MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, 70-294): Microsoft(r) Windows Server(tm) 2003 Core Requirements (Pro-Certification)

Each of the four books (each with a separate author) covers the published requirements of a single exam. Coverage tends to be text-heavy--even procedures rely mostly on text and use few screen shots. This goes to reinforce the fact that these are serious books for people with a pretty good idea of what they're doing already. Chapters typically begin with conceptual coverage of their subjects (using diagrams to illustrate the relationships among network entities in many cases) and move on to illustrative procedures to try. Chapters then conclude with carefully considered discussion questions. The answers to the questions appear in an appendix, complete with explanations of why the correct answers are what they are. --David Wall

Topics covered: The published exam requirements for the MCSE/MCSA core exams: "Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Environment" (70-290), "Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure" (70-294), "Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure" (70-291), and "Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure" (70-293).

Product Description
Get all-new, in-depth exam prep for core MCSE Exams 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, and 70-294--as you build real-world job skills. Get four study guides, 1000+ practice questions, full review, case studies, troubleshooting labs, trial software, and exam discount.

Read at least one more book from another author before taking the test. Using multiple books is a must in my opinion. Different books provide different points of view on the test material. Its the difference between seeing a statue, and taking a walk around a statue.

Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't pass your first test. I didn't pass my first test and I remember feeling pretty disappointed as well. Most people don't pass their first test, even the 'experts.' The Windows 2000 tests were harder than the NT tests, and from what I can tell the Windows 2003 tests seem to be harder than the 2000 tests. It should be some comfort to consider that the difficulty of test is going to have an effect on the number of people that get certified. Simply put, you are starting to realize how valuable the MCSE certification will be when you get it.

A warning; in the introduction you are told that these books and this certification are for IT Professionals with an extended period of on the job experience. Its easy to gloss over this, but they aren't kidding. You should probably have a CompTIA A+ level of PC knowledge or the equivalent. Without breaking my MS confidentiality agreement, I can say that you will be expected to have a strong foundation in networking and systems administration. You will need to be able to troubleshoot networked environments and you will need to have, at least in the beginning, an understanding of subnetting. Lets be honest, you can't talk about troubleshooting a networked environment for very long at all without touching some aspect of subnetting and routing.

Also, and this is important, the MS Books don't like to repeat themselves. If they tell you how to do something, they don't like to tell you again. You may find yourself in Chapter 10 and being told to perform a complex operation that you learned about in Chapter 2. Basically, if you don't have the prerequisite knowledge, they aren't going to help you find it. You won't have your hand held through the learning process. But keep in mind, these books have a target audience; experienced and employed Windows Technicians.

Its seems like I have been highly critical of the MS Press study kit, but really I'm just trying to convey that the target audience is very narrow. If you take the books for what they are, I think you will find them exceptionally usefull.

The question is not whether or not you will need the Study Kit: you will certainly need it. The question is whether or not you are prepared to commit to the certification challenge.


1500 practice questions and 15% off exam fee discounts!   October 22, 2003
Harinath Thummalapalli (Austin, TX United States)
157 out of 178 found this review helpful

Just the sheer number of practice questions alone makes it worthwhile to buy this set from Microsoft but adding the 15% off exam fee discount voucher makes it really hard to resist buying this set. If you actually take all 4 exams and buy this set from Amazon, your cost is 60% off the list price! But after comparing the number of practice questions from other vendors, I found that it is definitely worth buying this set.

Even though these books are intended to train you in the Windows Server 2003 Operating System, I found that it is better to have either 'Windows Server 2003 Administrator's Companion' from Microsoft or 'Mastering Windows Server 2003' from Sybex as a reference guide and use this set mostly for review and exam preparation. After comparing the two reference books, I found the book from Sybex to be better as its coverage is more extensive than the book from Microsoft.

The four exams covered in this set are 'Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment', 'Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure', 'Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure', and 'Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure'. They are exams 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, and 70-294 respectively.

