Studying for Exam 70-640

Hi there,

I have just started studying for my Exam 70-640. I have the Microsoft MCTS - Configuring Windows Server 2008 Active Directory manual.

Is this book enough to pass the exam?? is it essential to build virtual machines for practise? and practise tests?

Just looking for the best methods to learn the material!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/help

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Essendon

If you really want to learn the stuff, lab it up, lab it up and keep labbing it up till you know it well. A couple of DC's, one or two member servers and a client VM and you'll be set.

Technet is a very good source of learning for any MS exam, read the exam blueprint and Technet and repeat till you have gone through it all. The Windows Server 2008 Resource Kit is also very good if you can get your hands on it.

Cant say much about the practice tests, the MeasureUps are ok for this exam.

And BTW, welcome to the forums!

Malasius

Thanks for the welcome!

And thanks for the advice! I understand using labs is important, but what about things like Group scope? Do you need to know the Group Scope Memberships off by heart?

Essendon

Well I'd expect you to know what accounts can be included in each scope and whether they can be converted into another group. I dont think they would ask you a question just saying "What groups can be converted to a Domain Local group" or something like that. Again, if you lab it up you'll remember for example that to convert a global group to domain local group you need to convert it to a universal group first. Most of this stuff is logical and will start to make sense once you actually do it.

Malasius

Thanks! I have also noticed that there is a lot of VBscript and Powershell in the manual to do certain things in AD. How much of this code do you need to know to pass the exam?

texasit

I would say your best bet is to create a lab if you can with at least 2-3 servers if you can't do that then at least one server so you can practice creating a DC, config DNS, etc.
Microsoft does test on command line quite bit so I would learn it but powershell and vbscript not so much.As far as groups I would say make sure you know the different groups and how they are used.

Malasius

Thanks everyone for the assistance... How difficult is this exam compared to something like CompTIA's Network+? I have not done a MS exam so just wondering....

earweed

It's a lot more difficult than anything Comptia.
The main difference is that Net+ is pretty wide but not that deep whereas MS tests are kind of wide but very deep. You need to understand the material or you will get hammered.
As some of the others above mentioned LAB, LAB, LAB. It's the best way to really get to understand Configuring Active Directory.

Devilsbane

CompTIA likes to ask you questions like "what port is used for DNS?"
A: 53

Microsoft likes to give you a story of the enviornment (number and types of pc's, firewall, routers, ect) that you are the administrator of, and will then tell you that you are not able to connect to the internet. You can ping your default gateway, and you can ping other servers on your network by ip address. What should you do?

Then the correct answer will be something like "Allow port 53 through your firewall." They are testing you on the same knowledge, but Microsoft won't spoon feed you the answer. The give you all the information possible (90% of it you don't need) so it tests you on your troubleshooting skills as well as memorizing which port dns uses.

AlexMR

I think the MS Press book is OK but I really liked the Sybex book. I think it's more on point.

I would strongly suggest you practice everything because in all honesty I don't understand how someone could possibly learn all that stuff without practicing it thoroughly.

za3bour

I recommend reading the Sybex book as well, i havn't took the exam yet but it seems the combination of both books is good.

Labbing ofcourse is essential, you need to try stuff by yourself try each and every command because by doing this you will memorize most part of it and get more familiar with it so that when you see the answers you will figure it out easily (if it's about commands)

LCA

I didn't like the MS Press book at all so I didn't use it when studying for 680. I did use the Windows 7 Reskit and Technet. And as mentioned by others it's important to lab up (IMHO big time) for 680. It will really help you in the actual exam.

The setup you will need is a Windows 2008 R2 server and a Windows 7 machine. There are of course no 2008 R2 questions in the exam but its very important have your head around technologies included in that OS.

Good luck!

earweed

LCA wrote: »

I didn't like the MS Press book at all so I didn't use it when studying for 680. I did use the Windows 7 Reskit and Technet. And as mentioned by others it's important to lab up (IMHO big time) for 680. It will really help you in the actual exam.

The setup you will need is a Windows 2008 R2 server and a Windows 7 machine. There are of course no 2008 R2 questions in the exam but its very important have your head around technologies included in that OS.

Good luck!

+1 And notice that it's 2008 R2. Regular Server 2008 may suffice but in order to experience all of the features of Windows 7 Server 2008 R2 is recommended. Server 2008 was built more in line with Vista but 2008 R2 is more in tune with Windows 7.

Malasius

what do you guys use for labs? i currently am running 1x win 2008 server in virtual pc. I am performing all the exercises on the virtual machine as per the book. But what is an ideal software or solution in order to run multiple labs? and also what guides do you follow to learn practically on the labs?

Essendon

You should have a few VM's, say a couple of DC's, a member server (or two) and a client VM. I am quite sure you can create multiple VM in VirtualPC (havent used it), an enterprise-level solution called VMware is available for free download from the vendors' website.

za3bour

I'm using VMware it's awesome

Lunchbocks

I built a VMware esxi server and have 3 2008 DCs, 1 2008 Core, and a Windows 7 Workstation running. I am doing the labs but doing much more than required. For instance, in creating users with dsadd, I am adding the users in the MS labs, but also users from sports teams. That way I am creating 100+ users rather than 5. Plus that gives me 10+ additional OUs to create and group policies to link.

From what I have been told, you do not need to be able to create powershell or vb script, just know the commands and switches and be familiar with how it looks. I am not putting too much into that portion, just learning the commands and important switches.

