Anyone do the 70-648 recently? Failed!

dukedar

Hi All, came to the forum after failing 70-648. I never realized this kind of resource existed!

Trying to update my MSCA on 2003 before the 648 retires. My work requires that we have current certifications, so I am a little behind here. Most likely after the retirement I will need to continue with 2012 as well.

I passed the 70-292 for 2003, and 648 was nothing like that!

Used the Syngress Real MCTS/MCITP for 648 and Exam Force practice test. I don't feel that it prepped me well.

The exam was the usual 2 halves with 32 questions each. Got clobberred with Certs, NAP, and NPS.

Anyone else getting this many questions on these lately?

Ideas for regrouping?

Thanks!

Darren

certs4me

I passed it a few months ago although it took me 3 attempts. I found that by the time I had studied one section, like Network Infrastructure, I had forgotten details on the other section (Active Directory). After I failed I focused on my weakest sections. I relied on Technet a lot, the MS Press book and simulated every server role in my lab as much as possible.

Essendon

None of these upgrade exams are going to be easy. Have you considered breaking up the 648 into two bits, the 640 and 642? I considered the 648 when I was doing my EA and honestly found all that stuff in one exam to be overwhelming. Luckily I realized that after a week or two and split up the 648. Doing the 640 and 642 separately taught me more, I passed both easily within a month of each other and I got two certs, doing just the 648 you get none because you still need the 646 to be an SA.

Out of curiosity, did you pass one half?

dukedar

Essendon wrote: »

None of these upgrade exams are going to be easy. Have you considered breaking up the 648 into two bits, the 640 and 642? I considered the 648 when I was doing my EA and honestly found all that stuff in one exam to be overwhelming. Luckily I realized that after a week or two and split up the 648. Doing the 640 and 642 separately taught me more, I passed both easily within a month of each other and I got two certs, doing just the 648 you get none because you still need the 646 to be an SA.

Out of curiosity, did you pass one half?

That's the funny part, I did some digging here, and found that you really do need R2 material, so I ordered the 640 & 642 MSPress Books for R2 (no R2 648 MSPress). I am looking at the requirements to see how much more work it really is, comparing 648 to 640/642. I did my original 2000 in 4 exams, so if I end up doing 3 (for SA), it won't be so bad. I really do want to learn it and don't want to resort to ****.

The catch is that I have my 2nd Shot on 648. If I go the 640/642 route then I am out the one exam fee. On the other hand, I can probably still get 2nd Shots on both 640 & 642.

I am still evaluating, but am leaning to splitting. Going to review with my boss today. They reimburse books and successful exams only, and we may have specific requirements for our MS Partner agreement.

For the marks, meh, 466 on 640 and 608 on 642.

Darren

dukedar

I don't know what Amazon is doing in Canada, but the books showed up in 1 day. looked at them quickly, but compared to the Syngress, it seems like night and day in difference.

Pushed the boss to get back to me, and we only get competencies on 642 or 648 (and 646) for our Silver Agreement, and what they themselves are looking for. More to ponder!

Darren

Essendon

So does that mean you cannot/shouldnt do the 640? Maybe have another go at the 648, if you dont get the better of it then do the 640+642+646 to get to the SA cert. Good luck with whatever you do bud. Most of these MS exams arent easy, I have my 659 next week and it's my first MS exam in about 2 years or so. Jittery!

dukedar

Essendon wrote: »

So does that mean you cannot/shouldnt do the 640? Maybe have another go at the 648, if you dont get the better of it then do the 640+642+646 to get to the SA cert. Good luck with whatever you do bud. Most of these MS exams arent easy, I have my 659 next week and it's my first MS exam in about 2 years or so. Jittery!

Yup. it was my first one in 4 years

They aren't telling me not to do the 640, but we have an internal bonus program since only last year that gives us something like an extra $500 per year that we help them qualify for the MS Partner. They didn't say no, I just wont get the extra dough.

I can still expense books and successful exam fees though...

Decisions, Decisions...

Darren

Devilsbane

So when you take this exam, is it like 2 separate tests in 1. Or is a single test with the different pieces tossed together in a mess?

dukedar

Devilsbane wrote: »

So when you take this exam, is it like 2 separate tests in 1. Or is a single test with the different pieces tossed together in a mess?

The version that I had was 2 sections of 32 questions each. The score was given for each, using the lowest of the two for passing. Each section was actually identified as 70-640 and 70-642. You cannot continue to the 2nd half until you finish the review on the first.

