best studies matirials for the MCITP?

Hi guys , I want to get ready for the mcitp , 70-640 , 70-642 , 70-646 exams , I already have a virtual machine installed on my pc and already running server 2008 on it , I am doing it all by myself and I want to buy the three books and the labs , which one should I get to get the best out of it and where? ahhh , does the books come with the labs?
Thank you .

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pumbaa_g

The best option is to go for the MS Self Paced Study Guide for all the 3 exams. Currently they are selling at a good discount in all online stores. If you are picking these up second hand then ensure you have the 2nd Edition which has the R2 material included.
Labs are really easy to setup for MS Exams and you dont need much by way of hardware to run it. I used VMware to Virtualize the whole setup for the lab with 3-6 VM's at max. I will highly recommend some video training (I used CBT) and reference material like 2008 R2 Unleashed book for added reference.
If you want more help just shout!

cyberguypr

The MS Press guides are definitely very useful. Since they can be difficult to digest at times I suggest a second source such as a Sybex book. Having a different angle comes in handy for some topics.

Lunchbocks

The MS Press Self-Paced books are really good. It has labs at the end of each chapter, and case scenarios at the end of each section. I am also using the Microsoft Server 2008 R2 Unleashed book which is really good at filling in some of the gaps. For training videos, I really like CBT Nuggets. James Conrad is actually quite entertaining, and seeing things being done while explained helps me understand it more than just reading.

pumbaa_g

You know after the MCTS Certifications I am a big fan of James Conrad, but on the 646 and other advanced Courses I am finding his videos not upto the mark

Its sad because he is a pretty decent trainer.

antielvis

pumbaa_g wrote: »

You know after the MCTS Certifications I am a big fan of James Conrad, but on the 646 and other advanced Courses I am finding his videos not upto the mark Its sad because he is a pretty decent trainer.

I like James Conrad and I think the Nuggets are a good starter point for taking your MCITP SA or EA. What I tend to do is start with the Nuggets, then I start on the book. While I read the book I make notes on a notepad (write them) & do the assignment. Just before the exam I review these notes as a primer for the exam. Haven't failed so far, but it takes a great deal of time to jot down notes on 700 pages of material.

pumbaa_g

Agree on that, but for advanced material like Cluster Shared Volumes/System Center I found him to be lacking

Ch@rl!3m0ng

MS pressbooks are good as there what i used along with some train signal videos (I found these to be better than the nuggets) Also once i had read a section from the press book I then looked over what I had learned and then hit technet to make sure that I knew as much as I could. The stickies on here also have some awsome links on. Oh and Lab Lab Lab

Psoasman

Make sure you are using Server 2008 R2, as that is the current version for these exams. I mainly used the MS Press books with Technet to fill in the gaps. The Server 2008 R2 unleashed is good. I thought the Sybex book was a bit light on the topics, though. Main thing is to make sure you lab through all the exam objectives.