Is 70-642 easier than 70-640?

smoovedog

I've been a network administrator for almost 10 years. Have a good knowledge of AD, server OS, networking, etc. Time to finally get my certs though (gee ya think?). Obviously I will still need to study to pass them.

For those that have taken these tests, my plan is to take 640-642-646 to become MCITP. I am just wondering which order to go in if I would like to take the tests from easiest to hardest. 642 seems alot less cumbersome than 640, some of the principals and all are a little more familiar to me after reviewing some of the documentation for both.

Thanks!

erpadmin

smoovedog wrote: »

I've been a network administrator for almost 10 years. Have a good knowledge of AD, server OS, networking, etc. Time to finally get my certs though (gee ya think?). Obviously I will still need to study to pass them.

For those that have taken these tests, my plan is to take 640-642-646 to become MCITP. I am just wondering which order to go in if I would like to take the tests from easiest to hardest. 642 seems alot less cumbersome than 640, some of the principals and all are a little more familiar to me after reviewing some of the documentation for both.

Thanks!

Can you subnet? Are Networking subjects easier for you to grasp? If so, then 642 should be taken first.

Regardless though, 642/640 has A LOT of overlap. However, I passed the 642 in one shot, as opposed to the 640 where I passed in two shots. But the 642 was a much more comfortable exam, albeit somewhat difficult, but doable with proper study.

smoovedog

erpadmin wrote: »

Can you subnet? Are Networking subjects easier for you to grasp? If so, then 642 should be taken first.

Regardless though, 642/640 has A LOT of overlap. However, I passed the 642 in one shot, as opposed to the 640 where I passed in two shots. But the 642 was a much more comfortable exam, albeit somewhat difficult, but doable with proper study.

Yeah I can subnet, and networking is easier for me to grasp. I've never had to be as thorough in AD as what entails in the 640 exam.

Thanks for the response. I do think i'll take 642 first.

Hypntick

I've got a little bit of a networking background and decided to take the 642 first, in my opinion it was rougher to pick up than the 640. I ended up failing it the first go around by a couple of questions. Just all depends on your background and your grasp of the concepts. The overlap is what helped me to pass the 640 my first go around. Good luck on your tests!

erpadmin

smoovedog wrote: »

Yeah I can subnet, and networking is easier for me to grasp. I've never had to be as thorough in AD as what entails in the 640 exam.

Thanks for the response. I do think i'll take 642 first.

Again, make sure you are comfortable with 640 topics as well. There is significant overlap in both the 642 and 640. But 642 is more heavy on networking. But you see the same type of questions on the 640.

smoovedog

Thanks for the replies guys. I will study both exam topics for each test to be familiar with the concepts of both. I will be prepared before I take them for sure.

dave330i

I found it hard to study for 70-642 because so much of it is useless (wink2k8r2 as a router? Really?!).

coty24

dave330i wrote: »

I found it hard to study for 70-642 because so much of it is useless (wink2k8r2 as a router? Really?!).

lol at dave330i - I agree with the statement, but RRAS itself is a great tool, but I don't want a server doing the job a router can do.

I just finished the 642; without breaking the NDA, IPv6 is one area you should have well and subnetting(IPv4), the differences between link and site local.

I think this one was difficult, mildly non-useful information. For me the 642 was harder than 640, but not by much. Just my own personal exp. Good luck!

sherrill

I'm gearing up to take this one. I've been doing networking for 15 years and have subnetting fairly well down in my head, but I won't take that for granted.

I find it interesting that Global Knowledge has put out this article - in particular, look at their take on networking.

10 Tech Skills Heading the Way of the Dinosaur - 2012 Edition

Krunchi

I thought 642 was the easy one of the two had zero questions about subnetting.

rob_crossley

I did the 642 first because ive already done my cisco exam so found alot of things like subnetting, ipv6 etc hugely useful for this exam. Im now in the process of doing the 640 which i find incredibly boring in comparison. Strangely i quite enjoyed the 640. call me a sadeist.

IT Explorer

This question is commonly asked here, So If you'll choose the 640 first, you'll depend on technet for many subjects and then you'll see that 642 is so easy, just like what I did *_^