70-410 down and 4 more to go

For those out there looking to improve your resume by obtaining your MCSA/MCSE, do not make the same mistake as I did thinking you can read a book, or two in my case, and pass the 70-410 (or any of the microsoft certs). I bombed out on my first attempt scoring a dismal 437. It was then I understood what others meant by "lab, lab, lab". Not one single question was based on recalling information read in a book; that did not help me one bit. I set up a lab environment and ran various lab activities. Once I was done with all the labs, I started over and set them up again. I didn't read from any material this time around and scored a 747 today. I believe I have a working routine I can count on as I further my journey towards my MSCE.

BTW, what are some good lab resources for the 70-411?

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Comments

ssnyderu2

What lab resources did you use for 70-410?

EyeCan'tCode

I used 70-410 Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 Lab Manual by Craig Zacker, I also followed Eli the Computer Guy's youtube channel; he was very helpful. If you do a google search, you will also find some useful labs.

ssnyderu2

EyeCan'tCode wrote: »

I used 70-410 Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 Lab Manual by Craig Zacker, I also followed Eli the Computer Guy's youtube channel; he was very helpful. If you do a google search, you will also find some useful labs.

Thanks, I will check that book out.

SeekBytes

Hello gents. I need to go though the MCSA as well. Can anybody suggest me Books and material revision to pass the exams?

I heard the same issue from different people that studied for this track that they keep failing the exams even though they studied from different resources.

Where can I get exercises/labs and good quality questions? Is Boson (quite expensive) the only solution available?

Kind Regards.

pjd007

Congrats

http://www.techexams.net/forums/mcsa-mcse-windows-2012-general/92070-70-411-technet-other-resources.html

PhorenReign

How are you guys obtaining the software for the labs ? i've read of folks using VMs but doesn't that require at least one software package and key?

Thechainremains

I would say Lab and Exam Simulation. Simulating even just the method of the test is a HUGE help.

EyeCan'tCode

PhorenReign wrote: »

How are you guys obtaining the software for the labs ? i've read of folks using VMs but doesn't that require at least one software package and key?

Microsoft offers a 180 day trial in both standard and datacenter

bub9001

PhorenReign wrote: »

How are you guys obtaining the software for the labs ? i've read of folks using VMs but doesn't that require at least one software package and key?

Microsoft offers a free 180 day trial of server 2012. Sever 2012 CORE is free!!! To help get your Powershell learning up to speed.

As for VM software most vendors allow trial versions. Virtual Box (Oracle) is free but not used in Enterprise. vSphere Hypervisor "ESXi" and Citrix XenServer are two VM offerings you'll see in Enterprise. They are free and allow for more scalability then Virtual Box.

If you have a PC that you just don't use and can run Server 2012, you can always run Server 2012 on it as a "Bare Metal" install and run the Hyper-V (Windows VM version) on it and you get double the learning in the process.

Hope this info helped?

catak

EyeCan'tCode, I'm finding two books by Craig Zacker, they both look identical. Exam Ref 70-410 and Training Guide 70-410. Which one are your referring to? Could you provide an ISBN #? Thank you.

Snow.bros

I used exam ref for this exam but Microsoft recommends reading both of those book but then again I found this boring and uninteresting in my opinion, it's kind like the saying, "it's funny when you here a joke for the first time but it's not funny when you here it for the second time" who wants to prove read 400 pages after reading the same content with 600 pages? So in this instance I recommend the Training Guide, Training videos (CBT or Plural Sight) and more time labbing.

catak

Was it the Training Guide by "Mitch Tulloch"? I briefly looked through this book at Barnes & Noble, and from what I've gathered, there wasn't anything of substance of labbing what so ever. I'm in need of a resource that follows along the detailed contents provided by the Microsoft website with step by step labs to follow. I plan on buying a cheap PC to load the OS along with some VM's. Also, I downloaded the CBT's from an undisclosed website and they seem like the "real thing". It's complied of 20 or so video's with James Conrad. I believe I'll start with the video's at first and then reinforce with some text reading, but have yet to find one that's good enough to pass the exam. Any other folks out there that can chime in would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Snow.bros

Yes that's the book I am talking about.

Hey I found this on amazon: 70-410 Installing & Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual (Microsoft Official Academic Course Series): Microsoft Official Academic Course: 9781118882290: Amazon.com: Books it should help you with the lab exercises.

reubs6

Congrats and great advice.

gbdavidx

That one got really bad reviews, did it really help you pass? (70-410 Installing & Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Lab Manual (Microsoft Official Academic Course Series): Microsoft Official Academic Course: 9781118882290: Amazon.com: Books)

Snow.bros

I didn't use that book as my lab guide, the reference I used as my guide is the practice exercises at end of each chapter that you find in each training guide book of the MCSA, plus I used to experiment what I learned on my own it gives you a chance to figure things out on your own.

catak

So, what exactly were your reference books etc.?