Which should I do? 70-640 or 70-642?

shaX 07

I need to do either the 70-640, 70-642 or 70-643 to fulfill requirements for an application specific certification that I am planning on getting in the next year or so (an electronic medical record).

I just wanted some input from some folks who may have any or all of the above mentioned certs and see if you have a recommendation on which one I should go for?

My background is as follows: Worked as a network admin for about 9 months, got absorbed by a larger hospital where I spent 2 years doing help desk / desktop support, and have recently moved into a technical position for workstation management for our new EMR software.

I have some experience with AD and networking, though my networking experience is limited. Last summer I got my A+, and a year ago I got my Security+ and Network+ in the same week.

Thanks all for the input.

erpadmin

If you are comfortable with Networking, go for the 70-642. Actually, even if you went with the 70-640 you would need some networking knowledge. The 70-642 and the 640 have tremendous amount of overlap.

But if you have to get any of these exams within a short amount of time, stay away from the 70-643.

shaX 07

shaX 07 wrote: »

I need to do either the 70-640, 70-642 or 70-643 to fulfill requirements for an application specific certification that I am planning on getting in the next year or so (an electronic medical record).

I just wanted some input from some folks who may have any or all of the above mentioned certs and see if you have a recommendation on which one I should go for?

My background is as follows: Worked as a network admin for about 9 months, got absorbed by a larger hospital where I spent 2 years doing help desk / desktop support, and have recently moved into a technical position for workstation management for our new EMR software.

I have some experience with AD and networking, though my networking experience is limited. Last summer I got my A+, and a year ago I got my Security+ and Network+ in the same week.

Thanks all for the input.

Yeah I figured I would go with 640 or 642 because if I decide to continue on for my MCITP: SA at some point, i'll already have 1 of the 3 out of the way. I am comfortable with networking, I obviously did vigorous studying with concepts, osi model, ip ranges, etc.. when going for my Network+ but that was a year ago now so I would have to brush up on that stuff again.

Do you think both of these exams require roughly the same amount of prep time, given I have decent experience with both subject matters?

ptilsen

I could really go either way, but don't go for 70-643. I think 70-640 is the more logical starting point, but your background might be more suited towards 70-642. Read through the covered materials and decide what you think will be easiest.

method115

ptilsen wrote: »

I could really go either way, but don't go for 70-643. I think 70-640 is the more logical starting point, but your background might be more suited towards 70-642. Read through the covered materials and decide what you think will be easiest.

I started with the 640 my boss said i should have went with the 642. After starting the 640 I realized he was probably right. I think in the end though I'll be glad I started with the 640.

Hypntick

I started with the 642 and i'm glad I did. I had a larger background in networking that helped some, although a good bit of the stuff covered is "No one does this in the real world!" type of things. Just depends on what you're most comfortable with.

shaX 07

Is there anyone else who has taken both exams that can chime in? Since I started this thread I decided to try the 70-640 first but am re-thinking it. I bought the Cert Guide Book for the 70-640 that is supposed to be the newest and most current book for this exam (released January 2nd, 2011 includes Server 2008 R2 material).

dave330i

If you don't like learning about useless stuff, stay away from 642.

Psoasman

dave330i wrote: »

If you don't like learning about useless stuff, stay away from 642.

Like using a Server for a router

shaX 07

dave330i wrote: »

If you don't like learning about useless stuff, stay away from 642.

Hahah. I mean I probably have the best shot at 70-640 as I am very familiar with AD objects, as I have worked in AD using Group Policy objects, building accounts, using groups, etc.

I am not experienced with the advanced AD stuff like configuring domains, trusts, relationships, etc. but I suppose that's the purpose of studying and learning the material.

I would just like to spend maybe an hour per day for like 2 months to be able to pass it, though I don't know if that's going to be enough....

method115

shaX 07 wrote: »

Hahah. I mean I probably have the best shot at 70-640 as I am very familiar with AD objects, as I have worked in AD using Group Policy objects, building accounts, using groups, etc.

I am not experienced with the advanced AD stuff like configuring domains, trusts, relationships, etc. but I suppose that's the purpose of studying and learning the material.

I would just like to spend maybe an hour per day for like 2 months to be able to pass it, though I don't know if that's going to be enough....

I would be very surprised if you were able to pass it with such little study time. The 70-640 is about an extra 300+ pages compared to the others. It covers a bunch of topics which makes it even harder because you don't want to take the test being weak in any area cause thats the area that will cause you to fail.

Claymoore

Psoasman wrote: »

Like using a Server for a router

But having the feature available and the knowledge to use it correctly may just save your a$$ one day.

