70-411 Advice/Encouragement

Hi Guys,

Ok, so I'm currently studying for the 70-411 after having failed it twice and I want to get some advice on how the best way to achieve the pass is. I'm very demotivated by the exam because I thought I was doing so well but ended up with a score of 406 on my second attempt (my first attempt was, I think, 426).
I've been watching Pluralsight's course, read the Exam Ref, read Technet, labbed, used the Mastering Server 2012 R2 book and watched YouTube videos.

I go into the exams with confidence of getting a good score but come out deflated. There are questions in there that seems have never been even hinted at in the materials I've used. I feel 70-411 is becoming more of a chore than the exciting challenge I thought it would be. I just don't know what to do.

I don't want to give up because I've passed the 70-410 and I'm determined to get my MCSA but I feel like it's impossible to remember everything down to the details such as which tab does what

So, fellow exam takers, is there any hope for me?

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

NetworkingStudent

Have you tried using any practice exams to measure your understanding of the material?
Measure up
Administering Windows Server 2012

or

It used to be called transcender, but now it's called Kapalan IT:
https://www.kaplanittraining.com/certification/microsoft/70-411

Here is a link from someone that passed the 411 cert:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/mcsa-mcse-windows-2012-general/127919-passed-70-411-week.html

It looks like the Microsoft exams got alot harder:

New item types in Microsoft certification exams

MeasureUp | Microsoft Item Types

Microsoft has introduced new item types in their certification exams, including the following:

• Code Case Study – This item type will appear on developer exams. This variation of a standard Case Study item presents tabbed sections of working code. You will be presented with questions that must be solved by analyzing the code segments.
• Choose All That Apply – Rather than specifying the exact number of correct answers, these questions will ask you to Choose all that apply. You will need to determine how many of the answers are correct. You will not be restricted to a specific number of answers that you can select.
• Best Answer – These questions will contain more than one correct answer and you will need to determine which of those is the most appropriate.
• Extended Matching Question – These questions will present a group of multiple choice questions that use the same answer choices. It is possible for the same answer choice(s) to be correct for more than one of the questions in the group.
• Repeated Scenario – These questions present a repeated scenario that is mapped to multiple questions. The repeated text in each question is indicated by Start of repeated scenario and End of repeated scenario banners. The question and related answer choices are located beneath the scenario.

We are including these question types in our new practice tests. We will also add these question types to our existing practice tests during product updates.

For more information on these question types, please visit the following website:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/exam.aspx#tab4

Here are some study tip links:

IT Cert Archives - AJSNetworking.com

how-to-pass-it-certification-on-your first try
Shawn Moore's IT Trek: How to Pass an IT Certification on your First Try

Above all Don't Quit!! Remember why you're pursuing the MCSA 2012
Watch this video if you get a chance.

Don’t Quit! (This video is about not giving up on your dreams)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR3yQwp_4KM

srocky26

I failed the 70-411 the first time I took it. It's a tough exam. My advice is to keep labbing the material, but actually understand the steps you're taking and why you're taking them.

Also be sure you know your PowerShell commands. There are dozens of questions asking what PowerShell command you need for some scenario.

As stated above, take some practice questions. Don't only know the answer, but know why the other answers are wrong. If you miss a question, go research the topic to get a better understanding.

poolmanjim

The 70-411 is a challenging exam as it steps up with a lot of the the content. I'll comment on some of the more challenging stuff I encountered and what seemed to be the focus of the sections. There is a lot here and it isn't fully comprehensive but its about as much as I am comfortable giving with that nice fat NDA in place.

Good luck!

For Deploy, Manage, and Maintain Servers:
- Make sure you know the command line options for WDS and WSUS (do some looking there are some tricky ones that don't jump right out for you, especially for wsus)
- Know the different types of WDS servers and what makes them different.
- Know the different image types and understand when and where to use them with WDS
- Datacollector Sets are one of those things that you have probably rarely used, at least I have rarely used them. Spend some time creating them and learn how to configure them for the different major things you're going to monitor (CPU, RAM, Disk, Network, etc.).

