70-410 starting to study - pluralsight thoughts?

chappys4life

Looking at starting to train for the 70-410 and looking at the 29 monthly membership that includes all the training. Has anyone used it?

Also if anyone is starting to study and on the east cost I would be game for study pals to help stay motivated.

gpf2ez

I have not used Pluralsight but they look like a good option. I am starting to study 70-410 and plan on working all the way through 70-414. I am a little north of you in the DC area of VA but would not mind someone to help motivate.

MSSoftie

I liked Pluralsight. I found it to be beneficial to get a good grasp on the topics before diving deeper into the topics. CBT Nuggets is also good but it is more expensive. I think it is worth it. If you go beyond the MCSA, you will need to switch over but I do think it is worth the investment.

unfbilly11

I am studying for this test right now and I have watched mostly all of the PluralSight videos. I haven't taken the exam yet so I can't say if they helped or not, but I don't feel like I've gotten that much out of them at this point. Most of it is very introductory and great if you are completely new to configuring servers, but if you have any experience at all a lot of the material will seem really basic.


Still, at $29.99 a month, it's definitely worth it to me even if it only helps on a couple questions. If money is no object though I think the CBTNuggets videos are more detailed.

jso

I've watched both and the difference in information is huge (CBT superior to trainsignal). But there are a few weakness
- CBT always wastes time with completely stupid stories at the beginning of almost every topic. This could be a huge plus if they did it well, but they don't
- CBT will go off on a tangent and give you more useful real world stuff, but it isn't in the exam. Think Exam guide vs course reference.

My advice is to look at every piece of information and ask if there is enough in it for it to be in the exam. EG which tab in DHCP can you set options and what is the difference between the different places - instead of memorising all the DHCP option codes. Also, I found a lot of useful information in 70-411 that is relevant in 70-410. I'm struggling with some of the topics in 70-411 tho

spuddy1

Hi,

Plurasight for the money is good value. The Ed liberman 70-410 does not give you enough to pass the exam but does give a good introduction, you can also view Hyper v Essentials and plenty of powershell videos. 29$ bucks is great value.

CBT is more in depth but still short and for $99 a month, i feel not worth the money. I have a plurasight and ##########.com(20$ Month) Only a quater of away through the video's with ##########.com but so for so good and going into decent depth on most topics. Does anyone know when the first study guide R2 is out?

Cheers

Jon

chappys4life

gpf2ez wrote: »

I have not used Pluralsight but they look like a good option. I am starting to study 70-410 and plan on working all the way through 70-414. I am a little north of you in the DC area of VA but would not mind someone to help motivate.

I am always game to have someone around who is studying. What are you using for a lab and materials?

mr_tech_uk

Yeah I reviewing at the moment CBT or Plurasight

Thanks for info

spuddy1

Also check out infinate skill and howtonetwork. Just bought the infinate skills online subscription 25$. I so a review on google of a guy who used plurasight, CBT Nuggets and Ininate skills and he rated infinate skills(not watched them myself yet). As i said before CBT good, Plurasight is way off.

Cheers

jon

gpf2ez

chappys4life wrote: »

I am always game to have someone around who is studying. What are you using for a lab and materials?

Mostly CBT nuggets and my own small 2012 hyper-V setup.

Exam101

Jon,
Please let me know what your thoughts are on Infinite Skills. In your post you said the guy on the google review rated Infinite Skills and I assume since you subscribed to it that you meant that he reviewed it HIGHLY. I want to get going on something ASAP. I've only been putting this off now for 10 years or more!! Thanks for your help!!
Cheers,
Troy

unfbilly11

I would also be curious to know if anyone has ever used the Infinite Skills videos for this course and what they thought. I watched a couple of the free ones and it seems to cover the same information as CBT Nuggets and Pluralsight, but it might expand on some areas that those other courses are weak on. For only $25 a month, I might give it a try.

jak096

This is what I found out so far on books:
410 exam ref.: Crag Zacker - Feb., Training Guide: Mitch Tullock - April
411 exam ref.: Charlie Russell - June, Training Guide: Jason Kelligton - May

There was a R2 post somewhere for 411 I think but don't remember were it was. I think Ansi posted it.

spuddy1

Hi,

Watched a few infinite skills now and so for very impressed and yes the guy on about infinate skills rated them better then CBT Nuggets and plurasight. Also tried to explain about how to network (keeps scrambling the name) which is good value for $20. The teacher is a bit dry but very hands on course. Nuggets offer a 7 day free which i am going to sign up for and study there 2012 R2 content and then cancell before the 7 days is up(not breaking any rules). I really want a text book as well and getting very frustrated.

Jon

Koroviev

I have perused several Microsoft 2012 books and the most worthwhile one by far has been 'Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2' by Mark Minasi et al. It's the only one that I actually want to read. The exam ref is anemic and dull and Server 2012 Inside Out, while broad, also runs a bit thin and dry. I struggle to really understand something without examples and Mark Minasi offers examples (some very in-depth ones, too).

Oh, right, videos - Pluralsight (formerly Trainsignal) is an introduction at best for 410. It's nice if you're completely green in server management, but otherwise it does not have much to offer. The CBT videos are a big step-up content-wise, but I am not much of a video person. I find it more efficient to read and just try it out for myself.

Edit: Infinite Skills is pretty interesting. I like the experimental approach. Surprised I had never seen them mentioned before now.

spuddy1

Hi,


Just googled the trainer for infinate skills. He has a website and a few free windows 2012 R2 videos on there. Thought it might help. John Savill IT pro. Just ordered mcsa 2012 R2 books supposed to be released 22 feb. Ian Mclean is the author.

Thanks

Jon

locastro

Koroviev wrote: »

I have perused several Microsoft 2012 books and the most worthwhile one by far has been 'Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2' by Mark Minasi et al. It's the only one that I actually want to read. The exam ref is anemic and dull and Server 2012 Inside Out, while broad, also runs a bit thin and dry. I struggle to really understand something without examples and Mark Minasi offers examples (some very in-depth ones, too).

Oh, right, videos - Pluralsight (formerly Trainsignal) is an introduction at best for 410. It's nice if you're completely green in server management, but otherwise it does not have much to offer. The CBT videos are a big step-up content-wise, but I am not much of a video person. I find it more efficient to read and just try it out for myself.

Edit: Infinite Skills is pretty interesting. I like the experimental approach. Surprised I had never seen them mentioned before now.

My sentiments exactly.

I used read through the objectives using the Sybex book for 410 as well as referenced the Mastering 2012 R2 book. For videos I used Pluralsight, CBT Nuggets and the Savill videos. Of the videos, Savill was def my favorite. Short and sweet...I can't spend too much time watching videos, I would much rather read or lab it out. I actually have to speed up the playback on the videos or I tend to space out.

For 411 I tossed the Sybex book because it was useless. The pluralsight videos were not so great IMO, the nuggets videos (they are updated for R2 objectives now) and the Savill videos helped out quite a but, but 411 MS Press Exam Guide, the Mastering Book and technet were resources I used most. Of course, you will want to do your share of labs.

Taking the same approach for 412 and plan to hopefully knock that out in a few weeks.