Scheduled too....

Technito

So I've scheduled to take 294 Wednesday, September 8th. At this point I can say I am "officially" annoyed with Windows Server 2003 . Just can't wait to get MCSE done and over. I think I'd be ready to take 294 a little sooner but I need more time understanding site link topologies and replication intervals etc. Everything else I been labbing and think I should be prepared enough when it comes time to take the exam.

I found one person in this forum to say this was the easiest exam in the MCSE track for them. How much I'd like to believe that would be the case for me, but highly likely not

tbgree00

Good luck. I wish I could have scheduled it in the 8th but the local place was booked and I couldn't get cleared for a day off to travel. Something about my boss having a baby trumps my tests, I don't get it =p

I've been watching the nuggets and nothing seems too overwhelming yet. Have you found anything wacky in the book?

Devilsbane

When I was going through the book, there were several things that were tripping me up. Most of them due to replication. I'm sure I could get them if I sat down and really studied, but at the time I never intended to take this test. Now its in the on deck circle.

tbgree00

Replication is actually my next nugget. I'm anticipating that and Group Policy to be confusing. So far I'm underwhelmed with James Conrad in this series but it seems like there's not a ton to be said about the basics of AD.

Devilsbane

tbgree00 wrote: »

Replication is actually my next nugget. I'm anticipating that and Group Policy to be confusing. So far I'm underwhelmed with James Conrad in this series but it seems like there's not a ton to be said about the basics of AD.

I enjoyed his videos for the 290 and 291. I will certainly pick them up for the 293 and 294. Holding off on buying them at the moment because my car is ready to hit the junk yard and I'm saving all of my money for a new one. Hopefully this won't interfere with my certifications, but if it does oh well. Having a reliable car to get to work is more important than a couple certifications. Maybe I'll just have to take a vacation, darn!

tbgree00

Don't get me wrong, he is still as a fantastic teacher. He just hasn't packed much into each nugget and is very prone to rambling more than he was for the earlier tests. I just looked and the replication nugget is only 20 minutes. Most have been less than 30. It's just a lot less meat per section but that reflects more on the test itself than on the teacher.

Technito

tbgree00 wrote: »

Good luck. I wish I could have scheduled it in the 8th but the local place was booked and I couldn't get cleared for a day off to travel. Something about my boss having a baby trumps my tests, I don't get it =p

I've been watching the nuggets and nothing seems too overwhelming yet. Have you found anything wacky in the book?

Thanks. I haven't came across anything too wacky. It's just, as you know with the MS Press books some things are just not explained as clearly as it should be. And Replication, Site Link Toplogies happen to fall into the "not explained well" category. I am using other sources such as Selftest Sotware, Technet etc which I feel is helping. But yeah it seems the focuses are really narrow in this book. I have a pretty good understanding of GPO's and Users/Groups, Trusts, Functional Levels, AD Global Catalogs etc, and from what I understand that's the meat of the exam

As I was telling you, there's a test center here in Cincinnati that's open 6 days a week for testing. They are a fairly large testing center and for all the time I been testing there I've never seen them booked. I know it's a couple hour drive for you and hard getting the time off, but at least you'd be guaranteed to take the exam on your desired date and time.

Edit: It's after 4pm in the afternoon right now, and I could schedule an appointment there to test tomorrow morning if I wanted. Wanted to add that, they're that flexible

Campeon_1

Lets see if I can pass it .. you never know until the end........

Campeon_1

I guess not... ....

Devilsbane

Campeon_1 wrote: »

I guess not... ....

It is a tough test, what was your score?

Campeon_1

yeah .. man. it was bad.. I felt ready.. but in a way I am glad I didn't pass, this just makes it so I get better prepared for next time. I forgot how some of these test can be hard .

Technito

Campeon_1 wrote: »

yeah .. man. it was bad.. I felt ready.. but in a way I am glad I didn't pass, this just makes it so I get better prepared for next time. I forgot how some of these test can be hard .

Sorry to hear you didn't pass. Did you use one of the exam packs where you get the free retake?

Technito

Thursday I decided I was ready so decided to re-schedule my exam a little sooner. Just couldn't wait till next week. I took the exam this morning and passed with a 793 . Some of the scenarios were a little tricky but definitely not a big scare like some of the people on here tried to make it seem. It reminded me a lot of 70-290 in a lot of ways. I did have a ton of sims (at least 10) and for the most part the questions were lengthy. But I took my sweet time going through and it wasn't so bad.

Some advice on what you really need to know for this exam.......... Know how and when to use a global catalog server, know what the NTDS Util is and how to use it, when to publish versus assign GPO's, know FSMO roles and how to tranfer roles, Know the use of proper OU structures, know the types and directions of Trusts, and know your domain and forest functional levels.

tbgree00

Congrats dude! I didn't see a new message notification or I would have replied over the weekend. The waiting is killing me but my local center is booked solid through November now and my boss is on babywatch 2k10 so I can't take a half day to travel to Northern KY or Cinci. I may try to up it to a Saturday though...

