Microsoft Database Fundamentals (MTA Database Fundamentals) Exam Syllabus

Understand how data is stored in tables
- Understand what a table is and how it relates to the data that will be stored in the database; columns/fields, rows/records

Understand relational database concepts
- Understand what a relational database is, the need for relational database management systems (RDBMS), and how relations are established

Understand data manipulation language (DML)
- Understand what DML is and its role in databases

Understand data definition language (DDL)
- Understand how T-SQL can be used to create database objects, such as tables and views

Choose data types
- Understand what data types are, why they are important, and how they affect storage requirements

Understand tables and how to create them
- Purpose of tables; create tables in a database by using proper ANSI SQL syntax

Create views
- Understand when to use views and how to create a view by using T-SQL or a graphical designer

Create stored procedures and functions
- Select, insert, update, or delete data

Select data
- Utilize SELECT queries to extract data from one table, extract data by using joins, combine result sets by using UNION and INTERSECT

Insert data
- Understand how data is inserted into a database, how to use INSERT statements

Update data
- Understand how data is updated in a database and how to write the updated data to the database by using the appropriate UPDATE statements, update by using a table

Delete data
- Delete data from single or multiple tables, ensure data and referential integrity by using transactions

Understand normalization
- Understand the reasons for normalization, the five most common levels of normalization, how to normalize a database to third normal form

Understand primary, foreign, and composite keys
- Understand the reason for keys in a database, choose appropriate primary keys, select appropriate data type for keys, select appropriate fields for composite keys, understand the relationship between foreign and primary keys

Understand indexes
- Understand clustered and non-clustered indexes and their purpose in a database

Understand database security concepts
- Understand the need to secure a database, what objects can be secured, what objects should be secured, user accounts, and roles

Understand database backups and restore
- Understand various backup types, such as full and incremental, importance of backups, how to restore a database