Customer Reviews

MCTS SQL Server 2005 Implementation & Maintenance Study Guide (Exam 70-431)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's nice to have a prep book that is not only easy to follow, but actually prepares you for the test. I found Tom's book very staightforward, and it's very accessable as a reference book as well. If you're planning on taking the certification test for SQL 2005, you can't go wrong with this book. It also helped prep me for teaching SQL in my workshops across the country. The book is one of the resources I carry on the road with me.

Great book, it entails inside details for advanced DBA's and yet covers the basics for those just getting started with SQLServer. This book is well organized for quick reference, along with examples for certification that will benefit daily use, extending into professional development. You will learn more than DB skills, reading and following his examples. I recommend SQLServer 2005 Implementation and Maintenance Study Guide for all IT enthuses.

The thing I liked most about this book was the fact that I can acutally use it after the test. I have the Microsoft Press book that is also intended as a prep tool for the 70-431 exam, but it will be useless to me as a reference. This book has such a good chapter on SQL and excellent "real-world" type coverage in the other chapters that will allow me to use it as an ongoing reference.

Having used the other book (the one from Microsoft Press) and this one, I can tell you that this book gives you all the information of the Microsoft Press book and then some. I'm glad I used both books in my preparation, but this book is definitely the one that will stay on my shelf.

I used this book as my main study guide for 70-431. In general, this book provided the understanding needed for the test. I also found the videos to be helpful. My only criticisms are
1)The actual test is considerably more difficult than the practice exam that comes with this book. I took the pratice exam in 30 minutes while the real test took 2 hours.
2)The topic of db backups (through SQL and SSMS) seems to carry more weight on the test than in the book, so be prepared.

As a side note, the technical editor of this book (Darril Gibson) wrote a All-In-One study guide for several SQL exams. It's an excellent book and I used it as a side reference while studying. If you plan to take all three tests, you may want to save your money and just buy the Gibson book.

This book was an invaluable resource. I took the official training recommended by Microsoft (Both classes and an E-Learning course). However, if I had taken the exam with only those I surely would have failed. The Microsoft curriculum was presented in a confusing and stale way that failed to demonstrate how the many "features" of SQL could or should be used in the real world. Carpenter's book provided insight that let me know how a feature worked, and what it was supposed to accomplish. Truly a great resource for the exam (which I passed first try), and also for real world application.

My only criticism of the book is that the editor did a very poor job. There were grammatical and spelling mistakes throughout the book. It appears the editor didn't even run a spell check. Mostly these errors were not a problem, however, at least one practice question and answer directly violated the text and a couple of code examples would never have run. While the CD was helpful (the certcam videos were nice), the E-book was incomplete. It did not have the appendixes - and the table appendix would have been nice to print.

Overall a great book that anyone planning on earning this certification should read. The exam is not easy, but with the help of this book you should pass.

I just passed this test at Microsoft TechEd on my first attempt. The book is well organized and covers all the basics of the exam. My test included 47 questions,35 multiple choice and 12 simulations. The practice exams that are included with the book are horrendous and will not prepare you for the test. Do not rely on them. The book will give you all the basics but you will need to know how to apply them to real world examples. It's not enough to know about snapshots and replication, you'll need to know how to implement them in the most effective Microsoft way. I do recommend this book because it will help prepare you for the test but it's not enough on it's own to pass the test. Good luck.

Impressive and exciting. This book is perfectly arranged, documented and skilfully done. I don't usually rate the items five stars.

Being new to SQL Server, I chose this book as the only reference to study for the exam based on the reviews, and I wasn't mistaken.
It covers all the exam topics in the right order, and it gives enough explanation about each subject that would get you through the exam.
However,if you need to pass the exam,you need to get your hands on some test banks because the review questions in the book won't suffice as the only prep questions for the test.
There is a lot of free stuff on the internet if you yahoo or google 70-431.
I had 47 questions,of which 12 were simulations. I just passed the exam two days ago with no training classes and minimal hands-on, on the first try.

Good luck

This is my first Microsoft certification so I wasn't 100% sure how to approach preparing for it. My knee-jerk reaction was to buy a book and do all of my learning from just the book. I found myself reading at night and then during the day (while working) I would try and apply what I had read the previous night to what I was working on that day. Without realizing it I was really just using the book to guide my hands-on learning.

Having said that, the book did a very good job of introducing the exam topics, making note of important topics (HINT: This will probably be on the test), and chapter review questions. I felt the review questions were fairly similar in style to the 70-431 multiple choice question. The practice test's simulation questions are a little buggy, I don't think I could ever answer any of them, but it wasn't that big of deal since I use SSMS everyday. I thought the web content was pretty good, videos, and the second practice test but it is very difficult to navigate to the material. I almost gave up looking for it but somehow I did find it.

I beleive that you could pass the test just by using this book (or any other book) but I think that you should really do the majority of your learning with hands on experience. I do reccomend this book to aid your studying, it worked for me.

In preparation for taking the certification test, I purchased this book and the Training Kit from Microsoft Press. As I was planning to take several certification tests, I wanted to find out which was better: Microsoft's training materials or third-party materials. I flipped a coin to see which I would start with, and this book "won".

I studied it over a period of weeks. I passed the included electronic exam with the book. Time to move on to the second book, right? So I decided I would take the test included with the Microsoft kit. If I passed it, I would know that I didn't need to spend the weeks studying that one, and could proceed directly to the certification test. Of the first 10 questions on the Microsoft Training Kit test, I got 2 right, and had absolutely no clue on 6 of them. They were not covered at all in this book.

Getting over my frustration at wasting my time, I found the Microsoft book "cleaner" in that it had less errors and the test questions actually covered their lesson material more thoroughly. After some topics in the Study Guide, I had lots of questions about how it really worked. The Microsoft book answered most (not all) of them, and had test questions covering the Guide's unexplained non-answers.

I still have not finished the Training Kit, but at 35% of the book read, I have increased my score on their trial test from 20% to 50%. The trend implies that by the time I finish the book, I should be over the passing grade.

The Guide (this book) glosses over, with glancing explanations, several complex topics such as messaging/queueing and jobs. I did find that it was better than the Kit (Microsoft) on the Security chapter. The electronic test in the Kit has many more questions, and it looks like they are more structured like certification exam questions. The Guide's questions are all select one (radio-button) or check-all-appropriate (toggle-boxes). The Kit had those, plus drag-and-drop order of steps questions (take these 7 steps, which ones -in order- do you need to accomplish this task). If I remember the exam simulators correctly (this may be inaccurate), the Guide randomly selects from 95 questions, and the Kit from 195.

I have to say: Don't waste your time. Buy the Microsoft Press Training Guide for this topic.