Just passed my 70-215 (Win2k server) MCSE test and...

[Joemonkey]

I swear, MS needs to get their heads outta their asses as far as these tests go. i passed it easily, having taken a 5 day class, going to braindumps.com and getting the troytec for it.

However, the questions they asked were just plain silly. if i was hiring an MCP based on the fact they passed the win2k server exam, and all they really knew well was what was on the exam, my company would be in trouble.

seems like 20% of the questions asked were about RAID... what the hell does that have to do with your knowledge of the operating system!? mirrored sets and RAID 5 arrays seem more to me to be of a A+ nature than win2k server.

also, quite a few questions hovered around terminal services. who cares?? what if you aren't going to run terminal services?

you'd think that the test could compose of how to set up the networking components of win2k server, such as active directory, RRAS, DNS, DHCP, etc. etc.

all the questions pertaining TO those networking components were troubleshooting them... if you knew how to set them up properly, you would know how to troubleshoot them i would hope... not to mention if you knew how to set them up properly, you shouldn't HAVE to troubleshoot them.

anyway, just amazes me that some people can be MCSE's with such limited knowledge...

 

[iamwiz82]

so do you have any of the books for sale now? =]

 

[Joemonkey]

sorry no, i prefer to keep them for reference material

 

[Rent]

Troytec and Braindumps are nothing but cheats.

While I am not a MCSE or MCP I proctor MS Tests and I can easily say that if you rely on sites and materials like Troytec and Braindump, you are going to be nothing but a paper MCSE and the fire is coming. :|

 

[nEoTeChMaN]

Troytec is not a cheat. It is a "straight to the point" study guide. 900+ pages study guide books don't mean jack sh!t. I learned more from Troytec Cisco CCNA 2.0 than reading some long winding 900+ passages Cisco books.

 

[Joemonkey]

Radeon, did you not read my post? my whole POINT was anyone can study troytecs and braindumps and pass the test. I chose to take a 5 day class, get the REAL KNOWLEDGE NEEDED to administer win2k server, then use troytec and braindumps to get me through the entirely useless questions asked on the test.

 

[Descartes]

<< anyway, just amazes me that some people can be MCSE's with such limited knowledge... >>



Uhh, you cheated, took a 5 day course, and you're chastising others for having &quot;limited&quot; knowledge?

 

[Descartes]

<< I chose to take a 5 day class, get the REAL KNOWLEDGE NEEDED to administer win2k server >>



Riiiiiiiight, in 5 days, you get the &quot;real&quot; knowledge needed. In terms of administration, knowledge w/o experience is about as useful as a boat in the Arizona desert.

 

[Rent]

Last I heard, Troytec was nothing but the exact test questions with a few changed words. Braindump has been nothing but the EXACT questions.

Call them studyaids if you want, but I've heard more instructors despise them than any other.

 

[Joemonkey]

i took the 5 day course back in november, set up a win2k server network in my home with 3 computers, set up DNS, active directory, DHCP, RRAS, etc. etc. learned how they all worked, and took the test in august of the next year. i did that because i knew the knowledege taken from that experience would be more valuable in a job than the certificate.

i looked at braindumps and troytec because i knew the questions on the MS tests were useless compared to real world scenarios. would an employer want me because i said i set up a network and know how to do stuff, or because i took a 51 question test and passed?

seems the letters after your name are all they care about, hence the whole &quot;paper MCSE&quot; ideal. I never wanted to be be branded as such, which is why i chose to actually LEARN the operating system.

oh, and before i took the test, i had to take a test for my school and get a 90% on it so they would pay for my real test whether i passed or failed. so in reality, i studied my ass off for 2 tests, and my school's test didn't have a braindump or troytec for it.

 

[Joemonkey]

Anyway, the point of my post was that MS really needs to step up on making their MCSE test relevant to real world situations... i'm comfortable with how i obtained my certification, along with the knowledge i have of it.

 

[nEoTeChMaN]

That is what I did too by setting up routers and configure them at home which is where you get the 'real' experience from.

I think the MCSE, CCNA and other certification tests is fine and doesn't need to be change.

 

[Tripleshot]

Joemonkey
What are you doing,biting the hand that feeds you? You took a 5 day course and now you are critisizing microsoft for not giving you a test specific to your vision of IT? WTF?

Get a clue.You have one piece of the pie for MCSE.If you are so inclined to stay the course and achieve MCSE,everything you learn will be put into place. And I agree 110%,5 days and braindumps doesn't make you jack sh!t.You need experience.All you have is a cram session on how to pass a test. BFD!

 

[iamwiz82]

well now, Joemonkey, i'm curious how you got your hands on Win2k server. Would oyu care to enlighten us?

 

[Joemonkey]

the problem i have is the fact that the test i took today was titled &quot;Installation and Administration of Windows 2000 Server&quot; and maybe 10% of the questions on the test dealt with that area.

I learned a lot in class, a lot more going through the MOC on my own, and a HELLUVA lot more actually setting up the network. those 3 main courses of study i took (actually INSTALLING AND ADMINISTRATING A WINDOWS 2000 SERVER) are useful in a practical situation... i have a lot of theory and a lot of hands on experience, along with a good reference book for things i'm not too sure about.

my main problem was ANYONE armed w/ troytec and braindumps can pass the test (which in and of itself has very little to do with installing and administering a win2k server).

 

[Joemonkey]

Gee iamwiz82, could it be the fact that every one of my MOCs has come with an evaluation copy of win2k pro and win2k adv. server? nah that couldn't be it...

 

[Descartes]

Also, I'd like to point out one more thing.

