MCITP Windows 7 Enterprise Desktop Aministrator

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi guys,

Incase you havnt read my other posts im 29 years old and want to make a quick carrier change to IT.

So I have decided im going to do my A+ on my own via self study. However I would also like to do the MCITP Windows 7 Enterprise Desktop Aministrator as fast as possible. My questions are as follows.

1. I use a macbook pro. Will running a version of Windows 7 on my mac be sufficient for everything I might need to do within the MCITP qualification, and if so what is the best way set it up?

2. I can see how live labs might be necessary for network server admin courses but would I need them for the MCITP and is there anywhere you can access Live Labs or virtual machine software for free?

Thanks

Dino

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

There's a lot going on here but I'll try and point out everything I can..

To start off, it's usually bad advice to go for anything but entry level certifications before you have on the job experience. You're not likely to get an administration job with only certifications. Certifications validate your knowledge and experience they shouldn't be something you've just learned in the last six months. The exception to this is entry level certifications like A+ and maybe some desktop support certifications. I would look at A+, Network+ and enterprise desktop support certifications for now because most likely you will need to start in the support field. (Even then, it's one step at a time.) There's nothing wrong with this, you're going to need to be fixing things your entire career so might as well start in support and learn from real experience.

Ultimately enterprise and server administrator should be a goal for you to pursue but not something to do right off the bat.

As for studying and lab setup it's definitely great to have multiple virtual machines setup to run your various OS. You'll want to install something, break it and then try and fix it without having to dedicate a whole machine to the task. A MacBook Pro is up to the task. I use one to run Server 2008, Windows XP and Windows 7 at the same time. It's not fast but for education it's fine. For access to operating systems you can look at the Microsoft Developer Network. (MSDN) It's a yearly charge, $499 right now, and you get access to all different operating systems for testing/development purposes.

 

Thanks DryPlate. As there is a phasing out of the old course name terminology and a phasing in of the new course names perhaps it was not clear as to what I was saying. However you answered my question anyway. When I mentioned the MCITP "Enterprise Destop Administrator" its just the new name for the MCDST which from what I can see seems to be the next step after the A+. In London the market seems quite tough and because I will be entering with zero experience im not sure the A+ alone will cut it if im going for a help desk position. Hence why I would like to the MCITP.

Once im in and working I plan to continue with Server Administrator and eventually the new model of the MCSE.

In the research that I have done so far it seems that between the Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-one Exam Guide Seventh Edition and the Professor Messer Videos on both A+ and MCITP Windows 7 Desktop Administrator I should be able to get through the 220-701/2 & 70-680 exams without going through a dodgy training provider.

How does the MSDN system work? Is it a VM system just like the training providers would give me where I can log on to virtual computers and practice configuring settings as and when I please rather than having all the various operating systems installed on my mac?

 

I think you are confusing some of the MCITP certifications. The Windows 7 version of the MCDST is Enterprise Desktop Support Technician 7. There is a Vista version of the EDST but I don't think it's worth looking at given the low adoption rates of Windows Vista. Also keep in mind during your career that you can also use MCTS certifications to validate your experience. It stands for technology specialist and it is a title earned from a single exam compared to the MCITP titles which encompass multiple exams. For example, "MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration"

Keep in mind that the EDST 7, as it is named, is aimed at support in the enterprise environment. This means that it's covering a lot of remote management and deployment tools not used in the home environment. Even though support exams are generally okay to study for without on the job experience you'll benefit from having worked with Windows 7 on the job.

MSDN allows you to simply download ISOs to install operating systems onto fresh machines or new virtual machines. When you make a new virtual machine in the program of your choice, the VM boots up like a PC with a hard drive with no operating system installed on it. You then feed it an install DVD or an ISO to boot off of.

 

Right... ok... so...

I should be looking at doing the 70-680/1 exams first and along with my A+ and some luck I should be able to worm my way in to an entry level desktop support role. And then once im working, start studying the 70-685/6 Administrator and technician exams?

What is the difference between a technician and an Administrator. Is one, one step above the other or are they 2 different paths?

Thanks again for your patients and support.

Dino

 

From the Microsoft website:

Technician (685):
Candidates for this exam support end users who run Microsoft Windows 7 in a corporate environment. They should have experience using applications that are included with the operating system, such as productivity applications used in a corporate environment and Microsoft Office applications.
Candidates should be able to resolve operating system issues by telephone, email, connecting to an end user's system remotely, or by visiting an end user's desktop. They should have a working knowledge of operating in an Active Directory domain environment.

Administrator (686):
This exam is intended to validate a candidates ability to support medium to very large computing environments that use Windows 7. These responsibilities include setting the strategic direction for the client computers, the supporting infrastructure, and the applications.

Basically it would boil down to hands on troubleshooting with 685 and design work with 686. Design work would go better with a level 3 admin, the type that works in the background and doesn't face end users as much. Hands on work is more for the Help Desk person and you would need to know Win7's inner workings better, understanding how apps behave in it, looking at logs and fixing issues, while the admin tries to figure put how to optimise the end user experience, possibly using logon scripts, hiding or modifying features with GPOs and possibly automating installs
...

Just my two cents.

 

Desktop administrator would be above technician, like a promotion for a technician. However in most environments you have just server or enterprise administrators, sometimes both in one role. There could be a help desk manager who is similar to a desktop administrator but it really depends.

I would keep your eyes on EDST 7 since you'll most likely want a client certification along with A+ and Network+. It can be a little daunting to think of what you want to equip yourself for just an entry-level position but it's because the most basic offices will still involve networks and domain controllers, etc. Take it one step at a time though and work on your A+. Remember that certifications aren't collected like action figures, they are there to validate what you know.

 

EDST definitely rather than the EDA, the EDA is designed for someone with experience of SCCM, SCOM and MDT, you're expected to be able to deploy the OS and Applications and know the differences between WDS, MDT and SCCM, something an entry level technician won't have.

Unfortunately far too many people are thinking that certifications are a way to get into IT, they aren't, they are designed to show your progression through your career in IT. Another failure of the IT industry (generally HR and Agencies) is the lack of understanding as what various certifications actually mean and to what level they should be applied. All an HR bod sees is letters and they automatically think that the person with those letters knows what they are talking about, unfortunately they are more often than not mistaken about those abilities, the failing of agencies is that they often try to sell the wrong certifications for the wrong roles, at no time should you need an MCITP SA or EA to be a 1st line engineer but I see roles requiring just those qualifications.

Certifcations are supposed to prove your existing abilities, not to be confused as a way of getting into IT.

 

I'm sorry I linked to the MSDN earlier, what you actually want is Microsoft TechNet. Basically the same thing but for IT people versus developers. $199/year.

Microsoft TechNet

 

Hey guys, thanks again.

Ya thats whats really been throwing me. Naturally you want to go with what the agencies are asking for. I understand that IT is an experience based industry, and I understand that you can skip steps. I guess really what I want to achieve is to get an entry level help desk job in as fast a time as possible and once in the position I plan to study further.

 

Nothing wrong with wanting to progress, and really thats down to the individual how long the take to learn and what sticks, but skipping stages of learning in IT is a disaster waiting to happen.

Agencies know nothing about IT, they are there to get a commision, going for a cert with no experience or previous knowledge of what you are studying is an uphill battle, and one of the things you'll find is you get many an moment where you think back to what you have learned before and it makes life so much easier.

Get your A+ then 70-680 and then 70-685, your CV and work performance will be much better.

 

Thank you all very much. !!!