All that to say, it really does feel like two exams...

Darren

Devilsbane

Ah, that sucks. Makes sense though. I had thought that perhaps one area might lift up the others but you really gotta know your stuff. Almost does sound easier to take them individually... but then there is really no advantage to upgrade.

dukedar

Well, I tried this one again Monday, and failed the bastard again. Had a 465 & 680. Same format, too, 32/32 Questions over 3 hours. I used the MS press books and they were much better and did a ton of labs, but no go. Took 5 days vacation to boot! i must have put about 180 hours into this thing. Without relying on illicit materials, how the heck do you pass this thing?

I am now back to trying to deicde if i tackle it again, or got the 640/642 route? might do the 642 first as i did better both times and it gets me a bonus at work for our Partner program.

Any thoughts of encouragement? I see that some people have done the 648 3 times...

Thanks,

Darren

thronetm

dukedar wrote: »

Well, I tried this one again Monday, and failed the bastard again. Had a 465 & 680. Same format, too, 32/32 Questions over 3 hours. I used the MS press books and they were much better and did a ton of labs, but no go. Took 5 days vacation to boot! i must have put about 180 hours into this thing. Without relying on illicit materials, how the heck do you pass this thing?

I am now back to trying to deicde if i tackle it again, or got the 640/642 route? might do the 642 first as i did better both times and it gets me a bonus at work for our Partner program.

Any thoughts of encouragement? I see that some people have done the 648 3 times...

Thanks,

Darren

It's hard, but never give up.. Personally, if I was you I would continue trying to bite the 680 rather than go the 642/640 route..

Microsoft are doing free resits on their exams Retake Microsoft Certification Exam for Free | Microsoft Learning

dukedar

lfcgeorge wrote: »

It's hard, but never give up.. Personally, if I was you I would continue trying to bite the 680 rather than go the 642/640 route..

Microsoft are doing free resits on their exams Retake Microsoft Certification Exam for Free | Microsoft Learning

Yup, this was a Second Shot exam... for the 648 though.

Whatever I do decide, it will be done with the Second Shot!

Thanks,

Darren

lukea

I stumbled over this whilst searching Google.

I have my 70-648 booked for early May. I unfortunately started to read the MS press book a few weeks back, then only really noticed / found out that the exam was changed to server 2008 r2 but no book for it!! I'm now not going to bother with the other two books, instead just try and grasp the differences between server 2008 and r2, then apply these to the skills being measured. I'm also using uCertify test exams (not amazing but the content is at least there)

I spoke to someone at MS who told me the best way to upgrade my old certification was to take the 70-648, then the 646 and upgrade to Server 2012 with 70-417
(I was MCSA 2003 in 2006....never finished going to MCSE due to various things)

They didn't mention / I didn't realise this was a b*tch of an exam!! I didn't even know there was 2 sets of questions and that the lowest is the passing score, I would have thought they would at least do an average!

...best get studying then! Was hoping to have this nailed by end of May, the 70-646 done by end of July and then the rest of the year studying the new Server stuff and catching up on Windows 7 exams.


Good luck with the retake.
Luke


EDIT: just like my MCSE, only noticed I registered for this site in 2005 but only my first post! Wine matures quicker....

dukedar

lukea wrote: »

I stumbled over this whilst searching Google.

I have my 70-648 booked for early May. I unfortunately started to read the MS press book a few weeks back, then only really noticed / found out that the exam was changed to server 2008 r2 but no book for it!! I'm now not going to bother with the other two books, instead just try and grasp the differences between server 2008 and r2, then apply these to the skills being measured. I'm also using uCertify test exams (not amazing but the content is at least there)

I spoke to someone at MS who told me the best way to upgrade my old certification was to take the 70-648, then the 646 and upgrade to Server 2012 with 70-417
(I was MCSA 2003 in 2006....never finished going to MCSE due to various things)

They didn't mention / I didn't realise this was a b*tch of an exam!! I didn't even know there was 2 sets of questions and that the lowest is the passing score, I would have thought they would at least do an average!

...best get studying then! Was hoping to have this nailed by end of May, the 70-646 done by end of July and then the rest of the year studying the new Server stuff and catching up on Windows 7 exams.


Good luck with the retake.
Luke


EDIT: just like my MCSE, only noticed I registered for this site in 2005 but only my first post! Wine matures quicker....

