Passed the 70-410!

poolmanjim · May 2015

Greetings All. Just passed the 70-410 today. Passed with a 718. The test was pretty much everything I expected it to be, though they did have a few curve balls for me.

My suggestions before you all get to my resources are to know the Powershell for everything you can do in GUI. I took this for granted and didn't study as hard as I could have and was completely lost on some questions because I wasn't sure what the exact Powershell was. Also, lab you environment in detail. Something I didn't think to do in my lab is to try and break it. Try to create confusing scenarios for yourself. They may throw stuff at you that makes you go "Why would anyone ever do it like that?"

My studies have been drawn out over a year or so with renewed and directed focus in the past 2-3 months. Here is my full list of resources and my lab setup(s). Hopefully I can spend less time on my 70-411.

MCSA Server 2012 R2 Complete Study Guide - William Panek
Read the first section focused on the 70-410
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-Complete-Study-Guide/dp/111885991X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430774997&sr=8-1&keywords=mcsa+windows+server+2012+r2

PluralSight Videos
I also watched some of the CBT Nuggets, I found the PluralSight to be MUCH more useful. Try to lab along with what they are doing and pause and rewind when you can't keep up.

Transcender Practice Tests
I will say the transcender tests were not even remotely like the MS test. They were challenging though and forced me to study stuff I had not thought about.

TechNet
Use the resources in this forum, they are a good list. Google what you don't understand or don't think you understand it enough. Also Transcender links to great TechNets and what not

Lab
If it exists lab it. If you don't know how to lab it, try to and technet for configurations.

Lab Setup:
AMD Phenom X4 940 (I think)
24GB RAM
2TB of Disk
Server 2008 R2 (Only full copy of Server I have currently)
This is where I did the most server labbing, it allowed for me to have the most number of VMs running.

Intel Core 2 Duo
12 GB RAM
500GB Disk
Server 2012 R2 (Eval - This was my dedicated HyperV Server)
Was for mostly the Hyper-V experience but also for some testing.

VitrualBox on my PC which runs an i7 and 16GB of RAM. This was rarely used but came in handy when I had to move in the middle of training.

cruwl · May 2015

congrats on the pass!

gespenstern · May 2015

Congratz, you are the man! Take some rest and enjoy that feeling that you have achieved!

Louie1277 · May 2015

Congrats on passing the exam. I been studing on and off the last 2 months. I failed twice already but this time around It's getting longer and longer and less time on really studying. Been very busy with kids, and work. By the time i get home i'm burned out. But I told myself starting today I would study every day at least 1 hr until the exam. I'm thinking the end of june to take the exam. That should give me enough time for the exam.