Microsoft MCITP Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator (70-693)

R

ryanrulez4ever

Guide
Hi Guys

ill be writing the exam on 28th Feb 2013, and need guidance on how to proceed with preparation as i havent written any microsoft exam before, ( Date given by my company as the exam is sponsored by my Org)

My current skillset is : Server Hardware / Networking / Basic virtualisation

Any help will really be appreciated
 
Get hold of the CBT and the official book (if there is one) - more than enough. 3 months is more than enough time. I cleared 70-432 after preparing for 1.5 months (though I had around 6 months of hands-on experience)
 
@Sei , thanks for the help buddy much appreciated,Hands on shouldn't be a problem as I can get access to any server that my org manufactures, top end blades, racks, storage boxes , switches, routers, I can spend time post office hours and get hands on ,have no hardware limitations can get access to anything, downloaded 2008 r2 and sccm from msdn, omg 9hrs shift and then initially loads of config and then 3-4 hrs a day, currently im following train signal ms server virtualization training 659, now need to know how different this exam is from 693

I cant find any official book from ms press for this exam and this exam expires in july 2013 does that mean my certification wont be useful post that ?
 
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Actually you shouldn't be worried about the exam expiring.. these certifications only tend to prove that you have some knowledge about this. The main part is you having hands-on experience which an experienced interviewer can gauge quite quickly.

Yeah, for some exams there aren't official books available (though they are the best IMO) so you can go ahead with CBT and Train Signal. One word of advice - don't look at dumps till around a week before the exam if you really want to learn something.

I'm not sure about the difference between 659 and 693 but you can easily see that from the course contents given on Microsoft site.

Your main aim with this exams should not only be clearing it but rather using this as an excuse to learn as much as you can.
 
Well said #Sei

Make sure you follow the course guide given on MCP site for a particular exam. One trick that i used to test myself was, i'd read the Index page, each topic & then configure it on my virtual lab and then verify the steps. E.g. Index topic 1. Installing Active Directory, so i'd go ahead with the steps of installing & then verify if i did it correctly.

Frankly you shouldn't even need dumps if you spend enough time learning & practicing, you will clear the exams. I cleared my Windows 2008 Exams without joining any learning center, just went through all training videos from CBT, TrainSingal etc.

There is a lot of difference between the 2 exam there, 70-659 is Server Virtualization which measures your skills on Hyper-V role, Remote management, VLAN & Storage, HA, Migrations etc among other things.
Whereas the 70-693 is Virtualization Administrator which is mostly for your designing virtual Infrastructure, Deployment, management & virutalization strategies eg. App-V, RDS, MED-V etc.
 
@ryanrulez4ever While I agree that hands-on knowledge helps a person get a better knowledge view of what he is doing, reading is also important. Secondly having a certificate just says that this person has studied and retained an considerable amount of knowledge about a certain subject. It does not mean one is ready to take on the world of Oracle or Windows or Linux or anything !! :) Study and clear the exams just to make your resume more impressive. But while working make sure you try to troubleshoot more and more issues and try finding out more than one way of fixing an issue. There might not be more than one way of fixing many issues but it doesn't hurt to try. Working at a company is a different ball game altogether than tinkering settings in your testlab.

Wish you all the best for the exams and hope you do well at your job !!
 
Good job @ryanrulez4ever ! You should get an email soon from MS.

BTW, what's the rate these days for a MS certification? It was Rs 2500 when I gave it in 2010; with a second-shot chance. I am thinking of giving 70-450 - been delaying it for quite some time.
 
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Sei said:
Good job ryanrulez4ever ! You should get an email soon from MS.

BTW, what's the rate these days for a MS certification? It was Rs 2500 when I gave it in 2010; with a second-shot chance. I am thinking of giving 70-450 - been delaying it for quite some time.
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well this was 80USD and that was paid by my company, i dont have to pay for any certification, my company pays for it :p
 
ryanrulez4ever you should go to mcp.microsoft.com and login with your live /hotmail account there if you click on Share my Transcript you will be able to set an access code & see the Transcipt ID

As for your certification ID it should be on the result print out you got when you gave the exam.
 
Sei said:
I believe that is the standard in most companies; atleast my previous one and the current one.
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most of the companies dont, only few topnotch companies with low attrition do, or else 5 certifications and then sayonara to different company ;) ,most of them go savingstorm way and dont provide vouchers
 
Awesome news @ryanrulez4ever. Have a ice cream from my side :3084f812:

As for the topic of companies paying for cert's, my manager was forcing us to take the VCP exam like a shark who has just sniffed blood... I got certified and then the company flatly denied to pay the classroom fees due to which I did not get a certificate from VMWare. I told my manager rather sternly (he is working in the company for 8 yrs and me since 4 yrs) the next time u want us to be certified; get ur sh!t straight !!
 
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djmykey said:
Awesome news ryanrulez4ever. Have a ice cream from my side :3084f812:

As for the topic of companies paying for cert's, my manager was forcing us to take the VCP exam like a shark who has just sniffed blood... I got certified and then the company flatly denied to pay the classroom fees due to which I did not get a certificate from VMWare. I told my manager rather sternly (he is working in the company for 8 yrs and me since 4 yrs) the next time u want us to be certified; get ur sh!t straight !!
Click to expand...

Though I can understand the irritation when you didn't get the classroom fees reimbursed and I know VMWare certifications are far more expensive than MS, but why didn't you get the certification? Did you not pay up before attending the classes?
 
Classroom fee's were INR 60K. At that point in time I knew I was gonna leave my job and look into my family biz, which I currently I am doing. Hence did not invest the 60K. Else would have.
 
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