MCSA server...where do I stand/start?

DDStime

I am shooting for the MCSA 2012 server so will need to finish 410/411/412.

I have been an enterprise admin for about 5 years and have hands on with active directory, SCCM (very little), R2 2008/12 (a little).

I have the following certs:CISSP, SEC +

So obviously I will start with the 410.

What study materials should I use given my experience and time frame (2 months) for all three tests?

Any help would help!!!!!

AndersonSmith

Hey DDStime, check out my previous post here about my study habits and materials used for the 410 exam. As for the timeframe, it will all depend on how much time you can spend each week studying and labbing and then how comfortable you feel with the material before taking the exams. One thing you might want to look into is the Transcender practice tests for the 410. I found them to be very beneficial for the 410 (the 411 not as much though) so you could run through a few of those BEFORE you start studying and see where you stand and that might give you at least a little bit of an idea of how long you think you'll be studying for. The MCSA covers such a wide variety of topics that it seems most of us even with experience have found at least one or two things we've never come across as admins. Your experience will certainly help you out but many other members of this forum have failed exams even though they have a decent amount of experience with the technologies as well. The thing about MS exams is that they test you on so much that might not even be relevant to what you actually do during your day to day job so you really have to know all of the objectives in detail before you sit for the exam. You'll definitely want to have a good bit of practical hands-on knowledge of all the topics plus know the "theory" behind them and not only to how they work but why. I hope that helps a little and good luck!

Chinook

Whatever training you use is your choice, but here's a tip. Learn PowerShell and learn it inside out. In fact I'd recommend learning to admin your servers entirely in PowerShell. It can't hurt *just saying*.