Monitoring Activities

For this Critical Thinking Assignment, you will complete the hands-on activity, Project 6-2: Encrypting and Decrypting Data,based on p. 236 of the MCSA guide to Microsoft® SQL server 2012textbook.

For this hands-on project, you will use the SQL Server named instance SQLSERVERHOA, and the HandsOnOne database and tables you created in previous chapters. The objective of this activity is to practice generating keys and encrypting/decrypting data. Document each step by taking a screen shot of the Query Editor window after successfully executing each SQL query.

1. In SQL Server Management Studio, open a new Query Editor window, which you will use for completing all steps in this activity.
2. Create a SQL query to generate a new database master key and certificate for the HandsOnOne database. Take a screenshot of the Query Editor after you have executed this SQL command to show that it was completed successfully.
3. Construct a SQL query to generate a new symmetric key for encrypting data. The symmetric key should use the AES algorithm with a 256-bit key size, and it should be protected by the certificate you created in Step 2. Take a screenshot of the Query Editor after you have executed this SQL command to show that it was completed successfully.
4. Construct a SQL query to alter the Customer table and add a new column named CustomerNameEncrypted with data type varbinary(128). This column will be used to store the encrypted values of the CustomerName column. Take a screenshot of the Query Editor after you have executed this SQL command to show that it was completed successfully.
5. Using the symmetric key you created in Step 2, write an SQL UPDATE query that encrypts the values in the CustomerName column and adds the encrypted values to the CustomerNameEncrypted column. Take a screenshot of the Query Editor after you have executed this SQL command to show that it was completed successfully.
6. Construct a SQL SELECT query to view the encrypted values of the CustomerNameEncrypted column in the Customer table. Take a screenshot of the Query Editor after you have executed this SQL command to show that it was completed successfully.
7. Construct a SELECT SQL query that uses the symmetric key to decrypt the values in the CustomerNameEncrypted column. Note that you will need to convert the hexidecimal values into a character string in order to read the decrypted values. Take a screenshot of the Query Editor after you have executed this SQL command to show that it was completed successfully.

Deliverable

After you have completed these steps, submit one MS Word document that contains the screenshots and include a report that summarizes the database security controls you implemented. Insert all of the screenshots into the document, label each of them clearly, and include the 1-page minimum report below the screenshots.

Assignment 2

For this Critical Thinking Assignment, you will complete the hands-on activity, Project 7-1: Monitoring and Analyzing Performance,based on p. 272 of the MCSA guide to Microsoft® SQL server 2012textbook.

For this hands-on project, you will use the SQL Server named instance SQLSERVERHOA, and the HandsOnOne database and tables you created in previous assignments. The objective of this project is to practice using Windows utilities and SQL Server management tools to monitor performance and diagnose query performance.

1. Using the Windows Performance Monitor utility, add a set of counters to the real-time performance monitor display that you consider most relevant to the performance of your SQL Server instance. Document this step by taking a screen shot of the real-time display.
2. In SQL Server Management Studio, construct a SQL query that uses a SELECT statement and a JOIN clause to query data from both the Customer and Address tables. Analyze the estimated execution plan.
   1. Identify the most costly plan steps.
   2. Are any of the steps that you identified in Step 2(a) a cause for concern? If so, explain.
   3. Describe how the performance of the query could be improved, or explain why the query is already optimal.
3. Implement any changes identified in Step 2(c) and execute the query using the option Include Actual Execution Plan. Document this step by taking a screen shot of the actual execution plan.
4. Use SQL Server Profiler to capture a trace and execute the query again. Analyze the trace and determine how many milliseconds the query took to execute. Take a screen shot of the trace that shows the execution of your query to document this step.
5. Launch the Database Engine Tuning Advisor from Query Editor to analyze your query. Did the analysis generate any recommendations? Explain why or why not.

Deliverable

After you have completed these steps, submit one MS Word document that contains the screenshots and a written report that describes the performance and monitoring activities you have performed. Insert all of the screenshots into the document, label each of them clearly, and include the 1-page minimum report below the screenshots.