GWJ IT Certifications Catch-All - (MCSE/MCTS/MCITP/CCNA/CCNP, etc!)

Bah, jerks. I played with the virtual business cards before. You'd think with all the money I've pumped into the MS machine they could at least stamp a piece of paper and mail it to me.

Edit: Nevermind, saw an option to have them mail them to you (so, they will take it to Kinkos for you I assume lol)

Question:
How much does it cost for me to order my certificates?

Answer:
Shipping and Handling are $9.95 USD for the first certificate and $0.99 USD for each additional certificate up to 6 total certificates. An Express Shipping option is available for an additional fee. During Checkout, you can view the Express Shipping costs by selecting the Express Shipping option in the Shipping Method section

For 10$ it may be cheaper to take the PDF's to Kinkos.

I started my CCNA on Monday. I'm going to experiment by crowd sourcing class notes using Google Wave. If you want in on the Wave for contributing, I would be more than happy to add you.

https://wave.google.com/wave/waveref...

I'd be down for that, Edwin. I took a Cisco course five years ago and never took the tests (stupid!). I keep trying to get back into it but other crap always gets in the way. I have some routers and switches collecting dust at the house from my last attempt.

Changed the title for more of a catch-all instead of MS specific.

bighoppa wrote:

I'd be down for that, Edwin. I took a Cisco course five years ago and never took the tests (stupid!). I keep trying to get back into it but other crap always gets in the way. I have some routers and switches collecting dust at the house from my last attempt.

I took my CCNA course a couple years back now and didn't write either It's hard though, unless you have a solid plan to allocate some time real life ends up winning.

It's funny too because I chose the server route, and all the internal jobs have been for Network Specialist II specifically geared towards CCNA/CCNP. Oh well.

Swat wrote:

It's funny too because I chose the server route, and all the internal jobs have been for Network Specialist II specifically geared towards CCNA/CCNP. Oh well.

Yeah, I hate that. There have been way more internal postings for the netops team since they tend to move on to bigger and better things more often than our server team do.

Eezy, can you recommend any books for 70-649? I hear the Syngress one is garbage (which is odd, but I guess it was rushed to the market). I guess this is a no-brainer, but I always like having non-MS books for a different perspective as well.

Also, are there any good (general) MCSE books out there? I heard the "MCSE In a Nutshell" series is one of the best references to have, and is a great addition to any IT guy's desk. I tried ordering it a couple times from Amazon and Chapters but it was backordered then canceled

I am really fortunate I came across this thread. I decided to get back into the swing of things and started studying for my Security+ exam. I've been on and off for a while but the fact that CompTIA is going to put expiration dates of certs after 1/1/2011 got me re-motivated.

After that, it's MSCA for me.

edosan wrote:

I am really fortunate I came across this thread. I decided to get back into the swing of things and started studying for my Security+ exam. I've been on and off for a while but the fact that CompTIA is going to put expiration dates of certs after 1/1/2011 got me re-motivated.

After that, it's MSCA for me.

Good stuff man, keep us posted! I think it's probably better to get started on the MCSA/E sooner rather than later though because mainstream support is being retired in July. I'm sure it will still be a while before the exams officially expire, but it might be good to keep in mind. I know some people are stopping at MCSA and moving towards the 2008 path.

edosan wrote:

I am really fortunate I came across this thread. I decided to get back into the swing of things and started studying for my Security+ exam. I've been on and off for a while but the fact that CompTIA is going to put expiration dates of certs after 1/1/2011 got me re-motivated.

After that, it's MSCA for me.

That's cool. I want to get the security+, network+, or server+ out of the way soon. My current employer has been pushing for me to get server+ but I think its to expand the ranks of our server team (there's only 3 right now). Career-wise I want to focus on network security so I think that the CCNA would help a lot and CISSP but I have to wait a while for that one.

Has anyone taken the server+ test recently? And what prepared you most for it? Classroom or self-study?

bilbodiaz wrote:
edosan wrote:

I am really fortunate I came across this thread. I decided to get back into the swing of things and started studying for my Security+ exam. I've been on and off for a while but the fact that CompTIA is going to put expiration dates of certs after 1/1/2011 got me re-motivated.

