability, and reliability.

Design the development, test, staging, and production environments, including source code management.

Installing and Configuring Commerce Server 2000

Install Commerce Server. Types of installations include complete installations, Web server–only installations, and custom installations.
Configure Microsoft SQL Server and Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0.

Configure SQL Server. Considerations include network protocols, security, database locations, and whether to enable full-text searching.
Configure IIS. Considerations include security, manageability, ports, Web server log files, application settings, and performance.

Install and configure Commerce Server Solution Sites.

Install the Commerce Server Solution Sites.
Unpack the Solution Sites by using Commerce Server Site Packager.
Install, configure, and help protect the Commerce Server Business Desk client.
Configure resources. Resources include the Predictor resource, SQL Server Profiler, the Direct Mailer resource, the Data Warehouse, and the CS Authentication resource.

Diagnose and resolve Commerce Server and Solution Site installation errors, including Business Desk installation errors.

Developing a Commerce Server Solution

Create profile definitions.

Create SQL tables.
Add data sources.
Add data objects.
Create and edit profile definitions.
Add a new property or property group.
Map logical definition to physical source.
Create and modify site terms.

Create a catalog by using Business Desk, XML, or the application programming interface (API).

Create a schema. Considerations include creating category definitions, creating product definitions, and creating property definitions.
Create catalog entries. Considerations include importing catalogs and adding new categories and items.

Create campaigns.

Create catalog expressions, target expressions, and target groups.
Create discount, advertising, and direct mail campaigns.

Develop a Commerce Server site.

Display site content by using Commerce Server objects.
Authenticate and profile users by using Commerce Server objects.
Display catalog data by using Commerce Server objects.
Complete transactions by using Commerce Server Order pipeline components.
Complete site operations by using Commerce Server general-purpose objects.
Create a form to gather data.
Display data from a data source.
Provide a personalized user experience that is based on the Content Selection Framework and the Predictor resource.
Integrate a third-party service on the Commerce Server site. Services include Microsoft Passport and a credit card authorization service.
Create and implement pipelines.

Customize Business Desk.

Develop modules.
Add modules to Business Desk.
Debug modules in Business Desk.

Develop business Internet analytics.

Extend the Data Warehouse schema.
Create custom data cubes.
Create Data Transformation Services (DTS) packages.
Select and execute DTS tasks.
Import data, and process cubes.
Diagnose and resolve Data Warehouse errors.
Run reports by using Business Desk. Types of reports include static, dynamic, and custom.

Deploying a Commerce Server Solution

Use Commerce Server Site Packager.

Create a package.
Unpack the site.

Add and configure servers.

Implement SSL.
Configure databases. Databases include Campaigns, Product Catalog, Profiles, Transactions, Administration, Direct Mailer, and Data Warehouse.

Deploy Business Desk.
Troubleshoot Business Desk deployment.

Diagnose and resolve AuthFilter and AuthManager errors.
Diagnose and resolve catalog errors.
Diagnose and resolve campaign errors.
Diagnose and resolve Business Desk errors.
Diagnose and resolve application startup errors.
Trace pipeline components by using pipeline log files.

Maintaining and Supporting Your Commerce Server Solution

Manage campaigns.
Manage catalogs. Considerations include managing deleted items and updating items.
Manage orders.

Define shipping methods and shipping rates.
Enter tax rates.
Monitor order status.
Manage abandoned baskets.

Manage profiles.

Manage accounts that have not been used within a specified time frame.

Manage content.

Implement content replication.

Monitor performance counters and event logs.

Preparation Tools and ResourcesTo help you prepare for this exam, Microsoft Learning recommends that you have hands-on experience with the product and that you use the following training resources. These training resources do not necessarily cover all of the topics listed in the "Skills Measured" tab.

Classroom Training

Microsoft E-Learning There is no Microsoft E-Learning training currently available.

Microsoft Press Books There are no Microsoft Press books currently available.

Practice Tests

MeasureUp(Measureup.com)
Self Test Software(Selftestsoftware.com)

Microsoft Online Resources

TechNet: Designed for IT professionals, this site includes how-to instructions, best practices, downloads, technical chats, and much more.
MSDN: The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) is a reference for developers. It features code samples, technical articles, newsgroups, chats, and more.
Training and certification newsgroups: There is a newsgroup for every Microsoft certification. By participating in the ongoing dialogue, you take advantage of a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with and ask questions of others, including more than 750 Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) worldwide.