Microsoft Certified Architect: Database Overview
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"It pushes you to look beyond your normal perspectives…The quality of the instructors, peers, and study group interaction allows you to build breadth based on the experiences of others and fine tune your areas of depth by testing them against other experts. In the end, the experience helps you to develop a perspective on how customers react to your message and ability to lead them to a solution."
–Jay Gore, MCA: Database, Microsoft Corporation
Rotation schedules
The following training schedule rotations are for the 2008 fiscal year (July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008). The listed rotation dates do not include the optional fifth week for certification testing. If you plan to stay for the qualification lab and/or the Review Board, please allow an additional week in your travel plans.
| • | Rotation number four |
| • | Rotation number five |
Allow two weeks before registration deadlines for qualification validation (includes scheduling and completing the program interview).
Curriculum overview
If you are seeking a Microsoft Certified Architect: Database certification (one of the Technology Architect credentials), you must attend four weeks of classroom training on Microsoft SQL Server. The following table describes the types of sessions conducted during this training.
| Type of session | Instructors | Description | ||
Core | SQL Center of Excellence (COE) subject matter experts | Consisting of the majority of the training, these sessions focus on SQL competencies, such as database engine, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), high availability (HA), architecture, and performance tuning. Candidates must have a level of knowledge with the subject. There is minimum guidance in hands-on labs. Prerequisites (reading and self-study) are required.
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PM roundtables | Program managers (PMs) from the Microsoft SQL Server product group | These are informal, interactive, short sessions where program managers from the SQL Server group talk about the database area they work on. These sessions typically focus on future product releases or current field issues. The goals of these sessions are to give candidates the opportunity to learn about upcoming technologies and to provide a feedback channel to the product group. | ||
Microsoft Information Technology (MSIT) | MSIT engineers | MSIT engineers present the design of the internal infrastructure of SQL Server and discuss SQL Server architecture. Candidates learn about the internal deployment of SQL Server at Microsoft. | ||
Hands-on lab | SQL Server program managers | Each candidate has access to a server with the resources to run multiple virtual computers. Candidates must set up and configure the environment on their own, accomplish their lab goal by the deadline, and meet the requirements without guidance. |
The following list shows the kinds of topics covered in the training.
| Sample core sessions | Sample PM sessions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Training is conducted in Redmond, Washington, at the Microsoft main campus. Classes are held Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M–6:00 P.M. Lab activities might require extra working hours after 6:00 P.M. Group or self-study activities and exams might take place on Saturdays.
Requirements for the Microsoft Certified Architect: Database program
Pre-application requirements
To be qualified to apply, you must:
| • | Be a Microsoft Certified Partner (with an MCP number) or an eligible Microsoft employee. | ||
| • | Speak, understand, and write in fluent English. | ||
| • | Have completed the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Database Developer certification successfully.
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| • | Have completed the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Database Administrator certification successfully.
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| • | Have 300-level knowledge of software development methodologies, such as Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF), Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), and Agile. | ||
| • | Have experience applying Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF), Information Technology Information Library (ITIL), and the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management. | ||
| • | Have three or more years of experience architecting and deploying SQL Server. | ||
| • | Have experience working with SQL Server 2005. |
Post-application requirements
| • | Program interview |
| • | Tuition paid in full |
You are notified of acceptance status within 10 weeks of the rotation start date. In addition, you receive written feedback on your strengths and areas of opportunities, regardless of your status.
Pre-reading requirements
Knowledge of the contents of the following texts will be helpful to candidates for the MCA: Database certification. While the contents of these books are not specifically taught or tested on in the program, we believe a well-rounded SQL Server architect should be familiar with the concepts that are discussed in these general references:
| Microsoft Certified Architect: General Database pre-reading | ||
| Administration | Programming | Query |
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Administrator's Pocket Consultant The Rational Guide to SQL Server 2005 Service Broker (Amazon.com) | Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: Query Tuning and Optimization | |
Storage | XML | Webcasts |
The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Stored Procedures, XML and HTML | SQL Server 2005: Discover the Next Paradigm for Database Development | |
Suggested additional pre-reading
The following lists contain links to additional pre-reading that you may find helpful for the previously described sessions. This pre-reading is not required.
Corruption Detention and Recovery
| • | Paul Randal's SQL Server skills blog (sqlskills.com) |
| • | DBCC Disaster Recovery (Paul Randal's former MSDN blog) |
| • | DBCC CHECK DB Series, Disaster Recovery (Paul Randal's former MSDN blog) |
Threat Modeling
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Getting Started with SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
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SSIS Deployment and Management
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| • | SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, Part 1: Lessons from Project REAL |
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| • | SQL Server Integration Services (sqlis.com) |
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) Connectivity
| • | SSIS Data Source Connectors (wik.is) |
| • | Microsoft Office 2007 integration (wik.is) |
| • | SSIS SAP (wik.is) |
| • | SSIS Oracle (wik.is) |
| • | SSIS Teradata (wik.is) |
| • | Learn how SSIS can take advantage of 64-bit processor architectures (wik.is) |
| • | Microsoft .NET Data Provider for mySAP Business Suite and accompanying white paper (self-extracting .exe file, 3.53 MB) |
| • | Connectivity and SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (Word file, 364 KB) |
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SSIS Advanced Techniques
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SSIS Performance and Scale
SSIS Data Warehousing
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Common Language Runtime (CLR)
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Tempdb
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Snapshot Isolation
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Index Maintenance
| • | Paul Randal's SQL Server skills blog (sqlskills.com) |
| • | Index Fragmentation Series (Paul Randal's former MSDN blog) |
| • | Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Index Defragmentation Best Practices |
Service Broker
| • | Service Broker Conversations (Remus Resanu's MSDN blog) |
| • | Have Data Will Travel (Roger Wolter's MSDN blog) |
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| • | Building the MSDN Aggregation System (MSDN Magazine) |
Authorization
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| • | SQL Server 2005 Security and Protection – SQL Server TechCenter |
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Encryption
| • | Security and SQL Server (Laurentiu Cristofor's MSDN blog) |
| • | SQL Server Security (Raul Garcia's MSDN blog) |
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Execution Context-Abstract
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