Earlier in the post it was mentioned that for R2 you need the 640 & 642 MS Press books. I went this route. Be careful though, in the Skills Measured section under the Exam details, I used the requirements for 648 as compared to 640/642. Somehow Branchcache and Directaccess are not mentioned on the 648 overview, but I had 1 question on each.

Know your ports as well, and on both that I wrote, each section of the exam had 6-8 questions in a row with the same 8-10 answers. know your command line tools and which utilities do what.

I have personally given up on 648, and have decided to try 642 to get out of my slump. Then I will do 640. 648 retires July 31st, and 640 & 642 are not currently showing any retirement dates, so I have a little more time.

Darren

lukea

Weird, the MS person I spoke to told me that those were retiring at the same time! So if you pass 640, you can take your time to study and take 642? Maybe I should have gone that route...

Those questions may have been the "filler" ones they use; don't go against your overall mark but there for them to evaluate, although are they shown on the 640/642 overviews?

Good luck. My plan is to take this (I have second shot) but if I fail I only have 3 weeks before using the 2nd shot. There's no exam centre that's ideally close either so I have to put in the expense of travelling. The sun is out, and I'm in studying

blargoe

I'm pretty sure Darren is right; 640 and 642 aren't retiring in July, just the MCITP:EA test and the 646 and 648 tests (upgrading 2003 MCSA/MCSE).

dukedar

lukea wrote: »

Weird, the MS person I spoke to told me that those were retiring at the same time! So if you pass 640, you can take your time to study and take 642? Maybe I should have gone that route...

Those questions may have been the "filler" ones they use; don't go against your overall mark but there for them to evaluate, although are they shown on the 640/642 overviews?

Good luck. My plan is to take this (I have second shot) but if I fail I only have 3 weeks before using the 2nd shot. There's no exam centre that's ideally close either so I have to put in the expense of travelling. The sun is out, and I'm in studying

Obviously I do not know if they were marked, but they were definitely part of each section of 32 questions...

luckyneo

I have my second attempt at this booked for the 17th May...

Failed first time round, I didn’t cover off any of the R2 stuff originally have been over that stuff for a while know. Got caught out with the port number type questions first time around which I think suck as exam questions, remembering obscure port numbers that are hardly used in enterprise environments shouldn’t be an exam measure in my humble opinion. If I hadn’t of had a free second shot I would have been p*ssed off with this...

I have spent a lot of time reviewing the new techs in 2008 and 2008 R2 the upgrade exams seem to focus heavily on what’s new may be not that much of a surprise I guess. I didn’t enjoy this exam and don’t think I will this time around.

Keep trying man

Will let you know how I get on

sratakhin

Good luck! I'm taking this exam in a few weeks as well.

thronetm

luckyneo wrote: »

I have my second attempt at this booked for the 17th May...

Failed first time round, I didn’t cover off any of the R2 stuff originally have been over that stuff for a while know. Got caught out with the port number type questions first time around which I think suck as exam questions, remembering obscure port numbers that are hardly used in enterprise environments shouldn’t be an exam measure in my humble opinion. If I hadn’t of had a free second shot I would have been p*ssed off with this...

I have spent a lot of time reviewing the new techs in 2008 and 2008 R2 the upgrade exams seem to focus heavily on what’s new may be not that much of a surprise I guess. I didn’t enjoy this exam and don’t think I will this time around.

Keep trying man

Will let you know how I get on

I failed with port numbers on the 648 too, then nailed it the second time after memorizing the ports (no free voucher at the time)

Now I am ready to begin studying for the final 647

lukea

well, I failed that miserably

437 for 70-640 and 639 for 70-642. Oddly I was v. confident on the first one more so than the second, so didn't expect to see the marks higher for the latter.

I'm now struggling to find anywhere close to take the 2nd shot before it expires 31st May (the "local" testing centre is 30 miles away from me) so looks like I may have to scrap the 2nd shot and re-take some point in June.

I think I know what I need to knuckle down and do. I've had a few bad weeks for finding time to study, no excuse but I'm confident I know where my weaknesses are. Knowing my luck I'll get no questions on those areas during a resit

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

thronetm

lukea wrote: »

well, I failed that miserably

437 for 70-640 and 639 for 70-642. Oddly I was v. confident on the first one more so than the second, so didn't expect to see the marks higher for the latter.

I'm now struggling to find anywhere close to take the 2nd shot before it expires 31st May (the "local" testing centre is 30 miles away from me) so looks like I may have to scrap the 2nd shot and re-take some point in June.

