MCITP Advice

NobbyStiles

I'm new to the world of certification, and I'm planning on doing the following exams:

First Exam: MCITP: Server Administrator

* Exam 70-640 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

* Exam 70-642 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring

* Exam 70-646 -- Pro: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator

Second Exam: MCITP: Enterprise Administrator

* Exam 70-640 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

* Exam 70-642 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring

* Exam 70-643 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuring

* Exam 70-620 -- TS: Configuring Microsoft Windows Vista Client

* Exam 70-647 -- Pro: Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator


I'm looking for some general advice on the order to do the exams? What exams are the easiest to do/what exams are the most difficult? Any other general advice from people who have done the exams?

My background is in general desktop support and helpdesk work. I only have a little experience working on servers (mostly Win2003, zero experience on 200. I'm currently unemployed at the moment, so I have lots of time in my hands.

The MS Press books appear to be the recommended study material from what I've read here and elsewhere. Are there any other recommended training materials? I was thing of using the Train signal vids as well.

jamesp1983

I would do 620, 640, 642, then 646. If you want to be an enterprise Admin add 643 in there after 642. 647 is supposedly the hardest.

NobbyStiles

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

I would do 620, 640, 642, then 646. If you want to be an enterprise Admin add 643 in there after 642. 647 is supposedly the hardest.

Thanks for the response. It might be a dumb question, but would it make more sense to start with the 70-646 seeing as I don't have much experience with Windows Server 2008?

jamesp1983

NobbyStiles wrote: »

Thanks for the response. It might be a dumb question, but would it make more sense to start with the 70-646 seeing as I don't have much experience with Windows Server 2008?

Well you have to know a little about the changes in 2008 for the 646, but you may be able to pass it with a little overview of the new features of '08. A lot of my colleagues have said that they could have passed 646 with server 03 knowledge.

NobbyStiles

Well I do have some 03 experience which should help me for that exam.

dynamik

Just go after the EA and use the Windows 7 exam instead of 620.

jamesp1983

NobbyStiles wrote: »

Well I do have some 03 experience which should help me for that exam.

It won't hurt to give it a shot. I actually know of a few people who passed from using the MeasureUp test question explanations.

texasit

NobbyStiles wrote: »

I'm new to the world of certification, and I'm planning on doing the following exams:

First Exam: MCITP: Server Administrator

* Exam 70-640 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

* Exam 70-642 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring

* Exam 70-646 -- Pro: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator

Second Exam: MCITP: Enterprise Administrator

* Exam 70-640 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

* Exam 70-642 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring

* Exam 70-643 -- TS: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuring

* Exam 70-620 -- TS: Configuring Microsoft Windows Vista Client

* Exam 70-647 -- Pro: Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator


I'm looking for some general advice on the order to do the exams? What exams are the easiest to do/what exams are the most difficult? Any other general advice from people who have done the exams?

My background is in general desktop support and helpdesk work. I only have a little experience working on servers (mostly Win2003, zero experience on 200. I'm currently unemployed at the moment, so I have lots of time in my hands.

The MS Press books appear to be the recommended study material from what I've read here and elsewhere. Are there any other recommended training materials? I was thing of using the Train signal vids as well.

I'm on a path doing the SA and EA certs. I would recommend doing the certs in this order 70-640,then 70-642,70-643,70-620(or windows 7) then 70-647.I have taken the 640 and 642 so far and 642 had some overlap from the 640 and the 646 which I'm studying for now seems like a combination of the 640,642 plus some new material.

dfosbenner

I would start with 640 & 642, because these contain all the fundamentals of networking and AD which you will use on some of the other exams. Once those are done, you can do 646 to get the SA cert.

Then I would do 643, 647, and a desktop exam (620 or Win 7). No particular order here.

MentholMoose

dfosbenner wrote: »

I would start with 640 & 642, because these contain all the fundamentals of networking and AD which you will use on some of the other exams. Once those are done, you can do 646 to get the SA cert.

Then I would do 643, 647, and a desktop exam (620 or Win 7). No particular order here.

This is exactly what I have done, and I think it is a good path. I saved the desktop exam for last (going to take the 680).

morpheous7411

So the starting with MCSA 2003/ MCSE 2003 advise does not apply in this case? I am also caught in a dilemma as to what I should go with in regard to the Windows certifications. I know MCSA 2003 and MCSE 2003 are very useful right now, but who knows how things will turn next year once I am done with them.

My thinking was to study for the certification path that will need the fewest number of exams, and for this reason the MCITP : SA and MCITP: EA are the winners. On the other hand if I go with the MCSA and MCSE route, I will still need to do two or three upgrade exams to upgrade to MCITP levels, and by then may be Win 2k8 will be widely used by potential employers.

I might start with my CCNA first until I have decided exactly which path I will follow, it would be a pain to go through the 6 MCSE exams only to find that by mid next year it is not as marketable as it is right now.

dfosbenner

I'm an MCSA/MCSE, and I need to pass 4 upgrade exams to get to MCITP: SA & EA. If I were starting fresh, no way would I do the '03 tracks, then upgrade. Think about it - it'll be 2010 in a few months! I would go right to the MCITP tracks.

I'm not dismissing the '03 track, but to me personally, it's not worth the effort at this late date. One can also make the argument that having the MCITP track has a vast amount of application in the '03 server world.

AlexMR

morpheous7411 wrote: »

So the starting with MCSA 2003/ MCSE 2003 advise does not apply in this case? I am also caught in a dilemma as to what I should go with in regard to the Windows certifications. I know MCSA 2003 and MCSE 2003 are very useful right now, but who knows how things will turn next year once I am done with them.

My thinking was to study for the certification path that will need the fewest number of exams, and for this reason the MCITP : SA and MCITP: EA are the winners. On the other hand if I go with the MCSA and MCSE route, I will still need to do two or three upgrade exams to upgrade to MCITP levels, and by then may be Win 2k8 will be widely used by potential employers.

I might start with my CCNA first until I have decided exactly which path I will follow, it would be a pain to go through the 6 MCSE exams only to find that by mid next year it is not as marketable as it is right now.

I decided to start with the MS world and had your dilemma. i gave it a thought for a while and consulted with some MS Pros and I pretty much went with dfosbenner: If I start now, when I'm likely to finish the track it's going to be less valuable. It will be less and less everyday that passes, and if not less valuable, more outdated, specially because MS WINDOWS SERVER 2008 is becoming more and more popular.

I decided to start with the '08 track. I will be doing it as my secondary studies because my primary right now is Cisco (im practically done with the CCNA Voice). I started MS because i have way too much time to study and I generally get tired of the same subject after afew hours. At that point I take the Sybex 70-640 book and relax . It almost feels like I'm reading a light novel after I change from cisco to ms...:p

I am looking for study groups, even though it's unlikely that I can find people unemployed to keep the pace.

Good luck.