11 IBM Certified Database Associate -- DB2 9 Fundamentals 000-730 Write-up

Today, I took the long over due exam 000-730 for DB2 9 Fundamentals. I was planning to take exam 2 years ago but just like every other thing, one thing after another ,I finally took it today. I pass the exam with 92% pass grade.

Preparation material

• Lab environment: DB2 9.7 VM 
• Website: IBM Information center
• http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/lp/db2cert/db2-cert730.html
• Book: DB2 9 Fundamentals: Certification Study Guide and other books I got from company training class.

 

Study Note

• DB2 security 101
• DB2 management 101
• DB2 SQL constraint 101
• DB2 identify 101
• DB2 SQL database object 101
• DB2 isolation level 101

 

EXAM fee

I pay $200 for the exam. It is quite expensive, especially considering it is the entry level exam. I just found out the way for saving the exam from this . By paying and passing the assessment, we can get 50% off the exam fee. The assessment itself cost $30 so essentially, we can save $70 . Not bad for the discount.

About EXAM

The exam itself is not complicate. This is entry level exam. Here are some topics I think it is worth to mention.

• Difference of each isolation level
• SQL set operator: UNION, UNION ALL …etc
• Unique constraint and Unique index

 

 

Next step

The exam can count toward to DB2 9.7 certification path or DB2 10.1 path. At this point, I haven’t decide which path I am going to do. I have not much experience with DB2 10 so maybe 9.7 is more reasonable choice. Interestingly, IBM does not offer the upgrade from 9.7 to 10.1 . Not sure the reasoning behind that.

Reference

• http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/education/
• DB2 10.1 Certification roadmap: http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/data/sw-library/education/cert-roadmaps/DB2_LUW_10.1.pdf
• DB2 9.7 certification roadmap: http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/data/sw-library/education/cert-roadmaps/DB2_LUW_V9.7.pdf
• http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/lp/db2cert/db2-cert730.html