MCSA vs CCNA difficulty?

[JimmiG]

Already have the Cisco CCNA certification, but I figured with a Microsoft cert added, my chances at finding a better job would increase since I would be more versatile.

Was thinking about trying for the new MCSA Server 2012 exams (70-410 to 70-412). Just wondering how they compare to the Cisco 640-802 exam, in terms of the amount of time you have to spend studying and preparing and the difficulty of the actual exams. CCNA was really on the edge of what I could manage while also working full-time. Had to spend over 6 months preparing, vs the typical ~3 months, since I wasn't able to put in that many hours each week. How many months do you think are needed for MCSA?




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Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

 

[Udgnim]

could be wrong on this, but I believe MCSA does not have simlets like CCNA and you can go back to review questions in a MCSA exam which you can't do in CCNA.

pass score looks to be 700 while I think CCNA's is in the low 800s

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/e...ies.aspx#fbid=fCwMX6qAgC8?scoring_and_results

have not taken a MCSA exam but would not be surprised if they have some questions that probably won't be needed in the real world except for extreme cases

an example I can think of is knowing the specific step by step process of how a Kerberos ticket is eventually provided to an authenticated account

edit: found out MS is not requiring recertification for a MCSA. not sure if that is a recent change but I've been under the assumption that all their exams had a certification validity of 3 years.

 

[alkemyst]

MCSA is more on the CCNP level than CCNA. CCNA is a pretty basic test.

 

[child of wonder]

Recently took the 70-417 to update my MCITP 2008 to MCSA 2012 and found the exam to be much easier than the MCITP was. My co-worker has taken the 410 and 411 and also found them to be easy.

Haven't taken the CCNA so can't comment on how they compare.

 

[JimmiG]

MCSA is more on the CCNP level than CCNA. CCNA is a pretty basic test.

Are you sure? MCSA is Microsoft's Associate level certification. They also have MCSE and MCSM. The first exam is called "Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012", which doesn't sound that mind-boggling to me. Second one is "Administering Windows Server 2012". There's a 1000-page book that is said to cover all three exams. CCNA material is more like 2,000 pages plus lots of labs and sims.

 

[nephilim2k]

I am pretty sure MCSA and MCSE have been made redundant over MCITP...when I did my renewals thats what I did.

 

[theevilsharpie]

I renewed my CCNA about a year ago (I originally passed it a decade ago but let it lapse), and the test was a lot more difficult than I expected. This is partly because the test covers tech that I don't really use (proprietary Cisco bullshit like PVST, EIGRP, and VTP, and old tech like Frame Relay were the biggies), but also because of the fact that I couldn't flip back to questions that I already answered. As a result, I double (and in some cases, triple) checked my answers, which cut into my time. I've taken over a dozen certifications over the course of my career, and the modern CCNA was the first time where I actually ran out of time prior to completing the exam.

I still passed, but it was definitely one of the more difficult exams I'd taken. Overall, I'd say it was a fair exam, but I don't think I'd actively pursue a CCNP or above unless I was actually planning to specialize in Cisco networking.

 

[theevilsharpie]

I am pretty sure MCSA and MCSE have been made redundant over MCITP...when I did my renewals thats what I did.

The MCITP branding never caught on with many hiring managers, so Microsoft retired it and went back to MCSA/MCSE for the 2012 product refresh.

 

[alkemyst]

Are you sure? MCSA is Microsoft's Associate level certification. They also have MCSE and MCSM. The first exam is called "Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012", which doesn't sound that mind-boggling to me. Second one is "Administering Windows Server 2012". There's a 1000-page book that is said to cover all three exams. CCNA material is more like 2,000 pages plus lots of labs and sims.

I was thinking about the MCSE. It's been a while since I looked into them and with all the MS changes I thought the MCSA was the new MCSE.