Training Kit : Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Author: Dejan Sarka | Language: English | ISBN:
0735666091 | Format: EPUB
Training Kit : Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Description
Ace your preparation for Microsoft® Certification Exam 70-463 with this 2-in-1 Training Kit from Microsoft Press®. Work at your own pace through a series of lessons and practical exercises, and then assess your skills with online practice tests—featuring multiple, customizable testing options.
Maximize your performance on the exam by learning how to:
- Design and implement a data warehouse
- Develop and enhance SQL Server Integration Services packages
- Manage and maintain SQL Server Integration Services packages
- Build data quality solutions
- Implement custom code in SQL Server Integration Services packages
- Paperback: 848 pages
- Publisher: Microsoft Press; Pap/Psc/CD edition (December 21, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0735666091
- ISBN-13: 978-0735666092
- Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I'm just a third of the way through this book - it is almost entirely about SSIS, and it gently introduces this dimension to SQL Server. The structure is great, and you get taken smoothly along the learning curve. The text of the book is well edited, with few mistakes to distract your learning.
The exercises are well structured as well, but don't expect the samples "answers" supplied to always work. The authors need to test the samples. But, the supplied answers are close, and fixing those last few bugs is a learning opportunity that probably closely reflects what happens outside the classroom. Still, I would prefer a more controlled learning experience (that is why I bought this book).
So - top marks for the great structure, with excellent review questions, exercises, and case study questions.
The code samples clearly missed a QC step, so I would knock half a star off for that. But, I like the clarity and structure of the book, so I'm sticking with 5 stars. Note this review is based only the first third of the book - I'll update it if the remainder changes my perspective.
Update at the three quarters mark - the end is in sight!
The coverage of SSIS has been pretty good, which covers the majority of this book. The sections on Data Quality Services (DQS) and Master Data Services (MDS) are much weaker.
A source of frustration in this book - the exercises/code are uniformly lacking in testing, and there are bugs galore. I reported a couple of dozen errata for this book, but I just didn't bother with identifying bugs for the exercises/code. This is a distraction, as the exercises either take much longer (due to time spent figuring out and fixing the bugs), or you are tempted just to skip making the exercise work.
The book is well organized and covers the huge topic of Data Warehousing in great detail. If you need a reference with hands-on examples of how to get things done--this book will get you up-to-speed and on track in no time. The practice exercises are well thought-out and provide invaluable guidance towards learning a broad and difficult subject. The nearly 800 pages are organized into 20 Chapters that cover each topic in detail. Each topic has 1 - 3 Lessons with an estimated completion time. I counted 56 Lessons with an estimated time of 45 hours. Add sample questions for each lesson and Case Studies for each Chapter and I suggest you plan on at least 60 hours to cover the book. The book covers SSIS in great detail including the new Deployment model which is essential. It offers only an introduction to Data Quality Services and Master Data Services but together with the exercises, that's enough to get through installation and a few examples. The book finishes with an intro to Data Mining and some nice examples of Advanced Data Quality with DQS Cleansing and Fuzzy Transforms. Get this book if you want/need to implement a Data Warehouse.
Now having said that, you will need to factor in the horrible state of the practice content. About 1/2 of the practice exercises don't work as presented. I have a good bit of experience in this field and managed to get through almost every exercise. But it was a struggle. I'd estimate that I spent at least 10 additional hours troubleshooting and cleaning up code. Much of the code is SSIS and quite a few packages (including the "Solution" packages)are blank! Some packages build on others as you progress through the lessons, so you might try jumping ahead to find some working code.
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