70-410, 411 and 412 Exam study material

[Ambient]

Evening guys

 

I'm soon going to be starting my study for the 70-410 exam.

 

My experience with Windows servers is constant since Windows 2000 Servers was released, and i've been playing about with Windows Server 2012R2 for a while now (both at home and now more and more at work)

 

I learn well with a combination of books and playing (on my test network of course), and so i'm hoping someone can point me in the direction of a good book they've personally used for the exam.

 

p.s - Apologies to sound a bit blunt here, I'd prefer to have no replies to this thread over people suggesting books that they haven't read themselves.

[jamesreedersmith]

Look at CBT Nuggets if you want a good resource.

[DarrenM]

Have a look at Microsoft virtual academy there are resources for server 2012r2 there and its free.

Windows Server Training Courses - Microsoft Virtual Academy

 

IT pro TV is quote good, is a fairly informal chat style but covers the exam probably worth subscribing to when you are revising just before the exam.

MCSA Windows Server 2012 (70-410) | ITProTV

£33 a month subscription.

 

and good luck!

[Ambient]

Thanks for the input so far, but i'm still looking to hear recommendations for books in order to compliment the way i seem to learn best.

 

Cheers

[keogk]

Sorry to hijack this. Does anyone know if the 70-410 covers R2 or just 2012

As far as studying goes. I found the MS press books were decent I just took 70-680 and 70-685

What worked best for me is downloading test kings or similar. Taking them. Seeing where I am failing and studying those topics.

Do not use the test kings as only source a lot of times the answers are incorrect and not relevant

I am going to build a lab next week and hope to take the 70-410 mid september

[DanTheLacky]

For the -410 I recently bought Exam Ref 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2, only read about 150-200 odd pages (I'm studying for a different cert but read this when I get bored as intend to take 410 after). Its pretty good but with all the microsoft books it can be pretty wordy at times.

 

For video training CBT nuggets or Pluralsight (Use to be called trainsignal), CBT do a 7 day trial with unlimited viewing, Pluralsight do a 7 day trial with only 3 hours of content (if you go over they charge you), however when my trial with them finished I filled in the survey saying I liked the content but couldn't convince the mrs about £30 a month they gave me a 1 month unlimited trial Both have very good content in my opinion.

 

Ps. Yes the 410 covers R2 but not alot, make sure you get resources for the R2 though.

Edited September 11, 2014 by DanTheLacky

[dblight]

I've done 70-410 and just doing 70-412 and I'll do 70-411 after!

 

For videos I'll definitely recommend CBT Nuggets.

 

Books

I personally use the Microsoft Exam Ref books for each AND the Microsoft Press training books. Some stuff in the Exam books is ok but the training books go into a little more depth but they are obviously not arranged in the exam way.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0735673616/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1414186367&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00K5QK5X6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1414186430&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40

 

 

I also use and can't recommend highly enough Mastering Server 2012R2. It's a beast of a book but brilliant for cross referencing exam material and for just general use.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1118289420/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1414186466&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

[OverWorked]

I've been working on MCSA 2012 for about 2 years (on and off, mostly off).

 

AFAIK they got updated to Server 2012 R2 in January 2014.

 

I passed the 410 and 411 on the older non-R2. I failed 412 narrowly twice on 2012 (650 points). It got upgraded to 2012 R2 and I failed it again with a lower score in January 2014.

 

I studied hard for 412 recently and failed it again today with an even lower score. Either they're making the questions harder and more obscure or I'm getting thicker.

 

Whatever books or videos you get, make sure they're the 2012 R2 versions.

 

I can't recommend anything now for the 410 and 411 because everything I used was for the 2012 non-R2 and obsolete now.

 

I used:-

Exam Ref (70-410): Installing And Configuring Windows Server 2012, Craig Zacker (must have been good because I passed first time - I don't know if there's a 2012 R2 edition).

70-411 Training Guide: Administering Windows Server 2012 (Training Guides), Thomas, Orin. (good - I passed 2nd time)

Exam 70-412 Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services (Microsoft Official Academic Course Series), Microsoft Official Academic Course (*terrible*, I thought - very dry and full of errors)

 

Right now I using:-

Pluralsight - They now have a good set of videos for 2012 R2 by Greg Shields released only recently in Nov 2014.

Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 R2 Services, JC Mackin and Orin Thomas (also good), published March 2014.

 

Having said all that, I bombed on the 70-412 today. There were questions about obscure error messages, one about IPv6 prefixes (not fair I think), and a lot about PowerShell commands. Make sure you know the PowerShell way of doing everything.

[JoeFulford]

I'm currently study for my 70-410 exam. I have watched all the CBT Nugett's videos. I've seen a sort of half and half about these videos. I've been taking a lot of exam dumps and there is so much material that I see coming up in the exam that is not even mentioned in the videos.

[Wubbalubbadub]

Just booked my 70-410 for 3 weeks from now. Any tips greatly appreciated!

[dblight]

I passed 70-410 a while ago now, I can't remember any specifics just like everyone else says, know the powershell commands and how they relate to each other, know the correct step by step methods also. Good luck!

[rickjames]

Out of curiosity with everyone doing 70-410, what have you done by way of lab environments? Just thinking ahead of the future once my Network+ is done.

 

Ta.

[themightymrp]

I'll add my name to the Exam Ref books, they're what I'm plodding through. They updated the books to take account of the 2012 R2 material quite a while ago now

[halbaradkenafin]

Out of curiosity with everyone doing 70-410, what have you done by way of lab environments? Just thinking ahead of the future once my Network+ is done.

 

Ta.

 

I'm planning on running a small lab in Hyper-V on my Windows 8 machine. Got the books to start working through once I find some time.

[rickjames]

Cool.

 

Stumbled across this guide the other day, anyone think it'll be enough lab wise to get started with when I get around to it? Microsoft Exam Guides How to Build an MCSA Lab - Microsoft Exam Guides