70-662 and 70-663

Hi all

I have decided to go for the MCITP: Exchange 2010 path.
I just wanted to know if the following 2 books would cover both the 70-662 and 70-663. I wanted to make a change from the Microsoft press books as they tend to leave some exam stuff out.

So should I stick with microsoft press books or go for the following books:

Exchange 2010 - A Practical Approach: Amazon.co.uk: Jaap Wesselius: Books

Exchange Server 2010 Unleashed: Amazon.co.uk: Rand Morimoto, Michael Noel, Chris Amaris, Andrew Abbate, Mark Weinhardt: Books

many thanks all

Fizzedine

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Comments

jibbajabba

The first is a very good start to get your Exchange server up and running. It will really only get you started - by far not enough to pass an exam.

The second is a good book - but not based on SP1 and a few changes have been made since RTM (i.e. managed folder are removed from the UI, some commandlets have been changed). If you search threads made by me you'll notice a few gotchas

Sse here : http://www.techexams.net/forums/556780-post6.html

I worked with this one :

Amazon.com: Exchange Server 2010 Administration: Real World Skills for MCITP Certification and Beyond (Exams 70-662 and 70-663) (9780470624432): Joel Stidley, Erik Gustafson: Books

This covers both exams including SP1

Oh and I am using Microsoft Press books only if a table is wobbly and need some support or to reach higher cupboards (to stand on) ... hate them with a passion ... the only thing they are good for is the 15% exam voucher you normally find in the book .. back in the days they had at least 180 day trial versions of the software discussed, nowadays the errata is longer than a bloody bible. The ONLY book I can recomend from Microsoft is this one

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Exchange-Server-2010-Inside/dp/0735640610/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1314787300&sr=8-3

This is massive and has EVERYTHING in there you need - but way too much if you JUST want to pass the exam, but it is a VERY good reference (also SP1 included)

Fizzedine

Ha ha this made me laugh about the books. im not sure why they stopped trial software. its not like microsoft are cutting costs haha. ok i will try the book you recommended. many thanks jibba jabba :O)

jibbajabba

Fizzedine wrote: »

Ha ha this made me laugh about the books. im not sure why they stopped trial software. its not like microsoft are cutting costs haha. ok i will try the book you recommended. many thanks jibba jabba :O)

No problem

I think the worst book I ever found in terms of book corrections is the SQL 2005 one ... There were 100s of corrections which makes you wonder why they don't just give the book to someone who has no knowledge and make them to go through the labs..

One more important thing about Exchange : labs .. if you can afford it, get a server somewhere, even a cheap virtual server would do (for studying anyway), get Exchange installed and run your private mails through it - that way I learned the hard way if something isn't right because .. well .. you're not getting any mail

If you then still have some $$ left, get a proper SAN / UCC SSL certificate to see how autodiscover in Outlook works over the internet.

The cheapest provider I found is this one

Certificates for Exchange - SSL certifcates, domains and hosting to use with your Exchange server on the internet.

Short of installing your own root CA I don't think there is a cheaper one out there (but wouldn't mind getting a link if there is one

)

Fizzedine

I only have a laptop for running labs. so i can only run 2 vms at once. is it possible to have all mail roles on one server, just for the sake of labbing?

jibbajabba

Yes you can ... In fact I run all roles (except Unified Messaging) on one server (which is even the DC).
What I mean is I am using a 'proper' VM in a datacenter which you can rent cheaply so you can test proper mail routing through the Internet (or you got a static IP with a proper connection at home).

Fizzedine

excellent. because ideally i just want to run i server which holds all roles and 1 workstation to test client side. i looked at the book you recommended and read a preview. i got worried because it says to configure 5 vms using hyper v. i wanted to check did you have to follow this method or use single server.

many thanks for everything jibba jabba. you rock \W/

jibbajabba

I didn't follow the scenarios per-se. I just read the theory of it and installed it my way as I don't like to follow blind guides.

If you have the resources do either. I might be the worst example as I pretty much have unlimited resources. I am working in a hosting company responsible for vSphere cluster so I can have as many VMs ('proper', as in on the internet on high performance hardware). But the way I approached it was first, have a single server install to see it working (send / receive / outlook / owa). Then further down the studies I branched out AD, so I had one VM dealing with AD and one dealing with all Exchange rules. Next I installed a second Exchange server and created a DAG. Then I created a new infrastructure to see how it is when using a server / role so I had a server for AD, Mailbox, CAS, Hub Transport and Edge server. Then I build a fully redundant infrastructure. I had 2 DCs, two mailbox server running DAG, two Hub, two CAS running a CAS array and 2 server running Zeus loadbalancer for the CAS front end and two Edge server with round Robin MX records and also a proper SSL certificate.

It is a lot of work and unless you have enough resources for x amount of VMs, expensive. It all depends how far you want to go and what the purpose of the exam is.

In my case we needed someone with an Exchange certification for our Microsoft competency so technically 'all' I needed was the exam so I would have to go to that extend. HOWEVER, I enjoyed Exchange, still do, so I had all personal reasons to learn it properly.

Plus in our company you normally become the '*****' for the technology you are certified in so every customer order involving Exchange infrastructures ends up on my table so naturally I HAD to actually know it properly as ever order is different. Some companies have no money and need that and some have unlimited budgets and don't want any single point of failure.

So a lot of chat to actually say one short thing: Do as much as you can afford, money and time wise in order to prepare for the exam. The last thing you want is being yet another paper certified monkey who doesn't even know what an MX record is.

Fizzedine

i admit at work they just want us to have the paper and they dont really care if we have the knowledge. but, for me, exchange is something i enjoy and i would like to do more project type work with it.
so onward i go for the certs and knowledge.

many thanks for all your help again. i really appreciate it.