Customer Reviews

MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-646): Windows Server Administration

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This edition is useless for the new 70-646 exam. Microsoft Training and Certification has already stated that the second edition with the new content is due out July of 2011; although, they are currently testing using the 2008R2 content. Do not waste your money. I've tested twice using this self study including a completely different set of questions from MeasureUp and have failed the test twice. I have scored average 95% for ten certification modes on this book and the MeasureUp tests.

I just passed the 70-646 exam with an 875, so that should tell you something about this kit. First of all, you have to not only study the book, but use all the included resources - questions at the end of the chapter, the practice labs (I used a virtual server), and of course the practice tests on the CD. There's no substitute for hands-on training. Reading this book alone doesn't guarantee a pass, nor should it. You have to use the product, understand the concepts, and shore up the weak areas you'll discover when you do the practice tests.

There is some material in the book that's a little overkill. For example, there wasn't one question on the exam about IPv6, even though the chapter on this goes into a lot of detail. There also wasn't much on the exam about the appplications within IIS. I didn't mind though. since my next exam WILL cover these. Learning more is always a good thing.

All in all, this is a pretty thoroughly written book for the exam objectives. I've gone though a couple dozen certification books over the years (including others by Ian and Orin), and this one rises to the top as one of the better ones.

Thanks for the pass guys!

This text is well written. However, it is written for an experienced network administrator. The author freely admits that he is only covering the new features of 2008 server; therefore, although this is a good book, it is not for the beginning student.

This training kit doesn't lend itself to studying for the MCITP exam. Although the title describes itself as a prep for 70-646, there aren't a lot of practical review questions. I would recommend the Cybex authored by Darill Gibson. That one which is written MUCH better, more in depth and a very down and dirty map to the exam. It's also a down to earth reading style.

http://www.amazon.com/MCITP-Windows-Server-Administrator-70-646/dp/0470293152/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1290532128&sr=8-4

When I purchased this book, I was in dire straits. I'd scheduled my exam based on my mastery of the official academic course book, which did very little to prepare me for the 70-646. After speed-reading this book in a week, running through the practice tests, and using an additional set of questions from MeasureUp, I passed just this afternoon.

Folks, this book is the real deal.

Understand, however, that this book does assume that you've either been using Server 2008 for a little while, or you've been supporting users on older Windows Server platforms. It is not an "intro to servers" book by far. If you need to learn from scratch, I suggest looking into other titles.

Two nitpicks? As another reviewer mentioned, there is almost an entire chapter on IPv6 but not a single question on my exam about IPv6. The space the author spent on IPv6 might have been better spent covering AD permissions and delegation in greater detail. Other than that, I was happy with the book. I look forward to the 70-640 title in the same series.

There are some clerical errors as with most technical books, but the detail level is good for the exam preparation. Any errors that have been caught have been posted on Microsoft's site. I would recommend purchasing the Server Administrator kit instead of books individually, as the kit includes paperback instead of this which is hardcover.

Testing materials included on the CD are realistic for what you will see on the exam, and gets you ready for how to read the questions to determine what response they are looking for.

This book is great, it covers all topics neccesary to pass the Exam 70-646. It also include real life situations that enrich your experience as IT Professional.
I recomend it.

Good information and most of the labs were easy to follow. In a few of the chapters, there were assumptions made by the author so getting information interpreted was necessary.

Overall, this was a good training tool.

In case you haven't heard, Microsoft has not only changed the questions to cover R2, but also added "Testlets" - which are 'real-world' scenarios where you recommend solutions to business customers per se. With this book, expect old/outdated study material and old practice tests (in the old format) only. If you want a training kit including R2 for 70-646, you'll be waiting until July 2011....even though the test format changed quite some time ago. Great concept Microsoft Training...let's start testing on a new version of Server 2008 BEFORE we release the updated study materials. This book is about to become an artificial reef in my aquarium.

This book is an essential read if you want to pass the exam. The content concentrates on what is new in Server 2008 and, in the main, that is what the exam content was all about. There is a small section in the book that warns about knowing all, and not just what is new - this is prophetic as the exam throws up quite a few questions which will have you delving deep into the memory banks. The section on Windows backup does NOT cover the changes in R2, so make sure you know these updates, and the section on TS is out of date as per R2, so again... read the section, but then get onto the technet. As for the exam itself, not a single question on IPv6 (but the section in the book is a good read), while the exam concentrated on these topics: WDS, WSUS 3.0, DHCP/DNS, DFS, CA & TS(RDS). By applying what's in the book and by testing out on your virtual setups (set out in the book), you should get the result you are looking for. I recommend this text.