070-431 is it good for begginers ?

tribe_menx

Hi Guys am in need of a little guideans here
I want to do MCSA but on that " journey " need to take my work an career in consideration ... as an elective i took 070-431 cause it has to do with SQL 2005 wich happens to be part of my job currently .... i want to know if this exam is made for begginers like me ? i know basic .. basic sql commands .. i work with smms at work here an there running queries .. i have it install on both my pc at work an at home ...... can u tell me if this is the right start for hopefully go for MICTP or there is somethin out there for begginers ... and if so wat materials good for exams prep .....will appreciate it

RobertKaucher

Yes, this is the exam that you would want to take. Please look at the certification guide that I created:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/sql-server-2000-2005-exams/44134-sql-server-database-administrator-2005-2008-cert-guide.html
It has a number of links you will find informative as well as a link to a post from another member with suggestions for study resources for the 431.

savior faire

I second what poster #2 says.
I just finished up a training tract in SQL Serve 2005 Business Intelligence Design, for the MCIT Pro Cert.
I started with 70-431 to get the basics of SQL Server 2005. At this point SS 2008 should be what individuals doing self study training should be thinking about.

Daniel333

I had to do a bunch of SQL Server stuff not too long ago. I found it went way over my head initially. So I followed the advice of a coworker and really learned MS Access inside and out and then Crystal reports.

I found SQL server much easier after that. But I that was just I had a serious lack of experience. So it might go easier for ya.

tribe_menx

Thanks Guys ..... its very clear now .... appreciate it
Am stuck between cbtnuggets and testout ..... both seems good
but i can only have one .. wich will u suggest as personall classroom tutor ?

RobertKaucher

TestOut hands down. I had access to both and the TestOut material is far better as it covers items in more detail, has a practice test and has simulations. Do the simulations repeatedly!

skrpune

RobertKaucher wrote: »

TestOut hands down. I had access to both and the TestOut material is far better as it covers items in more detail, has a practice test and has simulations. Do the simulations repeatedly!

I didn't use these products for this exam, but I have used TestOut for 290 & CBT Nuggets for A+/Network+/Server+....and CBT Nuggets is definitely more entertaining & engaging, but TestOut does go into more detail and is almost an entirely different product. CBT Nuggets is just videos, while TestOut is videos plus simulations/labs plus some printable summaries/notes.

I'd suggest doing a trial subscription to TestOut (one week free access to the full product) and checking out the free videos on CBT Nuggets' website...then decide for yourself which you like better before you go spending a ton of cash.

RobertKaucher

I just need to draw a distinction between this exam and others. This is exam is 50% simulation. And not the kind you get in other tests where you click a checkbox on the properties menu, which is already displayed for you. They give you complex tasks like adding groups, assigning them the proper permissions to tables, deleteing stored procedures (these are just examples I am not suggesting these are actual tasks you perform on the exam). The fact that this exam is so geared towards sims, TestOut is way above CBT Nuggets for this exam. If this were any other exam like the 294, for example, I would say go with CBT Nuggets... But for this exam the quality of TestOut far exceeds CBT Nuggets due to the fact that it actually includes simulations and has summaries of the most important aspects of each section you can print.

Edit: The testout material was so good I am actually using it for the 70-443 exam as well.