Post subject: 291 - why did i even start? Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:24 pm
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This exam is seriously retarded in the amount of information they expect you to cram into your head. The MS textbook istelf must be over 1000 pages and that in itself is not even enough to reliabley answer the depth of information expected.
For example: Not only do I need to know IPsec neogtiations and log analysis, WSUS and everything covered in the 100 + page deployment guide, but now it appears that I have to know ther Performance Monitor counter thresholds and writing Netmon capture/filter strings. It honestly feels like I trade capacity between subjects (chapters) but do not have the capacity required to hold the amount of information in memory at one time.
I personally find it disenchating after finishing the MS textbook and having several years of industry experience to discover that the text book is an abrigded version and that, in actuality, the study materials required are well over 2000+ of incoherent and uncomplied knowledge scattered across technet and other study guides. Why doesn't MS just publish a study tome and be done with it or better yet break this exam down into digestable chunks.
Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 884 Location: Dublin, Ireland
Post subject: Re: 291 - why did i even start? Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:57 am
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parallex_ wrote:
This exam is seriously retarded in the amount of information they expect you to cram into your head.
Aw ... try sitting the CISSP (that's a 6 HOUR exam, with 250 questions regarding 10 entirely separate subjects).
The 291 is the broadest/largest of the MS exams (apart from the various upgrade exams), but it is certainly manageable. Just don't expect to pass it first time unless you are either REALLY good or REALLY lucky.
The MS Textbook for ANY exam is an "abridged version [for which] study materials [are] required [from] well over 2000+ sources" ... all of which can be found in the Technet section of the MS website.
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Gah. Maybe its not my forte tirelessly pouring over counter logs thresholds and implementing every mock scenario(besides those in the book). I do this for a living and have done so for quite sometime however these exams seem to be more about attrition and less about real world scenarios.
Joined: 28 Nov 2007 Posts: 467 Location: Smyrna, Tennessee, USA
Post subject: Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:05 pm
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So what else is new? It's Microsoft's way - think their way and you'll have no problems (meanwhile ) _________________ MCSE, MCSA, MCDST, A+, N+
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Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Phoenix, AZ
Post subject: Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:20 pm
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I would get the 'Testout' software and practice with that as well as the MSPress books.
I've taken the 291 and failed, like so many.
I installed the Testout software and its alot better than following the exercises in the MS books. It has sim questions and screen capture vids so you get a much better idea of everything.
That and the Testout software has 'Fact' pages were they tell you about certain errors and limitations of Server software, such as NACK messages and the difference between msbacli and hfnetchk, which are on the exam. _________________ A+, 70-290, 70-291
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Well i've gone and failed the exam for the second time, granted i got a better score than last but am guttered. I took the first test last week and had a resit yesterday, i done this to get the MS free resit.
A lot of questions where on my first exam, however i started questioning my answer's. I've managed to remember around 20 of the questions and am hoping some are repeated on my next attempt. I feel this exam is very hands on so am going to setup a test environment and try to recreate some of the scenarios.
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If you'll look at it as a whole it is really difficult. But others have passed so why can't I? It doesn't take a genius to pass this exam. It only takes hard work.
Try one at a time and you'll get it right.
I mastered only DHCP at first.
then DNS
then RRAS
then IPSec
they are not very hard when you tackle them one-by-one.
Now I have to study the rest of the topics - the easy but boring ones......
Passing this exam will show you that you have what it takes to be MCSE.
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Its a hard exam it took me three attempts to pass and hours and hours of study but its worth it. I landed my first IT job after it aswell.
Just keep at I also scored in the 450 region on my first attempt
Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 46 Location: Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
Post subject: Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:04 pm
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as already mentioned, this beast that is 70-291 is a toughie. Plenty of studying and good familiarity with the various consoles for sims will see you through. Best of luck _________________ MCSE Windows Server 2003
MCSA Windows Server 2003
Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 18 Location: The Netherlands
Post subject: Swing and a Miss, Strike 2 Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:14 pm
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Hey Gang,
I've also taken on this poor test of real world skills twice and failed. The first was miserable, 490 or so... the second test went much better 640. I know where I needed work, but it wasn't enough. The mix of questions the second time around was definitely on my side. I manage our WSUS, so having many more WSUS questions the second time around helped. I think if I can add a Domain controller to the domain, then rebuild the other two domain controllers in less than a week in a production environment, I should get a bye to the next round. It was a great learning experience, from diagnosing the need for extra horse power and redundancy to a successful implementation, I hope the experience pays off in my final attempt at the mighty 70-291.
Keep pluggin, We'll whip it!
chivo _________________ "There is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over." FZ
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As stated above, I was VERY LUCKY to pass the first time. And with an 860. I think this exam would be impossible for anyone that does not have a nice lab at home. Two servers and two clients. I think the toughest part of this exam was all of the non practical DNS scenerios that I heard about from my peers.
A funny note about the exam is that out of all of my peers who took the exam they all had the same simulations. _________________ A+, Network +, MCP, MCSA, MCTS
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It's Microsoft's way - think their way and you'll have no problems 
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