I think I know what I need to knuckle down and do. I've had a few bad weeks for finding time to study, no excuse but I'm confident I know where my weaknesses are. Knowing my luck I'll get no questions on those areas during a resit

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Keep going, we know you can do it!

I drive 71 miles to my testing center, it's all worth it when you pass, and the drive home is pleasant

I would take the free resit, seriously go for it

Keep thinking positive, I studied CBT Nuggets, 70-648 Microsoft ebook and some technet & lots of labbing

Good luck!

lukea

Managed to find a relatively local test centre (57 miles away) that I could book my Second Shot today.

The last two weeks have been 6-10 hours a day study study study. Press book (pre r2), uCertify stuff, technet, labs and some Internet resources (study notes, exam advice) so my brain feels like it is going to explode.
This second one was so much easier than the first, I got hit on my strong points and had hardly any questions about CAs and FS, which I had plenty of last time.

Walked away with an 850 for 70-640 and 933 for 70-642. Decent, but I believe I was lucky, if I was hit with Similar to the first time, I really don't think I would have got through so easily, if at all.

Now to load the brain with 646 stuff and complete before 31st July. That on top of starting a new job in two weeks...joy.

Thanks to everyone on here (not necessarily this thread alone) for advice, tips and general info that helped pull me through.

luckyneo

lukea sounds just like my story.... Had to drive down to Gloucester to find a test centre to sit the exam..... Been putting this one off since Feb but finally got around to sitting it, well it was my second shot and it was the last possible day to take it LOL....

I had already passed my 646 so thats me done with certs and 2008 server... Not sure where I am going cert wise next. Think It will probably be VMware VCP as I have done the course. Then may be 2012 or perhaps Exchange or SQL dont really know at this point just glad to have finally got through this one.

Good luck to all still trying to get these done

lukea

Hey luckyneo

Congrats

646 is next on my agenda. I'm just working out a way to see if I can cram enough in over the next month and try and hit it early July. I'm not sure how different it is to 640/642 yet as I've not really looked into it. Just got the MS Press Book r2 off eBay so once that's here I'll have more of an understanding of how long it'll take me to blast through.

Sadly after 3 months off I start a new job in 2 weeks - was hoping to have got both 648 and 646 out of the way before I started. They are running Hyper-V and RDS on Server 2012, so after 646 I'll probably look to upgrade that to 2012 (I don't really need a full MCSE - the MCSA is sufficient enough; I'm 60% managerial, 40% technical and it's not an enterprise setup)
After that possibly some Exchange / Win7 certification, haven't really decided. I've heard a rumour (to be honest I've not really looked at it in detail) that MS are changing their certification so that you have to retake exams every 3 years to keep the cert... anyone know about this?

luckyneo

I found the 646 a lot easier to do than the 648 maybe because there was a lot less materials to cover and it was more related to my role at the time. Not saying it was an easy exam just that I found it easier...

Good luck with it I always find myself more motivated after I have passed an exam the longer I leave it to start the next the harder I find it to pick the books up after work....

All the best which ever route you go

roseeb

trying to update from the 2003. First attempt threw a lot of Certs, NPS, and NAP. Tried again 4 days later just to see it again before the last one coming up on the 30th. only time to study 4 hours before the retake, so I learned more during the test than in between. (About 80 miles away, but the next closest in over 100 miles away, which is more convenient, but after I paid and scheduled, they cancelled on me a few days prior so they could close for 2 weeks...Had this happen with another test center for the 70-291.) Back to 70-648: Not a single SIM in either one. I went with MeasureUp (scored (99% there) and not a one of those was on there, but the ideas kind of helped. There were some far out Q's. on this one. New commands that I (the employee who is comfortable with that little black screen) had not seen before. Recycle Bin ins and outs are a must too. Second attempt 50% were the same Q's, but hit hard, 15% hard, with Snapshot. Also new were knowing exact commands to enter in NetMon. Guessed that one, but finding the right answers to some of these challenging. (I recalled general info about 54 of the 64 Q's after the first exam. Also included DCA (Direct Access). Using the 70-648/649 for basics. Got sidetracked with 2008 R2, read 50% of the book and nearly none from that on the exam. A little IPV6, but not in depth so far. Wish me luck, I don't want to know how long the path is if I need to take the alternate route. Good luck out there! Oh yeah, I plan to put more time into this. A lot more.