New to MS World - WGU

Well I am new to the entire certification world to honest. The keywords I used to search the forum are "to widely used" so please forgive if this has been posted.

I will be joining the ranks of WGU as of 11/1/11 going for the BS IT NA.

The degree information states:

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Windows 7 – Configuration
Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Server Administrator

The MCTS is easy to find the exam - 70-680
Now the MCITP Server Admin I believe it to be the 640 642 646 but I am not 100%

So here is my question(s) -

Because I like to plan ahead as much as possible - I would like to build a lab box to be able to handle all the requirements as well as be fully virtual. This addresses a few things all at the same time. Build, destroy, rebuild - Learn. as well as get my feet wet with nix* since I don't have a test environment right now I am avoiding it.

What would be a recommended piece of hardware that I can keep an eye out for?

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erpadmin

KrisA wrote: »

Well I am new to the entire certification world to honest. The keywords I used to search the forum are "to widely used" so please forgive if this has been posted.

I will be joining the ranks of WGU as of 11/1/11 going for the BS IT NA.

The degree information states:
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Windows 7 – Configuration

Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Server Administrator

The MCTS is easy to find the exam - 70-680
Now the MCITP Server Admin I believe it to be the 640 642 646 but I am not 100%

So here is my question(s) -

Because I like to plan ahead as much as possible - I would like to build a lab box to be able to handle all the requirements as well as be fully virtual. This addresses a few things all at the same time. Build, destroy, rebuild - Learn. as well as get my feet wet with nix* since I don't have a test environment right now I am avoiding it.

What would be a recommended piece of hardware that I can keep an eye out for?

You will want to go to the Virtualization forum. A lot of folks, myself included have built/bought (I bought) a server just for this purpose. Right now I have a server that has 16GB RAM, 4x250GB HDs, 3 W2K8 R2 guests and 2 W7 Enterprise guests. All with minimum configuration. Hopefully I can get rid of the W7 guests tomorrow after I pass the 680. (Would like to tweak memory on the server guests).

In any event, do your searching against the Virtualization forum....this topic has been discussed.

KrisA

And this is what happens when I get excited. Seeing $ amounts from my loan, I created this post hastily not placing it in the logical sub-forum. I will ***** the virt forum and find answers.

EDIT: Really? T®0ll is asterisked out?

lsud00d

KrisA wrote: »

EDIT: Really? T®0ll is asterisked out?

Happened to me earlier...I lol'd

SpaCeTraNce

KrisA - As a WGU student also working on NA here is what I have found that will be helpful in your studies:

WGU offers students access to VMWare software. It will not be available to you until after you complete the first month. I didn't get the automated email and had to bring it up with both IT and personal mentors. Server sofware is available through Dreamspark.

So all the software you need to run a good lab is available free of charge.

I have made do with i5 processor and 8 GB of ram. I can run three Windows 2008 servers at a time without any real performance issues.

Honestly at this point in the game I am not even using the VMs, im so tired of MS tests ( i will be sitting for 70-646 on 11/15) that I'm just studing using transcender test software. I know it is not the best way to absorb the material but it has been a long road and I'm ready to get off the MS bus

A word of warning: You want to use more than the testout/labsim software for the MS Server 2008 tests. 70-640 is a real difficult test that requires a lot of detailed studying. Labsim is good for the general overview and transcender was good for me to get into the specifics. Your degree is hard to achieve but hey that is why we signed up right?

Best of luck....