3 Day Course
Introduction
Elements of this syllabus are subject to change.
This three-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge
and skills to design high availability database solutions using Microsoft SQL
Server 2005. The course focuses on teaching experienced database administrators
working in enterprise environments to design database solutions that meet the
availability needs of their organization. It emphasizes that students should
think broadly about high availability, which includes thinking about the
database itself and about their entire environment, including business needs;
regulatory requirements; and network, systems, and database considerations
during design. Students will also learn how to document and test the high
availability database solution.
Audience Profile
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.
At Course Completion
Before attending this course, students must:
•
Have a basic understanding of network
architecture. For example, what can fail in a network, Virtual Private Networks
(VPNs), differing performance characteristics of network components, etc.
•
Understand the tradeoffs among the different redundant
storage types. For example, what RAID levels mean, how it differs from a 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 or mission
statements or business analysis reports.
•
Have monitoring and troubleshooting skills.
•
Have knowledge of the operating system and
platform. Specifically, must understand how hardware can fail, 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.
•
Have knowledge of application architecture.
Specifically, must understand how applications identify servers to connect to,
how applications can be designed in three layers, what applications can do, the
interactions between applications and the database, interactions between the
database and the platform or operating system.
•
Know how to use:
o
A monitoring tool
o
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
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for
this course.
Course Outline
Module 1: Selecting the Appropriate High-availability Solution
This module provides the
guidelines for identifying business requirements and technical and
non-technical constraints of high-availability. This module also explains the
guidelines for analyzing the requirements and constraints for
high-availability. Finally, this module provides a brief overview of existing
high-availability technologies and explains the process and guidelines for
determining the appropriate high-availability technology that can be used to
meet business requirements and constraints.
Lessons
- Identifying High-availability Requirements and Constraints
- Analyzing High-availability Requirements and Constraints
- Determining Appropriate High-availability Solutions
Lab : Proposing a High-availability Solution
- Gathering Requirements
- Prioritizing Requirements
- Determining Appropriate High-availability Technology
- Proposing a High-availability Solution
After completing this module,
students will be able to:
- Identify high-availability requirements and constraints.
- Analyze high-availability requirements.
- Determine appropriate high-availability solutions.
Module 2: Designing a Clustering Solution
This module provides the considerations
and guidelines for designing a SQL Server cluster implementation. This module
also provides the guidelines for designing recovery strategies and formulating
the test plan for database clustering. Next, this module explains the
considerations for migrating and upgrading SQL Server clusters. Finally, this
module explains the process of creating an operations plan for clustering. In
this module, you will also learn about the planned and unplanned events that
can affect a cluster environment.
Lessons
- Designing the Platform for Clustering
- Designing the SQL Server Cluster Implementation
- Designing Recovery Strategies and Test Plans for Database Clustering
- Migrating and Upgrading SQL Server Clusters
- Designing an Operations Plan for Clustering
Lab : Designing a Database Clustering Solution
- Designing a Cluster Topology
- Designing an Operations Plan
- Verifying a SQL Server Cluster Configuration
- Monitoring a SQL Server Cluster
After completing this module,
students will be able to:
- Design the platform for clustering.
- Design the SQL Server cluster implementation.
- Design recovery strategies and test plan for database clustering.
- Migrate and upgrade SQL Server clusters.
- Design an operations plan for clustering to maximize availability.
Module 3: Designing a Highly Available Database Storage Solution
This module provides the
guidelines and considerations to determine the storage requirements for SQL
Server databases, components, and external files that are a part of the
database system. This module also explains the guidelines for designing storage
solutions for these resources.
In this module, you will also
learn about designing restore strategies to maximize availability. Finally,
this module explains the guidelines for recovering damaged and partially
damaged system and user databases.
Lessons
- Determining Storage Requirements for SQL Server Databases
- Determining Storage Requirements for SQL Server Components and Files
- Designing Storage Solutions for SQL Server Databases
- Designing a Backup and Restore Strategy
Lab : Designing a Highly Available Database Storage Solution
- Determining Storage Needs
- Selecting the Storage Solution
- Designing a RAID Solution
- Designing a SAN Solution
- Designing a Backup and Restore Strategy
After completing this module,
students will be able to:
- Determine storage requirements for SQL Server databases.
- Determine storage requirements for SQL Server components and files.
- Design a highly-available storage solution for each database
resource.
- Design a backup and restore strategy for the database.
Module 4: Designing a Log Shipping Solution
In this module, you will learn
about the guidelines and considerations for designing a log shipping solution.
This module provides the guidelines for determining log shipping server roles
and topology. This module also explains the guidelines for upgrading log
shipping.
