New to Microsoft Certs

kweevuss

Hello Everyone,

I been using this forum a lot for my Cisco CCNA cert. I just passed CCNA recently and I'm looking what my next adventure should be. I am currently in college, 2nd year, and I have an A+, Network+, and the CCNA. I do eventually want to work higher up in Cisco exams, but for the time being I think the next level certs for Cisco would be way out of my reach with the limited knowledge that I have without having an actually internship dealing with networks directly(real world experience is what I'm getting at). I have had for the past 4 years internships as a helpdesk IT support job. I have learned many things but I do want to move away from those positions and go to higher ones. I although enjoy being a well rounded person and do not only want to have knowledge of networks, but servers and infrastructure, so I thought this might be a good time in between my CCNA and CCNP, would be time for a MS one.

Although my question is, is it a good time to be looking at certifications for 2012 since it is so new? And what type of study materials should I be looking at.

Thanks for all the help!

Aaron

lsud00d

I'm not sure of your age (HD 4 years, college 2) but I'm guessing early 20's and it sounds like you're off to a great start! HD/troubleshooting skills + networking knowledge can make for a mean sys/server admin.

I would recommend going with the MCSA 2008. IMHO the only people who need 2012 at this point are consultants looking to be at the forefront of the 2008-to-2012 migration in a few years. I know some shops are starting to implement and toy with 2012 in their environments, but for you I'd recommend the 3 certs to get the MCSA 2008 if you have some time to dedicate to it

Essendon

This is not a bad idea and you make yourself more valuable to potential employers if you have multiple skills. If you havent worked on servers much, it makes sense to download the eval copies of Server 2012 OS, install it in VM (virtual machine) and play around with it. VM's are virtual servers that run on top of a virtualization layer (this can be Microsoft Hyper-v or VMware ESXi/Workstation). There are tons of threads on here and on the wider internet with info on setting up a lab environment. For reading, Microsoft's own TechNet is a great resource with introductions to planning to design to administration all explained. This should get you started and cost you nothing if you already own a decent computer. Basically, your going to need an E6550 or above Intel processor with atleast 8GB RAM (so you can deploy 2-3 VM's) and some hard disk space (a 200GB or so SATA disk is enough to get you started).

Now is a good time for a newbie to look at 2012 certs, because by the time you finish the entire track companies here and there may begin upgrading to the new OS. Besides having the latest cert shows a potential employer that you take interest in your field by learning about the latest and greatest products. Start on the MCSE: Server Infrastructure for now and take it one step at a time. Labbing is essential to learning, so dont skip that. Good luck!

kweevuss

Thanks for the replies!

I am in a 4 year program for information technology. It's kinda been something I know I wanted since I was about 10 years old. I defiantly have some great friends and teachers that gave me ideas along the way, one is actually an intern at Microsoft this year.

I used to run my own windows domain at my house and played around with it before but I'm not where near an expert at any of it. But I did move to a Mac mini server that I been running virtual machines on and I'm going to start looking at it more this weekend.

Has anyone used these books? Cert Prep Pack: MCSA Windows Server 2012 (Exam Ref 70-410, 70-411, 70-412): Ian McLean, Jason Kellington: 9780735673861: Amazon.com: Books

i don't see any reviews yet, and that's why I might put it off till the summer time, although I like being busy all the time That's the only reason why i would pick server 2008 but I feel by the time I would be done with that path it wouldn't be worth much.

edit: I didn't even notice they were for preorder might be why I can't find a review

netsysllc

I have the 70-417 which is the 2008-2012 upgrade book, it is okay but only has the new stuff for 2012. You can setup a virtual network on azure for 3 months for doing your test lab. the biggest thing you can do is study each domain area of the certs on technet and implement them in a lab environment.