648 or 640/642

ajs1976

Failed 648 on Wednesday. Trying to decide if i'm going to take another shot at it or just go with 640 and 642 seperately.

I've never been a fan of the upgrade exams. For the Windows 2000 MCSE, I went with the seperate exams instead of 70-240. For the Windows 2003 MCSE, I did take 292 & 296, but didn't feel that I got as much out of it as taking the individual exams.

I'm not going to be able to schedule any exams until January, so for now i'm going to focus on 642 material and see how that goes.

ptilsen

I wouldn't split them up. IMO 648 was easy enough to learn both material. I spent about as much time on 680 as 648. Just focus on your weak sections and retake once you're ready. Even if you fail again, you'll spend the same as if you split them up, and more if you fail one and have to retake it.

Lunchbocks

Sorry about the fail. How far were you off? Do you feel like you would be able to pass it if you strengthened the areas you had problems with? If you were close, you might want to try it again.

I personally prefer doing individual exams because I feel like I learn more. Currently I am studying for the 70-642 exam and want my 2008 Server Admin cert. That being said, I think once I get my MCITP, I am going to attempt the 2012 upgrade exam.

Good Luck!

thronetm

I failed the 648 today

Passed the 640 part but failed the 642 with 669/1000 (probably 2-3questions short of passing)

Some questions rocked me on the first part (possibly the 640?) like
What port does Encrypted POP3 run on
What port does Encrypted LDAP run on / what port does DNS / what port does DHCP run on (UDP/TCP etc)
I was NOT ready for any port questions, did not expect them at all

The second part (possible 642?) threw a few ADCS questions, the NTDSutil and DSAmain confuses me a bit on when to use either one, I got a few questions on these, and the ADCS certificate permissions threw me off balance a bit on wether to set the permissions using Certificate Authority or the Certificate Templates snap-in.

If I was more comfortable in the ADCS/Ports/NTDS/DSAmain department I probably would have passed

Going study those areas though and resit asap

Budzy

lfcgeorge wrote: »

I failed the 648 today

Passed the 640 part but failed the 642 with 669/1000 (probably 2-3questions short of passing)

Some questions rocked me on the first part (possibly the 640?) like
What port does Encrypted POP3 run on
What port does Encrypted LDAP run on / what port does DNS / what port does DHCP run on (UDP/TCP etc)
I was NOT ready for any port questions, did not expect them at all

The second part (possible 642?) threw a few ADCS questions, the NTDSutil and DSAmain confuses me a bit on when to use either one, I got a few questions on these, and the ADCS certificate permissions threw me off balance a bit on wether to set the permissions using Certificate Authority or the Certificate Templates snap-in.

If I was more comfortable in the ADCS/Ports/NTDS/DSAmain department I probably would have passed

Going study those areas though and resit asap

Sorry to hear you didn't pass. I think you got the exams the wrong way round as the 640 covers the AD stuff like dsamain whereas the 642 covers the networking side such as the encrypted ports you mentioned etc.

I've gone down the individual route just because I learn more that way. In a nutshell, I think to answer one of your question with AD snapshots, ntdsutil is used to create them whereas dsamain is then used to mount them.

thronetm

Budzy wrote: »

Sorry to hear you didn't pass. I think you got the exams the wrong way round as the 640 covers the AD stuff like dsamain whereas the 642 covers the networking side such as the encrypted ports you mentioned etc.

I've gone down the individual route just because I learn more that way. In a nutshell, I think to answer one of your question with AD snapshots, ntdsutil is used to create them whereas dsamain is then used to mount them.

Ah thanks, I guess I did mix the exams up

I thought you could mount the snapshots using ntdsutil but after some searches it appears it can only be done with dsamain

sratakhin

I'm more surprised that you had your MCSA 2003 and couldn't tell the port numbers. I always thought it was A+/Network+ level stuff, especially things like DNS and DHCP.

Anyway, good luck on your next attempt

thronetm

I didn't know the secure stuff POP3/LDAP off the top of my head, I did know the DNS/DHCP/unencrypted ports, I can't even remember what questions I got in my 290/291 port wise, I achieved my MCSA ages ago and not working with port numbers it's easy to forget

Resitting this exam on Thursday, ready to smash it

Budzy

lfcgeorge wrote: »

I didn't know the secure stuff POP3/LDAP off the top of my head, I did know the DNS/DHCP/unencrypted ports, I can't even remember what questions I got in my 290/291 port wise, I achieved my MCSA ages ago and not working with port numbers it's easy to forget

Resitting this exam on Thursday, ready to smash it

Agreed, I couldn't tell you the encrypted / secured ports off the top of my head (apart from secure smtp being tcp 587) - for me, factual & absolute information like this is on a need to know basis...and anyway... Pop3 - What's that grandad?

Good luck for Thursday fella!

thronetm

Budzy wrote: »

Agreed, I couldn't tell you the encrypted / secured ports off the top of my head (apart from secure smtp being tcp 587) - for me, factual & absolute information like this is on a need to know basis...and anyway... Pop3 - What's that grandad?

Good luck for Thursday fella!

Exactly! Lol. Thanks buddy

luckyneo

I have been putting this exam off for a few weeks now work has somewhat got in the way.... Due to sit the exam a week today and am not going to put it off again as I want to complete it before the holidays. Will update when I have done it either way.... Thanks for the ports question heads up I hate port number questions I get the need to know common ports but secure POP3 REALLY??? good luck with the resit

ajs1976

Failed again. Score went down on the CS portion but almost cleared the NI portion. Going to wait a few days and then get 642 scheduled.

Lunchbocks

Sorry to hear about that. The 642 exam should be easier, I'm studying that one now.

Good luck!