CompTIA DataSys+ DS0-001

Hours: 120 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Online, Self-Paced

Course Overview:

CompTIA DataSys+ is a foundational level data management certification that focuses on the logistics of data administration and security.

On course completion, students will be able to achieve the following:

• Understand database types and structures.
• Recognize standards and commands.
• Run scripts for data and data systems.
• Explain the impact of programming on database operations.
• Understand database planning and design.
• Implement, test, and deploy databases.
• Monitor and report on database performance.
• Understand common data maintenance processes.
• Understand governance and regulatory compliance.
• Secure data.
• Secure data access.
• Secure the database and server.
• Classify types of attacks.
• Plan for disaster recovery.
• Implement backup and restore best practices.

This course prepares students to take the CompTIA DataSys+ DS0-001 national certification exam.

Course Outline:

Lesson 1: Understanding Database Types and Structures

Database administrators work with databases in many different ways. They maintain data, maintain databases, write queries, and analyze and report on data. In order to perform all these various actions, you must first understand the basic foundations of databases. It is important to have a solid understanding of what differentiates relational from non-relational databases. In this lesson, you will discover the different NoSQL options that support applications of many different types and will also learn about different data systems, like data warehouses and data lakes.

Lesson 2: Recognizing Standards and Commands

As you enter the world of data systems, you will discover the vast differences that exist between the systems and designs, as well as the way we can choose to interact with them. Due to this, as technology has grown, the need for standards has grown with it. As you can imagine, when different people with different skills are using different commands and languages, if there are no standards to follow, then the systems they develop can be difficult to adopt and integrate into the technical landscape of any organization. Once you are familiar with the varying standards that you must follow, you will discover the different ways we use tools and languages to interact with operating systems, and the many types of administrative commands you will likely perform.

Lesson 3: Running Scripts for Data and Data Systems

In this lesson, we will highlight the types of scripts you will use as a DBA to create objects, maintain data, update data, and delete objects or data. We will also cover the scripts you use for data management tasks, like defining indexes and sharing data. All of these scripts are valuable when you need them. Although we will not cover the complete list of scripts you will ever use, we will go over common scripts that you will most certainly use or find in use at many organizations.

Lesson 4: Explaining the Impact of Programming on Database Operations

In this lesson, we will highlight the impact of programming on a data system. You will be informed on the differences between views and snapshots, and how they can be used for data reporting and management tasks. You will discover how systems that have a front end and back end in different technologies communicate through object-relational mapping (ORM). You will learn how to leverage triggers to automate data and gain an understanding of how we benefit from set-based logic. You will also discover common functions used for data management and reporting.

Lesson 5: Understanding Database Planning and Design

There are many considerations when planning and designing data systems, from understanding architecture, like hosting servers on-site, to leveraging cloud-based environments. No matter the infrastructure, there are some common planning steps that must be undertaken, such as gathering requirements for users and size, identifying the use case for the application, and understanding the different database designs. You must also be familiar with all the documented requirements that will affect your design.

Lesson 6: Implementing, Testing, and Deploying Databases

You may sometimes be responsible for installing and configuring a database, but even if you're not the person in charge of these processes, it's still important to know how it's done. As a DBA, you may also find you are responsible for performing quality checks, both on systems that have been designed and/or implemented by others and systems you design. This can include verifying and validating that properties are set and tables are created as intended by the design. You will also spend time testing systems when new features are added.

Lesson 7: Monitoring and Reporting on Database Performance

Monitoring and reporting on the performance of a database can keep it happy and healthy—and its users too. After all, databases exist for a purpose, and they are often very important to an organization. Understanding where a database is hosted, and how to access it, will help support you in monitoring the database. It is also important to learn how to leverage log files and alerts to identify failed processes and drive critical next steps. Over time, you will become familiar with the normal usage of your database, and thus be able to detect abnormal usage. We monitor the performance and health of our database because it allows us to identify any issues quickly and get users back to business.

Lesson 8: Understanding Common Data Maintenance Processes

Maintaining a system, or set of systems, at an organization can include several types of maintenance, ranging from basic patch management for updates to software to patches for critical vulnerabilities. Simply installing updates is not the only maintenance a DBA will perform. You will also likely find yourself engaged in performance tuning, which will increase the performance of your queries by deploying strategies for query optimization, and performing index analysis and optimization.

Lesson 9: Understanding Governance and Regulatory Compliance

A successful data governance plan should prevent inconsistent data among departments or business units. It should allow an entire organization to create and share a common set of data definitions and prevent data from being misused. Data errors and inaccuracies can be more easily fixed or prevented with a successful data governance plan.

Lesson 10: Securing Data

The act of securing data results in the data being restricted. It is made unavailable to persons or systems that should not have access to it. Some data may be secured by simply hiding it or making it unreadable or unrecognizable. In addition, data that no longer needs to be stored must be properly destroyed.

Cyberattacks can be devastating to an organization. While some cyberattacks are intended to do harm to the operational capability of an organization, many cyberattacks aim to exfiltrate data that can be used for financial gain—either through holding it for ransom or using it to gain access to additional resources. While there are many types of cyberattacks, it is valuable to be familiar with some of the more common types in order to recognize them and, if possible, prevent them.

Lesson 11: Securing Data Access

An important part of data security is ensuring that only those who should be seeing the data have access to it. Data can be encrypted and obscured, but if it can be accessed by someone who should not have access to it, these encryption techniques may not be enough to properly protect the data. Th us, th e practice of securing data must also include protecting data from inadvertent modification or deletion. The way to do this is to control who has access to view and modify the data.

Lesson 12: Securing the Database and Server

In previous lessons, you have seen how to protect the data using encryption or obfuscation techniques. You have also seen how to protect access to the data through authentication and authorization techniques. But what about the physical hardware the database is running on? What about the network the database is connected to? We must protect the database itself from physical loss or unauthorized physical access. We must also protect the database server from improper network, or logical, access.

Lesson 13: Classifying Types of Attacks

Cyberattacks can be devastating to an organization. While some cyberattacks are intended to do harm to the operational capability of an organization, many cyberattacks aim to exfiltrate data that can be used for financial gain—either through holding it for ransom or using it to gain access to additional resources. While there are many types of cyberattacks, it is valuable to be familiar with some of the more common types in order to recognize them and, if possible, prevent them.

Lesson 14: Planning for Disaster Recovery

Disaster can strike when you least expect it. If an organization is not prepared, it can be devastating. Being prepared does not mean that disastrous and unplanned events won't happen, but it does help minimize the effects of a disaster. An organization that has developed strategies for disaster recovery can continue to operate or quickly resume key operations after an unplanned event occurs.

Lesson 15: Implementing Backup and Restore Best Practices

Preparing for the possibility of media or hardware failure and restoring databases from valid backups after a disaster does occur are important responsibilities of the DBA. Backup and restore activities are a crucial part of business continuity, and essential in meeting the RTO and RPO defined in an organization's disaster recovery plan. There are multiple types of backups, and each type has a particular use case. A DBA should know which type of backup best fits what situation. It is also important that backups are tested regularly and stored properly in order to be available in the situations where they are needed.

All necessary course materials are included.

Certification(s):

This course prepares students to take the CompTIA DataSys+ DS0-001 national certification exam.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.