Like everyone else has said, I think if you go through the books and hit the labs real heavy, you will probably do OK.

thenoble06

Hey everyone.

I've just passed the 70-294 which is the Windows 2003 AD Infrastructure exam. I'm thinking of doing this one next. Is the difficulty on a par with the 2003 exam would you say?

earweed

thenoble06 wrote: »

Hey everyone.

I've just passed the 70-294 which is the Windows 2003 AD Infrastructure exam. I'm thinking of doing this one next. Is the difficulty on a par with the 2003 exam would you say?

It's on par with 2K3 I believe. Since you've already done 2K3 are you going to take a bridge exam or the whole series?
You don't have your certs listed so we don't know what you've got so far. Some people have compared the 70-643 as the beast of the 2K8 track but if you're only going for MCITP:SA you wont be taking that one.

thenoble06

Signature updated

And I don't know for sure what I'll do next - I have given myself a week off revising to have a think about my next step...

Oh - and while I'm here can I ask another question. I have to admit I'm not very well up on virtualisation, but going on what you guys have said labs labs labs is really important when preparing for these exams. Sooooo since I don't have lots of PCs and servers spare I'm thinking of using virtualisation. However - I only have a laptop (Centrino 2 @ 2.6Ghz, 2Gb RAM, Big HDD, Windows 7 Pro). Can I run virtualisation on that?

Malasius

You guys mention above about using Windows 2008 R2. Now I have setup labs and am working with Windows Server 2008. As far as I was aware the exam focuses on Win 2008 and Vista as a client os. Am I wrong? Does it actually test on R2 with Win7?? If not, what is the point of using R2 with Win7 in prerparation for just passing the 70-640 ??

za3bour

Malasius wrote: »

You guys mention above about using Windows 2008 R2. Now I have setup labs and am working with Windows Server 2008. As far as I was aware the exam focuses on Win 2008 and Vista as a client os. Am I wrong? Does it actually test on R2 with Win7?? If not, what is the point of using R2 with Win7 in prerparation for just passing the 70-640 ??

You don't need R2 in order to pass the 70-640 exam but it's better to use it if you want to take the 70-680 exam since R2 was designed to work best with Win7 while the other versions work with Vista.

I'm not using R2 now to study for 640 and i didn't use it to pass 642.

earweed

za3bour wrote: »

You don't need R2 in order to pass the 70-640 exam but it's better to use it if you want to take the 70-680 exam since R2 was designed to work best with Win7 while the other versions work with Vista.

I'm not using R2 now to study for 640 and i didn't use it to pass 642.

+1 I haven't used 2008 R2 up until now either. I do have it on my new comp as I'm planning to get some Windows 7 certs after completing my MCITP: EA.

Malasius

also, as regards to study material. I am using MS Press Training kit plus labs. I know labs are very importnat so I am focusing heavily on them. But is this training kit and heavy lab work enough to get a pass? Or will I need to also get additional books and training material?

earweed

It was enough for me. I would advise you. if you already have the 70-642 book, to do the DNS chapter in the 642 after doing the DNS chapter in the 640 book as it'll fill in holes.

LCA

Malasius wrote: »

But is this training kit and heavy lab work enough to get a pass? Or will I need to also get additional books and training material?

That probably varies from one person to another so there isn't IMHO one method that fits all. For me what works best is to take my time before sitting an MS exam. With 680 I spent a long time (3 months) studying and labbing the exam topics before I took the test.

With my own study of 640 and 642 I'm trying to gather information not just from books that are specifically about an exam (a la the MSPress and Sybex books) but to read about and lab stuff that is on the fringes of the exam or not an actual exam topic. Which helps me a lot to see the big picture of how it all fits together.

Malasius

earweed wrote: »

It was enough for me. I would advise you. if you already have the 70-642 book, to do the DNS chapter in the 642 after doing the DNS chapter in the 640 book as it'll fill in holes.

ok i will def do this! thanks for the advice!

Malasius

LCA wrote: »

That probably varies from one person to another so there isn't IMHO one method that fits all. For me what works best is to take my time before sitting an MS exam. With 680 I spent a long time (3 months) studying and labbing the exam topics before I took the test.

With my own study of 640 and 642 I'm trying to gather information not just from books that are specifically about an exam (a la the MSPress and Sybex books) but to read about and lab stuff that is on the fringes of the exam or not an actual exam topic. Which helps me a lot to see the big picture of how it all fits together.

Yes, I also believe in taking time to cover everything in depth and try to understand it practically. When you do labbing do you follow particular book exersizes or just do your own thing to try and learn?

LCA

Malasius wrote: »

Yes, I also believe in taking time to cover everything in depth and try to understand it practically. When you do labbing do you follow particular book exersizes or just do your own thing to try and learn?

Initially I do a lot of walkthrough's from specific exam books and also from Technet and then my own playing around. When I get a day or two away from the exam I usually go through as many dialog boxes as I can. I find that really helps me in the actual exam.

earweed

+1 Close to the exam that's the best thing to do to keep it fresh. A lot of MS questions you can get just by remembering how to get to certain options or by knowing what options are available in different dialog boxes.

earweed

Thought I would put this in here as it is pertinent to studying for the 70-640
Test Your Knowledge
MS will send you a few measure up questions every week plus webcasts dealing with the previous week's questions.