Studying for MCSA in Server 2008 (Exams 640, 642, 646)

I recently signed up to take online videos for an MCSA in Server 2008. I also want to do some reading, but I don't learn well that way and the main Microsoft books are somewhat overwhelming. Any suggestions on books that cover the material for exams 640, 642, and 646 in an "idiot's guide/cliff's notes" kind of approach?

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Lexluethar

Honestly I think the MS publishing books are the best for these topics. I've purchased MS books for all three of those exams, and two supplemental books for the 640 and 642. I must say that the MS book was WAY better at explaining exam topics and mapping out how to accomplish certain things.

I would suggest doing a ton of labs as well. I'm trying cbtnuggets right now - and i must say i'm pretty impressed with the detail thus far. Studying for the 642, and while all i did was lab and read for the 640 (and passed) i'm not have as much luck on the 642.

riddlemeright

thank you for the reply. I signed up with quickcert.com and am impressed with the videos thus far. I'm just nervous about getting all the knowledge in the next 15 months or so to pass all 3 exams. I've always had a super difficult time with read textbooks so was hoping there were smaller volumes written that would give me much of the info that I can use as a supplement.

Cisco Inferno

look for the 70-642 book by Don Poulton. I read some of it at a barnes and noble and it seemed great. Also, its well reviewed on amazon.
Microsoft books are notoriously known to be a pain. I've used them for the MCDST a while back and they were horrible.

riddlemeright

His series is also very large. An easier read is great, but I'm looking for more of a cliff's notes type of thing, if it exists.

Cisco Inferno

compared to the error ridden microsoft textbooks, i believe Poulton's book to be far better.
I do not know of any cliffnotes type thing. Its best to do the actual reading than to try and skip it.

cruwl

These tests are so broad I don't think a "cliff Notes" version is even possible. You could always take the exam objectives straight from MS' web site and go to technet and read up/lab specifically on those.

blargoe

cruwl wrote: »

These tests are so broad I don't think a "cliff Notes" version is even possible. You could always take the exam objectives straight from MS' web site and go to technet and read up/lab specifically on those.

This is how I study Microsoft exams usually.

riddlemeright

great suggestions. quickcert is suggesting reading MCTS: Windows Server 2008 R2 Complete Study Guide (Exams 70-640, 70-642 and 70-643).

I'm going to start that one for now. I hope I didn't just bite off more than I can chew at the moment. The salesperson said it takes about 40 hours of study time per exam. Have other people had similar experiences?

sratakhin

I guess I'm a little bit slow or something, but it definitely takes more than 40 hours to study for MS exams. I did 70-290 and 291 in about 80 hours and 70-680 in about 100 hours, including labs.

Lexluethar

Ya, way more than 40 hours for me as well on the exams i've done. I mean in total I can read all of the material and lab in far less time, but to actually understand it and remember the specifics (which is extremely important on MS exams) I study more than 40 hours total.

I haven't put down the amount of hours, realize MS expects the average candidate to have at least 1 year experience with server 2008R2. While that is overkill IMO for these certifications 40 hours is EXTREMELY low unless you already work with this technology on a day-to-day basis.

nosoup4u

Much longer in my experience for the server exams, especially if you have no hands on work with them.

Seem pretty common on these boards to fail at least one of the exams, even with years of experience.

I've failed both the 70-640 and 70-642 with five years of experience with daily hands on experience.

horusthesun

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

look for the 70-642 book by Don Poulton. I read some of it at a barnes and noble and it seemed great. Also, its well reviewed on amazon.
Microsoft books are notoriously known to be a pain. I've used them for the MCDST a while back and they were horrible.

Currently reading cert guide for 70-640 by Don Poulton, it is very informative, and I as well, highly recommend reading.