After that, it's MSCA for me.

That's cool. I want to get the security+, network+, or server+ out of the way soon. My current employer has been pushing for me to get server+ but I think its to expand the ranks of our server team (there's only 3 right now). Career-wise I want to focus on network security so I think that the CCNA would help a lot and CISSP but I have to wait a while for that one.

Has anyone taken the server+ test recently? And what prepared you most for it? Classroom or self-study?

I took the Server+ for the heck of it when I got a voucher to take the beta for free ages ago. Like most CompTIA exams, there's a ton of terminology. I think if I had had more time to hit the books I might have passed.

If you're wanting to do Network+ or Security+, though, I'd suggest getting those done by the end of the year since they're going to start putting expiration dates on those certs come 2011. (http://www.comptia.org/certification...)

edosan wrote:

If you're wanting to do Network+ or Security+, though, I'd suggest getting those done by the end of the year since they're going to start putting expiration dates on those certs come 2011. (http://www.comptia.org/certification...)

Thanks for the heads up. I'm definitely going to try to get those out of the way as well then.

Man, this material for 70-649 (MCSE->2008 Upgrade) is thick with information. I'm falling asleep on the IPv6 part and that's only Chapter 1. Looks like this one's going to be a real doozy to soak in.

Other than that, it was exciting to finally load up my first Server 2008 VM, new & shiny!

Sorry for the lack of updates, the new desk blocks GWJ.

I used the MS Press books for the three individual tests for the biggie. I would suggest the following:
Not much has changed in AD from 2003 to 2008. I would concentrate on things that have changed (RODC).
Know your appcmd arguments/order, clustering config, certificate roles/config and various TS config settings.
Know the various roles available in Core vs Full installs as well as the different ways to install roles on core servers (this also means knowing which versions of the OS to use for upgrades and features (standard/enterprise/web/datacenter).
I would know the local host address of IPv6 but not sweat it too much overall.

That's all that comes to mind right now, I'll post again when I get home and can look at my notes.

The good news is that 647 is pretty much the same material as 649.

Eezy_Bordone wrote:

Sorry for the lack of updates, the new desk blocks GWJ.

I used the MS Press books for the three individual tests for the biggie. I would suggest the following:
Not much has changed in AD from 2003 to 2008. I would concentrate on things that have changed (RODC).
Know your appcmd arguments/order, clustering config, certificate roles/config and various TS config settings.
Know the various roles available in Core vs Full installs as well as the different ways to install roles on core servers (this also means knowing which versions of the OS to use for upgrades and features (standard/enterprise/web/datacenter).
I would know the local host address of IPv6 but not sweat it too much overall.

That's all that comes to mind right now, I'll post again when I get home and can look at my notes.

The good news is that 647 is pretty much the same material as 649.

Definitely keep the tips coming, thanks. It seems like such a broad range of coverage on this one, it will definitely help to hone down what to focus on. I hear it's graded a bit differently - 3 sections, and even if you do great in two, you can fail on your lowest scored one?

Yes the upgrade tests are graded per sub-test.
640, 642, and 643 will each have their own sections and you can't go back once you are done with that particular section (they aren't necessarily going to be in order either) though you will get the chance to review your answers/questions for each section before continuing on. I believe the time is OK for the test but if you don't realize that the test is going to 'stop' after 20 or so questions then it can be jarring, this messed with my head the first time I saw it on the 2000->2003 upgrade. Anyway, since each section is essentially an exam for that test if you fail one section you fail the overall exam.

Oh and the bad news that goes with this is that since you are upgrading you won't see how you did for each section of the sub-tests (the black bar showing weak/strong). Instead the bar will be for each sub-test overall. So if there was a like 6 overall sections on the 640 exam your pass report would have six of those black bars telling you where you were on those types of questions overall. On the upgrade test you're going to have a black bar for only 640 telling you how you did on the questions in that section as well (as bars for the 642 and 643 sub-tests).

As for tips, I can't find my notes for 649 (I have them for 646!) and since MS has posted that they're going to go after people that break the NDA I am going to leave what I have posted as is.

Finally use Server2008 to study not R2, most exams don't cover SPs either.

