70-640 Exam

sjones10

Hi Guys,

I have just started studying towards obtaining my 70-640 qualification. Has anyone on here taken this exam if so is there any pacticular area's that i should put extra work in to? I am using the MSPRESS Book, CBT Nuggets and transcender and the sticky resources posted on this site.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Stuart

Essendon

Those resources should be good enough. Just make sure you lab the stuff up, VMware and the like. I have heard people saying that RMS, LDS and CS arent tested too much so maybe you can channel your energy into other topics. But then, everyone's exam is different.

Try and get your hands on the MeasureUp exams for this test, a friend took his exam and he got 2-3 identical questions from them.

sjones10

Hi Essendon,

You mentioned measure up which i will now try and obtain for this test but how about transcender is this sufficient. I have setup a vm lab on laptop and i am working through the MSPRESS book. I have been concerntrating on learning CSVDE, LDIFDE, DS TOOLS and powershell. It states in the MS book that you will only be expected to know basic powershell commands (Do you know if this is still current.)

Do you know how many questions are in this exam and if the test is progressive?

Cheers for your help

Stuart

BradH

Ignore 70-640 (well it's the same syllabus) and look up 83-640. It is a fully interactive exam with 2 VM's you have to configure and also a series of multiple choice questions. If you're going to take the exam in english, then 83-640 is only available to you.

sjones10

Hi Brad,

Can i still use the 70-640 training kit for this exam? Also do you know how i can go about booking this exam as i cant find it on the prometric website.

I can see the exam 70-640 but as you say this is not avaliable in english.

Cheers for you help

Lee

rsutton

sjones10 wrote: »

Can i still use the 70-640 training kit for this exam? Also do you know how i can go about booking this exam as i cant find it on the prometric website.

I can see the exam 70-640 but as you say this is not avaliable in english.

Cheers for you help

Lee

I used the MS training kit for the 70-640 exam. I am taking the 83-640 in a few hours. I will let you know if it was adequate.

crrussell3

I took the 83-640 using the 70-640 resources. Its the same information, just presented in a different format, which is vms that you have to make configuration changes on.

Essendon

sjones10 wrote: »

Hi Essendon,

You mentioned measure up which i will now try and obtain for this test but how about transcender is this sufficient. I have setup a vm lab on laptop and i am working through the MSPRESS book. I have been concerntrating on learning CSVDE, LDIFDE, DS TOOLS and powershell. It states in the MS book that you will only be expected to know basic powershell commands (Do you know if this is still current.)

Do you know how many questions are in this exam and if the test is progressive?

Cheers for your help

Stuart

Transcender have a good reputation in general, I used them for my MCSA and they were harder than the actual exam. So if you are able to ace them, the actual exam should be a piece of cake.

I havent taken this exam yet, but other test-takers said they only saw very basic Powershell on the exam.

HTH.

rsutton

I just passed the 83-640 using the 70-640 Self-Paced training kit. Make sure you use another source with this book for full preparations.

sjones10

Hi Guys,

Cheers for everyones help on my thread.

Firstly well done rsutton for passing the exam 83-640, how did you find it? When you say use another source of information i am using cbt nuggets and transcender. Do you think this is sufficient? Is there a lot of practical simulation in this exam. Can you give me any tips what area's in particular to concentrate my studies on.

Cheers

Stuart

BradH

CBT nuggets is probably the best, that along with the MS Press book for 70-640 (it's the same syllabus) and the Measure Up practice tests that come with it.

However build many virtual machine and test yourself when it comes to configuring them as that the majority of the exam. Know how to answer the multiple choice but this is a practical exam so you will be given two physical (thats right real) VM's to configure so if you don't know how to do what's in the book practically, you won't pass.

If you have a decent PC with a fair amount of RAM, built some VM's with Virtual PC (free from MS) and practice building domain controllers, core servers, read-only DC's, repairing it, backing it up...etc.

crrussell3

BradH wrote: »

CBT nuggets is probably the best, that along with the MS Press book for 70-640 (it's the same syllabus) and the Measure Up practice tests that come with it.

However build many virtual machine and test yourself when it comes to configuring them as that the majority of the exam. Know how to answer the multiple choice but this is a practical exam so you will be given two physical (thats right real) VM's to configure so if you don't know how to do what's in the book practically, you won't pass.

If you have a decent PC with a fair amount of RAM, built some VM's with Virtual PC (free from MS) and practice building domain controllers, core servers, read-only DC's, repairing it, backing it up...etc.

I will add to this and say know DNS inside and out. You will need to know how to make a lot of configuration changes, so make sure you know how to do it and where to do it.

BradH

Very very valid point... DNS is big on quite a few exams. Nail it now and you have less study to do in future!

sjones10

I have got to say thank you for everyones support. I am studying hard to try and prepare fully for this exam and a this help and support is great.

Do you have questions on this exam that ask you to configure certain features on the VM servers provided? I am trying to understand how this exam is laid out because i was expecting more of question and answer based exam. For the exam do you really need to know all the inner working of DNS or more the setting up and configuring part. I have got to say understanding DNS is by far the most complex topic in the book and really hard to get my head around sometimes.

Stuart

rsutton

You need to understand how DNS works and how to configure it.

This link gives more detail on what will be on the exam. You should prepare to answer questions and perform lab exercises on all of this content.

sjones10

Hi Guys,

Can anyone tell me for the command line utilities for example DS commands, CSVDE, LDIFDE, Powershell and VBSCRIPT will you be expected to know all general syntax of all these tools. It was mentioned on my Thread that this exam is very practical so i am wondering if you can run for example dsquery /? when you are setting up 2 VM'S if this tool is mentioned or you need to know these commands off by heart?

When people say that this exam is practical and you must setup VM how do Microsoft go about requesting this. Will you get a list of requirements when the exam starts and you must go about setting the enviroment up.

Cheers

Stuart

crrussell3

You will get a list of tasks that you must complete (in any order) on the vm, and in any way you can. This means if there is a CLI or GUI method of completing the task, either is acceptable.

As for what specific commands are on the exam, that can't be said as we all sign a NDA when taking a test. I will say that these are fully functioning servers, so typing the command /? works along with the built in Help feature. The only thing working against you is time.

sjones10

Hi Crussel3,

Thanks for you advise regarding my previous post. I did not want to know the commands just how the exam is laid out really as this is a new way of presenting.

How long do you get to complete the exam as i can not seem to find this information anywhere. Is the test progressive or do you have to see it through to the end.

Stuart

pespi_man

It was roughly 3 hours, about a hour or so per lab and a hour for the questions.

From my exam i had to see it through to the end.

sjones10

Hi Pepsi_Man,

Thats seems pretty tough going 3 hours but at least Microsoft make sure you know your stuff when you leave the exam. Did you use any particular testing software to prepare for the exam?

I am trying to work out when i will know i am ready for this exam. How much studying did you do to prepare?

Cheers again for all your help

Stuart

crrussell3

sjones10 wrote: »

Hi Crussel3,

Thanks for you advise regarding my previous post. I did not want to know the commands just how the exam is laid out really as this is a new way of presenting.

How long do you get to complete the exam as i can not seem to find this information anywhere. Is the test progressive or do you have to see it through to the end.

Stuart

I had 65 minutes per VM, with two VMs total. Then I had another 60 minutes to complete the multiple choice questions. These times can't be carried over between different sections. So say the first VM takes you 40 minutes, the extra 25 minutes can't be applied to the other VM or questions.