What to do

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Hi all,

Just wanted some advise, My company over the next month or so are upgrading to Server 2008, We have just started buying windows 7 PC and laptop. I am working towards get an MCSA 2003.

I started studying for the 70-290 exam as have had abit more freedom on using our 2003 servers at work. and have wanted to move into Systems admin (I don't think they will give me that much freedom, which is abit as it is something I want to move into).

especially as most advise that cert + experience is better then cert only (which I agree 110%, as doing the theory is alot more fun then just reading it). it is the experience bit that has held me back from going for the MCSA,

I am going to carry on with the 2003 track (I hope MS don't retire it soon!!). but have two questions

1. Should I do 70-680 (win 7) in place of the 70-270 (XP) as this will give me exposure to windows 7 as I will be supporting it more and more over the next few weeks.

2. What book would you recommend as an intro to Server 2008 (can live in hope that I might be involved in the deploy process ) or should I get one of the exam books? if so which one?

This is just so that I can get a step ahead when we actually go live.

Thanks.

 

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I can recommend this book as an intro to Server 2008. As well as full coverage of the new technologies it also goes into a lot of detail on "traditional" windows server stuff (AD, DNS, DHCP, et al) which will help you with your Server 2003 studies. It is not a focussed exam prep book.

Re. which client exam to study, I can only suggest you consider which operating system you know best, and which you work with the most? If you have a lot of experience with XP, the MCP certification will validate that nicely. If you want to achieve the MCTS certification in order to advance your career and move into Windows 7 deployments/upgrades/support, I suggest you get as much practical experience with the OS as you can prior to sitting the exam (and not just from an end-user perspective). There is a lot of new technology that you will be tested on - particularly when it comes to deploying the OS. Stuff that requires more than a passing knowledge of the "back-end" (Server 2008, WDS, the interaction between DHCP option 60, etc., etc.)

Best of luck whichever path you choose!

 

I am biassed, but I'd say study for a Win7 cert.

Having said that, many companies will keep XP's running around for quite some time. We're experiencing a massive turnaround right now with our customers starting to move to 7 after waiting around during the Vista days, but it will not happen overnight. BUT having that experience can be useful in the long run, and desirable if you start branching out possibly looking for another employer.

Numbers show that Vista and 7 now amount to... I think 30% of all machines in use? Maybe the number is lower, I just remember seeing it a week ago, but the number is growing nevertheless.

Best would be if you can do both XP and 7 exams, and I don't think Microsoft will be removing too many of those XP/2003 exams just yet (but there are better authorities on this forum to discuss those with). I've done them all and tend to concentrate on the newest ones exclusively these days so what do I know *shrug*

If you've been using XP for the past +5 years and are very comfortable with it, getting the cert should be a piece of cake. Getting it would prove that you know the OS well, but seeing as Microsoft support for it is now running only in the SP3 format for a few more years, concentrating some effort on 7 might make sense as it's newer, you won't know it that well yet, and by studying your butt off to it for the next few months, will let you learn the new OS to a greater degree, which in turn can be valuable to your company as you're bringing in 7 knowledge to the table, and in turn helping your company aquire 7 licenses from Microsoft (which of course is nice for us ;) ).

Others will chip in with their opinion, take mine with a grain of salt, and good luck of course with the studies!

 

p.s. your profile says that you have "no" certifications currently. So I gather you do not even have an MCP yet?

If so, doing the 270 will get you your MCP, and then doing a 680 or a Server 2008 exam suite, will get you an MCTS (and later on an MCITP). If you skip XP (and 2003 cert suite) entirely, you will never get the title of MCP... just something to think about if you value the "titles" and want to aquire a number of them.

 

I agree with Shinigami. I did my 270 on Jul 23rd and sat my 680 on 11th Aug and I'm glad I did both because about 15 questions on the 680 were the same as on 270. The only real difference was around deployment mechanisms, Applocker, Bitlocker and Branchcache. Although I did cram for everything it just made it easier that there was a lotof overlap from my view point.