The Beast... (How? Why? What?)

ThunderPipe

What makes this Exam so much more difficult than others?

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dynamik

Breadth of topics.

Slowhand

The reason the 70-291 exam is called "The Beast" is simply what dynamik said, there's a lot to cover and each of the topics go deep. You'll know more about DNS and routing with RRAS than you ever expected to know, not to mention that there are some things that blind-side you, like being a Microsoft-guy but still having to know subnetting, the OSI model, and certain routing protocols (RIP and OSPF) almost as well as a CCNA candidate.

Don't underestimate this monster, and good luck.

deneb829

ThunderPipe wrote: »

What makes this Exam so much more difficult than others?

When I told the manager of the testing center in Tallahassee which test I was taking, he responded:
"Oh! The widow maker!"

No kidding, this test was tough. I've been in IT going on 15 years, and I taught the networking courses at the local college for 3 years. Just studying for this exam was humbling. Do not take this exam until you can configure and troubleshoot DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP, etc. The thing with this exam, like 70-290, is that it covers topics in-depth that aren't always used day to day. Sure, most of us have configured and supported DNS (even in UNIX), but Windows DNS is integrated into Active Directory and has components like stub zones, forwarding, etc. that many administrators just never needed to configure or support. Every subject covered in the exam is like that!

Also, I needed more time for this exam than any of the others that I took for my MCSA. My wife drove with me when I took all of my tests (except A+) and each time, she had to wait less than 90 minutes. When I took this test, she was back outside within an hour (with our 18 month old). I didn't finish the exam for 3 hours.
Here's my story on taking the exam:
http://techexams.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32544&highlight=deneb829