Mcsa/mcse self study

nowiz

Hello,

I am a new member and would like to take an MCSE Certification.Actually I would like to get your opinion about doing a Self Study for MCSA or MCSE.
Is it possible to achieve MCSE without joining a Training Institute,do we have anyone here who has done it.
Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Thank you

joeswfc

Hi,

When I started doing my MCSA Windows server 2012 R2 I had no experience in administering servers (I just had about 3 years of desktop support).
I have now passed all 3 exams and am looking at doing the MCSE Messaging cert. I self studied for all 3 exams in my own time and would therefore say it is possible to at least get to an MCSA level, hopefully it is possible for me to get the MCSE this way.
I tend to start off my studying/learning with CBT nuggets videos (I can usually find somewhere to download them for free), I will usually watch them all, then watch them all again and take notes, then watch them a third time and set up a lab environment to follow it. Then read books (there are usually free e-book PDF files online). TechNet is very useful for filling in any gaps you are not sure about as well as general googling.

So yes it's definitely possible

OctalDump

Yes. MCSA is totally possible. Get a couple of decent study guides, maybe some practice tests, and set up a home/cloud lab. MS will let you download 2012 Server for free to play with, although with an expiry - which doesn't matter since you will blow it away regularly anyway.

In this part of the world, training usually runs at $5000 per course, one per exam, but a couple of books and practice tests will be under $400, and the books you can resell once you pass. If you get books 2nd hand, and just use the included tests and online resources, you can get that cost to under $100. Unless your workplace is paying for the course, or you find a really good deal, I'd stick with self study.

It has the other very big advantage of letting you go at a comfortable pace and concentrate on areas of weakness. You also get incidental experience in setting up your home lab.

Depending on where you go with MCSE, and your experience, a home lab might not cut it. It is very enterprise oriented and makes that assumption (extensive experience in a large MS environment) in the exams. I think, though, that you'd be in an at least equal position doing self study compared to a course. That kind of experience is hard to replicate in a classroom.

But I wouldn't worry too much about MCSE until you have your MCSA.

nowiz

Thank you for those encouraging words joeswfc.and OctalDump.As OctalDump mentions the cost of these training is my concern too but now I too shall give it a try with self study.I didn't know that CBT Nuggets had MCSE tutorials,thought they only had those CISCO certification videos.
I shall go through them as well and these books that I managed to get:-
William Panek-MCSA Windows Server 2012 R2
and Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2 by Sybex.
Thanks again

culpano

On a general level there is no comparison between a one week official certification course and a subscription with say CBT or Pluralsight.
A one week course just rushes through the material and you have to go through it all again anyway in more detail later. Even buying the official MOAC course books and labs is far better than these thousands of dollars courses. The only advantage of the vocational course is you are forced to learn it (rather than be distracted or lazy) and you can ask questions as you go along. Times have changed since the days when all you had was the choice of the books or going on a paid course. Now there are detailed hands on videos and reference material at the press of a search button.

Also if you have enough hardware you can lab almost anything and do it all hands on with physical setups and virtualised environments.

iBrokeIT

The biggest thing you need to do is come up with a plan on how you are going to setup a multiserver lab. If you look at the other threads on the 2012 exams you will see that simply reading a book and doing practice exams is not enough to pass. You NEED to labs on stuff like powershell and active directory especially if you have never touched the stuff in a production environment.