MCSA VS MCSE

terminal

hi,
Firstly, what's the difference between the two. I tried checking out the microsoft website.....not very clear to me. I'm interested in starting my training in one or both of them....I guess what am asking in the main difference between administrator and engineer....silly i know but i need clarity on the issue. It' s my understanding that to gain the mcsa i need to pass three exams if you hold the comptia A+, Network+, Security+.......How many more exams are then required to gain mcse status and are the comptia exams still recognised for this........Thanks

Slowhand

Essentially, for the current track, the MCSA is about the halfway-point for MCSE. The MCSA requires two core exams, a desktop exam, and an elective. The MCSE requires four core exams, a desktop exam, a design exam, and an elective. For MCSA, you can hold either A+/Network+, A+/Server+, or Security+. Security+ is the only CompTIA exam you can use as an elective for MCSE.

terminal

Slowhand wrote:

Essentially, for the current track, the MCSA is about the halfway-point for MCSE. The MCSA requires two core exams, a desktop exam, and an elective. The MCSE requires four core exams, a desktop exam, a design exam, and an elective. For MCSA, you can hold either A+/Network+, A+/Server+, or Security+. Security+ is the only CompTIA exam you can use as an elective for MCSE.

Brilliantly put and understood. Thanks. What i'm wondering about is the difference between an administrator and engineer? Do microsoft certs concentrate on operating systems? What would be a real life example of the difference betwwen an mcsa/mcse? thanks

Slowhand

The real-life difference is that, what Microsoft calls an administrator would work on small to mid-size networks, and not necessarily have as good of a handle on things like Active Directory, security, and clustering. An engineer would have experience in all the areas you'd study for MCSE. Again, the MCSA is considered a midpoint, where you supposedly know more basic things than an MCSE would. MCSA's are expected to know all the basics of Microsoft Windows Server 2003, DNS, DHCP, RRAS, Terminal Services, groups and users, along with some basics of AD. MCSE's are expected to have advanced knowledge of AD, of infrastructure topics, and things like clustering and security. Take a look at the objectives for each exam to get an idea of what is needed for each, and what cert requires what exam.

royal

Slowhand gives a good explanation of what differentiates an administrator vs an engineer. Here is a list of what MCSA's are expected to know and what additional technologies and concepts you need to understand as an MCSE. This is only a brief list, and there is definitely much more to each side.

MCSA:
Client Operating Systems
Basic Active Directory administration
User/Group Administration
DHCP
(W)SUS
Group Policy
DNS
RRAS
IAS (Radius)
TCP/IP (Subnetting)
Terminal Services
Performance Monitoring
Security Templates
Backup/Recovery

MCSE:
Active Directory Design which include Global Catalogs, Universal Group Membership Caching, FSMO role placement, Sites, Forests, Domains, replication, OU structures, etc.
Advanced Active Directory Administration
Topology Design (Optimal placement of network resources)
Planning/Designing Namespaces
WINS
IPSEC
Authentication in detail (Kerberos/NTLM)
High Availability (Clustering/NLB)
Certificates/PKI
Group Policy strategies
Planning/Implementation of Security

sprkymrk

Here is the Microsoft answer:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcsa/mcsa_mcse.mspx

Choose the MCSE credential if you:

• Plan, design, and implement Microsoft Windows server solutions and architectures
in medium- to large-sized companies.

• Have at least one year of experience implementing and administering network operating systems and desktop operating systems.

Related job titles: systems engineer, network engineer, systems analyst, network analyst, or technical consultant.

Choose the MCSA credential if you:

• Implement, manage, and maintain the typically complex computing environment of medium- to large-sized companies.

• Have 6–12 months of experience administering client and network operating systems.

Related job titles: systems administrator, network administrator, information systems administrator, network operations analyst, network technician, or technical support specialist.

The difference that Microsoft intended was that the MCSE plans and designs, while the MCSA administers and manages. In the real world it just comes down to an MCSE has 2-3 additional exams to pass. Either credential could be held by a person in either a designing or administrator role.

terminal

Thanks guys for all the feedback and easy explanation..........................thoroughly understood. Good Luck all