70-640 Scheduled

Taking this March 5th, i've been studying off an on for the past two months now. Having trouble finding time / energy. I have gone through about half of CBT Nuggets Videos(taking notes and labbing) as well as read through the entire Sybex book (did all practice tests, highlighted key points throughout book and wrote these out for future reference). Still dont feel prepared, I can answer questions but if asked to perform tasks in Windows Server i'd probably get lost, need more lab time to connect theory with real world.

I do want to point out that Microsoft has a great promotion going on right now for college students.

Save 55% on the exam + receive 1 free re-take.

Student Certification Exams | Special Offers | Microsoft Certification

So I got the exam for $60 w/ a free re-take, just have to show student ID. Great deal, check it out

Wish me luck.

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Comments

Zentraedi

Good luck! Just took the 70-640 today and I'd say the Sybex book just isn't enough. AD LDS, RMS and FS coverage were a joke.

The MS Toolkit Press Book was better. It simply had more detail and examples of important commands.

Still, I've got to say the most enlightening resources were the Active Directory 2008 Resource Kit and the MS Press "PKI and Certificate Security" book.

Anyway, make sure you know about the the R2 features. If I hadn't already done the 70-680 material, I would have totally been caught off guard.

ITVince

I'm hoping that the CBT Nuggets videos fill in where Sybex is very vague. Nuggets does go over LDS, RMS, etc in more depth. Also intend on reading over the stickies and brushing up on new R2 material, how vital is this? Thanks for the tips man. I'm going to do my best to study hard the next month...but if I do not pass...then atleast I will know what to expect next time with my free re-take.

LCA

Zentraedi wrote: »

Still, I've got to say the most enlightening resources were the Active Directory 2008 Resource Kit and the MS Press "PKI and Certificate Security" book.

I agree 100%, those two texts are compulsory reading for anyone doing 640 - IMHO.

ITVince

LCA wrote: »

I agree 100%, those two texts are compulsory reading for anyone doing 640 - IMHO.

This is an additional 2000 pages of reading....are we talking reading these cover to cover?

citinerd

I would read it cover to cover. I am doing the WGU recommended text which is the MS press training kit "Configuring Windows Server 2008 Active Directory" and the Labsim. Then I will have to get R2 info because the book and the Labsim is just on 2008 R1. The more prepared you are the better.

Zentraedi

ITVince wrote: »

This is an additional 2000 pages of reading....are we talking reading these cover to cover?

Well if you just want to pass an exam, you can get by without it. On the other hand, if you really want to understand and apply the material, definitely read those books cover to cover.

Even beyond just passing this test, everything else in the Windows world does builds upon this and it will definitely help you. I'd say it's highly worth it to read and even re-read cover to cover.

LCA

Zentraedi wrote: »

Even beyond just passing this test, everything else in the Windows world does builds upon this and it will definitely help you. I'd say it's highly worth it to read and even re-read cover to cover.

Could'nt have put it any better myself.

I've found that doing the hard yards early on learning stuff like Active Directory and PKI/certificates properly really pays dividends when it comes to learning technologies such as SQL Server and MS Exchange etc later on.

ITVince

LCA wrote: »

Could'nt have put it any better myself.

I've found that doing the hard yards early on learning stuff like Active Directory and PKI/certificates properly really pays dividends when it comes to learning technologies such as SQL Server and MS Exchange etc later on.

This is great advice and believe me I will persue reading, nothing comes easy. I may still take the Exam in March however without this material then read these books at my leisure so I do not prolong this test any longer.