A few months ago I reviewed my training plan for 2009 and realized I needed to update my certifications and take the SQL Server 2008 – Implementation and Maintenance Exam 70-432. While I felt I had enough experience and knowledge to take the exam I wanted to ensure I would be comfortable with all of the areas covered by the exam. I turned to my training plan on Microsoft’s Learning site and purchased the recommended book by Mike Hotek (Twitter)
Price
The recommended price on the cover is $69.99. At the time of publishing this article the book could be found for around $45.00 at many bookstores including amazon.com. The book comes with a 180 day trial copy of SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, ebook, practice test, and example scripts and databases.
The Good
The book was set up in a very logical progression of technical building blocks. It started out with the very basics of proper setup and configuration. The author then progressed through some database basics and how they related specifically to SQL Server 2008. More advanced topics such as Policy Based Management, Automation, Monitoring and Performance Tuning were then covered. Finally ending with a very in depth look at High Availability solutions offered by SQL Server 2008.
The Bad
Some topics, partitioning in particular, covered basic information but could have been emphasized better as they had a very large presence on the test. That being said, Mike does cover partitioning in an entire chapter of the book but it seemed that this material was more prominent on the test that 1 chapter worth of material.
Overall
I would rate the book at 4.5 out of 5 stars. What made this book really shine was the inclusion of the practice test. After completion of a practice test, users are presented with a reading list based on the areas of the test where the user needs to straighten their skills. This reading list includes material not only in the book but aggregates information from across the web.
I strongly recommend that people interested in taking Exam 70-432 purchase this book.
