MCSA 70-463 -- Data Warehouse / SSIS

Having second thoughts about taking 70-411 Window Server 2012 Administration in lieu of 70-463 SQL Server 2012 Data warehouse. I'm not a System Administrator so 70-411 while interesting to study and learn some things about the Server OS is not where I'm going to be spending my time professionally. It's kinda late in the game to switch, but for longer term value I should study and pass 70-463 and get good at SSIS - SQL Server Integration Services, as I'll be doing lots of ETL. Gotta think about this....

Yes, 70-463 is the right choice for me!

I cracked the book open and wow, the first page sucked me in. This is by far the most interesting book out of the several I've read by Microsoft so far. This first page just sold me on 70-463. They should also call this book SSIS as it appears to be so heavily involved with that topic. Glad I opened the book, time to get cracking...

Initial Thoughts?

Book is cool and after some casual research I'll likely try reading Ralph Kimball's books on the Data Warehouse topic as it appears he is the pioneer in DW. After the exam of course, for my personal continuing education.

Study Plan

Date | Chapters

4/1 - 1

4/2 - 2

4/3 - 3

4/4 - 4,5

4/5 - 6,7

4/6 - 8,9

4/7 - 10,11

4/8 - 12

4/9 - skip day

4/10 - 13

4/11 - 14,15,16,17

4/12 - skip day

4/13 - 18,19,20

4/22 - Exam - Passed it!

4/4 - Chapter 4,5

Not quite where I planned, but close enough. Per the book the first five (5) chapters give a basic grasp of SSIS which I agree as I've used quite a bit of it already, primarily SSDT. An awesome tool.

4/5 - Chapter 6,7

Not quite the pace I expected, but the book has quite a bit of info to synthesize.

4/6 - Chapter 8,9

Making some progress today.

4/7 - Chapter 10,11

Two chapters a day is plenty. I'll stick to this pace.

Moving into Part IV

4/8 - Chapter 12

Slowing down a bit. Need a breather then full tilt over the weekend.

4/10 - Chapter 13

Took a break on 4/9 and just did one chapter today. Troubleshooting and Performance Tuning.

4/11 - Chapter 14, 15, 16, 17

Grinding today.

4/13 - Final Chapters 18,19,20

Made it through 17 and saving the best for last. The last 100 pages...

Comments

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