The books are made of very thin paper and are all paperback editions. This makes it easy to carry the individual books around. This is especially important considering that there are 4000 pages in the whole set and imagine what the hardcover editions with heavy paper would feel like! There are 2 CDs that come with the set. One has a 180 day trial version of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and the other has the 1500 practice exam questions and several good ebooks. All four books are in searchable and printable electronic formats that are supposed to be Pocket PC-ready. The extra ebooks are 'Microsoft Encyclopedia of Security', 'Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking, Second Edition', and 'Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Sampler'. This last ebook contains excerpts from other Microsoft reference books. But the first two are worth quite a few dollars if you purchase them separately! There are several white papers and miscellaneous software on the second CD-ROM on top of what I already described above.

This training kit assumes that the readers have a minimum of 12 to 18 months of administering Windows technologies in a networked environment and an understanding of Active Directory. I am still looking for a good book on Active Directory Infrastructure.

Each book has its own unique and specific hardware requirements but to illustrate, they recommend that you have two computers to learn from the 70-290 book. One computer needs to have the server installed with a specific name (Server01) and the domain controller in a specific domain. This may make it difficult to use a work computer for training purposes unless your boss lets you have a dedicated computer or these requirements don't affect what's already on the server. The other computer should ideally have a Windows XP client for the optional hands-on exercises.

Each book follows a lesson style format with each chapter having several lessons. Every lesson has an estimated time at the beginning that may not be that accurate depending on your level of experience. Each lesson has several tasks with the concepts and the step by step instructions explained in a easy to understand manner.

Beginners may be able to do okay with the 70-290 book but intermediate to advanced users will definitely be more comfortable with the other three books. I am finding the 70-291 and 70-293 the hardest probably due to my background.

Overall, I think this set is definitely worth purchasing as I haven't run into any good competing books yet. But the price and the number of questions included make it extremely WORTHWHILE to purchase this set. Not to mention the additional free ebooks that you would have to pay for otherwise! If you are planning on taking the MCSA/MCSE exams, definitely get this set. If you are just trying to learn Windows Server 2003 from this set, I believe that there are better books out there. Good luck with your training and exams!


Don't bash what you don't know...   October 4, 2005
J. Wade (Elk Grove, CA)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

First off, these books are study material for certifications that Microsoft states (from the MCSE website):

An MCSE candidate should have at least one year of experience implementing and administering a network operating system in environments with the following characteristics:

* 200 to 26,000 supported users
* Five to 150 physical locations
* Typical network services and applications including file and print, database, messaging, proxy server or firewall, dial-in server, desktop management, and Web hosting
* Connectivity needs including connecting individual offices and users at remote locations to the corporate network and connecting corporate networks to the Internet

In addition, an MCSE candidate should have at least one year of experience in the following areas:

* Implementing and administering a desktop operating system
* Designing a network infrastructure


So, if you don't/can't understand many of the questions these books ask of you, it is because Microsoft assumes you have a fairly extensive background in networking before reading them. I am halfway to my MCSE right now, AND I have a pretty good background in this field and STILL the test questions throw curve balls at me. This is MS's way of making sure you know what you are doing before they certify you. Also, you will get questions that may give you multiple CORRECT answers to choose from. However, the questions will state, "Choose the one that has the least amount of administrative effort" or will assume that you remember a specific sentence that described the so-called "best practice" from the text.

All of this is clearly stated either in the introduction portions of the books or on Microsoft's website. So please... stop bashing these books.


Got my MCSA next up MCSE   October 18, 2005
M. Renovich (Villa Park, IL USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

One of two texts I used to study for Exams 70-290 and 70-291. The text is well written with good practices and questions. For the more indepth learning I used Windows Server 2003 Inside Out. I did very well on my exams and now have my MCSA. Next I am working toward MCSE and plan to take 70-293 in a few months.


Much improved--great buy!   July 12, 2004
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

Earlier editions of the Microsoft Training Kits were not particularly thorough, well written, or real world. The three volumes I've used in these new editions, though, 290, 291, 294, are 100% IMPROVED. First, they are EXCELLENT as learning tools (I really wonder why others believe that they're too brief. And they include real-world case studies that did not exist in the earlier editions. But the best part of this new series is the extras, especially the exam practice and test prep information, READINESS REVEIW. This gives you the value of a "study guide" plus an entire "exam cram" type book. With the 10% exam discount vouchers and the eval software,this is a great package!