2003 mcsa to 2008 mcse

k_babb

Hi

i was wondering if anyone could recommend the best upgrade path to 2008 mcse i have an mcsa 2003 server
just wondered if it would be best to complete the mcse on 2003 server then upgrade to 2008 mcse
or upgrade my mcsa to 2008 then complete the mcse in 2008 server

any help would be great the microsoft web site is not the clear anyone i remember it use to be easy to figure out what you needed to do

pumbaa_g

MCSE Upgrade to MCITP: Server Administrator

(2 Exams)
70-649 MCTS: Upgrading from Windows Server 2003 MCSE to, Windows Server 2008, Technology Specializations
70-646 MCITP: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator

MCSE Upgrade to MCITP: Enterprise Administrator

(3 Exams)
70-649 MCTS: Upgrading from Windows Server 2003 MCSE to, Windows Server 2008, Technology Specializations
70-680 MCTS: Windows 7, Configuring
70-647 MCITP: Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator

Both options require you to sit the MCTS 70-649 exam as per the list above. This exam is a composite of three MCTS exams - 70-640, 70-642 and 70-643 which are cut down into one exam. Because of this, you can actually use all the study material on offer for these exams to study for your 70-649 exam.

MrAgent

He has an MCSA, which means he/she would take the 648.

Slowhand

At this point, you'd be better off upgrading directly from your MCSA on 2003 to MCITP: Server Administrator by taking the 70-648 and 70-646 exams, rather than take 70-293, 70-294, and either 70-297 or 70-298 to finish your old MCSE, then upgrade to MCITP: Enterprise Administrator using 70-649, 70-647, and possibly having to take 70-680 as well. The way things are, there's no real value in continuing on the 2003 path, and you can move through to the 2008 and even the 2012 technologies fairly quickly.

This is the path I'd recommend to get the most out of your upgrade-path:

70-648 + 70-646 = MCITP: Server Administrator (now also called MCSA: Windows Server 2008.)

70-417 = MCSA: Windows Server 2012

Then decide on which of the new MCSE paths you'd like to take, if you're interested in doing more advanced studies from there. For a bit more info on the new certs, have a look at this thread.

pumbaa_g

The reason I suggested this upgrade path is
1. There is no equivalent to MCSE
2. The closest you can get to MCSE in 2008 will either be MCITP:EA which will be discontinued by Jan 2013 or MCSE Private Cloud which does not differentiate between EA and SA.

Eqmmickey

What are some good study materials for the MCSE? i always get so confused when trying to get the right information for studyn... and know which tests to take

pumbaa_g

MCSA 2008 (AKA MCITP:SA) will have 3 exams 70-640/70-642/70-646 you can find MCTS Self Study Guides for all of these, look for 2nd edition copies as those have R2 updates. Get some decent video training and reference material, I like Windows 2008 R2 Unleashed you can use Technet and Techexams as well
After that its a matter of study & practice.

Devilsbane

Slowhand wrote: »

At this point, you'd be better off upgrading directly from your MCSA on 2003 to MCITP: Server Administrator by taking the 70-648 and 70-646 exams, rather than take 70-293, 70-294, and either 70-297 or 70-298 to finish your old MCSE, then upgrade to MCITP: Enterprise Administrator using 70-649, 70-647, and possibly having to take 70-680 as well. The way things are, there's no real value in continuing on the 2003 path, and you can move through to the 2008 and even the 2012 technologies fairly quickly.

This is the path I'd recommend to get the most out of your upgrade-path:

70-648 + 70-646 = MCITP: Server Administrator (now also called MCSA: Windows Server 2008.)

70-417 = MCSA: Windows Server 2012

Then decide on which of the new MCSE paths you'd like to take, if you're interested in doing more advanced studies from there. For a bit more info on the new certs, have a look at this thread.

Something to keep in mind that on July 31 the server exams from the MCSE path will be retiring, as well as the upgrade exams to 2008 (70-648/649)

Microsoft Learning: Certification Lifecycle

j@nn3r

Thank you for the contributions.

I also have Server 2003/XP Pro MCSA. I assume there's no path from the 2003 MCSA directly to Server 2012 without taking 70-646 and 70-648?

Slowhand

No, unfortunately, there is no direct path from the 2003 generation certs to the 2012 paths, you have to upgrade one generation at a time. This is similar to the issue people faced when the MCITP certs launched and they were wanting to upgrade from the 2000 era MCSA/MCSE certifications.

j@nn3r

Thank you slaowhand.

j@nn3r

Thank you for your help slowhand and sorry for spelling your nic. wrong (I saw Clapton at the NEC in Birmingham in '89, it was supposed to be restricted view, but it was side on to the stage so you saw back stage too).

Due to the second shot offers, I am pondering taking the 417 2012 exam first, and then doing the 3 separate MCSA 2008 exams as a certification pack that have to be taken by the end of 2013 with a 15% discount.