Finally, this module explains the
process of designing an operations plan for log shipping. In this module, you
will also learn about the planned and unplanned events that can affect a log
shipping environment.
Lessons
- Introduction to Designing a Log Shipping
Solution
- Designing Log Shipping Server Roles and
Topology
- Designing a Log Shipping Upgrade
Strategy
- Designing an Operations Plan for Log
Shipping
Lab : Designing a Log Shipping Solution
- Selecting the Appropriate Log Shipping
Architecture
- Designing Log Shipping Database Roles
and Topology
- Designing an Operations Plan
- Verifying and Testing a Log Shipping
Solution
After completing this module,
students will be able to:
- Explain the different considerations for
designing a log shipping solution.
- Design log shipping server roles and
topology.
- Design a strategy for upgrading log
shipping.
- Design an operations plan for log
shipping to maximize availability.
Module 5: Designing a Database Mirroring Solution
In this module, you will learn
about the guidelines and considerations for designing a database mirroring
solution. This module provides the guidelines for determining the database
roles and topology for mirroring. This module also explains the guidelines for
migrating from an existing high-availability technology in SQL Server 2000 to
database mirroring in SQL Server 2005.
Finally, this module explains the
process of designing an operations plan for database mirroring. In this module,
you will also learn about the planned and unplanned events that can affect a
mirroring environment.
Lessons
- Introduction to Designing a Database Mirroring Solution
- Designing Database Roles and Topology for Database Mirroring
- Converting High-availability Solutions to Database Mirroring
- Designing an Operations Plan for Database Mirroring
Lab : Designing a Database Mirroring Solution
- Selecting the Appropriate Mirroring Architecture
- Designing Database Roles and Topology for Database Mirroring
- Designing an Operations Plan
- Evaluating Migration Options from Clustering to Mirroring
- Evaluating Migration Options from Log Shipping to Mirroring
- Comparing Mirroring with Clustering and Log Shipping
After completing this module,
students will be able to:
- Explain the different considerations for
designing a database mirroring solution.
- Design the database roles and topology
for database mirroring.
- Convert existing high-availability
solutions to database mirroring.
- Design an operations plan for database
mirroring to maximize availability.
Module 6: Designing a Highly Available Solution Based on Replication
In this module, you will learn
about the guidelines and considerations for designing a highly-available
solution based on replication. This module provides the guidelines for
determining replication server roles and topology. This module also explains
the guidelines for upgrading replication.
Finally, this module explains the
process of designing an operations plan for replication. In this module, you
will also learn about the planned and unplanned events that can affect a
replication environment.
Lessons
- Introduction to Designing a Replication
Solution
- Designing a Replication Solution
- Designing a Replication Upgrade Strategy
- Designing an Operations Plan for
Replication
Lab : Designing a Highly-availability Solution Based on Replication
- Selecting the Appropriate Replication
Architecture
- Designing a Replication Solution
- Designing an Operations Plan
- Designing a Disaster Recovery Strategy
By Using MERGE Replication
- Designing a Disaster Recovery Strategy
By Using TRANSACTIONAL Replication
After completing this module,
students will be able to:
- Explain the different considerations for
designing a replication solution.
- Design a replication solution.
- Design a strategy for upgrading
replication.
- Design an operations plan for
replication to maximize availability.
Module 7: Combining High-availability Technologies
This module provides guidelines for
designing high-availability solutions by combining existing high-availability
technologies. This module enables you to evaluate the weaknesses in each
high-availability technology. In this module, you will determine technologies
that complement each other to minimize these weaknesses.
Lessons
- Evaluating Weaknesses in Each
High-availability Technology
- Maximizing Availability by Combining
High-availability Technologies
Lab : Combining High-availability Technologies
- Evaluating Weaknesses in High-availability Technologies
- Maximizing Availability by Combining Technologies
After completing this module,
students will be able to:
- Evaluate the weaknesses in each
high-availability technology.
- Maximize availability by combining
high-availability technologies.
Module 8: Documenting and Testing a High-availability Strategy
This module provides guidelines
for documenting and testing high-availability solutions. This module explains
the structure of a high-availability solution document and also explains the
need for documenting the solution. In this module, you will also discuss the
process of creating a test plan for high-availability solutions.
Lessons
- Documenting High-availability Solutions
- Creating a Test Plan for
High-availability Solutions
Lab : Documenting and Testing a High-availability Strategy
- Documenting the High-availability Solution
- Creating a Test Plan
After completing this module,
students will be able to:
- Document high-availability solutions.
- Create a test plan for high-availability
solutions
