Best book for 70-640

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I'm looking at studying the MCITP Server Admin once I'm finished with Security+ (exam next week) and don't like waiting around so have begun looking for books.

I've not been able to find much info on decent books though found this on Amazon;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Paced-...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283211726&sr=1-1

It's pretty much the entire MS Press Books for the Server Admin Cert. The reviews aren't excellent and am just wanting to get other members views on the series.

I'm only particularly interested in 640 for now but if folk recommend I go down the MS Press Book route it'd probably just be worth buying them in bulk as per above.

Otherwise if there are any better books out there then please do suggest them

 

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44 views and not one suggestion? Come on guys, surely a few of you must have already studied for the exam??

 

Surely a Microsoft exam would be based mainly around Microsoft's official study guides? Even if the Press Kits don't cover everything, they would be the references of choice? I've used MS Press Kits almost exclusively as my major study material for all 6 exams I've passed to date. What is it about the Press Kits that some people don't like? Are they badly written and cause confusion, or is it that they don't cover everything that might appear in the exam? I'm not aware of any other study guides that do cover the exam objectives 100%.

 

I stick to the Microsoft books myself and if I can afford it some sort of CBT. The only other non MS books i bought were the Sybex XP 70-270 which seemed pretty good and a couple of exam cram books of varying quality.

You can't go wrong with the MS books in my opinion. Great reference material also when needed to brush up on something.

 

I used the MS Press book for 70-680 and got frustrated constantly having to check the errata just incase I was learning some information wrongly.

The errate for 640 is here and it doesn't make for light reading. Is frustrating that MS publish them with stupid mistakes that could be avoided if proof-read properly.

Was just wondering if there are any other books out there worth getting before I foot the bill. I gather from the lack of a response from people that there isn't Looks like it's the MS Press Book for me too then.

 

Microsoft's exams are not based around their MS Press study guides. The study guides are written to exam concepts, not the other way around. In my experience the authors of the study guides do not necessarily have any extra insight into the exam materials than you or I. That being said, if I were looking for a book to use to study for a Microsoft exam, I would choose the MS Press book first simply because past MS Press books have been helpful to me. I might also choose a book by a third party publisher to get a different perspective.

 

I tried a bit of CBT before and video learning really is not for me which kinda sucks as they look like good material.

Think I'm just going to go ahead and order the triple pack. As you say; they'll be a good reference for future too.

Thanks for some input though both of you

 

Never bothered to check the error pages online to be honest. The MCSE books i have purchased have all been 2nd editions and revised etc so i guess most errors found and corrected. Most of the time i do not do the lab stuff as i hate the server setups they request. I play with the technology myself to fully understand it then read through the labs just to see if there is anything i did not catch. Most of the stuff in the books you tend to know anyway working with the technology. A lot of the time it is just a case of reading hundreds of pages to pick out some little tid bit which you never knew about or to understand the "right" way to do something rather than the way you really would do it

 

Just ordered the triple pack from Amazon. £62 for the whole set. Bargain!

 

Would of posted earlier, but been busy reading MS Press books. i.e. 70-640. I used the MS Press book set for MCITP Server Admin 2008.

On to my last exam which is 70-640, as I have passed the other 2 already in the following order;

70-642
70-646

Now just to got to wrap up the first book. Aiming to sit it Wednesday next week. Here's hoping. Will then move onto something else. Might even be able to wrap up another quick exam/cert by the end of September. Soon see. ITILv3 Foundations is the plan for Oct, so will give the Microsoft stuff a small break I suspect in Oct.

 

I'm getting ready for 70-640 too (exam booked for: 10 Sep). I'm using MS Press book and CBT Nuggets.

So far I don't feel like I know the subject inside out, but we will see.

Good luck!