MCITP: EA - Where to start and which resources to use?

wellnowwhat

Hey, all.

I'm currently a Mac support tech and I've decided to go the MS Enterprise Admin. route. Where would be a good place for me to start with training and certifications? The 70-640 exam seems to be the most accessible, so I was thinking I'd do that one first, but let me know if you have any other suggestions.

As far as resources go, are there any recent books you recommend? I say recent because it seems like most suggestion threads I've seen are a couple years old, so I'm trying to narrow my search down to something with info on the R2 changes and additions.

Also, I say I'm a Mac support tech, but I do have experience using Winows XP and Windows 7 on my own time, so I'm not a complete newbie when it comes to client setup and troubleshooting, just FYI.

Slowhand

Your best bet for books is probably going to be the second edition of the MS Press series, which covers the R2 updates for Windows Server 2008. Darril Gibson's Portable Command Guide has also been helpful for people studying for these exams. For Windows 7, while an MS Press book is out for that as well, I've found that Don Poulton's book seems to be one of the best out there right now.

For video training, definitely look into CBT Nuggets. James Conrad is a great teacher, and the video series from CBT Nuggets always tend to be very good. You can find some decent training with TrainSignal as well, but they're not my preferred resource. A free resource for video training is Professor Messer, but I'm not sure how far along his Server 2008 stuff is at this point. Also, the 'resource' sticky threads in our own Windows Server 2008 forums are still current. Much of the original material put together by Claymoore is still valid for the exams, and the updates by other users, like earweed, include the R2 changes. The same goes for the 'resource' sticky in the Windows 7 forum.