MCSE 2000 or 2003 1

[kphu]

Hi All,

My company recently asked me to undertake the IT department. I am a Finance person with a net+ cert. Have dabbled in some programming and have configured a couple of win 2k servers i.e. ad, dhcp, iis, etc. I recently configured 2k3 server from scratch. Didn't find much difference between 2k or 2k3.

I find that this a great oppurtunity for me and even more so that my employer is willing to invest in my training.

My question is should I go with MCSE 2k or 2k3? My company is currently using 2k servers and within the next 6-12 months looking into purchasing some new systems that will most likely go on 2k3.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Ken
BBA Finance, Net+

 

[BigFinn]

Hi Kphu,

the 2003 cert will have a longer shelf life than 2000. You can take it with you when you leave and you don't have to upgrade so soon either.

The products are also similar; 2003 won't be much harder to learn than 2000.

Working daily on 2000 will prepare you for 2003 exams very well, I feel.

 

[kphu]

BigFinn,

Thanks for the advice.

I was wondering if you or anyone else have any recommendations on which exam to start off with first. I noticed on microsoft's website I would have to take the following exams.

* = 70-

*290
*291
*293
*294
*270 or *210 (I'm thinking 270 is the way to go)
*297 or *298
+ 1 of many electives

Ken

 

[BigFinn]

Start with 270, then 290 and 291. It's like the old NT 4 track of workstation - server - server enterprise.

The exams build on each other - things you studied for one will turn up in the next, or will at least be a prerequisite to learning the new subject matter.

I'm doing the 284 Exchange exam out of sequence and am coming up to questions on subnetting and routing here and there. These are covered in the 291 exam but I've not done that one yet. As a result 284 feels tough with lots of new concepts to take in, the studying is hard enough to begin with.

Start with 270, then do the cores in number order and then pick your electives. Make it as easy on yourself as possible.

 

[kphu]

thanks for the advice. I've passed the comptia net+ cert so I'm pretty good with subnetting.

I had taken then the 2k class a while ago. It was alot on deployment as well as permissions, example what types of permissions or security features are available for fat, ntfs, basic disk and dynamic disk. landed a job with the net+ cert and didn't have time to study for the exams.

Now I feel like I need to move on and have the proper credentials.

Thanks again!

Ken