IMO, you need to get a flavour of what the questions are like, so practice exams are essential. Part of passing this exam is knowing how to pass this exam.
Any lists of questions that have typically come up are helpful too, as is 6 months - 1 year hands-on experience. Read some of the downloadable PDFs in Citrix's KB too. They're a bit dry, but anything which covers particular features in depth (especially the Clients and PN), will be worth the effort.
The other part of passing this exam is knowing your subject matter and as many default settings as you can.
Nope, me neither. I just took it and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I had read the class materials and taken the sample tests at citrixexperience.com but had to really think about quite a few of them from how I had set or configured things.
However, I will add that there were a few questions on the test that if you cancel out the stupid answers, only one was left. *J*
Thanks for the input. I might attempt it after reading the manual and the online citrix e-book. I will probably take a look at some sample questions. Any simulation tests that really hit home? I have read some bad reviews about the boson tests. I know their Compaq ASE questions aren't that good.
I only did the free boson questions that they weren't on the test. Know your memory and disk requirements for everything (CMC, Citrix, NFuse). Way too many questions like that, which in my mind are worthless these days. Why would I have a file server with under a 1 GB drive or a workstation that doesn't have 25 MB Ram. Oh well. Good luck.
*J*
Yea, the Boson tests aren't great. Many typos and a few very strange questions, but they are about the only Citrix practice test out there. I took the Boson tests repeatedly until I was scoring in the 80's, which is passing. Then I took the real things and scored in the 90's.
Its a good idea to have some hands on with Program Neighborhood and CMC, familiarise with what settings appear on different screens and tabs. I found the Sybex training manual a pretty good resource as well.
As an aside, I think that passing the exam purely through study is pretty naff. OK, you may get the qualification and the letters after your name, but the minute you start work in a Citrix environment, you'll be totally lost. There's only so much that can be covered by the exam, and practical hands-on knowledge of both Citrix products and, more importantly to the job, Microsoft Terminal Services, is totally invaluable.
Did you know that every "Citrix" printing issue is actually a 3rd-party printer driver/Terminal Services issue? Can you solve profiles and policies issues, applications over Terminal Services issues, Domain Name Resolution or network traffic-related issues? None of this is covered by a Citrix course, because Citrix products have no control over these areas - but Citrix Admins must.
That's why hands-on experience of working in a Citrix environment is essential, IMO. These exams are just a way of proving to the world that you know your stuff after you have proven it to yourself. If you don't know your stuff, it will become apparent very quickly, to a large number of people - a Citrix Admin's role is very high profile in most organisations - unless he or she is very good...
...and a large proportion of the calls I get to deal with are to do with Citrix Admins who don't RTFM or use Google.
I hope this is helpful to future CCA/CCEAs. CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk
I am working as Citrix Administrator for last 3 months for a large Multinational,multiproduct co..Most problems I receive are repeatative in nature like printer mapping , or ICA connection, published application etc which doesn`t really need indepth Citrix knowledge.I felt that if you have to handle 50+ Citrix servers remotely (as I do) you must have a faster connection so as to look for Citrix website for KB articles faster and to switch among multiple Citrix ICA sessions quickly.Now, My co is asking me to look for info on Citrix Cert.
Do I really need it , technically ?
I don't care letters beside my name.I already have a master degree in computer science.
Suggestion ? welcome !
cheers
citrix2004
PS : "This world is only in your mind"
The 3 issues you mention are the most common in any Citrix environment, and not well addressed by the courses.
However, to follow the CCEA track would give you a good basic understanding of all the MetaFrame components - and the new CCIA track looks set to provide knowledge on both a deeper and a broader level.
I'd recommend it - if only to gain a bit more knowledge than the Admin guides and Knowledge Base provide.
The exams can all be done from brain dumps, as people have pointed out - but to get the most out of "doing the certs", you can't beat talking to a bona fide Citrix Instructor and getting a little free support.
Citrix's iForums are another good place to pick up in-depth technical information - I went to the one in Edinburgh last year, fully expecting 3 days of salesy lectures punctuated by pub visits.
As it turned out, the talks were informative (if a bit salesy) and the guys in the Technology Lab (real Citrix Engineers!) proved to be a bit of a goldmine.
Hi Guys!, I recently (today) passed the Network+ exam and now I am searching for another notch on my belt. And my search has led me to the CCA. I am a Seniro PC Tech for my company, which BTW uses Metaframe all over our Central and Eastern operations. I am used to usinf Citrix and not to mention the problems it can have. But even our own Citrix Admin has had no classes or certs of his own...all he knows if from both experience and chatting with actual Engineers. I guess my question is, since I can get a copy of MetaframeXP, would this be a good, if not logiccal step for me? In your honest and all-knowing opinions?
My main tip - learn Windows 2000 Terminal Services first. You'd be amazed just how many issues are not Citrix-related but in fact Terminal Server related.
You could do what I did - took MS exams up to MSCA before going for the Citrix certs, and also got my company to send me on the Terminal Server (NT4!) course. It was an eye-opener.
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