Cup of Cuddles

Welcome to the life of an extraordinary 22-year old with a moderate shopping addiction and a secret love for broccoli. By day I am a fashionista with a passion for interior design, by night I am a hardcore computer enthusiast with a knack for programming. I earn a living as an IT-Consultant in Gothenburg, Sweden.

[cupofcuddles]

Study help: Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases (70-462)

I can honeslty say that I am extremely happy with my new job as a Junior BI/DW Consultant. Challenging projects, flexible work hours, great colleagues and a downtown work location - I can't really ask for more! 

Since we have a huge storm rolling into Gothenburg I decided to stay home today and focus on my Microsoft Certifications. I am currently studying for the Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases (70-462) Certification. It's going good however I would be lying if I said it wasn't a challenge!

I haven't really worked much with Server Administration and tbh it is a difficult area to jump right into if you lack prior knowledge and work experience. My colleagues agree that it is not an area of expertise and even those who have worked within the DBA field (10 years experience) find the exam questions to be vague and very difficult. So how am I supposed to pass the 70-462 exam?

Well I figured I needed to start somewhere and I started by reading these books:

          The Training Kit lost me at times and was more like a quick overview than an explanation of how things work. I preferred the Apress book as it gave me a great overview, however do take into account that I am a beginner therefor my opinion may not be valid for anyone with prior experience.

I also did all the labs from a 10775A course which I found easier than the labs in the training kit book (considering the 6 VM setup and configurations gah...) The 10775A course labs only required an AD and one VM with 1 default instance and 3 named instances.

So what do you need to know? The 70-462 exam includes the following:

Installation Planning

Installing SQL Server and related services

Implementation of a migration strategy

How to configure additional SQL Server components

Managing the SQL Server Agent

Database management and configuration

How to configure SQL Server instances

Implementing a SQL Server clustered instance

SQL Server instances management

How to properly Identify and resolve concurrency problems

The collection of and how to analyze troubleshooting data

Auditing SQL Server instances

Configure and maintain a back up strategy

Database restoration

Implementing and maintaining indexes

Importing and exporting data

Managing logins and server roles

Managing database permissions

Managing users and database roles

Troubleshooting security

Implementing AlwaysOn, database mirroring and replication

From what I've heard, there are a few fundamentals that will be on the exam:

Installation/Configuration

Security

Backup/Restore

High Availability (including, Replication, Clustering, Always-on Technology, Mirroring)

I am still in the study phase but I'm getting close to my exam date - hopefully I will be ready by next week but it all depends on my projects and how much time I have leftover at work. So we'll see how it goes!

[cupofcuddles]

Ikea is seriously the only store I never leave empty handed. Either I come home with a scented candle or a truck load of furniture. I did eye this gorgeous bed set (Emmie Spets) for a while but I new my dear companion would want a say before I broke the bank. 299kr/25€ per queen set and all I can say is pretty, pretty please?

So I put it on my wishlist and maybe next time I’ll manage to sneak it into the cart when he is not looking ;)

[cupofcuddles]

[mouse-y]

[cupofcuddles]

We bought a new continental bed from Enok & Thompson and I originally wanted the matching headboard - however it's a bit pricey at 7000kr/700€. So we looked around and I fell in love with a white headboard from Lexington! I don't think it will be an option since it's even more expensive than the previous headboard. Oh well...

[cupofcuddles]

A day at the beach   - Gränna, Sweden

[cupofcuddles]

[cupofcuddles]

Spain, here we come!

We managed to book a cheap last minute trip to Spain - hooray! This was the last chance for us to get out of the country before our summer vacation is over. The flights came to 700kr/70€ per person (there and back) and the car rental was only 600kr/60€ for 6 days.

<!-- dateFuture = new Date(2013,7,18,18,55,0); function GetCount(){ dateNow = new Date(); //grab current date amount = dateFuture.getTime() - dateNow.getTime(); //calc milliseconds between dates delete dateNow; // time is already past if(amount < 0){ document.getElementById('countbox2').innerHTML="Now!"; } // date is still good else{ days=0;hours=0;mins=0;secs=0;out=""; amount = Math.floor(amount/1000);//kill the "milliseconds" so just secs days=Math.floor(amount/86400);//days amount=amount%86400; hours=Math.floor(amount/3600);//hours amount=amount%3600; mins=Math.floor(amount/60);//minutes amount=amount%60; secs=Math.floor(amount);//seconds if(days != 0){out += days +" day"+((days!=1)?"s":"")+", ";} if(days != 0 || hours != 0){out += hours +" hour"+((hours!=1)?"s":"")+", ";} if(days != 0 || hours != 0 || mins != 0){out += mins +" minute"+((mins!=1)?"s":"")+", ";} out += secs +" seconds"; document.getElementById('countbox2').innerHTML=out; setTimeout("GetCount()", 1000); } } window.onload=function(){GetCount();}//call when everything has loaded //-->

[makesatanproud-deactivated20220]

[cupofcuddles]

Finally made it to the top 8 in the Bronze League! *super proud*

[cupofcuddles]

[cupofcuddles]

Every girl is expected to have caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama and doll tits. This is why everyone is struggling.

[cupofcuddles]

[cupofcuddles]

Starting to get the hang of starcraft...

[cupofcuddles]

20 € Converse (All Star Canvas Ox) - Nice huh?

This one if for the dudes! Red Converse for only 209kr (20€) at Nelly.com. I picked up a pair for my boyfriend but he doesn't know it yet. Cheeky Monkey indeed

[cupofcuddles]

True stories

She randomly came up to me by the lockers and asked me if my coat is real or fake beast of the wild. When I replied "real" she said: "oh, I don't think I like you anymore" and walked away.

  She got mad at me for being tagged in a picture with another girl. She thought I was talking chips behind her back, but honestly, I think she was just a tad jelous of the fact that she was not in the picture.

  She threatened to beat me up after school if I didn't lend her my pencil sharpener. I lived to tell the tale and she went home with blunt pencils...

  She sent me a break-up text, blocked me on facebook and blocked me on instagram - for no apparent reason.

Thank the all mighty for all my normal friends. The crazy peops make us laugh a little more, and live a little longer!

[cupofcuddles]

Everything in moderation, including moderation.

Oscar Wilde