I use RRAS on a server (just set it up on the Server 8 beta) to route traffic out of the private internal network used by my test VMs. RRAS does have its place.

ptilsen

dave330i wrote: »

If you don't like learning about useless stuff, stay away from 642.

Sorry, but just because you neglected to complete your MCITP:EA due to disliking the material does not make the content of 70-642 useless. Please go through this list and tell me which skills you think are useless:
TS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring

I have used every sub-category on the list with DirectAccess being the only exception in my day job in the last 12 months alone. I've used over 90% of the "may include but not limited to" specifics, and all but a few of them are important to know. I would be comfortable configuring DirectAccess and recommending it (or not recommending it) to a client because of the studying I did for my MCTS exam. I sure which I'd taken that exam before I started working with DFS regularly -- it would have been a much better experience having learned about DFS.

By comparison, I have configured a few dozen ESXi servers and a handful of small clusters. Admittedly, I work in very small environments, but the result of that is that getting VCP would not do much for me. I rarely configure switches and routers, yet I've done a good five or ten production, so CCNA isn't going to help much in my day job, either. By higher standards than yours, I could call VCP and CCNA's content "useless stuff". I know they aren't, though, so I don't tell people studying for them to stay away.

Sure, 70-642 is not a perfect exam. There are some sub-topic details that needn't be covered, some that aren't covered enough, and some that are covered too much. Overall, though, the material covered on the exam is highly valuable to any Windows systems engineer/administrator or Windows-centric generalist.

On the topic of RRAS specifically, the intent behind the exam is not to make sure you know how to use Windows as a router. Microsoft actually removed OSPF functionality from 2008, acknowledging that routing outside of extremely small scales was not a feature desired by customers (I'm paraphrasing Microsoft Press here). There is a lot more depth and a lot of use to RRAS, and almost none of the questions are going to be on RIP -- the only real "using-a-server-for-a-router" component.

TLeTourneau

shaX 07 wrote: »

Hahah. I mean I probably have the best shot at 70-640 as I am very familiar with AD objects, as I have worked in AD using Group Policy objects, building accounts, using groups, etc.

I am not experienced with the advanced AD stuff like configuring domains, trusts, relationships, etc. but I suppose that's the purpose of studying and learning the material.

I would just like to spend maybe an hour per day for like 2 months to be able to pass it, though I don't know if that's going to be enough....

Well, if you're good with AD do 70-640, if you're good with networking do 70-642, if it's about even flip a coin. I didn't think that one was significantly more difficult that the other. Avoid 70-643 though, unless you need it, it can be a real pain.

That's my advice for what it's worth.

dave330i

ptilsen wrote: »

On the topic of RRAS specifically, the intent behind the exam is not to make sure you know how to use Windows as a router. Microsoft actually removed OSPF functionality from 2008, acknowledging that routing outside of extremely small scales was not a feature desired by customers (I'm paraphrasing Microsoft Press here). There is a lot more depth and a lot of use to RRAS, and almost none of the questions are going to be on RIP -- the only real "using-a-server-for-a-router" component.

Care to give an example where someone would use RRAS over a security appliance in production environment?

Brain_Power

I have heard through the grapevine that the 70-642 is an easier exam, compared to 70-640. There is a higher failure rate on the 70-640.

ptilsen

dave330i wrote: »

Care to give an example where someone would use RRAS over a security appliance in production environment?

Client already has a Windows server, wants a VPN, doesn't want to spend money on any new equipment. It's also easy to setup, secure, and integrate. Or, client wants DirectAccess specifically due to its functionality, which is not easy or cheap to implement with a third-party system.

Both scenarios have happened to me in real life in the last year. Unfortunately, the setup of DirectAccess was not worth the cost to the client, so they did not go with that solution.

Don't get me wrong -- I prefer an appliance-based VPN solution 95% of the time, but DirectAccess and SSTP are both great additions to RRAS, and sometimes doing it in Windows is the cheapest and easier way for a client. I'm just happy we finally convinced the last few PPTP hold-outs to move on.

rob_crossley

Coming from a Cisco starting point i found that the 70-642 was the logical route for me as it covers alot of the networking, subnetting, IP ranges, etc which i'd already had down for the CCNA.

I found that the 70-640 was alot harder due to the huge amount of material to cover. My weak areas also being Certificates which 640 has in abundance.

But Overall I went for the MCITP:SA route and now just started doing the 70-680 for the MCITP:EA route.

Lunchbocks

Brain_Power wrote: »

I have heard through the grapevine that the 70-642 is an easier exam, compared to 70-640. There is a higher failure rate on the 70-640.

I have heard the same thing. I am now going for my 70-640, but I do have over a years experience with Server 2008 and 2008 R2, and plenty of experience with 2003 Server.