70-640 addtional books ?

Hi,

I have the CBT nuggets and now the R2 70-640 Microsoft book. But to help the understanding process is there a good book worth reading / topping up knowledge on ? Maybe written for someone who not used these things much but looking to move in that area as a future career move.

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Comments

Luis103

I've been studying for the 70-640 also, as a supplement I've been reading Mastering Windows Server R2 by Mark Minasi. It's been pretty good so far.

cruwl

Server 2008 r2 unleashed comes highly recommended on this board.

gbeer7

Thanks, just purchased a copy of Server 2008 r2 unleashed. Hoping another format will help it sink in my head !

ahphoto

The Pearson 70-640 Cert Guide helped me understand what I was lacking.
MCTS 70-640 Cert Guide: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring: Don Poulton: 9780789747082: Amazon.com: Books

gbeer7

But that doesn't contain the R2 update, does it ?

Saundie

gbeer7 wrote: »

But that doesn't contain the R2 update, does it ?

It does include the R2 update - if you use the "look inside" feature on that Amazon link you can search for "R2" and see that it is mentioned specifically in the book.

gbeer7

What are the "Cram" books like ?

Chev Chellios

Hi gbeer7, how did you get on with the Server 2008 unleashed book? I am stuggling with the MS official guides for the server 2008 just as I find them to be really badly written/dull, is the unleashed book worth purchasing as an extra resource?

Chev Chellios

Also are the cram books any good?

djentlemetal

I'm about a 1/3 of the way through the Poulton Cert Guide. The only thing I think is lacking is maybe the lack of labbing he has in the book. It's great in that it's straight forward, and he does have some step-by-step examples in each chapter, but I obviously need to dig around on Tech Net and follow those labs to get a better grasp on what I'm reading. I feel like when I finish a chapter from the Poulton book (which are really short) that I've somehow missed something. Also, my head might be up my ass in this line of thinking, but wouldn't it be better to set up DNS after you install AD DS? Poulton has you install the DNS role before AD DS and then goes on to tell you that the zones that he just had you configure are automatically set up when you install AD DS.

I took a few server classes 2 years ago when I was getting my associates degree, and we used the greenish-blue MS books that came with lab manuals as well. The books were extremely dry, but the labbing wasn't bad at all. Poulton's book comes highly recommended on these forums, but I'm highly aware that I need to supplement that book with labbing and videos (I have the CBT Nugget ones). Besides Technet, is there a pdf/book or website that has labs for this exam?