I've (finally) been offered some decent training at work, and I'm looking to do an MCITP in Server Administration. I've spent what feels like weeks, possibly months looking at various training courses, and training styles and I feel like I'm getting nowhere with this. Have any of you guys in the UK done this qualification or anything similar and can recommend a training style, and possibly an organisation to do it through? Any help would be very much appreciated!
All depends on how you like working. I did my MCSE with Skill Solve and they were great. It wasn't cheap but they knew what they were talking about. CBT Nuggets are great as well if you can't get the sort of budget you need to go away for a few weeks to do it all. But this path requires more effort to assign time for studying on your part. I did my MCTS exams this way and found it convenient for me. Koenig Solutions are also really good if you don't mind travelling and can get the time away from work. It's a bootcamp so you need to do your pre-reading first.
Don't think I'd be able to go off on any boot camp style course, so I'll take a look into CBT Nuggets. Thanks for that!
Not to dis Saspro (da man), I've heard some questionable things about Koenig. A rather clever chap I know decided to take a month out with them in between contracts & came back somewhat disconcerted that a lecturer on windows security was allowing all his students to connect their wifi machines to the demos using clear-text authentication & I quote "Really, man, I don't know what microsoft are up to these days, the bar is so low you'd have to limbo dance under it" Koenig are all about getting you through the exam, not necessarily making sure you actually retain what you've learned after you've sat the exams. Another colleague from a while back gave me one very positive suggestion - "think about how much free time you have to study, work out when you can sit the exam, then go book the exam for that date. that'll motivate you to study cos you've already spent the cash" I've been on a couple of courses, but be aware that most training organisations contract-in their trainers & many of them are book tutors so style & quality may vary. It's a poor state of affairs when a lecturer for an Oracle admin course tries to score points off the students who also do SQL Server (QA-IQ course) yet themselves unable to answer perfectly sensible questions at the skill level they are supposed to be lecturing at. Personally I've found self study backed up with a lot of practical works best for me, I don't need the exams as in a lot of cases what's in the course does not necessarily reflect the day-to-day challenges, though they are clearly a nice to have.
Company are paying for the exams and given I have no qualifications beyond A-level, it could potentially open a LOT of doors! I'm looking into books and videos. The CBT nuggets tuff does look good, and coupled with the right books looks like the right way to go. Anyone else got any experience in this area?
I've done 070-271 and 272 for the MCDST, which counts towards an MCSA. I'm currently slogging through 070-270 and although there's a lot of straightforward stuff, there's a LOT to remember. The MS Press book I'm using is about 1300 pages just for this one exam. It's good though. I'm bad in that I know I should sit down and just get the bloody thing done, it's just doing it. I'm aiming for an MCSE in the end. So a few more exams yet!
If you know your stuff then the exam cram series of books help a lot by condensing what you need to know in to an easy to read paperback. If you do 70-270 book 70-290 for within a week or two. It's the same exam swapping Windows XP for Server 2003.
I'm personally studying for MCITP Server Administrator at the moment. I've gone down the self study route. Currently working my way through the MS press book 70-640.
Get the CBT Nuggets if you can, as they are next to what you would be getting from a instructor lead classroom course (plus you can re-play topics and can plan you study time much better). I know of some people that passed just by the nuggets alone but to take it safe, go get one of those legal and endorsed practice exams (e.g. Measureup.com, Selftestsoftware.com). All in all it is very expensive but might be much cheaper in the UK with possibilities of discounts, special offers etc. Also - based on my own personal experience follow these golden rules: - Stick to your study like your life depends on it. Don't skip days and unfortunately you will have to schedule your life around your study plan. - Build a lab. You can grab all of the things you need for the MCITP for free (e.g. evaluation copy of Windows 2008, VirtualBox for your virtualization needs, etc) - Book the exam ahead of time - that added pressure alone will ensure you stick to your study plan. - Never question the sensibility and education value of the exam material and certification - see it as a pure door opener.
MS have an offer on at the moment where you get a discount & free second attempts if you book multiple exams. THe offer is The 2 Exam Pack (Get 15% off + a Second Shot on Every Exam) • The 3 Exam Pack (Get 15% off + a Second Shot on Every Exam) • The 4 Exam Pack (Get 20% off + a Second Shot on Every Exam) • The 5 Exam Pack (Get 20% off + a Second Shot on Every Exam) • Single Exam with Second Shot for an additional 15% (for total $143.75 USD in the United States) If you need a code for this offer let me know. I'm part of the learning rewards program so have unlimited vouchers for this offer
Microsoft replied with the following Offer Valid Worldwide. Offer Good until June 30, 2011 or while supplies last. Customers must register, schedule and purchase their discounted exams by June 30, 2011. I'm assuming you'll need to request a code from me before the end of the year when the next lot of offers usually start.
Personally I find if you've got a bit of experience with server 2008 in the first place then a couple of VMs, the course outline and a book is a good start. Hands on experience is the best way to start so that you will understand what the book is referring you to, but to pass the MCITP you will need a book because there are sections that you wont often come across that will be in the exam. MDT for example isn't a common desktop deployment method, and even when it is used it's wrapped in SCCM but pure MDT is in the exam so you need to know it. If you're anything like we you'll forget a lot of these things in time. I haven't really worked with desktops for a few years and I'm a bit embarrassed with how quickly I've forgotten some things. The other thing that you will get good at in time is being able eliminate the incorrect answers, so you don't even need to know what is right; you just need to know what's wrong.
Just thought I'd make a note about something I've come across regarding my MCITP studying, apparently the exams have just recently changed to include 2008 R2 questions, so make sure your study material is relevant.
