70-431

[zardoz]

Hi am currently studying for 70-431 and am about two thirds of the way through the Sybex book for this one.

I have worked as a developer on Sql Server 2000 for 3 years so am not worried about technical content - just a question of absorbing the bits which are changed in 2005 or that I never used before.

What worries me is these "simulation" type questions that I hear Microsoft are introducing. I have SQL Server 2005 trial edition and have done the exercises in the book, but I will never remember exactly where everything is in the 2005 Enterprise Manager (which is fairly different from 2000). This seems silly as one wrong move during one of these questions and you get it wrong (or am I misunderstanding?)
Its more of a test of "can you remember which options are under which menu" than your understanding of SQL Server.

I am sure we all forget where something is from time to time but it doesnt make you a bad developer/DBA etc - you just find it and get on with the job.

Anyway I guess my question is : has anyone sat 70-431 and can they comment on these "simulation" type questions and how easy/hard they are. I am quite happy with multiple choice, choose all that apply, prioritise a list etc but if I am to be penalised for not remembering which part of the "Tools" menu an item is in I think I'll switch to a less daft exam.

Any thoughts welcome....Jonathan

[simongrahamuk]

*BUMP*

[Sparky]

I haven’t taken the exam you are referring to but I have taken MS exams which feature simulation type questions.

So far they haven’t been too bad and personally I think they are a welcome addition to the exams. You don’t have to remember where *everything* is but as long as you know how to do certain tasks (which relates to the exam) then you should not have any problems.

[cert_spawn]

Did the exam yesterday, I'm based in Ireland. Questions were 52 with 12 simulation questions.

I'm a SQL Consultant and I have been using SQL 2005 since the beta 2 release.

The 40 straight questions are relatively easy if you know the product. Focus is on backup/restore strategies, a lot of T-SQL code, endpoints, security, service broker, bcp ...

The 12 simulation questions are quite strange. The GUI works well and you are presented with a virtual instance of SQL windows or the SSMS console.
The problem I found was that not all the simulations actually allow you to perform the tasks that need to be met based on the questions information. I figured that maybe all they wanted to know in some circumstances, was if you knew which window has the settings you need to modify (although you cannot modify them) and saved the simulation at that point.

I scored 1000 in the end, so I might be right

Study resources I used, experience and a handy SQL 2005Administrator Pocket book

For Jonathan who was wondering about these simulations ... the SSMS GUI is quite different from SQL 2000 EM. I would look into the new GUI before going for the exam. Also a whole new set of T-SQL commands have been added, to code the new objects. I would familiarise with those first. The rest, for someone with your experience, is a piece of cake

Wish you all the best of luck.

[BosonMichael]

Congrats!

[tuvanit]

431 not concentrate on T-SQL! Try to understand all stuff of SQL Server 2005 (Management Studio, DTS, ...)

[zardoz]

cheers for the advice cert_spawn and congrats on passing

I have the trial edition of 2005 (we dont have it at work yet.....) and used the new EM mainly to do the exercises in the Sybex book on the exam that I have.
It sounds like the exam leans heavily towards the "new features" end of things which I guess is no surprise.

I guess this exam will be harder than the Oracle 9i ones I did a while ago so I will give myself more revision and prep time.

Cheers

Jon

[cert_spawn]

I passed 70-447 last Friday as well, this time got 900/1000.

Well this one was another beast all together

I looked at at least 7 questions I didnt know wot they were asking and if it was for me the correct answer wasnt even shown Surely glad I passed this one with a good score

Trying the developer exams now, got 70-441 on Friday coming, brrrrr

[BosonMichael]

Congrats!

[cert_spawn]

I havent laughed so hard in ages. Passed this one as well with 1000. I prepared so much for this I couldnt really believe it was this is easy in the end.

You get 6 scenarios for a total of 56 questions. Scenarios are lenghty and you want to make sure you assimilate all teh info in there. Once you move to the questions you are asked primarily what design/solution would apply to parts of the case study. Only some have specifics related to the code implementation.

So basically without spending hours cracking code and stuff, just make sure you know when to implement a trigger or a stored procedure or a user defined function.

Also make sure you know what SSIS, SSRS and Notification Services do. Web Services are mentioned quite a lot as well.

Try it to believe it. I suspect 70-442 will be all together far more difficult, but surely they need to do better to assess skills on the 70-441 one. Go grab it, it's almost free

Good luck you lot

[cert_spawn]

Well, this is done as well 980/1000.
This one is all about code, so if you dont know the code dont even think to try 70-442.
Emphasys is on stored procedures, commit transaction levels, indexing and relationships, dataset readers, XML, ... u name it is basically in there.
Had 55 questions in all, 15 straight forward, rest as part as 7 different case studies.
Case studies are not as lenghty as the other exams, which in some cases leads to questions that are of generic type more than specific to the case study itself.
Great resource is Programming SQL 2005 from Apress and Beginning to Professional SQL 2005 Programming. But if you messed with the product as much as I did, well no book can teach you anymore than that

So this is it ! MCTS SQL 2005, MCITP SQL 2005 Administrator and MCITP SQL 2005 Developer under the belt ... next year W2K3 upgrade and MCAD Web

Wish you all a Merry Xmas and happy New Year

[zardoz]

Passed 70-431. In many ways easier than I expected but I spent a lot of time preparing.

The simulation questions were quite fair really as they didnt appear to mark you down for fiddling around looking for the right Properties page etc.

Used the Sybex book which was OK (and out way before the MS press one)

Not sure what to go for next. Maybe 70-441.

[simongrahamuk]

Congrats!

[nXPLOSi]

Congrats on the pass, well done

[Crito]

The beta exams ruined these certs... everyone who took them passed with a 1000/1000.