Is 70-410 exam difficult?

wallpaper_01

I'm almost finished the trainsignal videos for the exam, and going by what the guy is covering, it seems pretty easy. Ive got the Sybex book which is massive but ive skimmed through bits and it doesnt look over complicated.

Are the tests hard? I don't have any Windows Server experience but I've used/rebuilt/maintained PC's from Windows 3.1 to Windows 8.1 and configs are pretty similar (Installing/Networking/User groups anyway).

Here is how ive got on so far:

Week 1 - Trainsignal Videos/Following along with my Windows Server 2012 machine
Week 2 - Trainsignal Videos/Following along with my Windows Server 2012 machine (currently Here)
Week 3 - Not sure? Hyper V? Sybex Book refresh.
Week 4 - Practice Exams

Am I missing something? I've done CCNA and found that much more intense but perhaps because I was not used to networking (except from uni), this was why I found it hard.

I would be grateful if anyone could point out anything extra I need to cram in, or give their own experiences if their background is similar to mine.

Thanks

tecjohnson

I did trainsignal/pluralsight for the 70-410 and honestly, it is not enough

Trainsignal does a good job with concepts but in the exam there is a lot of questions on how to do this stuff from the command line.

There were a lot of questions like: You need to do this...what is the command line to get it done? And a lot of them were powershell. Fortunately I am decent at powershell so I was able to get through it.

But seriously, go on technet and learn all the command lines to get it done.

Also, this was not true for me but talking to other friends who took the exam, there are a lot of IPV6 in there. Have that down pat.

Snow.bros

What i don't get is, if people are selling books/study guides that have information that can't prepare you fully to pass the exam, on the other hand you are using other resources like CBT or Trainsignal and still that's not enough to make you pass, why do they even approve these books any way, because according to my knowledge the best way to get knowledge is through books right? if books don't do the trick then Microsoft should stop those authors from publishing those books because i think is more like a scam because we are buying these books.

Can't you just buy a book that provides you with the knowledge you require and get all the knowledge you require without having to buy another book just to compare the information on both books, because i mean we are trying to make this a career.

This is just my thoughts.

wallpaper_01

Thanks for the responses. I finished the trainsignal and did a load of research and you are totally right the videos are so basic for what you need to know. Im now a week till the exam (which I cant put back) but studied like mad this week on my Server 2012 machine and HyperV.

The last week I'm going to mess about as much as I can with everything I can think of and do some practice exams from boson if they do mcsa like they did cisco.

Will post if I pass with some advice as it will have taken me a rushed 4 weeks. 6 weeks would have made me feel much better which is what I will allocate to my 70-411 if I pass this.

I will memorise the powershell commands thanks.

Koroviev

@Snow.bros: The trouble is that there is simply much that you need to know. Each author is going to explain things differently and none of them are at liberty to reveal what is on the exam, never mind that this changes. The best approach to learning anything is to consult many different sources. Seen a video about it? Okay, then read about it. See terms you don't understand? Research. Finally, implement. Test. See what goes wrong and how far you can get before you need to look something up.

Snow.bros

wallpaper_01 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. I finished the trainsignal and did a load of research and you are totally right the videos are so basic for what you need to know. Im now a week till the exam (which I cant put back) but studied like mad this week on my Server 2012 machine and HyperV.

The last week I'm going to mess about as much as I can with everything I can think of and do some practice exams from boson if they do mcsa like they did cisco.

Will post if I pass with some advice as it will have taken me a rushed 4 weeks. 6 weeks would have made me feel much better which is what I will allocate to my 70-411 if I pass this.

I will memorise the powershell commands thanks.

All the best of luck man hope it goes well for you!!!

tecjohnson

Been wondering how you did.

wallpaper_01

Hey, I failed Got 682/1000 passmark was 700 so was probably 1 or 2 questions out but in all honesty I didn't feel like I had learned everything in that time. The trainsignal videos were a really basic intro to it. I expected them to be like cbt nuggets like I did with CCNA where they were a lot more detailed.

I knew that even if I passed I needed to learn more so in a way im kinda glad I failed as now it makes me learn what I missed. My plan now is to take both exams on the same day in feb, Im so close on this one so confident I will pass, will start studying the next one soon.

It was a lot harder than I expected, the questions felt a bit loaded, unlike the CCNA ones.

N2IT

I've ran into this a few times taking some SQL MS exams. I read the whole book twice and watched some CBT's and failed miserably. 500 and some change, so you actually did well. I'm not sure why it's like that. I am prepping for 461 but if I failed bad again I think I am done with MS exams.

Flemeth

Hey , sorry to hear you failed but ultimately the aim is to learn as much as possible not get a piece of paper . I finally started to study for 410 this Sunday and i have until start of January to pass this . I was wondering if you know any resources to test my knowledge (something accurate ) and related to the exam how many questions are there and what's the time available ?

jso

Can someone who has recently attempted the exam, please tell me. The multiple choice(guess) questions are a choice of 4 or can they be more? I've seen some questions that have 8 or 10 possibly choices. I'm also worried about the lack of transparency in the multiple answers. Do they make clear how many selections you need to make?

Finally does anyone know if a question that needs more effort (the ones that need things put in order, or to click an area on the screen) - are they worth more marks than a standard multiple choice question?

wallpaper_01

Yeah doing this cert has made me realise I want to stay away from MS haha. In the area where I live this cert gets you a job, there is little networking or linux around here, which is why ive gone for it. After this im going to get my Linux certs though. I actually don't mind MS server but the exam, I felt was too bloated, the scenarios were kind of pointless and didn't really help with the question, but I can understand why its like that.

Yeah like I said, in a way im glad I failed so I can learn more, otherwise id probably have just moved on to the next exam and not thought about what I needed to improve on.

The trainsignal videos were good but for a VERY basic overview, I bought the sybex book and studied that but as you know I failed so not sure I can recommend but it was ok, I think the main reason I failed was my limited study time. Another 2 weeks and Im 100% I would have passed.

@jso I dont think I can comment on exam specifics but I wouldn't worry about the exam, a monkey could figure out how to use it, plus there is like a 10min training anyway, which I skipped. As long as you study properly you should pass, unlike me!

Flemeth

Actually i m curios how hard the exam is comparable to LPIC1 (i spent about 2.5+ solid months of learning to get LPIC1 but i started from 0 linux knowledge) . I m a bit afraid at the exam for questions that require first real life experience and second knowledge from a book... I can read the book but it s hard to get a strong grasp of things only from executing commands in clean install VM...

wallpaper_01

Ive not done L+ yet but the other comptia exam I did was similar to MCSA, just download Server 2012 evaluation and run it in a virtual machine and lab and its fine. I wouldnt worry about the format of the exam, either you know it or you don't, I didnt quite so need to learn more! Buy a book, watch some videos and practice. I think I did it right, just not enough time.