New to IT but have just done a course on 70-642 and will be sitting the exam eek!

techmob

Hi

i have been reading this forum for some time, today i finally registered. I have just been on a course for the 70-642 and will be sitting my exam later on this year

i have only been doing IT for 1.5 years and that is mainly supporting users, fixing printers and a little bit of AD etc

i have never really done anything with building servers or installing services.

My work wanted me to go on this course and do an exam on it (they are paying) however i did not do any of the prerequisite as i have not even had any experience with server 2003 etc.

i have limited network experience and having just been on this course i found it to difficult if i am honest

the tutor whom was excellent was reffering to stuff that was in server 2003 that the other students knew (i didn't). i went along with the flow not to slow the class down but there were people in there who had over 10 years experience and knew there stuff, I felt i shouldn't of been there and probably didn't get as much as i could of got out of it if i had more experince in this

I was able to complete the labs ok following the book however i feel most of it has not sunk in yet, understandable i suppose

i am now going to be learning at home and will be making my self a virtual lab so i can learn that way

Is it realistic for someone with my experience to be able to learn and pass this exam within a few months?

I have CBT nuggets videos, microsoft self paced book and will be using this form for other reference (baring in mind i have never studied in my life).

What other content/material should i use? are there any audio books for the 70-642?

Work was going to put me on a network + course but they wanted me to go on this 70-642 instead.

i have a citrix course in September

thanks

hackmer

All depends only on you!
You should spend more time in labs.
For my 643/642 I have used MS Press, Sybex and other books, CBT Nuggets videos and technet.
I thought out various situations in which it was necessary to solve various problems(install dns-iis and media server, replication between dns servers etc.).
And now, in real life, when I see some situations, I recollect my labs and I can solve this problem.
It is very useful to model situations in which you can face in a real life.
Sorry for my English

techmob

your English is fine and thanks for your comment

i need to find what is right for me but at the moment i am just collecting as much information as i can regarding what has worked for other people and i will go from there

i am currently watching the CBT Nuggets video.

I am going to have to make my own lab at home, currently i am using virtual box and that seems to work well enough. i have server core, server 2008 and windows 7 installed to mess.

MickQ

The Server 2003 stuff is a good background, but the exam will be concentrating quite a lot on 2008 R2 topics and tech.

For a better idea of what you need to study, read this thread.

Tackle

techmob,

I had only been in the IT field for 6 months when I took this test and passed. I didn't have a lot of prior expirence, but was working on servers for that 6 months at my job, studying, and had my own lab as well. It is possible, but it is a difficult exam.

I used a software called TestOut, but the others mentioned should work just fine as well. If you put your time in you should have no problem passing, but don't expect a miracle if you do not understand all of the points that Microsoft lists.

techmob

thanks Lucas that is good to know

i am going to have to put time and dedication in.