70-411 exam Review

Louie1277

Well hello all, 
I notice we have a new updated forum *NICE* ... Well yesterday I took my 411 exam after putting off over a year because of family and work. Didn't have enough time to continue when I passed my 410 exam. 

After studying for about 3 months, and going over old material. I BOOMED the exam. I did understand the material I read but when taking the exam I was lost. Some of the questions were easy off the bat. I just got under 400 points in the exam. I'm going to schedule my retake after Thanksgiving weekend. As of today I started to study once again until the exam. 

One other thing I read from other user that he only got 45 question when he/she took the exam. My exam I have 54 questions. Is that a random when taking the exam? I will continue until i pass this exam. I must pass it before the end of the year. Sorry but not giving up!

Well have a nice weekend guys it's almost Thanksgiving  time to get FAT... lol. 

Jon_Cisco

That sucks but now that you know what to expect you have a better chance. Only thing I can recommend is looking for a good practice test to work with. I find reading the book is the best way to learn but reading the practice questions is the best way to prepare for the exam.

Good Luck on the next attempt!

Louie1277

Thank you. I just finished working around the house so I have my coffee and I'm about to start studying for the next 3 hours before dinner. I must pass this exam before the end of the year. 

Pseudonym

How much labbing do you do Louie?

Louie1277

Well just came back from taking the exam this morning and I failed again. This time I did much better then last exam i took . I getting closer to the goal could taste it. Not to upset but I have one more chance to pass the exam. Going to wait until next month to take the exam. In the mean time going to work on reading some more, and doing some more lab work. For some reason now that I figure out what works for me when studying will continue doing it. I must pass this exam and get my MCSA before my next review. That way I could tell my boss see i proved you and your mimious wrong!

PCTechLinc

Hang in there... I had to get the MCSA: Server 2008 in order to get my Bachelor's degree years ago.  I had to take the 70-642 exam (Network Infrastructure) 4 times over about 7 months in order to pass.  I did eventually pass, but it was very stressful.

Louie1277

Skyliinez92 said:

I noticed you didn't specify your study resources. What are you using for this exam? Are you using labs? CBT Nuggets is a very good video course with labs included.

Are you using practice tests before doing the real thing?

Right now I have a free trial for Plurasight that I have until the end of this month. I have some books that I been reading. 

MCSA Windows Server 2012 R2 Admistration Study Guide Exam 70-411
Microsoft Press Exam Ref 70-411 Administering Windows Server 2012 R2 2014

Plus I been doing some lab work and stuff. The more I do it the more I understand it. I think my issue is that I get too excited and nervous at the same time that I forget and get mix up. I just need to focus and take my time on taking the exam. Practice test i really haven't done that before. 

I will continue to try until I pass this exam... 

Pseudonym

Skyliinez92 said:

I personally use CBTNuggets for mine as they come with pre-built labs. Not sure about Pluralsight as I've barely used them in the past, but if you've got a free pass then I'd use it. Have you reviewed the MS objectives to see if you've met all areas?

I would strongly recommend doing a few practice tests before you step into the exam. This helps to give you a good idea on what to expect and see if you're ready. MeasureUps is highly recommended by Microsoft and they include a 30-day pass with their bundle kits. The level of difficulty is the same as the real exam, and if you can hit around 80-90% on those you should be ready. It also gives detailed responses to correct and incorrect answers, so you can also use it as an additional study source. 

One more note on MeasureUp - you can customise the tests to test on your weaker modules and even do cert-styled exams (this matches the real exam conditions). This may benefit you as you can practice your pace to keep within the time limit if this is what you struggled in before. Either way, I'd recommend using it before your next retake.

I personally don't like those pre-built labs. Half of the learning for me, is in building the lab up and accidentally misconfiguring something. You're then forced to deeply understand the config and all the working parts to get it back up and running again. Plus it makes you more careful in your configuration and also gets you to learn how best to utilise the virtualisation platform you're using. For instance making snapshots, when best to perform snapshotting etc.

I do agree that you should probably have a look at measureup though Louie. I always use them.

The most important thing, and I've mentioned this before on many occasion, is you need to make sure you've covered all of the objectives here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/learning/exam-70-411.aspx

In my experience, you get about 60% of objectives from the press book, maybe an extra 10% from videos & maybe another 5% from measureup. So, on a Microsoft exam, up to a quarter of the exam can only be found from mapping technet articles to the objectives, and I believe that is a deliberate move from Microsoft too.

Pseudonym

Skyliinez92 said:

Pseudonym said:

I personally don't like those pre-built labs. Half of the learning for me, is in building the lab up and accidentally misconfiguring something. You're then forced to deeply understand the config and all the working parts to get it back up and running again. Plus it makes you more careful in your configuration and also gets you to learn how best to utilise the virtualisation platform you're using. For instance making snapshots, when best to perform snapshotting etc.

I do agree with this, however on some occasions I don't have the time to build labs myself or have the necessary equipment to support them. I find it easier getting home from work and accessing exactly what I need from their website. I've got a longer timeframe for my 70-741 so I might consider this next time, but I've had to rush my 740 recently due to personal and work commitments.

But either way, labbing is a must for MS exams. Depending on what your situation is, you should always practice the content to know what is expected from you.

Yeah fair play. A lot of people told me to get physical routers & switches for CCNA but it just wasn't feasible for me at the time, so yeah, it does entirely depend on your situation. Pre-built labs are better than no labs.