70-432: The journey begins

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  • NotHackingYouNotHackingYou Member Posts: 1,460 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Zorodzai wrote: »
    I think mid December is the most realistic period I can look at sitting the exam - I just don't want to drag it into next year as I have taken long enough already. Overall how did you find the MTA ?

    My biggest problem at the moment is lack of confidence, I just feel I am not comfortable enough with all the topics covered to confidently walk into the exam room icon_sad.gif

    I used the MS official guide for the exam. It covered a ton of basics. Some of it was refresher, some was detail stuff I didn't know. The exam was less than 50 questions, IIRC. I think it only took me about 20 minutes and I scored 100%.

    Here's the book:
    Exam 98-364: MTA Database Administration Fundamentals (Microsoft Official Academic Course): Microsoft Official Academic Course: 9780470889169: Amazon.com: Books

    I always feel that way before a test, but you never know until you try!
    When you go the extra mile, there's no traffic.
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  • ZorodzaiZorodzai Member Posts: 357 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Thanks for that. True, no point in agonising and not taking the dive especially with the MS second shot still running.
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  • NotHackingYouNotHackingYou Member Posts: 1,460 ■■■■■■■■□□
    I am 100 pages deep into Tom Carpenter's book. So far it's decent, mostly review but good to see the same stuff multiple times!
    When you go the extra mile, there's no traffic.
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  • ZorodzaiZorodzai Member Posts: 357 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Cool, I do find the repetition a bit annoying at times but it is a solid book and it has better reviews than the MS Press book. Do you work with SQL databases on a daily basis ?
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  • NotHackingYouNotHackingYou Member Posts: 1,460 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Zorodzai wrote: »
    Cool, I do find the repetition a bit annoying at times but it is a solid book and it has better reviews than the MS Press book. Do you work with SQL databases on a daily basis ?

    I agree! It is very repetitive and a lot of information is given that really isn't related to the 732 but maybe it is for the 450?

    Yes, I work with SQL Server on a daily basis. Do you?
    When you go the extra mile, there's no traffic.
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  • ZorodzaiZorodzai Member Posts: 357 ■■■■■■■□□□
    I guess the repetition helps to drill in the information. Yeah, I work with SQL on a daily basis, I support a card payment system that runs on SQL. To be honest my work involves more running of queries than administration per say but I'd like to do 70-432, 70-433 and 70-450 before they get retired. It will be a while before we upgrade to SQL 2012 (in fact some of our clients are still on SQL 2000) so am not to fussed about the SQL 2012 certs.
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  • N2ITN2IT Inactive Imported Users Posts: 7,483 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Are you still pursuing 2008 or jumping to 2012?
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  • ZorodzaiZorodzai Member Posts: 357 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Taking the mighty leap and jumping to 2012.....
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  • N2ITN2IT Inactive Imported Users Posts: 7,483 ■■■■■■■■■■
    I think that is a wise move. These exams aren't cheap so you may as well get the most recent one. I hit 461 strong yesterday, I was off work and I am going to hit it again today.
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  • ZorodzaiZorodzai Member Posts: 357 ■■■■■■■□□□
    nice one.....
    yeah, I think the differences between 2008 and 2012 are not so huge that I need to restrict myself to 2008, might as well go for the latest.
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  • N2ITN2IT Inactive Imported Users Posts: 7,483 ■■■■■■■■■■
    I may schedule my exam this week, since there is the 2nd shot vouchers. Just go in with a who cares attitude but relaxed. They may be the winning receipt.

    Then you always have the 2nd voucher to fall back on. I failed 433 a few years back. 550 or so, the XML killed me. I have be reading over the XML so it shouldn't take me by surprise this time.
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  • sdyson31sdyson31 Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    msltechie wrote: »
    Hey there - I have a few questions for you about your studies. Are you using the Syngress Real MCTS book you mentioned in your first post? I read somewhere, either here or in an book review, that it's riddled with errors and that you have to request errata and updates from the publisher. Did you get any of that?

    I, too, am pursuing 70-432. I ran thru the MS Press TKIT just to get a sense what MS wants us to know, but I felt it was kind of weak in terms of depth and real teaching material. I'm coming back to SQL Server after bouncing around in other areas of IT. I looked at the VTC series and completely agree with you, there's not enough there to really learn the material. I've started the Real World book that everyone mentions; it's good. After that, the AiA book looks promising.

    Do you have any practice tests? Recommend any? I was considering the uCertify folks. They've appeared 'sketchy' in the past but now they get a clean rating with certguard.com. The selftest software questions seem to be well-received, too.

    Thanks for answering, and good luck to you!

    Mike

    Did you try uCertify for exam 70-432? I have been thinking about using them for exam 70-433.
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