Re: Failed 70-297 - Need Advice by Chris
Chris
Wed Jul 02 14:21:37 CDT 2008
Thanks John, Ive booked in again for a couple of weeks time so fingers
crossed!
"John R" <jsr^^^813@zoom^^^internet.net> wrote in message
news:OhURBSi1IHA.4220@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
> "Chris" <chris@removechrissteels.plus.com> wrote in message
> news:Pb-dnSXn-oHrkPzVnZ2dnUVZ8tPinZ2d@posted.plusnet...
>> Hi
>>
>> I've just taken 70-297 today for the 2nd time and failed with a 675
>> score. I think maybe 1 or 2 answers in it :(
>>
>> Is there any advice from people that have either passed or struggled
>> their way through it?
>>
>> I seem to struggle with time as much as anything and working through the
>> length of the the case study's and extracting the information. The
>> weakest area on both attempts has been "Creating the Conceptual Design by
>> Gathering and Analyzing Business and Technical Requirements" which I
>> think perhaps highlights this.
>>
>> Haven't had any problems with the previous 5 exams I've taken so finding
>> it pretty stressful to have hit a wall with this one!
>>
>> The study material I've used to prepare has been the Sybex 70-297 Study
>> Guide and the transcender exam sims which I've actually found to be a lot
>> shorter and easier than the real thing.
>>
>> Any advice or recommendations are greatly appreciated.....
>>
>
> Hi Chris,
>
> Yes, 70-297 (and 70-298) follows the design testing format, as you have
> found out. This format can be quite intimidating unless you are prepared
> to deal with it. I found the time element quite challenging. One of the
> things I did was to read the questions first, and then go back and "skim"
> the scenario. Reading the questions first puts page markers in your brain
> while you are reading the scenario, and also allows you to skim much
> quicker. For example, if you don't see any questions about WINS, when you
> are reading, you can pretty much skip over stuff about unix, NT, or 98
> workstations. Conversly, if you see questions about how many DCs to put
> at a location, you pay special attention to the scenario where it talks
> about local authentication, number of users, etc.
>
> Be sure to clear you head (and your notepad/whiteboard) between scenarios.
> Often I found myself thinking about requirements in prior scenarios as if
> they applied to the one I was working on.
>
> Being on top of your game also helps with this test, because it combines
> all of the concepts of DNS, DHCP, WINS, GPOs, etc, etc. Be sure you are
> clear on "upgrading" a domain vrs "restructuring" a domain. Remember, the
> fewer domains in the end, the better. Know each of the different types of
> trusts and when to use them. Be careful about trust transitivity.
>
> Pay special attention to who says what. For example, if the IT manager
> wants everyone to authenticate locally, but the CEO says keeping costs to
> a minimum is of paramount importance, you might think twice about putting
> a DC at a remote location with only a few employees since DCs cost money,
> and the CEO trumps the IT manager.
>
> Most importantly, this test is about what the customer wants, not what you
> want. It would be great if you could just convert everyone to AD
> integrated DNS, but if the customer wants to keep their existing bind DNS
> infrastructure, what do you need to do to design around that?
>
> I used the MS Press book for 70-297, and I also used the TestOut video
> series (which I especially liked). I also had some amount of experience
> with network design. Of course, with this test, network design is the
> design as dictated by Microsoft. Hardly anyone uses RRAS, most people use
> some type of VPN concentrator (like Cisco) but this is a Microsoft test
> about Microsoft technologies. I also found the sample tests included with
> the MS Press book to be much less verbose than the actual tests, but I
> think they were helpful anyway.
>
> Good luck to you.
>
> John R