Passed - 70-640

I passed 70-640 today with a 740/1000 score. People keep telling me "a pass is a pass" but I try to hold myself to higher standards so I am disappointed in myself for not making 900+.

I had something come up and got behind 2 days on my prep for the exam. Last night at 9:00 I still had 150 pages (of the 919) to go in the book so I skimmed Chapter 15 (AD-CS), Chapter 16 (AD-RMS), and Chapter 17 (AD-FS) without doing the labs or lesson/chapter reviews. I didn't want to cancel the exam today so I went and took it. I knew I would pass but also knew I wasn't prepared to the level I usually am. It will be a few days before my 70-643 2nd edition book arrives so I am going to spend a couple of days studying those last 3 chapters. I want to know those technologies inside-out. Cert services is quite involved but necessary. I see a lot of use for AD-RMS and AD-FS, even in my own company. I am NOT a "paper" MCSE and I will NOT be a "paper" MCITP-EA.

Passed 70-640
740/1000

Reading time: 47 hours (10-12 hours less than needed)
Lab time: 12-13 hours (3-4 hours less than needed)
Total prep time: 59-60 hours (13-16 hours less than needed)

Resources used:
MS Press 70-640 2nd Edition book
Exam sim that came with book
Transcender exam sim
Supermicro server w/16GB memory and quad-core Xeon processor running Server 2008 R2 Enterprise and Hyper-V, Server 2008 R2 Enterprise and Windows 7 Enterprise virtual machines

Next exam: 8/9 - 70-643 Configuring Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure

Note in my sig that my exam schedule has been flipped around since the 70-643 2nd Edition book is available almost a month early so I am taking all MCITP-EA exams before starting Citrix. I have also stretched out my schedule by a week completing CCNP on 12/30 instead of 12/23.

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Comments

Essendon

Good work man, I thought you'd score higher on this one, I think it's one of the easier exams in the MCITP. Give RDS/IIS/GPO's some time, expect a grilling on these topics.

Psoasman

Congrats on passing!

LAN_Guru

Essendon wrote: »

Good work man, I thought you'd score higher on this one, I think it's one of the easier exams in the MCITP. Give RDS/IIS/GPO's some time, expect a grilling on these topics.

Thanks! I have to admit, I am a little disappointed in myself. Not making excuses but I probably should have postponed the exam until today or Thursday to give me an extra day or two of prep time since I had something come up that put me behind. You live and learn.

I am not just doing this to pass exams and add more letters after my name. I am doing this to learn new technologies, become an expert on those technologies, and add more tools to my toolbelt to be a more effective engineer. Hence why I am going back and studying AD-CS, AD-RMS, and AD-FS even though I have already passed the exam. Actually, with every exam I pass, I go back after the fact and study my weak areas some more.

Fortunately, I have a ton of TS/RDS experience having worked with the technologies almost daily ever since Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition. I have personally done 50-60 SBS roll-out projects, supported 100's of SBS environments, and implemented Citrix Web Interface in IIS countless times so I have worked with IIS, app pools, etc. a great deal. In reality, the SBS experience is priceless because I have worked extensively with IIS, SharePoint, Exchange, AD, GPO's, etc.

Yep, AD-RMS and AD-FS killed my score. I know enough AD-CS to do what I have needed to do with Web Interface, Citrix Secure Gateway, and IIS in the real world. But i want to know more about all those technologies.

A pass is a pass. A 900+ score is a win to me.

What do you call 2nd place? The 1st loser...

LAN_Guru

Psoasman wrote: »

Congrats on passing!

Thanks! I truly appreciate it...

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

higherho

You passed ! Congrats!

Scores are important but anyone can score good on a test. It's the skills you obtain for the experience you have and its those skills that will separate you from other people. To be honest I think the 740 in your case was a good score because you just learned a lesson in terms that life can mess up your schedule and obviously life comes first.

Because of this score your determination is shown because now you will go back and read the chapters you skimmed through. This determination / attitude matters ALOT with employers.

I think you are a good person Lan and keep up the great work!.

technoob

You did 642 before 640? I thought these went in order, no? Im just starting out and am in the process of looking for some nice resources but in your sig i see you did 642 before 640. Why did you do it that way, any reasons?

