Direct Access On 70-411 Exam

AndersonSmith

I'm currently studying for the 411 exam and I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how detailed the DirectAccess questions are on actual exam? Please don't break Microsoft NDLA as I'm not looking for specific details necessarily, but it just seems like a lot of the things you have to know for DirectAccess on the 411 require you to know a lot about the objectives on the 412 and/or 413 exams. For example configuring certificates and NRPT. Also Web Application Proxy seems to be another one that requires a lot of "higher up knowledge" than what the 411 expects you to know. For anyone who has taken the exam, do I need to know in detail how to do these things or does the exam cover a broad overview of the technology? Thanks!

MariusRZR

I'm curious about this as well. For VPN also. How in depth are the questions? I mean, PPTP is simple, but SSTP requires Certificates, a Certificate Authority and so on and I don't see these things as exam objectives in "Skills Measured" for 411.

AndersonSmith

My thought on it is that they're not requiring you to know exactly how to setup certificates and stuff like that but rather how to enable clients to use them with VPNs and DirectAccess. I'm really hoping that's all it is at least. It seems unfair that Microsoft would expect you to know something for this exam that isn't covered until one of the later exams. That's my thoughts/hopes on it anyway.

joeswfc

I did the 70-411 just over a year ago. The only sorts of things I can really remember was things like "you want to enable VPN over port 443, which type do you use?" for example.

poolmanjim

Powershell questions and some "where do you click" kind of questions. DirectAccess was a bit of a nightmare to get working in my lab so I really wasn't super prepared for that topic. Fortunately, my talents in other areas got me through.

MariusRZR

Yeah, Direct access is a Paint to set up in a lab as well. Also is SSTP for example...

AndersonSmith

Thanks guys. I've been labbing it out as much as I can but it just seems like there are so many objectives for it that require knowledge of 412 objectives as well. I may study a bit of the 412 objectives and see if that helps any. Thanks for the input!

MariusRZR

I've just finished the Direct Access chapter. There are some certificate steps, which is a 412 objective, but not very detailed.
I believe you only need to know what kind of certificate you need and when do you need it. You don't need to know advanced stuff

poolmanjim

I would definitely recommend looking at some of the 412 Certificate Services parts to get an idea of how the DirectAccess certs are to be setup. I do remember at least one question that had to do with the certificates more than DirectAccess and I gave Microsoft an earful about it in the review portion.

AndersonSmith

Thanks PoolmanJim. I think I'll take a peek into the 412 objectives and at least get an idea about certificates. I was really hoping I could stay away from the 412 since I'm planning on taking the 409 to complete my MCSA since I really don't have much interest or need for the objectives the 412 requires you to know. I think this is one of the problems with the Microsoft exams is that they seem to have certain objectives that "bleed over" to other exams that you might not have studied for yet. I noticed at least one question on the 410 exam with Remote Access that had to do with the 411 objectives I hadn't studied for. I think they either need to have more exams with less objectives, like maybe 5 to get MCSA instead of 3, or they need to at least stick to the objectives they say you need for each exam. Anyway, thanks to all who gave advice, you guys are great!

poolmanjim

It is a bit frustrating that no matter how hard you study there are going to be topics that are just not listed in the exam objectives. Not to defend Microsoft too much here, their goal isn't to have a bunch of people who can just follow a study guide and answer questions based on that guide pass their test. They want you to have some knowledge to understand the inner workings of the technologies listed. For that reason, there are things that will show up that aren't necessarily covered.

Using DirectAccess and SSTP as examples, you cannot configure those successfully without some kind of certificate. There are some self signed options but to really understand the technology you need to use the advanced configuration and configure a non-self signed certificate. Microsoft knows this and is basically testing to see if you have actually attempted that. Do you understand what is involved with making DirectAccess tick?

Again, not trying to necessarily defend them as I found it to be brutally frustrating too. I am trying to offer some perspective on the overall goal of the exam. That helped me stop being so enraged with what I was seeing.

MariusRZR

Yeah...Well...Microsoft. I think the best way to approach MCSA is to go through 410,411 and 412 before taking an actual exam. Just read the books and watch the CBT Nuggets videos. You get a general idea about the whole situation. Then study for each test.
It takes some time, I know, but....

I'm studying for 411 now and I guess I'll be almost ready in a week or two ( Got lots of time on my hands)
But i'll go one time through 412. The book and CBT

AndersonSmith

I do actually like the fact that they've made these exams so that you HAVE to know how to do the objectives to pass the exams rather than just know some terminology and/or a basic overview of the OS. I haven't taken any of the MCSA exams prior to the 410 but my understanding was that the previous generation OS's exams were considered a joke by a lot of people in the IT community (no disrespect intended to anyone who may have these certifications. I still have mad respect for you all) because they were easier. I think being difficult adds value to them and makes you stand out more for holding the certification. I do appreciate everyone's input. Finding this forum has been such a huge help in preparing me for my exams!

joeswfc

MariusRZR wrote: »

Yeah...Well...Microsoft. I think the best way to approach MCSA is to go through 410,411 and 412 before taking an actual exam. Just read the books and watch the CBT Nuggets videos. You get a general idea about the whole situation. Then study for each test.
It takes some time, I know, but....

I'm studying for 411 now and I guess I'll be almost ready in a week or two ( Got lots of time on my hands)
But i'll go one time through 412. The book and CBT

Good idea watching all 3 sets of videos, reading the books etc. Like you say this will take some time, but then when you move onto the next exam, it will probably take you less time to pass as you have already done some studying for it.