I feel like the nuggets and MSpress books are preparing me pretty well. I need to go back over AD Partitions and actually watch the nuggets on GPO but then it's just 2 weeks of review unless I move it up.

Technito

tbgree00 wrote: »

Congrats dude! I didn't see a new message notification or I would have replied over the weekend. The waiting is killing me but my local center is booked solid through November now and my boss is on babywatch 2k10 so I can't take a half day to travel to Northern KY or Cinci. I may try to up it to a Saturday though...

I feel like the nuggets and MSpress books are preparing me pretty well. I need to go back over AD Partitions and actually watch the nuggets on GPO but then it's just 2 weeks of review unless I move it up.

Thanks. It's cool, thought I'd sneak that post in there. But yeah you should definitely do fine on this exam. Even if you do wait it out till the 22nd, you'll be that much more prepared.

So yeah I decided I'll be taking 298 instead of 297. The reason is when I do Security+, I'll get the Security Specialization. I wasn't planning on this because I could've sworn at some point in time 299 was a required exam for this, but I viewed recently and it's not required. I already have 350 passed, so with 298 and Security+ will give me MCSE: S. After that I'm going to take a break for the rest of the year (what's left of the year anyway). And I been thinking of pursuing CCNA: Security sometime next year. What about you?

tbgree00

Technito wrote: »

Thanks. It's cool, thought I'd sneak that post in there. But yeah you should definitely do fine on this exam. Even if you do wait it out till the 22nd, you'll be that much more prepared.

So yeah I decided I'll be taking 298 instead of 297. The reason is when I do Security+, I'll get the Security Specialization. I wasn't planning on this because I could've sworn at some point in time 299 was a required exam for this, but I viewed recently and it's not required. I already have 350 passed, so with 298 and Security+ will give me MCSE: S. After that I'm going to take a break for the rest of the year (what's left of the year anyway). And I been thinking of pursuing CCNA: Security sometime next year. What about you?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you need the 299 and Security+. MCSE Certification | MCSE Training | Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. That said I think that we're going to be on the same track for awhile. I'm taking the 298, 299, and Security+ hopefully by the end of the year. My boss cringes when I say I want to start the Cisco stuff but I think the CCNA: Security will be first up next year. Cisco is his specialty and he has a CCIE Voice. We are totally a Cisco shop so I think knowing the equipment will help.

I don't know if I'm going to do the 298 and 299 at one time like a lot of people suggest. It would be rough but the second shot is going on and I already have the 298 paid for. It could be an interesting experience.

Devilsbane

tbgree00 wrote: »

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you need the 299 and Security+.

Correct, but keep in mind that the 299 is essentially the same material as the 298 except it is in the format that we all know and love. (Straight test rather than testlets). Many people will use the 299 book to take both tests because the 298 book is 400 pages of bullet after bullet.

My plan is to take some extra time studying for the first one (say 6 weeks instead of 4-5) and then have 1-2 weeks between the 298 and 299.

So it is really only going to take more money, shouldn't add much study time.

Technito

tbgree00 wrote: »

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you need the 299 and Security+. MCSE Certification | MCSE Training | Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. That said I think that we're going to be on the same track for awhile. I'm taking the 298, 299, and Security+ hopefully by the end of the year. My boss cringes when I say I want to start the Cisco stuff but I think the CCNA: Security will be first up next year. Cisco is his specialty and he has a CCIE Voice. We are totally a Cisco shop so I think knowing the equipment will help.

I don't know if I'm going to do the 298 and 299 at one time like a lot of people suggest. It would be rough but the second shot is going on and I already have the 298 paid for. It could be an interesting experience.

I was viewing that same link. Under where it says "Exams on security: Choose 2". So all I should need is 2 from that list, right? I have 70-350 passed and when I do Security+ that should be the only 2 I need from this list. And of course the design exam (70-29 is required. Correct me if I'm not viewing something right. Because they do change that stuff periodically.


CCNA: Security + MCSE: Security = Very rare and valuable combination. Not jumping the gun, but I'm sure I'm gonna need a lot of time for CCNA: S, because most of my real world experience have been working on the server administration side with very little actual networking. I mean I've done basic configuration of multi-layer switches and some 2800 series Cisco routers. But when it comes to Security, troubleshooting and understanding all the routing protocols n stuff, that's where you lose me. So I know I'm definitely gonna need a lot of advice when I get here. So if you guys find any good resources be sure to share.

tbgree00

I didn't realize you had the 350. Yes, you are reading that correctly. I'm not that lucky.

I find it hard to keep from jumping the gun myself. I am planning years ahead and not even done with this series yet.

Technito

tbgree00 wrote: »

I didn't realize you had the 350. Yes, you are reading that correctly. I'm not that lucky.

I find it hard to keep from jumping the gun myself. I am planning years ahead and not even done with this series yet.

It could've been true, because as I was saying I'm almost sure 299 was required at one point in time and the others were electives to choose from. But this was before you could use CISSP, SSCP, etc for electives. But I figure I might as well take advantage of it while I'm this close. But yeah I have a whole list planned out as well. As long as we take it one exam at a time everything should be fine