70-410 Passed!

stunnedsoup

Hey folks,

I decided to create a new thread in response to my original thread where I said I was planning to sit for the 70-410.

Well, I went ahead and took the exam during the week for the 1st time. I was "hitting my stride" and feared that if I waited any longer I'd forget little things. Passed w/ a score well into the 700's so it wasn't necessarily a hairline pass but definitely not a grand slam either. But a pass is a pass! That score beyond exceeded my expectations. I was shocked and stoked when I got my results. Very thankful too!

Midway though the exam I actually felt pretty good about my chances. But then I got torpedoed with questions from a topic I failed to brush up on during my final exam review week. After that onslaught my heart sank and figured I'd have to retake the exam. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. My best advice to myself while taking the exam was to stay calm, read the question carefully and reason through it.

Anyway, I used all the materials listed in my other thread. The only things I did differently was that I went VERY heavy with the labbing (lots of powershell) at home and TONS TechNet articles during my final week. I also chewed up and spit out the MeasureUp exams, going through ALL the questions w/ answers + descriptions; knowing why the answer was the right answer and why the wrong answers were wrong.

I have a decent amount of Server experience, going back to 2008 and 2008 R2. This definitely helped me but I would not say it alone would've made me pass.

That's all for now. I'd be glad to add more insight...just let me know. Thanks to all! Cheers!

Cisco Inferno

congrats!
one thing that I have learned is that Technet is probably the most valid study material around.
I feel that any question from an MS test can be answered from a technet article that "falls under the objectives". Versus a book covering the objectives to a certain degree. This is why sometimes people say their particular book didnt cover what they get tested on.

Definitely study the technet articles for each exam objective and you'll do fine.

stunnedsoup

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

congrats!
one thing that I have learned is that Technet is probably the most valid study material around.
I feel that any question from an MS test can be answered from a technet article that "falls under the objectives". Versus a book covering the objectives to a certain degree. This is why sometimes people say their particular book didnt cover what they get tested on.

Definitely study the technet articles for each exam objective and you'll do fine.

Thanks man!

Yes, definitely. The videos, books, and practice exams are all great help and provide an excellent basis to get you started. However, it's up to you to go 2-3 levels deeper into the topic. This is where TechNet helped me.

The videos and books gave me that good overview of all the topics. Then I went deeper and did a ton of outside research to learn the little aspects. I'd create random lab scenarios in my head and try to figure out how to configure and break each scenario. Honestly, there are some topics where I was like "No way Microsoft would make this that easy..." So I took it to TechNet and Google to learn more.

Uriah7

stunnedsoup wrote: »

Thanks man!

Yes, definitely. The videos, books, and practice exams are all great help and provide an excellent basis to get you started. However, it's up to you to go 2-3 levels deeper into the topic. This is where TechNet helped me.

The videos and books gave me that good overview of all the topics. Then I went deeper and did a ton of outside research to learn the little aspects. I'd create random lab scenarios in my head and try to figure out how to configure and break each scenario. Honestly, there are some topics where I was like "No way Microsoft would make this that easy..." So I took it to TechNet and Google to learn more.

Getting ready for the 70-410. How does it compare in difficulty/depth to the CCNA? I used Lammle's books to study for the CCNA. Any book suggestions or should I stick with TechNet? Thanks!

Cisco Inferno

Uriah7 wrote: »

Getting ready for the 70-410. How does it compare in difficulty/depth to the CCNA? I used Lammle's books to study for the CCNA. Any book suggestions or should I stick with TechNet? Thanks!

To be honest, I thought 410 to be in between icnd1 and 2. and 411 to be a little harder than icnd2.

srocky26

Congrats on the pass!

stunnedsoup

@Uriah7: I agree w/ CiscoInferno on this. I found it to be a little easier than the CCNA exam. The reason being is that I had more Microsoft background prior to taking the 410 than I did Cisco background going into the ICND2. I remember studying more extensively for the CCNA than I did for the 410. Also, since I already went through the CCNA the networking topics on 410 were just brief review for me. I recommend the OCG by Don Poulton. You can get the PDF version as well. I tried using Sybex for the 70-410 but found myself skipping a lot of pages since I found it lacking in detail. However, of all the materials I used, the Sybex explanation of Share permissions and NTFS security resonated the most w/ me. Must have been the example they gave. Other than that, this material was used the least. Good luck!

@srocky26: Thanks buddy! I appreciate it!

stunnedsoup

Wanted to take the 409 as an elective for the 412, but after reading the different posts about the drama surrounding this exam (ie: it's not an elective anymore, but still is, you can get a grace period, or you have until Sept. 6th, etc.) I decided to call Microsoft last week to see what they'd tell me.

To make a long story short, they told me I have until Sept. 6th to pass the 409 to make it count toward my MCSA. I told them that there's no way I can do that and got a little firm with them about not posting this anywhere on their site. Well, they said they could make an exception for me and that I had 30 days (until Sept. 30th) to pass the 409 for it to count toward my MCSA. This was early last week...

