From the folks who took the Beta exam, the
"real" exam, and every study guide out there....this is not the NT 4.0
from the old MCSE exams...!!
Do not go into this exam innocent and
unprepared because you "did OK" earning your NT MCSE.
This is the new, improved, updated, and
Service-Packed-to-the-gills NT. Most new features that appeared in Windows 2000
were back-ported to NT both as a product update and as a "dogfooding" trial. A
lot of this exam is based on MS Knowledge Base articles that were written in the
last year or two. A good background in W2k will be of some help--because the
new NT features are largely based upon the development of what could be
considered "NT5"--and some hindrance, because the NT4 upgrades are often more
limited in their capabilities than the W2k version. Know these
differences.
A solid review of old NT4 MCSE study
materials is in order; at the very least, go over the NT Server and NT
Server in the Enterprise Cramsessions on this site. Some things, of course,
haven't changed. The old NTFS permissions are still there, the DNS, WINS, and
DHCP issues are about the same, and the Browser circus is still a
circus...
But if you think "RRAS" is a typo, you have
some work to do.
Best of course is to set up at least a
three-machine network; NTSvr, NTWks, and W98, fill all boxes with the latest
Service Packs updates (they're up to SP6a now...), Option Packs, Resource Kits,
and free downloads, and go to work on all the new functionalities you'll find.
Get friendly with the MMC and the pertinent snap-ins, set up a Dfs tree, check
out the new routing capability in RAS...and of course, IIS Web and FTP sites.
If you know W2k, find out what you suddenly can't do any more.
At the time of this writing, there were no
"Study Guide" type books available, although there are plenty of good monographs
on the individual services. Web resources are limited; not only is this a
fairly new exam, but all the focus has gone to W2k, and some of the old NT sites
have dried up or converted. Best bet is still the MS Knowledge Base in many
regards.
This exam is not a walk in the
park.
It is not an easy way to retaining an MCP
for NT4 MCSEs.
From all reports, this is a "legitimate"
W2k-new-style MCSE exam, with emphasis on practical rather than rote
knowledge.
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