Result: Passed first time

Exam overview:  61 questions, 760 to pass, 90 minutes

The first mistake everyone makes with this exam lies in the title. This exam consists of much more than simply creating objects.  You will also need a very good grounding in basic administration, client configuration and replication. All the commands you'll be asked to perform and verify will be using the command line syntax. If you do not know the command line syntax for creating objects and performing basic administrative functions, do not even attempt to take this exam.  The other thing about this exam that usually gets most people is the sheer breadth of information.  You will cover just about every topic that is contained on the Admin exam as well as getting questions about every aspect of creating objects and manipulating data.  The best advice I have for this exam is to literally study everything!

You will find numerous resources and links out on the web.  A lot of these sites offer study guides, technology backgrounders, exam tips and pointers, and numerous links to other sites.  Some of the best I've been at can be found on my certification resources page.

In addition to the resources noted above, I also used the BrainDump Heaven web site for final preparation.  (If you want this link, you will have to send me an e-mail as I will not post it out here due to the highly sensitive topics of exam security and the NDA.   Also, please do not ask for this link until you have completed preparations for the exam and are looking for one final resource.  I will not be a party to using this site as the sole means for studying as that defeats the purpose of learning this material.)

Within this exam, you can also expect to find approximately five questions that are essentially hit and miss. These five questions present scenarios with answers that are highly subjective. You'll be presented with a situation, a solution to that situation, and be asked to determine the validity of the solution. Where this becomes highly subjective is with the choice of responses. You'll see answers like:
A. The solution meets the object and is an outstanding solution.
B. The solution meets the objective and is an adequate solution.
C. The solution does not work though it appears to.
D. The solution meets the requirements but does not work.
E. The solution does not meet the requirements and does not work.

Topics For The Exam

Data Modeling
This topic covers all of the basic data modeling terms.  Make sure you understand the different cardinalities, entities, relations, primary keys, foreign keys, and object naming restrictions.

Catalogs
Make sure you get very familiar with the system tables.  Know which tables are contained in the system catalog and which are contained in the database catalog.   Also know the names of the major system tables and what information they contain.

System databases
Name the four system databases, what their purpose is, and what tables each contains.

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