Microsoft’s exam 70-229, “Designing and Implementing Databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition� is a core requirement for the MCDBA (Microsoft Certified Database Administrator) on SQL Server 2000 certification. It is designed for candidates who “work in a medium to enterprise computing environment that uses SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition.�
There is no specific prerequisite for this exam but Microsoft does make the following recommendations:
Candidates should have “at least one year of experience implementing relational databases in environmentsâ€? with these characteristics: heterogeneous databases; SQL Server security integrated with Windows Authentication; client/server configurations of 50 to 5,000 or more users; web configurations that use IIS or COM+; databases as large as 2 TB; and multiple installations of SQL Server 2000.  

Exam 70-229 is also an elective for these other certifications: MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) on Windows 2000; MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) on Windows NT 4.0; MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer) for Microsoft .NET; MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer); and MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer) for Microsoft .NET.

This exam is easy to moderate and costs $125 USD. It may be taken from Pearson Vue or Thomson Prometric.

At one time this exam provided no pass score other than Pass/Fail, but this is subject to change. “Beginning with the release of the Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003�"related exams, Microsoft will provide numerical scores on exams. By the end of September 2003, most exams will have the new score report format, which includes this numerical score... The new scale requires a minimum passing score of 700 on all exams. The maximum score on the exams will vary depending on the complexity of the skills being measured.� - Microsoft Exam and Testing Procedures FAQ

Note that Microsoft does not document the format of a particular exam: “Microsoft exams might include adaptive testing technology and simulation items. Microsoft does not identify the format in which exams are presented.� In the past, though, this exam was form-based multiple choice with around 44 questions.

The topics covered by this exam include:

• Developing a Logical Data Model
• Implementing the Physical Database
• Retrieving and Modifying Data
• Programming Business Logic
• Tuning and Optimizing Data Access
• Designing a Database Security Plan