I've been studying since and plan to study my butt off and go full bore these next few weeks, hoping to pass the 409 to have it count as an elective for the 412. Been plowing through Orin's Veeam Guide, TechNet Labs, TechNet articles, and the MVA course. I'll keep this updated or post a new thread when I can...

dhrelic

Did you pass 70-411? I called microsoft support here in Brazil and they say to me everytime that it's not possible to change 70-412 for 74-409.

stunnedsoup

Thought I'd give an update here rather than start a new thread:

I passed the 74-409 last week. Scored in the mid-700s. Total study time = 3 weeks @ 2-3hrs/night (~50hrs total study time).

Microsoft said I can use this as my 70-412 substitute, but as soon as I pass the 70-411 I have to request that these exams (410, 411, 409) be for my MCSA. I held them to their word and noted the ticket # in case they try to backtrack on me down the road. However, I must pass the 70-411 "as soon as possible". I wasn't given a hard deadline like I was given for the 74-409 (30 days), but I feel like as long as I don't take 1yr or so I should go okay...I would think. Still kind of vague/gray if you ask me.

But, nonetheless, I'm not going to mess around. Going to take a break for a bit so I can refresh then hop right back into studying for the 411.

If anyone has any questions on the 74-409 (or even the 70-410) I'd be glad to help (without breaking NDA, of course). Let me know.

Cheers!

UKIkarus

I'm looking to start studying for 70-410 soon, I am looking at the born-to-learn checklist and technet for most of the points and they do seem to break it down pretty deep into each topic going into detail with each section that MIGHT be mentioned.

I work in IT support and have done for a good few years now working with desktops and servers both Windows and Linux based as well as AWS, but the sheer amount of information that they expect you to retain and pull out of the hat seems daunting to me.

Surely they can't expect you to memorize every little detail, commandlets, button-locations on a GUI and all the arguments required to use them properly too? that's an incredible undertaking.

I have pluralsight, linux academy, a few ebooks and hardback books for learning along with the seemingly limitless availability of resources online with a bit of searching, but I don't know where to start or what really needs the most attention, can anyone give me some pointers?

Do they really expect you to know all of the commands necessary to setup all the fundamental network services and basic roles via nothing but powershell in a terminal for core-edition?

In the real world if you get stuck generally you can lookup some info somewhere somehow or even go so far as to call someone for assistance if you forget that 1 little thing you need, but in an exam you can't get away with that so easily.

I don't have much experience with Hyper-V as we use VMWare currently, as such I am using Hyper-V on a spare machine I have and setting up all the clients/servers for labbing on this within Hyper-V, essentially forcing myself to use the methods they expect and killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

Should I just brush up on all of the topics and then go a little deeper into each, labbing as I go? trying to absorb this sheer amount of information is proving to be difficult, I fear my head might physically begin to bulge if I continue trying to remember every little thing this way

malachi1612

I can offer you abit from my in take. I have not done the 70-410 exam but I have done the 70-740 Installation, Storage and Compute with Windows 2016 which I passed two weeks ago.

They don't expect you to remember everything, like every Powershell command and GUI option but only the basics. Enough that when you look at them it triggers in your memory "oh, I remember reading about this" Then you can take it from there.

It seems undertaking when you look at the exam skills measured but they give you a percentage of what you will be asked in the exam. On the main page of 70-410 its all 15-20% for each subject but when you look at document for "As of January 2014, this exam includes content covering Windows Server 2012 R2." The percentages are different so you can work on what to focus most. For 70-740 the percentage are all over the place and it was the same for my Windows 10 exams.

I don't use VM ware for personal reasons as I don't have a proper license so all my labs (and I labbed alot!) is done in Hyper-V so when it came to Hyper-V questions in the exam I didnt find them difficult.

My method is, CBT Nuggets/pluralsight, make notes, Technet, MS Pressbook (Sybex book wasn't written yet) then lab and back again. I did that for each section and ticked off on the exam skills measured print out what I had covered.

UKIkarus

Ahh I see, fair enough!

I've been watching a few youtube videos as well which go over the basic points required for the 70-410 and it's not as bad as I first imagined it to be as they are only just brushing up on each of the topics, enough that the user knows what they are and what their purpose is.

So far it seems fairly straight forward, but I'm only just starting to have a look, I'll be sure to fire up pluralsight and get reading through some of the books as I go and technet, I have my laptop with sufficient specs to run the multiple VM's I should need, so I guess it's just a case of going at it and seeing where I struggle for now.

Thanks for clarifying.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats!! Thanks for sharing your tips and what you did to prepare

I'm about a month away from taking mine

rpaobligar

Hi! I passed 74-409 last October 14. As what they said, "although following the old path of earning MCSA: Windows Server 2012 certification was disabled in June 2017, Microsoft acknowledges those candidates who have taken or planning to take substitute exams in good faith (like 74-409) presuming that they will earn the said certification. This adjustment will be good through December 31, 2017."
I got my MCSA certification now. I hope this clarify everything.

codyspoon

stunnedsoup wrote: »

Thought I'd give an update here rather than start a new thread:

I passed the 74-409 last week. Scored in the mid-700s. Total study time = 3 weeks @ 2-3hrs/night (~50hrs total study time).