LAN_Guru

technoob wrote: »

You did 642 before 640? I thought these went in order, no? Im just starting out and am in the process of looking for some nice resources but in your sig i see you did 642 before 640. Why did you do it that way, any reasons?

Microsoft does not require the exams to be taken in any particular order. The only reason I took 70-642 before 70-640 is because the MS Press 70-642 2nd Edition book (with R2 content) was available a few weeks before the 70-640 2nd Edition book.

Also, the 70-647 2nd Edition book was available before the 70-643 2nd Edition. If my 70-643 2nd Edition had not shipped from O'Reilley on Friday and scheduled to be here on Tuesday, I probably would have gone ahead and done 70-647 before 70-643.

You would think Microsoft Press would have released the 2nd Editions in sequence...

Ivanr4g63

I can see where you can feel disappointed on your score, but I think alot has to do with the way microsoft does their exams, and the way they formulate questions and scenarios. Congratulations on the Pass! and keep it up! at the end of the day is not if we pass the exam or not, is how you perform on the real world case that comes when the server is down, it needs attention and so on.
I personally know of several good techs who didn't take the exams and they have great engineer level experience, and also techs who come to apply at our company, show us a list of certs but no hands on experience under their belts...
Just a thought...

On a side note I believe the 70-640 to be a real hard exam, it covers many exam specific subjects whereas the 70-642 has more subjects that are shared with many other certifications such as CompTIA Net+, Cisco CCNA and so on... (not exactly shared topics, but you guys know what I mean)

impelse

Congrats

UniqueAgEnT

You are a beast with your exam start/end times. I am studying through 70-640 and its taking more time than my MCITP:SQL server tests did. Seems like there is a lot more involved and I have not played with Server as much as SQL prior to the tests.

What do you do to study? Read/Lab? I am currently doing the Microsoft book for 70-640 and it has a good mix of lab/reading

LAN_Guru

Ivanr4g63 wrote: »

I can see where you can feel disappointed on your score, but I think alot has to do with the way microsoft does their exams, and the way they formulate questions and scenarios. Congratulations on the Pass! and keep it up! at the end of the day is not if we pass the exam or not, is how you perform on the real world case that comes when the server is down, it needs attention and so on.
I personally know of several good techs who didn't take the exams and they have great engineer level experience, and also techs who come to apply at our company, show us a list of certs but no hands on experience under their belts...
Just a thought...

On a side note I believe the 70-640 to be a real hard exam, it covers many exam specific subjects whereas the 70-642 has more subjects that are shared with many other certifications such as CompTIA Net+, Cisco CCNA and so on... (not exactly shared topics, but you guys know what I mean)

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

As for experience vs certs, I started playing with computers in the early-mid 80's, have been a full-time IT professional since 1994, and didn't get my first certification until 2000. I cut my teeth on Radio Shack TRS 80 Model 3's, Commodore VIC 20 (yes, I actually had the external hard drive instead of cassette tape storage) and 64, IBM PC Jr, IBM S/36, DEC VAX, DOS 6.22, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Paradox for DOS (PAL scripting), WordPerfect for DOS, Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS, Citrix WinFrame 3.51, Novell NetWare 3.11, etc.

During the last 17 years as an IT professional, I have worked with hundreds of other IT professionals and have had the pleasure of working with a handful of truly awesome engineers, especially at the CDC and at HP. Sadly though, there are far more IT "professionals" out there that are better at "fluffing" their resumes than being good technicians or engineers.

LAN_Guru

impelse wrote: »

Congrats

Thanks!

UniqueAgEnT wrote: »

You are a beast with your exam start/end times. I am studying through 70-640 and its taking more time than my MCITP:SQL server tests did. Seems like there is a lot more involved and I have not played with Server as much as SQL prior to the tests.

What do you do to study? Read/Lab? I am currently doing the Microsoft book for 70-640 and it has a good mix of lab/reading

Thanks!

This is how I prepare for an exam:

1) I study using the MS Press Books (2nd Editions). I read each section and chapter, do all practice labs in sequence in the book as I am reading, and then answer the review questions at the end of each section. I check my answers and, for the ones I miss, I go back right then and review until I understand why I missed it and why the correct answer is the correct answer. I seek understanding, not just correct answers.

