SQL Server Enterprise DBA
End-to-End Project

Set up the local and remote repository, git workflow conventions, and folder skeleton before any hands-on database work began.

Sourced NOAA's public climate dataset, designed a deliberately unoptimized schema, bulk-loaded 113.5M rows, and captured real baseline query performance.

Audited and tuned server-level configuration — memory limits, MAXDOP, cost threshold for parallelism, and TempDB layout — against enterprise best practices.

Designed the filegroup and file layout, planned capacity for a 20GB+ database, and scripted ongoing maintenance including DBCC CHECKDB and statistics updates.

Diagnosed the Phase 1 baseline's worst queries, added a targeted composite clustered index, and documented real before/after execution plans and timings.

Built a full/differential/log backup strategy and proved it with a real point-in-time restore drill, verifying the restored data matched exactly.

Implemented least-privilege roles and logins, enabled Transparent Data Encryption, applied Row-Level Security, and masked sensitive columns.

Configured SQL Server Audit at the server and database level, captured real login and data-modification events, and implemented change tracking.

Automated backups and maintenance via SQL Server Agent jobs, and deliberately failed a job to verify real failure notification and logging.

Built a two-replica Always On AG across workgroup VMs with certificate-based endpoint authentication, and tested manual failover — including recovering from a real split-brain incident.

Built DMV-based session/query/wait monitoring and an Extended Events session, proven by capturing a real long-running query and a real deliberately-induced deadlock.