Setting up a home network doesn't mean you're ready to administer a network for any given company! Why people think this is beyond me. We get a lot of developers that we interview who say, &quot;I've worked on home projects for a while now in <insert language here>.&quot; I too do a lot of stuff at home, but I at least have the sense not to put this forward as some sort of credential.

I'm not criticizing you, but just know you're on first step of the ladder to becoming someone of value to a corporation. You seem to already have developed a level of arrogance, and you haven't worked in the real-world yet. Believe you me, you'll be in for a surprise, and no books, classes, or hours of thought will prepare you for that.

But seriously, congrats, and good luck!

 

[Descartes]

<< my main problem was ANYONE armed w/ troytec and braindumps can pass the test >>



Ever seen the movie Cheaters? Yes, anyone having the tests themselves (or something so similar that only a few words are changed) prior to taking the test can pass easily.

 

[Joemonkey]

Descartes you speak the truth, i'm young and lack the real world experience of administering a corporate network.

Then again, if a company thinks they can take any ol' MCSE on their first day and say &quot;you are our top network administrator, get to work,&quot; i would feel sorry for everyone involved.

i don't expect anything to be handed to me because i'm getting my MCSE.. then again, i don't think the MCSE certification should be handed to those with NO experience whatsoever.

 

[Tripleshot]

I took a 6 month course with 3 hour labs and 3 hour lectures to become MCSE W2K .Each Module was at least twice what you took in your 5 day,and I had not only a server lab at school,but a 3 PC server setup at home I still use today.This post comes from that server.

To bad mouth Braindumps or troytec or Transcenders or test out or any of the help tools is just pure B.S. The value of your cert will be manefest in your performance on the job. The cert is just to get your foot in the door. IT professionals in all fields know the value of a newbie who just got his certification and you will be treated accordingly.

I find it absolutely amazing you feel slighted because you had questions on your test in reference to raid arrays,set up and maintenance. What the hell do you think an Admin does? What do you think the tools in your MMC are for? There for performance monitering and data backup and fail over. Get a clue,data lost would probably mean your job is lost too. You are responsible for that stuff and you are responsible for a heck of alot more if you are an MCSE. If you arestopping at MCP in W@K server,you aren't much more than a $10/hr techie in an IT dept help desk ,even if you could get that.

The question pool for server is about 900 questions picked at random. You got lucky. So what? We assume you learned much more,you passed didn't you?
What was your score? I bet you didn't ace it.

 

[Tripleshot]

>>>Then again, if a company thinks they can take any ol' MCSE on their first day and say &quot;you are our top network administrator, get to work,&quot; <<<


You are not playing with a full deck. No company hires a new MCSE and makes them top guy! That just doesn't happen.


Oh,and I also congratulate you in your acomplishment. There are many who do not pass,and many more who will newver even take the exams. You are part of a select group. Show it the honor it deserves. Many before you busted there a*s to get that cert.

 

[Joemonkey]

my score was a 760

i'm not ashamed of it, i earned it. i seriously doubt i will be thought of as a better MCSE (when i do finish it) with this score on say, all the tests, than someone who got a 660 on all the tests. likewise, i don't think i would be thought of as a worse MCSE than someone with 860 on all the tests.

the more i get into my MCSE, the more i realize it doesn't mean much at all. i wish people could simply be hired on knowledge. i'm sure entirely clueless MCSEs who know a special &quot;someone&quot; in a job will be hired before intelligent diligent MCSEs.

 

[Tripleshot]

No one but you will know what your scores are. When you get hired and show your transcript,it will show only the course and date you passed. Period. Your learning begins at that point. That is what experience means.

 

[Descartes]

<< Then again, if a company thinks they can take any ol' MCSE on their first day and say &quot;you are our top network administrator, get to work,&quot; i would feel sorry for everyone involved. >>



Unfortunately, I've seen this happen many times. Early on, some companies would pass on a qualified person for a less qualified but certified (they felt this made them more qualified) person. This is no longer the case.



<< i don't expect anything to be handed to me because i'm getting my MCSE.. then again, i don't think the MCSE certification should be handed to those with NO experience whatsoever. >>



So true, and this has been the cause of the diminished perception of certifications. I don't even list my certifications on my resume anymore. Let me tell you a short story that I find hilarious to no end...

We have this client who has an in-house &quot;developer&quot;/&quot;administrator&quot; who has his MCSE (at least I believe so, he may not have all certs yet). I took on a project for this client, and developed an integration system to their backoffice, and we build a simple administrative frontend (in ASP) for them to build reports, etc.. This guy wants to be able to handle the presentation piece (strictly html). Ok, fine. I told this guy to setup an ftp site on his server so that we could handle the transfer of files back and forth, and he had to call engineering support to do this (is it really that difficult in IIS? No). Finally, he manages to get this done. Great! I then ask him for the ip/hostname, as I'll need this to allow the integration service to contact his ftp. He calls me back (days later), and proceeds to give me the primary and secondary nameserver ip's. Huh? &quot;I just need the ip for the ftp server&quot;, I say. &quot;Oh, I'll call you back.&quot; Days later, he figures it out and we're golden. Whew.

Now, the most hilarious part, at least to me......... is that this guy wears his MCP pin on his jacket at all times!! I found it hard to contain my laughter. He's also the kind of guy who will give you the meaning of every acronym like it came straight from the book to try to prove himself. He carries an attache (sorry, no diacritical marks for me on that word) filled with books, as he deems them necessary to be with him at all times.

Case in point, I think?

 

[rlism]

You'll probably find more AD, RRAS, DNS, DHCP on the NI or AD test.