98-365 MTA: Server Admin Fundamentals - journey

si20

A quick pre-lude to this: I've done OSCP and Linux+ threads whereby I start off at the beginning of a cert and post on here, documenting my progress as I go. People on here seem to appreciate it because I think it can be a very lonely road doing a cert, especially if you're self-funding it and studying at home in your own personal time. So that being said, i'm about to embark on the MTA: Server Administration Fundamentals.

Why am I taking this cert/course?

I've worked in an IT support role before and I miss it. I miss it badly. I've been looking at the job market for some time now and generic IT support roles have all but disappeared - more people know how to use technology these days, so your basic IT tech roles are fading. I've noticed MCSA and MCSE requirements are still very much in demand. I did get to remote onto servers in the past and do a little bit of permissions/group policy and some work with the active directory, albeit some basic stuff e.g enabling/disabling accounts, password resets etc. I *need* a refresher course and I believe this is it. I don't think I could jump to the MCSA without doing this first.

What Do I Hope to Achieve?

At the time of writing, i'm unemployed and I have been since August. Rather than shed a tear (which I have came close to) I decided to finish up my Linux+, which I did and focus on Microsoft's server/infrastructure track. I hope that this will pay off and I can resume employment ASAP and continue my career.

How long until I take the exam?

I passed my MTA: Networking Fundamentals in 30 days. I know for a fact I wont be able to bust this one out in 30 days. I'm thinking it'll be more like 60 days because I want to absorb everything this course has to offer. So i'm hoping to have this done by no later than mid-February, earlier if possible.

What study-resources am I going to use?

I've got the official MTA videos from the Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA). I've got the official Microsoft book which weighs in at just under 300 pages I think. My friend said he has some of the Pluralsight videos I could look over, but from what i've seen, they don't do much in the way of demos. I think it's mostly someone talking at you.

First update:

For my first update, i've watched the first 2 videos from the MVA and am going to be reading through the book tonight. I have installed an evaluation copy of Server 2008 and Server 2012. So feel free to bookmark this. I will check in every Saturday up until completion. So, I guess i'll catch you all next week! Cheers

jamesleecoleman

I'm thinking about taking this exam. I use AD and find myself doing more with it compared to my last job.
Now I'm doing stuff with account provisioning, making policies, printer stuff and O365/Azure stuff.

Are you having bad luck with finding employment? Since you have the OSWP and OSCP, have you checked out any security companies?

G.O.A.T

I plan on taking this exam after Ive done the Networking MTA currently going through the pluralsight vids as an intro before hitting the official Microsoft stuff. Good luck with this one it does look tricky.

si20

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

I'm thinking about taking this exam. I use AD and find myself doing more with it compared to my last job.
Now I'm doing stuff with account provisioning, making policies, printer stuff and O365/Azure stuff.

Are you having bad luck with finding employment? Since you have the OSWP and OSCP, have you checked out any security companies?

In August, I had 6 interviews (2 at 3 different companies). The first company strung me along and kept telling me I was in the running, then dropped all contact. The second company cancelled the role and then I applied for them again with another role and they said i'd passed two interviews, then went cold. Those interviews have taken me until now (December) and no one seems to be hiring over the festive period. I will definitely be looking at security roles - to be honest, i'd do whatever comes up.

G.O.A.T wrote: »

I plan on taking this exam after Ive done the Networking MTA currently going through the pluralsight vids as an intro before hitting the official Microsoft stuff. Good luck with this one it does look tricky.

Thanks. I think the hardest thing with Microsoft exams is that the questions often want you to answer in a "Microsoft" way and often, like the Linux+, you'll get a question on something which was only covered in 1-2 sentences in the official books. You've done the MTA OS cert, so you'll know what I mean. I remember on the MTA Networking exam I was asked a question which the book had very briefly covered. Note to self: read and understand every page!

si20

I've just finished chapter one. At the end of the chapter, there is a list of questions, true or false, a scenario question and NO ANSWERS! Arghhhh. I've just read a review on amazon.com which says the book is meant for the classroom and I think I agree. It's a fantastic book, but you don't truly know if you've got an answer right or wrong because the book doesn't tell you. (As a side note, I managed to pick up the physical book for just over £10! Bargain or what!)

