Was ok, now a little freaked about 291...

rjpaw

New guy here.. first time posting. Felt pretty good about my chances with 291, then started reading some threads on this site and a few others about "The Beast" that is 291, and now I'm starting to get a little freaked out. Here's what I've done:
Took the MCSE 2003 Courses
Studied for approx 3 weeks with class book and MS Server 2003 book.
Fooled around with my own server and trail of 2003.
Used Transcender and MeasureUp practices.
Took and passed 290 (harder than I thought it was gonna be)

Weakness seems to be RRAS since thats what I have the least hands on with.

Anyone got any other advice before I try and tame this monster? (I already got from here you need to know DNS inside, outside, backwards, and forwards.)

Webmaster

If you used the courses, the books, the Transcender and MeasureUp practice exams, and hands-on to prepare, you should be able to tame it. Especially the hands-on (with the features and options related to the "skills being measured" aka exa objectives) portion is important and can make it a bit easier, well, less difficult

Welcome to the forums btw.

rjpaw

Previous comments about this test are pretty on, it's tough, not only from the sheer volume of information you have to know, but also how the questions are worded. Advice for people taking this soon, take your time and read the question. There had to be at least 4 or 5 questions on the test at least where I cought a "key" sentance that changed the scope of the question, and the answer.
Most of the test seemed to be centered around DNS, and RRAS, at least for me, and a smattering of the rest of the objectives with security topics at the top of the rest. Out of everything I did to study for it, the hands on exp I had, and the playing around I did at home got me through this.

Good luck to everyone else on their tracks, and thanks for the welcome!

Webmaster

Congratulations!

There had to be at least 4 or 5 questions on the test at least where I cought a "key" sentance that changed the scope of the question, and the answer.

That's typical for the newer MS exams, long stories but it often comes down to just a little bit of info that determines what the correct answer(s) should be.

What's next? Are you going for MCSA MCSE or both?

rjpaw

Thanks! Practice tests help me get used to the long questions. After doing the NT4 series of tests (missed MCSE by one test) and the A+ and Net+, it took some getting used to.
I have quite the ambitious exam track planned for myself. Going to try and knock out the XP test for the MCSA next week, and possibly Sec+ buy the end of the week. After that I'm hoping I can do the CCNA by the end of the month at the latest. After all that, and a lot of beer, I'm going to take the 299 exam for the MCSA: Security, then finish off the rest of the track for MCSE, and finally CCNP. Somewhere in there I'd like do the PMP too. If I'm still alive by the end of all that, I guess I'll figure out something else to go for. Right now, I've been unemployed for a while now and hoping some of these certs will make me more attractive to employers.

garv221

Congrats. You shouldn't have a hard time finding a job with MCSE & CCNP on the resume'. Good Luck with Job hunt.

cedarghost

Don't know if this will help but I'll give you my take. Personally, I like to do all the short questions first (just to get my brain jump started) before doing any of the lengthy questions. Then with the long questions, watch for key lines like "with the least amount of administrative effort" or"without disrupting surrent connectivity", etc. These will kill you, as there are usually more than one correct answer. I also like to read the answers before tackling the essay questions, as they usually give me some insight into what the question is going to be looking for. Sometimes you can spot an answer that is going to be wrong no matter what. As for the 70-291, you should go through your server (even if your comfortable with it already) and look at the interface/property sheets for all the major components (i.e. Interfaces in RRAS, DNS server and Zone properties, and all the propety sheets for DHCP. Make sure you know what you would configure on all these interfaces no matter how obscure they seem. When I took my exam, I saw some property pages I had never seen before. All in all this is a very difficult exam (as I am sure you have learned from the forums) and I think Microsoft intended it this way, as it is the last exam required for MCSA. Also if you fail, don't be discouraged. I know people (smart people with alot of field experience) who failed this one more than once. One last thing. Make sure you know subnetting like the back of your hand. I had subnetting questions on this one that were as hard as (if not harder than the questions on my CCNA.