Exam Essentials

Before you take the exam, you should understand the following:

• Know how to use dynamic management views.   Make sure you have some familiarity with the new DMVs in SQL Server 2005, which have been deliberately added by Microsoft to aid in both general troubleshooting and performance troubleshooting.

• Understand performance object counters.   Be familiar with some of the more important performance object counters, such as the Processor : %Processor Time performance object counter, and what they mean.

• Be familiar with RAID levels.   Although RAID levels are not covered explicitly in this book (because they’re assumed knowledge and outside this book’s scope), make sure you understand them and their performance implications.

• Know the basics of SQL Server Profiler.   Make sure you understand how SQL Server Pro-filer works and how to use it. Using it will help you solidify the various concepts covered in this chapter.

• Understand the metrics.   The exam is going to be all about giving you various performance metrics, and you will need to be able to interpret them so as to narrow down the performance problem. To that end, you have to be familiar with the more important metrics and threshold values.

• Know when to use the appropriate tool.   Make sure you understand what tools exist in SQL Server 2005 for troubleshooting performance and when to use them. If you have time, sit down and actually use all the tools discussed in this chapter.

• Brush up on the Windows operating system.   Although this is a SQL Server 2005 exam, expect some operating system concepts to be covered. You cannot troubleshoot performance problems in SQL Server 2005 without some basic knowledge about Windows. So, brush up on any areas that you are unsure about.