Hmm, I guess that has some impact on community forums. I always thought you couldn't go into specifics, but you can say things like "make sure you know your xxx!" or "48 questions, 4 sims". I guess I'll play it safe from now on too. I'm sure openly discussing the topics covered in the official books are still OK, so I'll stick with that.

Thanks for the tip on R2, I will avoid.

I'm on day four of my Server 2008 upgrade course 6416C. It's going pretty good so far, I'm really digging some of the new features and additions. The Group Policy improvements are great with all the filtering options, especially being able to target machines with very, very specific configurations and types (I guess replacing the more time consuming WMI filtering options?)

Network Access Protection is cool, but I know I'm going to have to go through that inside and out again to really grasp it. The health/quarantine stuff is great. As usual, my eyes glazed over on the Cert Services sections. I know how important Certificates are, but they are painfully dry to get through even when instructor led.

Just like you said Eezy, we're using Server 2008 VMs, but the instructor is telling us all the great stuff about R2. R2 seems a lot, lot better.

Oh yeah.. initial impressions of HyperV are.. so so. It does the trick, but as the instructor said "It's not VMWare".

How's everyone else coming along?

I am not going to be getting the CCNA done, I haven't even cracked the book. Job functions have changed so I am shoulder deep in implementing a crap load of security fixes via group policy over 200 servers (100 of them citrix) and then documenting the security items I can't implement because it breaks applications.

My contract company lost the contract though so I'll be switching companies to stay in the job and I told them I wanted a CISSP bootcamp.

Ouch.. that doesn't seem like a fun cleanup at all. The CISSP looks like a very respectable cert to have. Good luck, I hope you get approval on that one. I've had my head so far up MS certifications the past couple years I'm clueless to all the other accreditation out there.

I've been working Tier 3 projects the past couple months on loaner to another team in my org, but I recently applied for and have had both regular and technical interviews for a Tier 4 internal position which has some great architecture potential. I'm pretty stoked, I've been pressing hard for quite a while with no movement. All about timing I guess.

I really want to knock off the MS stuff because the new position is on a virtualization team, and I'm going to need some VMWare training soon. Just when I thought I was getting a break from the books, I'm going to get roped back in. After VMWare I'm considering taking a niiiiice extended break from the training cycle. I know it never ends, but I feel the need to kick my feet up at some point

I got my CCNA a few years ago...I still have nightmares about that test. Good luck on the CISSP when you eventually get to start on it Eezy.

Arise, thread! I passed my Security+ today!

My goal of getting it out of the way before the end of the year (to avoid their new rules) is accomplished. Now I can enjoy the holidays before I throw myself back into MS training.

Congrats Edosan! Nice to see you knocked it off for the holidays!

Anyone know of any well-regarded online or Computer Based Training outfits? I'm trying to get the boss to put some of our training dollars towards CBT so the folks in our department can work on certs. We've gone three years now without any significant training time due to workload. We can't really afford to have anyone out of the office for a few days for training. We buy credits from Ctrec every year and end up trading them away to other schools instead of using them ourselves. Investing some of those funds in CBT would give us way more flexibility with our training. Something that includes MS, CompTIA, and Cisco would be ideal.

The other problem is convincing him that certs are worth getting. He's old school, self-taught, and whenever we bring up certification he hearkens back to the early days of MCSE when all you had to know was how to properly install Windows 3.11. "Any idiot can get a certification. It doesn't mean they can do the job!" To a point this is true, but following a training regimen and completing the certification tests exposes you to a lot of the technology that you wouldn't normally see in day-to-day operations. I know when I purchased my own MSCE Transcenders, I learned a ton of stuff that you just don't see on a regular basis.

Anyway, help appreciated.

edosan wrote:

Arise, thread! I passed my Security+ today!

Congrats!

bighoppa wrote:

Anyone know of any well-regarded online or Computer Based Training outfits?

The big employer here uses CED but mostly to send people to the bootcamps, I am not sure if they have online training or not. My current company partners with Kaplan (they own Transcender and Self Test Software) and they offer courses online for the individual tests. I personally pay for Mindleaders but use them as a supplement not a sole-source training site, it's a bit steep the first year but it is much cheaper to renew in subsequent years.