Tomorrow i'm going to go over my answers and just spend 30 minutes or so confirming each one was right. With the Linux+ book I was studying prior to this, it gave me the correct answers at the back of the book, so I could identify where I was strong and where I was struggling.

So far, it has been an easy read. Very little practical work, although I am going to begin some practical work because I don't want this to just be theory - I want to learn as much as I possibly can from this course. But so far, it's a very enjoyable course/book. It's clearly aimed at people who are just getting into server administration, so it's at a good level for me, who has used servers/active directory many years ago but has rusty skills that need re-enforcing.

si20

Checking in - I'm a few days out because of Christmas but it's currently boxing day (26th Dec) and i'm right back into the book. I'm surprised by how thin the book is. As I said, I purchased the official book so i've got a genuine, physical copy.

I'm close to finishing chapter 2 - i've been messing about with the MMC/snap in console. I've actually gone a bit beyond what the chapters are teaching me and set up a print server on my Win2008 R2 VM and added the printer on my Win7 Pro VM and was able to print. I can also manage users via active directory.

The real gap in my knowledge is AD structure and OU's, permissions and group policy. I'm hoping this book will give me some more of that kind of information. But so far, so good. It's what it says on the tin. It's a nice introduction to Server 2008 R2 and it covers a lot of (relevant) things.

I'm expecting to have finished Chapter 3 by today/tomorrow and by next Saturday when I check in, i'll likely have finished chapter 4. There are only 7 chapters in this book. So i'm expecting to have finished the entire book in the first 2-3 weeks of January. I might look at booking the exam for end of January or early Feb - providing all goes well in the practice exams.

si20

Mid-week check in - I've added server core to the mix. I now have a Server 2008 R2 rig, a Windows 7 Pro VM and a Server Core VM. I was able to ping Server 2008 R2 from server core, but not Server 2008 R2 to server core. I turned off the firewall using this command:

netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off

Of course, this is purely just because i'm learning - I wouldn't do this in a production environment! Then sure enough, I was able to ping back and forth. Which proves that Server Core's firewall was the issue - that's totally fine. I expected it.

So now, I couldn't get server core added to the domain via CLI. This stumped me for about 10-15 mins when I realised it was a DNS issue after nslookup. I then used powershell to change the DNS settings. Simply typing in powershell brings up ...powershell (I know, imagine the shock!)

Then I ran this command: net-dnsclientserveraddress -addressfamily IPv4

This gave me the interface index that I would be needing to edit/change. I then ran:

Set-DNSClientServerAddress -interfaceindex 12 -ServerAddress (“192.168.1.10″)

I then was able to add Server Core to my domain. A quick look on the active directory and sure enough, my Server Core machine was there.

Really enjoying this course. I've been slacking a little bit, but tonight made up for it. Still on track I think.

Chev Chellios

Just wanted to say good luck man, sure you will smash this one in no time with your knowledge and experience.

si20

Chev Chellios wrote: »

Just wanted to say good luck man, sure you will smash this one in no time with your knowledge and experience.

Thanks for the support Chev, I hope so! I'm spending today reading the 20 pages of storage information (chapter 3) and have just finished a 35 minute MTA video. I have to say, the storage section is a bit dry, but I really want to get this done because I think having a "server cert" will do wonders, even if it is classed as more of an entry level exam.

Chev Chellios

No problem, glad to hear it is going well. Sorry to pry but I am interested, is the computer forensic side of things dull or did you find you prefer the IT support type roles?

si20

A bit of both really. I found that looking at illegal videos and photographs all day was not my thing. I honestly believe you could send yourself insane by doing it. To cope, some colleagues would actually joke about things that weren't a laughing matter. On top of that, forensics breeds elitism whereby some people working in it put down other people in IT because they believe they're "the true technology people" because they might need to understand how something works so they can then explain it in court.

