Calling all MCITP:SA and EA - I have a question

Ok Those of you who are MCITP:SA or EA I have a couple of questions.

SCENARIO:
I have a great co-worker/friend(whats up technowiz

) trying to motivate me to finish up my MCITP:SA EA. He is willing to humilate himself at work (he will knock on all of the IT manager's office doors call them into the common areas stand on a desk, beat his chest and declare that I am the man!!) so long as I finish the SA track by the end of the year (640,642,646). I have already finished up 70-620 (big whoop) for the EA track. So Basically this means I have to study,take and pass an exam every month.

QUESTIONS:
What is the biggest bang for buck purchase in study material?
I already have the MCITP:Training Kit but I need to expedite the studying and was considering Exam Cram.
Which exam has been the easiest for you and why(640,642, or 646)? I want to maximize study time by knocking out the easiest exam first. the AD exam is the first choice on the MCITP exam roadmap. But AD is one of the last exams for the MCSE track and one of the hardest to my understanding.

Also has anyone been up against a timetable like this? (3exams 3 months no 08 experience)

Your assistance is greatly appreciated

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Comments

dynamik

I'd go with something like Transcender over Exam Cram if you already have the MS Press books. I like to use different materials and mix things up a bit. One month per exam isn't too bad. It seems like you have a decent amount of experience as it is, so you'll just have to learn what's new in 2008.

nel

+ 1 for transcender.

I cannot really comment on the exams as i have not took any but good luck with the target! Its always good when there's someone spurring you on!

jibbajabba

dynamik wrote:

I'd go with something like Transcender over Exam Cram if you already have the MS Press books. I like to use different materials and mix things up a bit. One month per exam isn't too bad. It seems like you have a decent amount of experience as it is, so you'll just have to learn what's new in 2008.

IF Money is not an issue go for the Transcender ones (he, if certain co-worker would do that in my company I would get a loan if I have to loool) ...

And +1 for the CramMaster ones .. $99 - hence $50 cheaper (although you get transcender voucher on ebay for $99) and its very adaptive .. and as far as I can see (tested / bought 70-643) they are VERy close to the real ones .. well .. not so much really .. but when you understand the questions then you won't have a problem with the real one.. But obviously you should not rely on those tests only ...

Books : I find the official books VERY booring ... give the Syngress ones a go (amazon) - they are written in a more .. well .. human way

one month is absolutely doable .. My "record" is 2 in one month .. but that meant reading reading reading .. I even gave my PS3 away for the time being

Oh and of course labs .. get vmware workstation / server or virtual pc / server and go through the labs. It will help you to remember certain dialogs etc. ... just plain trying to remember settings / options etc. is easier when you actually clicked it yourself

darkerosxx

642, imo, was pretty easy if you have experience with the fundamentals of infrastructure services(dns, dhcp, etc). There's a few extra things in there, but overall, it wasn't that hard. I would guess that how hard it is compared to the others would depend on your level of industry experience.

Good luck btw~

callmenobody

Gomjaba wrote:

dynamik wrote:

I'd go with something like Transcender over Exam Cram if you already have the MS Press books. I like to use different materials and mix things up a bit. One month per exam isn't too bad. It seems like you have a decent amount of experience as it is, so you'll just have to learn what's new in 2008.

IF Money is not an issue go for the Transcender ones (he, if certain co-worker would do that in my company I would get a loan if I have to loool) ...

And +1 for the CramMaster ones .. $99 - hence $50 cheaper (although you get transcender voucher on ebay for $99) and its very adaptive .. and as far as I can see (tested / bought 70-643) they are VERy close to the real ones .. well .. not so much really .. but when you understand the questions then you won't have a problem with the real one.. But obviously you should not rely on those tests only ...

Books : I find the official books VERY booring ... give the Syngress ones a go (amazon) - they are written in a more .. well .. human way

one month is absolutely doable .. My "record" is 2 in one month .. but that meant reading reading reading .. I even gave my PS3 away for the time being

Oh and of course labs .. get vmware workstation / server or virtual pc / server and go through the labs. It will help you to remember certain dialogs etc. ... just plain trying to remember settings / options etc. is easier when you actually clicked it yourself

What was you hardest exam out of the 3?
i have VM labs setup also, ...and amen to the MSPress books being boring!
I dont have a PS3 but I understand! I have to leave my XBMC XBOX alone it owns me

jibbajabba

callmenobody wrote:

What was you hardest exam out of the 3?
i have VM labs setup also, ...and amen to the MSPress books being boring!
I dont have a PS3 but I understand! I have to leave my XBMC XBOX alone it owns me

Mmmm... hardest .. I'd say the EASIEST was the Vista one - haven't even studied for that one ..Personally the latest one I did was the hardest for me ... 70-643 .. escpeially the topic Terminal Services ... I never really worked with it and went through the books and it "sounded" easy .. but damn there is a lot more to it especially with all the bits and bobs such as TS Gateway, TS Session Broker and whatnot ..

The WEIRDEST thing : I have the lowest score for Webapplication

... weird because I am working in a hosting company and live and breathe IIS :P :P

Jamie132st

I personally thought all of the 2008 exams were easy, well easy compared to server 2003. I guess that is because Microsoft hasn't had as much time to develop the exams yet, ie no sims. I used the MS press and lots of hands on practise configuring TS, NAP, RODC, etc. Just a tip if you dont have the equipment to setup a lab then goto Microsofts vlabs, you will get a solid 1 hour and a half, with the right vlab 2 hours to play around with there virtual network. You dont have to follow there track, for example a vlab with vista and 2008 server you can practise the new gpo, because you can reboot the machines, join and disjoin them from the domain. Great experience. Anyways, alot of the stuff has the same concept as server 2003, with some enhancements of course.....