I do NOT do exam sims after each chapter as the book recommends. I tried that at the end of the 1st Chapter on 70-642 and the sim hit me with questions on material that I had not covered yet so I failed the sim miserably. I decided to wait until after reading the entire book before doing sims. That way, I don't have 20 hours invested into doing sims on material I haven't even studied yet.

2) I do all the scenarios and check myself and review wrong answers just like I do with the review questions.

3) After reading the entire book, doing all labs, and answering the review questions and reviewing my answers; I do the exam sims that come with the books, and do Transcender exam sims. After simming, I go back and review the areas I am weak in.

I seem to average 15-17 pages per hour reading plus about 1+ hour labbing for every 4 hours reading. I do exam sims for 3-4 hours and then review weak areas for 3-4 more hours. I do not do more sims after the last review. "either you know it or you don't..."

As for the 70-640 exam:

The MS Press 2nd Edition book was delivered to me Tuesday afternoon 7/19. I studied a few hours on 7/19, all day on 7/20. I had something come up and was only able to study a few hours on 7/21 and was not able to study at all on 7/22. I then studied all day 7/24, all day 7/25, and 3 hours on 7/26 before I had to drive 2 hours to go take the exam. I don't recommend covering 919 pages in 3 full days and 3 half days to anyone. It was brutal. If I had postponed the exam for a day and studied for 10-12 more hours (last 3 chapters; AD-CS, AD-RMS, and AD-FS), I am confident I would have scored 850+ instead of 740. I would guesstimate that approximately 1/3 of my exam questions were from those last 3 chapters that I only skimmed...

By the way, those "all day" study days are 16ish hours. The 3 nights before the exam I only slept 4-5 hours a night...brutal.

demonfurbie

which did you find harder the 70-642 or the 70-640

LAN_Guru

demonfurbie wrote: »

which did you find harder the 70-642 or the 70-640

Believe it or not, 70-640. The book was 250+ pages thicker! Considering I cover 15-17 pages an hour, that equates to 18ish more hours reading time.

I am not really finding any of this material extremely difficult. It's not difficult material, there's just a lot of it.

mojadiv

LAN_Guru wrote: »

Microsoft does not require the exams to be taken in any particular order. The only reason I took 70-642 before 70-640 is because the MS Press 70-642 2nd Edition book (with R2 content) was available a few weeks before the 70-640 2nd Edition book.

Also, the 70-647 2nd Edition book was available before the 70-643 2nd Edition. If my 70-643 2nd Edition had not shipped from O'Reilley on Friday and scheduled to be here on Tuesday, I probably would have gone ahead and done 70-647 before 70-643.

You would think Microsoft Press would have released the 2nd Editions in sequence...

Hi,

I'm new to the Microsoft Certification world.

Attended a Windows 2003 server crash course and guess what, it lacks a lot of details.

Didn't bother to take the exams for the MCSA modules.

Then I decided again to try it and this time with the Windows Server 2008 directly with these purchased resources.

I have already received my MCITP EXAM 70-640, 70-642 and 70-646 2nd editions books.

Can you please advice which book should I study first?

LAN_Guru

mojadiv wrote: »

Hi,

I'm new to the Microsoft Certification world.

Attended a Windows 2003 server crash course and guess what, it lacks a lot of details.

Didn't bother to take the exams for the MCSA modules.

Then I decided again to try it and this time with the Windows Server 2008 directly with these purchased resources.

I have already received my MCITP EXAM 70-640, 70-642 and 70-646 2nd editions books.

Can you please advice which book should I study first?

If I had it to do over and I had all the 2nd Edition books, I would probably do 70-640 first. All the other exams require at least some AD knowledge and skills. Having a foundational understanding of Active Directory is crucial to Windows Server implementation, administration, and support. The 70-680 exam also includes some AD skills...

If you can get 70-640 under your belt, it will help with the other exams...

mojadiv

LAN_Guru wrote: »

If I had it to do over and I had all the 2nd Edition books, I would probably do 70-640 first. All the other exams require at least some AD knowledge and skills. Having a foundational understanding of Active Directory is crucial to Windows Server implementation, administration, and support. The 70-680 exam also includes some AD skills...

If you can get 70-640 under your belt, it will help with the other exams...

Thanks for the advice LAN GURU. Good thing I started with the 70-640 hehehe...