Then there's the paperwork. Ugh... it stops being an interesting career when you've got to write 20-30 forms out everyday alongside a computer or hard drive you're looking at.

so yeah, give me a server support or desktop support role any day of the week. Something where I can get my hands dirty and not have to write pages of stuff or see illegal photographs!

Chev Chellios

Sounds pretty brutal, not sure it's something I could do to be honest and the paperwork sounds ridiculous too. Are you based up in Yorkshire or am I imagining that? haha. Is the job search going ok for server/desktop support type roles?

I'm sitting here laughing about the elitism comment, and forensics being the true technology people It's like something out of Monty Python!

si20

I was based up there, but I couldn't find many roles up there. There definitely seems to be more roles involving servers/infrastructure and I think if I can get the MTA Server course out the way, I am wondering whether to do the CCNA or MCSA - I think they'd both be excellent, but i'm not sure which would be more beneficial. I notice you're doing the CCENT/CCNA? Maybe you could give me your 2 cents?? (Bad joke, CENTS... lol)

Chev Chellios

Are you fairly open in terms of location for the new gig then? I did vaguely remember you saying you were up that way at some point. I wanted to smash the CCENT/CCNA but other things are in the pipeline as my new role involves a lot of different tech. I will still aim to get a Cisco cert at some point as I find networking interesting but I'm involved in more server/desktop stuff and projects currently. Plus a massive project for the business starts in Jan and involves me learning SQL, which should be fun as I've avoided doing much with it so far in my career. Getting a cert in SQL would look great and I would consider it a massive deal personally as I'm not a DBA or someone who has ever done much on that side of things but will see how it all goes.

Depending on your interests it might be good to do both the CCNA and MCSA - I personally see more roles asking for the MCSA and that's always been one of those 'nice to have' certs. I like what you did there by the way haha

si20

I'd prefer to work in the north, not necessarily in the North East, but i'd prefer it to being based in London for example. I find London a bit too busy for my liking . If I could speak to my 14-15 year old self when I was really trying to break into the industry, i'd have said: Do the MTA, MCSA, CCENT, CCNA and MCSE now - but at the moment, i've not seen much ROI from my certs. The OSCP has got me interviews, but i've not got a job off the back of it. I just do them for fun/to learn. Although, I would seriously hope the MTA Server and the MCSA/CCENT/CCNA would help to get a job because they're well known/respected.

p@r0tuXus

si20, forgive me if I'm stepping where I shouldn't, but it's only an attempt to help. I knew some people who left a SOC where I was that went to work for an IT Security firm and they were able to work 100% remote. They didn't even have the OSCP, so I can't imagine that you'd be disqualified from doing the same. Maybe the companies you could work for wouldn't have to be close-by. Have you tried looking for Pentester jobs online that are out of country? From what I've read of your posts, you couldn't find much worse pay for some IT jobs there in the UK, what have you got to lose?

si20

I think my biggest problem is that i've got very little (if any) skills in XSS or SQLi. I had a practical pen-test interview and failed it big time as a result of that. I've had a look around but not seen any junior pen-testing roles nearby or remote unfortunately but i'd definitely consider it. I appreciate the advice! I will take another look because you're right - salaries in the UK leave a lot to be desired unless you get a good position with a global company! Cheers!

Chev Chellios

Yes mate, hindsight is a wonderful thing. You keep moving in the right direction and do what you want to do. I'm in the midlands and the IT wages in the UK fluctuate massively. Fortunately on a decent enough wage now but previously worked 2nd/3rd line jobs for less than market value just to get decent experience. Good luck with the exams and job search, we can big you up more on Linked in too. Always seem to get job offers through there.

si20

I was supposed to check in yesterday, but what with it being New Years Eve and today being New Years Day, it has been a bit busy. I have, however, completed chapter 3 of 7. Chapter 3 was all about storage and i'll be honest: some of it was over my head. LUNS, iSCSI, fabric etc I *think* the MTA is just letting you know these things exist. I'm under the impression you wont need to know these inside out for the exam. If i'm wrong, please let me know.