MS has some online presentations for hiring managers here but until the guy sees the light that certification is the equivalent of a college degree in IT not because of what you learn but because you took the time to take the tests and buckle down when in most cases you don't need to then odds are he isn't going to change. The only reason people around me now are getting certed is because the DOD requires it (any new people coming in have 6 months to get Sec+ and the OS cert (MCSA or equivalent) or they're gone and they don't get admin rights until they are certified, thus the government pays the GS people to get the certs (they get to go to bootcamps). Because I actually moved around quite a bit in my first decade (each job was a pay-bump, one of the side effects of our industry is that in order to get significant pay bumps you have to jump from place to place) and needed my certs to help differentiate me from the pack of other people vying for those jobs.

(each job was a pay-bump, one of the side effects of our industry is that in order to get significant pay bumps you have to jump from place to place) and needed my certs to help differentiate me from the pack of other people vying for those jobs.

Exactly.. I couldn't have said it better. I've yet to run into a situation where I've been able to make more money in my current role other than a small raise that barely covers half the cost of inflation. Then again, I haven't worked in a union shop for ages. It seems to get ahead you really do have to play leap-frog either within or outside your organization. And those certs DO help get your foot in the door, that's for sure.

Swat wrote:
(each job was a pay-bump, one of the side effects of our industry is that in order to get significant pay bumps you have to jump from place to place) and needed my certs to help differentiate me from the pack of other people vying for those jobs.

Exactly.. I couldn't have said it better. I've yet to run into a situation where I've been able to make more money in my current role other than a small raise that barely covers half the cost of inflation.

Likewise. The prevalent attitude is "we've already got you, why would we want to pay you more?"

CISSP course started today, two week skim of material for the 6 hour test on the 10th.

**Update: Took the test last Friday (the 10th). The test is essentially the Security+ on HGH and steroids. They want you know a little bit about everything, I finished in just under three hours. I started going back through and I wanted to change 4 of the first 10 questions so just verified I hadn't missed or gotten off on my bubble sheet and turned it in. I am now waiting to see if I passed, this takes about 4-6 weeks. If you pass you don't get your score, if you fail you get your score with a graph of how you did in each domain (similar to MS tests).

Eezy_Bordone wrote:

CISSP course started today, two week skim of material for the 6 hour test on the 10th.

**Update: Took the test last Friday (the 10th). The test is essentially the Security+ on HGH and steroids. They want you know a little bit about everything, I finished in just under three hours. I started going back through and I wanted to change 4 of the first 10 questions so just verified I hadn't missed or gotten off on my bubble sheet and turned it in. I am now waiting to see if I passed, this takes about 4-6 weeks. If you pass you don't get your score, if you fail you get your score with a graph of how you did in each domain (similar to MS tests).

When I was looking into CISSP you had to do a practical exam as well. They sent you a HDD that you had to analyze and retrieve data from while providing chain of custody paperwork and explanations for the procedures you followed while retrieving the evidence. You had (I think) two weeks to return the drive along with all paperwork and recovered evidence. They would then check the drive to make sure you hadn't allowed anything to be overwritten, and checked that you recovered all the evidence, etc. It sounded pretty grueling, but I never got the chance to take the test.

Anyway, is the practical still in there or is it just the written exam?

bighoppa wrote:

When I was looking into CISSP you had to do a practical exam as well. They sent you a HDD that you had to analyze and retrieve data from while providing chain of custody paperwork and explanations for the procedures you followed while retrieving the evidence. You had (I think) two weeks to return the drive along with all paperwork and recovered evidence. They would then check the drive to make sure you hadn't allowed anything to be overwritten, and checked that you recovered all the evidence, etc. It sounded pretty grueling, but I never got the chance to take the test.

Anyway, is the practical still in there or is it just the written exam?

Wow, then they have changed it quite a bit, when was this? Currently I would call it the Security+ on steroids. The cert is definately more geared management than technical people, much of it was review for me but since there is just so much material it's hard to get an idea of, "Did I study enough?"
You need to know things about digital forensics but there is nothing that technical on the exam. The most technical questions were things like layers of the OSI model or types of network attacks.
I don't think 80% of the people in my review seminar would have even known how to image a system prior to conducting analysis.