For Configure File and Print Services:
- Know the difference between DFS-N and DFS-R.
- Know how to do basic troubleshooting of DFS-N/DFS-R.
- Know the command line tools for DFS.
- Know the Bitlocker GPOs and how to configure BitLocker.

For Configure Network Services and Access:
- Know the different VPN Protocols, what ports they use and what makes them unique (e.g. why would use L2TP over SSTP or visa versa?)
- DirectAccess is going to give you some headaches. It requires knowledge of how to configure a CA and you haven't messed with CAs yet in the study. I recommend venturing into the 70-412 some and learning the CA section, build a CA, and tinker around with getting DirectAccess to work.
- Know the different deployment types for DirectAccess
- Know the relevant powershell commands for DirectAccess
- Know the different IPv6 transition technologies
- For Web Application Proxy, take a shot at looking at the AD FS stuff from the 70-412. It will help make that make more sense.
- For Web Application Proxy, know how Kerberos Contrained Delegation and SPNs work, at least at a high level.

For Configure Network Policy Infrastructure:
- Know the difference between Connection Request Policies and Network Policies.
- Spend some more time looking at Certificates.

For Configure and Manage Active Directory:
- We are coming back to SPNs and Constrained Delegation. This didn't make a whole lot of sense to me until I spent time learning Kerberos and how it works.
- Know the Powershell for configuring gMSAs and what the difference is between gMSAs ans old fashioned MSAs.
- Know your FSMO roles and the basics of how they work.
- Know the Powershell and command lines for transferring FSMO roles and looking up FSMO roles.
- Know the process, in order, for configuring Domain Controller Cloning. What all is required for cloning to work?
- Know the ntdsutil stuff for doing authoritative and non-authoritative restores of AD.
- Know your Kerberos and Password Policy GPOs and how they work.

For Configure and Manage Group Policy:
- Know the precedence process and how GPOs evaluate. (Don't forget loopback).
- Pay attention to things like which OUs have users and which ones have computers and how the different policy types affect this.
- What is the difference between GPO and GPP.
- Know how to deploy preferences and what the difference between managed and unmanaged changes are.

Louie1277

I'm in the process of getting this cert after taking a long break from passing the 70-410 exam. I notice there's not a lot update material out there. Right now I'm reading MCSA Window Server 2012 r2 Administration study Guide Exam 70-411 by Willam Panek the Sybex edition. I didn't know what other book to get but if you guys have any suggestions on current material please let me know. I really would like to pass this exam the first time or close to it. Any links to material would be nice.

poolmanjim

I used the Panek book, parts of the Mastering Windows Server book, and the MOAC course book.

Louie1277

poolmanjim wrote: »

I used the Panek book, parts of the Mastering Windows Server book, and the MOAC course book.

Would you mind putting a link to the Panek Book please. Just today I bought the MOAC course book myself . I believe the Patrick Regan one hopefully that was the right one. Hopefully with this material it will get me started on learning this exam.

poolmanjim

Panek
https://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-Complete-Study-Guide/dp/111885991X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527604516&sr=8-1&keywords=mcsa+2012+study+guide

MOAC
https://www.amazon.com/Administering-Windows-Microsoft-Official-Academic-ebook/dp/B00O3KMJAW/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Mastering
https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Windows-Server-2012-R2-ebook/dp/B00H46XCKS/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1527604600&sr=1-2&keywords=mastering+server+2012+r2

Also I had these but I didn't use them much:
https://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-2012-Inside-Configuration-ebook/dp/B00JG9JQ4W/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1527604618&sr=1-2&keywords=server+2012+r2+inside+and+out

https://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-2012-Inside-Infrastructure-ebook/dp/B00KAE7J50/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1527604618&sr=1-1&keywords=server+2012+r2+inside+and+out

Louie1277

Thanks for sharing I will look into those links.

Have a good day.