So i'm moving onto lesson 4, which means i'm now just about 50% of the way through the course. So far so good. No real hiccups. I've flicked through the rest of the book and this seems to be the point where the course's value shines through. This section of the book covers failover clusters, backups, MBR/VBR, load balancing etc I've covered the MBR/VBR with forensics, but failover and backups? Not so much; i've heard a lot of these terms, but I haven't done much with them in a practical sense.

I'm excited for this chapter. It's the biggest chapter in the book and runs from pg 88 to pg 131. So i've got an awful lot of reading and practical work to do. It's also worth the most in terms of exam objectives. So i'm going to spend an entire week on this one. So my schedule looks like this:

1st January - 7th January - Chapter 4 - Monitoring and Troubleshooting Servers
7th January - 14th January - Chapter 5 - (Essential Services) and Chapter 6 (File and Print Services)
14th Jan - 20th January - Chapter 7 - (Popular Windows Network Services and Applications)

That means I should, at least in theory, be able to book my exam for the end of January.

quinnyfly

I am certainly no expert when it comes to MS exams but from experience with other vendors I reckon it's worth spending some time on the RAID ( RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10) and perhaps combinations of RAID and standards such as iSCS etc, these always seem to come up in other exams. Since this is a foundation cert I'd say they will expect you to be at least somewhat familiar with these technologies but maybe not that much that you need to know how to configure them. From reading they seem to want us to know a few ports and associated technologies, I'll add a table I made up, throw it up in the shower and read every day

Protocols and Ports Table.pdf

Thanks for posting your notes and progress, it is very helpful.

G.O.A.T

Im currently going for this too. Im wondering how hard this exam really is.. I didnt bother with the networking fundamentals course but watched the networking video course for it on pluralsight and have basic networking knowledge.

si20

Hey Quinny, thanks! I actually just looked at a Professor Messer video about SCSI and it cleared up quite a lot. I learned about terminators and chaining SCSI hardware together. I'm going to look into RAID in more detail. I've only ever used RAID-1 and never tried anything else. I'll do that tomorrow.

G.O.A.T wrote: »

Im currently going for this too. Im wondering how hard this exam really is.. I didnt bother with the networking fundamentals course but watched the networking video course for it on pluralsight and have basic networking knowledge.

hey GOAT, wahoooo! Great to know someone else is tackling this at the same time as me. With the official book I bought, I got access to the Gmetrix practice tests. I did a practice test of the entire course and got 2-3 marks below the passing mark. I personally think that there is a massive amount of knowledge to be gained from this course. I'd argue this is the best MTA of them all (but they're all good). This just sets you up nicely for the MCSA I think.

There are some extremely tricky questions on this exam. It's definitely not a case of walk in, pass it and leave. The MTA Networking exam was a lot tougher than people made out. Some people say the MTA courses are easier than CompTIA. If they are, it's only VERY slightly. Microsoft exams definitely aren't supposed to be super easy. They make sure you've read the book and done some practical work to boot.

Keep me updated, I'd love to hear your progress as we go through this.

quinnyfly

That's awesome, there's three of us doing at the same time now I've only read the first chapter in the MS book and I also got Tom Carpenter's book <first chapter as well>. Building a dedicated server today and gonna load it up as soon as I figure out all the business with installing and configuring 2008 R2.

I also got a copy of AD for dummies, gets good and bad reviews but has been a big help in learning the basics so far.

Not sure about you guys but am hoping to get into server admin with a focus on security, seems to be a bit of work in that field and not to mention it's never ending in terms of study, re-certification, professional development etc etc. MCSA (70 - 410) is my next after this one, I already have the text books and have read a fair bit so far, seems a little over my head but will make progress this year.

si20

Chapter 4 of the book done. 3 more chapters to go. I've watched 4 of the Microsoft Virtual Academy Videos too and done some practical work. I need to do more practical work on backups before I move onto chapter 5.

