How To Begin The MCSE 2003

teksource1984

Everyone,

I have decided to begin my MCSE 2003 & MCITP:EA. I'm pretty confident that I can finish 2K3 within a year.

My question is how should I begin studying for the exams ? which exams should come first (70-290, 291, 93, 43)...........is there a hierarchy or a better way to tackle certain MCP's first ? your input will be very valuable. Thanks.

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Comments

Hyper-Me

Generally people go in order by number, but you dont have to.

a lot of people find 270 really difficult, so 290 may be a better starting point.

RobertKaucher

I suggest the getting your MCP with the 290. This puts yo clearly in the "Server Support" class rather than the 70-270, which is client. My suggestion is this:

70-290
70-291
70-293
70-294
Your design exam.
Then your electives and for those I suggest some enterprise level application exam like the SQL Server or SharePoint config exams.
70-680 (Win 7)
MCITP Upgrade exams

I suggest this path as it will be the fastest for studying. It won't get you the certs the fastest, though.

teksource1984

When would be a reasonable amount of time to complete this

RobertKaucher

teksource1984 wrote: »

When would be a reasonable amount of time to complete this

I completed my MCSE: Security and my MCITP: EA within a year and 6 months. It really depends on how much experience you have.

Hyper-Me

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I completed my MCSE: Security and my MCITP: EA within a year and 6 months. It really depends on how much experience you have.

Wow, thats baller

RobertKaucher

Hyper-Me wrote: »

Wow, thats baller

Actually I lied...
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Enterprise Administrator[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]May 16, 2008[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]270 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Jul 10, 2007[/FONT]

My first MCSE track exam was the 270. That's 311 days... Wow. That is insane. I recall how much my wife griped about my studies back then. now I see why.

I dedicated 12 hrs on my days off and 1.5 hours on work days to it. That's roughly 20 hrs a week. I had some experience with Server 2003. Tons with general networking and trouble shooting. So I was not starting form 0.

Fugazi1000

You might like to consider ignoring the 270 (XP) and go for the 680 (Win7) first. It gets you the MCTS immediately.

Without experience - the rest are harder. I am rattling through these at 1 a week now - I have the experience, just not the paperwork.

I would suggest the order as 290 followed by 294 to understand Server and AD/GPOs etc. Then 291 and 293 together. Most is the same knowledge applied in different ways (configuring+operate/planning). Do those two exams on the same day! You do need a good grounding in networking/IP.

Then whatever design/electives take your interest/are relevant to your work.

Essendon

Good advice there by Fugazi1000, but I'd recommend the usual route that Robert mentioned. An exam builds on the previous one, and yes the 290 is a good start. Make sure you lab the stuff, makes the material stick in the brain and helps you gain a better understanding so that future exams are easier.