MCSA/MCSE 70-290 Exam Cram: Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment
By Dan Balter and Patrick Regan
MCSA/MCSE 70-290 Exam Cram offers IT professionals critical information for scoring higher on their 70-290 exams.
Purchase the full book, MCSA/MCSE 70-290 Exam Cram: Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment.
The following excerpt is from chapter one entitled "Microsoft Certification Exams."
What to Expect at the Testing Center
When you arrive at the testing center where you scheduled your exam, you need
to sign in with an exam coordinator. He or she asks you to show two forms of
identification, one of which must be a government-issued photo ID. After you
sign in and your time slot arrives, you are asked to deposit any books, bags, or
other items you brought with you. Then, you are escorted into a closed room.
All exams are computer based and completely closed book. In fact, you are not
permitted to take anything with you into the testing area, but you are furnished
with a blank sheet of paper and a pen or, in some cases, an erasable plastic sheet
and an erasable pen. Before the exam, be sure to carefully review this book's
Cram Sheet, located in the very front of the book. You should memorize as
much of the important material as you can so you can write that information on
the blank sheet as soon as you are seated in front of the computer. You can refer
to that piece of paper anytime you like during the test, but you must surrender
the sheet when you leave the room.
You are given some time to compose yourself, to record important information,
and to take a sample exam before you begin the real thing. We suggest that you
take the sample test before taking your first exam, but because all exams are
more or less identical in layout, behavior, and controls, you probably don't need
to do so more than once.
Typically, the testing room is furnished with anywhere from one to six computers,
and each workstation is separated from the others by dividers designed to
keep anyone from seeing what's happening on someone else's computer screen.
Most testing rooms feature a wall with a large picture window. This layout permits
the exam coordinator to monitor the room, to prevent exam takers from
talking to one another, and to observe anything out of the ordinary that might
go on. The exam coordinator will have preloaded the appropriate Microsoft certification
exam—for this book, that's Exam 70-290, Managing and Maintaining
a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment—and you are permitted to
start as soon as you're seated in front of the computer.
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Always remember that the testing center's test coordinator is there to assist you in
case you encounter some unusual problems, such as a malfunctioning test computer.
If you need some assistance, feel free to notify one of the test coordinators—after all,
they are there to make your exam-taking experience as pleasant as possible.
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All Microsoft certification exams allow a certain maximum amount of testing
time. (This time is indicated on the exam by an onscreen timer clock, so you can
check the time remaining whenever you like.) All Microsoft certification exams
are computer generated. In addition to multiple choice, most exams contain
select–and-place (drag-and-drop), create-a-tree (categorization and prioritization),
drag-and-connect, and build-list-and-reorder (list prioritization) types of
questions. Although this format might sound quite simple, the questions are
constructed not only to check your mastery of basic facts and figures about
Windows Server 2003, but also to require you to evaluate one or more sets of
circumstances or requirements. Often, you are asked to give more than one
answer to a question. Likewise, you might be asked to select the best or most
effective solution to a problem from a range of choices—all of which are technically
correct. Taking the exam is quite an adventure, and it involves real thinking
and concentration. This book shows you what to expect and how to deal
with the potential problems, puzzles, and predicaments.
Continue to Part Two: Exam layout and design.
Table of contents:
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| Dan Balter is the chief technology officer for InfoTechnology Partners, Inc., a Microsoft Certified Partner company. He works as an IT consultant and trainer for both corporate and government clients and has worked with several network operating systems throughout his 24-year career. Dan holds the following Microsoft certifications: MCDST, MCSA, and MCSE.
Patrick Regan is a senior design architect/engineer and training coordinator for Miles Consulting Corp (MCC). He holds many certifications, including the Microsoft MCSE, MCSA, and MCT; CompTIA's A+, Network+, Server+, Linux+, Security+, and CTT+; Cisco CCNA; and Novell's CNE and CWNP
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What to expect at the testing center