I found an app on my phone called 'anki' which lets you use flashcards. Someone put up answers to the end of the chapters in the book!! Perfect, I thought. Seeing as the book doesn't include the answers because it was meant for the classroom. Unfortunately, the person who uploaded the flashcard answers seems to be incorrect with a few of the answers.

For example, it says that boot.ini is used for Vista, 7 and Server 2008. I personally thought it was bcd. This is a major problem with the course. Getting the 100% correct answers to the questions in the book is impossible. You've got to do a lot of digging with every question you get asked. Whilst this might sound like a good approach, it's a big time-waster because you spend a large portion of time googling for specific answers for different versions of Windows products.

That being said, i'm pretty certain i've scored very well on the end of chapter test, but I have no true way of knowing. I've decided to delete the anki app and just go it alone. Hopefully i'm on the right tracks.

TLDR: The book hints that bcd is what Vista, 7 and Server 2008 uses to boot the OS, but flashcards and some people on the Microsoft forums say boot.ini is still used. The book gives no answers to the end of chapter answers. Frustrating


EDIT: After another google search, Wikipedia says that: "Boot Configuration Data (BCD) is a firmware-independent database for boot-time configuration data. It is used by Microsoft's new Windows Boot Manager and replaces the boot.ini that was used by NTLDR."

So i'm going to say I was right. I thought using flashcards would help test my memory - it turns out that they flashcards contain incorrect answers!! Lesson learned: Stick to the official book and do plenty of research.

Chev Chellios

Sounds like you are learning well then and doing your research, keep it up!

G.O.A.T

Im still on ch1 of the MS book spent alot of time making notes, limited study time due to work I need 1 full day studying tbh but limited time. Im going to use the book and signup for ITProTV watch the videos there. I dont find the MVA videos useful tbh way too brief. Hoping to do the exam sometime next month.

si20

100% agree with G.O.A.T - the MVA videos are great as a supplement only. I doubt anyone could watch the MVA videos, not read the book/do practical work and pass. That's how i'm tackling this course. I watch the MVA video, read the chapter, do the practical work, then take the self-assessment. This approach worked for my MTA Networking and is working for the MTA Server course as well (I think!)

G.O.A.T

I think taking notes helps though..yes its longer but I dont think its possible to ansorb the book to memory.

si20

I also think notes are a good way of committing things to memory. As I go through the last 3 chapters i'll be writing more notes. I've got a few family issues to attend to, so i'm unable to study until Sunday now. But i've got an interview tomorrow on the back of this certification - so it's already helping me and i've not even passed it yet!

SoftwareGuy

I have four MTAs, and quite frankly they are more novelty than anything else. MTAs are certs I would make non-Tech employees get across the board.

You're a lot better off just going for an MCSA exam like the 70-410 than you are going for the MTA as you're not really going to learn anything that can really be applied to the job.

MTA is only the first 3 days on the job as a server admin.

SoftwareGuy

si20 wrote: »

100% agree with G.O.A.T - the MVA videos are great as a supplement only. I doubt anyone could watch the MVA videos, not read the book/do practical work and pass. That's how i'm tackling this course. I watch the MVA video, read the chapter, do the practical work, then take the self-assessment. This approach worked for my MTA Networking and is working for the MTA Server course as well (I think!)

My experience with Server 2012 R2 was nearly non-existent, as was my experience with server 2008R2. No study, no prep, employer told me I was signed up for the MTA exam out of the blue and needed to take it after lunch.

I passed with a 93% with 3 hours notice to exam time and never touched a Windows server OS in 7 months before that. And even then my time on a mcirosoft server was just setting up the virtual machines and domain controllers for a few days. Rest of my time was all on Linux servers and now it's all Azure for me.

But overall you wont need to spend much time at all studying on MTAs.

I passed four MTAs in two days with no study.