Microsoft said I can use this as my 70-412 substitute, but as soon as I pass the 70-411 I have to request that these exams (410, 411, 409) be for my MCSA. I held them to their word and noted the ticket # in case they try to backtrack on me down the road. However, I must pass the 70-411 "as soon as possible". I wasn't given a hard deadline like I was given for the 74-409 (30 days), but I feel like as long as I don't take 1yr or so I should go okay...I would think. Still kind of vague/gray if you ask me.

But, nonetheless, I'm not going to mess around. Going to take a break for a bit so I can refresh then hop right back into studying for the 411.

If anyone has any questions on the 74-409 (or even the 70-410) I'd be glad to help (without breaking NDA, of course). Let me know.

Cheers!

I noticed you already had your Cisco CCENT\CCNA before taking your MCSA 410 test. I was wondering if there was a reason for that, was one harder than the other? I know that's a loaded question of sorts but Im currently in a Field Engineer role and I spend equal time troubleshooting Firewalls, switches and WAP's as I do Domain Controller builds, Decoms and transfers.

I have study materials for both and even started studying for the MCSA a month or so ago but quickly lost interest due to working all day and coming home to study the same subject matter. I have several certs in Security appliances and one MS . I recently have a new ferver for learning and Im ready for another cert now and Im having trouble deciding which one to start first. Your opinion would be appreciated.

Thanks!

stunnedsoup

Hey guys. Sorry I've been MIA lately and not being prompt with my replies. I started studying for the 70-411 then had to step aside for more important personal things to take care of that I shunned for a while. Hate that I took almost a month off but it was needed and I should be back on track soon.

anyway...

codyspoon wrote: »

I noticed you already had your Cisco CCENT\CCNA before taking your MCSA 410 test. I was wondering if there was a reason for that, was one harder than the other? I know that's a loaded question of sorts but Im currently in a Field Engineer role and I spend equal time troubleshooting Firewalls, switches and WAP's as I do Domain Controller builds, Decoms and transfers.

I have study materials for both and even started studying for the MCSA a month or so ago but quickly lost interest due to working all day and coming home to study the same subject matter. I have several certs in Security appliances and one MS . I recently have a new ferver for learning and Im ready for another cert now and Im having trouble deciding which one to start first. Your opinion would be appreciated.

Thanks!

My main reason going Cisco before Microsoft was because I wanted to first have a good grasp/foundation of the networking side. I wanted my knowledge gaps to be filled and wanted to a little more of a deep dive into routers, switches, and troubleshooting. Also, knowing that I can continue my pursuit further (CCNP, or CCNA Sec, etc.) and build off of what I currently have.

As far as which one was harder - I found Cisco to be harder mainly because I don't use Cisco technologies day-in and day-out like I do with Microsoft. A lot of the concepts that I went over in Cisco carried over into my 410 studies (IP addressing, DNS, DHCP, etc.).

I actually enjoyed learning Cisco a bit more than Microsoft, mainly due to what you said...I'm in Windows all day and when I study at night I get burnt out. Albeit, I've learned (still learning) a lot of useful cmdlets and configuration procedures in my MCSA studies that have helped me immensely. But there's still a little bit of a burnout factor.

On which cert to study first? Hate to give such a boring answer, but it really depends on what you are feeling and what your current job or future job outlook looks to be. Or, for example, maybe you can approach it in a way such that you go the "low hanging fruit" route. What I mean is that if you're very fluent/familiar in Server go study the 410 and get that under your belt since you're comfortable with it. Use this as a momentum builder and move forward. Same applies w/ the ICND1 to ICND2.

Me personally, I was a little torn between starting MCSA or CCNA. I actually wasted at least a couple months dabbling around reading both Cisco and Server material, trying to see what I want to pursue first. Then I said "I can't waste any more time. Let me just pick a cert plan and commit to it. Let me broaden up my networking skills."

Anyway, apologies for the long post. Best of luck. Let us know what you decide to do!

showbo

rpaobligar wrote: »

Hi! I passed 74-409 last October 14. As what they said, "although following the old path of earning MCSA: Windows Server 2012 certification was disabled in June 2017, Microsoft acknowledges those candidates who have taken or planning to take substitute exams in good faith (like 74-409) presuming that they will earn the said certification. This adjustment will be good through December 31, 2017."
I got my MCSA certification now. I hope this clarify everything.

I just passed my 411 yesterday, and was upset I didn't see my MCSA Server 2012. I passed 346 Dec 2016, 410 Sept 2017, 411 yesterday.

I called support and spoke to a very nice lady, who essentially said the same exact thing as what was said to rpaobiligar. For those who took alt paths for 412...make sure you call Support and get a ticket created. They have to escalate this up so your cert will appear in your transcript.