CompTIA DataSys+

 

CompTIA DataSys+ is a certification designed for professionals with 2–3 years of experience in database administration. It validates the skills needed to deploy, manage, and secure data systems while ensuring business continuity and compliance with industry standards. This vendor-neutral certification equips you with the knowledge to build, support, and maintain databases, implement security best practices, and manage data assets effectively in today’s growing and complex data environments.

Lesson 1: Database Fundamentals

• Compare and contrast database structure types: relational vs. non-relational, linear vs. non-linear, NoSQL variants (document, key-value, column-oriented, graph); tools such as Cassandra, MongoDB, Neo4j, DynamoDB, Cosmos

• Develop, modify, and run SQL code using DDL, DML, set-based logic, TCLs (transaction control languages), ACID principles, ANSI SQL, triggers, stored procedures, functions, views

• Contrast scripting environments (server vs. client-side); languages: PowerShell, Python; command-line scripting for Linux and Windows

• Understand the impact of programming on database operations—object-relational mapping (ORM) tools like Hibernate, Entity Framework, Ebean; reviewing generated SQL, validating accuracy, assessing server impact, and proposing alternatives

Lesson 2: Database Deployment

• Plan and design databases: gathering requirements (number of users, storage capacity—size, speed, type; use cases), architectural considerations, cloud vs. on-premises, regional regulations, access control, least privilege, service accounts, identity and access management

• Understand implementation phases: database implementation, testing, deployment, schema validation, stress/performance testing, version control, connectivity testing

Lesson 3: Database Management & Maintenance

• Monitor and report: system alerts, performance metrics, logs, resource utilization; tools and dashboards

• Maintenance processes: query optimization, patch management, capacity planning, performance tuning; ensuring data integrity, managing redundancy, views/materialized views

• Documentation: data dictionaries, ER diagrams (ERDs), SOPs, compliance documentation

Lesson 4: Data & Database Security

• Security concepts: data encryption (at rest/in transit), data masking, secure destruction techniques

• Governance and compliance: data loss prevention, retention policies, regulations like GDPR and PCI DSS

• Authentication & authorization: access controls, password policies, identity management, least privilege

• Infrastructure security: physical (biometrics, surveillance, fire suppression) and logical (firewalls, network perimeter, port security) controls

• Threat mitigation: SQL injection, DoS, phishing, ransomware, brute-force attacks

Lesson 5: Business Continuity

• Backup & recovery: disaster recovery planning, replication strategies, failover, high-availability techniques, clustering, load balancing, redundancy

• Risk management: conducting impact analysis, mitigation, continuity testing

• Backup best practices: scheduling/automating backups, testing, validating backup integrity, on-site vs. off-site storage, retention policies, purge/archive cycles