What are /r/mcsa's favorite Products & Services?

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For a fresh perspective, you can get a 3 month free trial of Pluralsight through Microsoft's Visual studio Dev Essentials. This is also free and offer access to azure for labs.

https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/dev-essentials/

They have videos for server 2012 and 2016. It has helped me in my pursuit. I hope this reinvigorates your studies! Don't let the test win!

I used measure-up practice exam that was included in the free retake voucher pack, as well as the Transcender practice exam.

I also used a training video course by Infinite Skills.

The practice exams are useful as they arent dumps so they actually teach you the reasoning behind the answers and topics. The video course gives you alot of overview and practical use scenarios. I ended up also using an old desktop and creating a Hyper-V virtual lab, and did labs discussed in the training.

I studied/labbed for about 6 weeks.

What's cool in my opinion is that a lot of it is less about super technical nitty gritty details and more about process. Like the ESAE concept, JEA, JIT, Clean source principle, etc there are technical aspects to them certainly but they're really about the concepts and the security practices more than memorizing every little PS command.
That said, some of the practice tests I'm taking(measureup.com and udemy.com) are kicking my ass with powershell related questions. Always gotta have that stuff down in memory for the exams unfortunately

I say to use the free version of hyper-v for this. No gui, but it is full featured outside of data center exclusives. It will force you to do things in powershell and through remote management tools, like a proper admin

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-hyper-v-server-2019

For a fresh perspective, you can get a 3 month free trial of Pluralsight through Microsoft's Visual studio Dev Essentials. This is also free and offer access to azure for labs.

https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/dev-essentials/

They have videos for server 2012 and 2016. It has helped me in my pursuit. I hope this reinvigorates your studies! Don't let the test win!

Two things mainly. The Microsoft Reference book and the Boson exam.

I also have an AD and Certificate Services environment I could cross-reference at work, although would have built a lab in VMware Workstation Pro otherwise, as I did for the other two exams.

I'm scheduled to take the 70-697 exam in a couple days as well. I've used CBT Nuggets, Panek's book and the green Microsoft study guide book to prepare. I'm also using the Measureup practice tests that came with my voucher. I've probably have close to 200 flashcards made up as well. Haha

Heres one of the books I've been looking over. A lot of people I know who have taken the test already found it to be very helpful.

Exam Ref 70-697 Configuring Windows Devices https://www.amazon.com/dp/1509307850/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_2dDVCbAF8SS1J

Good luck!

MCSA Windows Server 2016 Exam Ref 3-Pack: Exams 70-740, 70-741, and 70-742 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1509303669/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_hJgRBb7HXWZ0Z

MCSA Windows Server 2016 Complete Study Guide: Exam 70-740, Exam 70-741, Exam 70-742 and Composite Upgrade Exam 70-743 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119359147/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_aKgRBb0R68GA0

I have just passed the Examination of 740 last January 31. With the study materials of CBT Nuggets videos, A book which you can find here: https://www.amazon.com/MCSA-Windows-Server-2016-3-Pack/dp/1509303669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519171770&sr=8-1&keywords=mcsa+2016

and some practice test and some Virtual Lab with CBT Nuggets also. And I can tell you, practice test aren't legit. I struggled for almost 30 to 40 mins while taking the exam. Thank God that I barely passed the exam with the score of 760/1k. The passing score is 700. Anyway, It's a good thing that practice test weren't that accurate. It's because you can really test your skills if you really know the course.

I got this one:

Exam Ref 70-740 Installation, Storage and Compute with Windows Server 2016 1st Edition

It goes trough basicly everything the exam wants you to know.

Depending on how far you want to go, I used to get the Mastering Windows server books. They are basicly a complete overview/guide of everything Windows Server has to offer. Mastering Windows Server 2016

Wow, you are really digging deep, mate. I only have this book and the Udemy course.

I also have a few years of experience in System Administration as well. I will see how I will do in the 70-410 exam.

First off, congratulations!

I'm the only IT personnel at a small school with Windows 2008 R2 Server. I have more than a decade of using Windows Server, and I feel so incomplete if you know what I mean. I know just enough to make things work (setup the DC, create users, configure roaming profiles, some GPO, pretty basic). To cut to chase, I want to be a more dedicated admin by taking MCSA 2016.

I have the CompTIA triad, ITIL v3, and MOS. But never any Microsoft Technical certs.

My first question is: are most of the questions scenario-based? How much Powershell questions are there in your test?

The MOS test I took last year (Access 2013) was like that, but it felt like I was just following instructions.

I am currently attending a bootcamp, but I felt it wasn't enough, and I might redo it (free retake for a year).

My second question is: how intensive was your lab when you were preparing for the test? Do you need to connect some clients to the server? I can create Virtual Machines, and I guess that will be enough.

Third: did you watch any other videos besides the Infinite Skills? Did you use any books in addition to the videos? I am currently enrolled in two courses on udemy, but I find it hard to focus. I'm looking for a book (I have the three Exam Ref provided by the school), but I'd like to know your input if you had used different ones for 740. There's not enough reliable printed resources for Server 2016, but I am keeping an eye on Sybex 740 Guide by William Panek.

Fourth: do you think it is advisable to take other exams first before the 740?

I apologize for the long post; I just want to get 740 out of the way before October, as I am planning to enroll at WGU by December. Too many things going on for me, but one of my priorities is the MCSA, particularly the 740.

Thanks in advance, and good luck on your remaining exams!