What to Expect When Taking the 70-282
One of our partners has recently taken and passed the 70-282 exam, Designing, Deploying, and Managing a Network Solution for the Small and Medium-Sized Business. Below he shares his experience and impressions on preparing for this exam.
“I think everyone is aware that this exam covers a very broad range of topics, but I was surprised by the depth of knowledge that most of the questions required. My primary study materials were those recommended by the BOB Team: the 12-part online study group (now available on demand at https://msreadiness.com/study70-282R2), the Small Business Specialist Primer & 70-282 Exam Preparation Guide by Mulzer and Brelsford, and the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Administrator’s Companion by Russel, Crawford, and Gerend. Having just taken the test, I have to say that these resources are a good starting point, but you need to go further to be prepared.
The free webcasts are a good introduction, but they aren’t long enough to provide the depth you will need. Likewise, the Mulzer and Brelsford prep guide is a good overview, and it is very readable, so it can help you become more familiar with Windows Small Business Server 2003. Not surprisingly, the much more detailed Administrator’s Companion provides more of the nuts & bolts and esoteric minutiae that you’re going to be held accountable for on any certification exam. Study this one thoroughly!
But the thing that really prepared me, and the thing that saved my bacon when it came to passing the exam, was my real world experience. Do not underestimate the knowledge you have gained by working with the various server products in the field. I have to admit to making a lot of “educated guesses” as I was taking the test, but time-honored test-taking practices (such as eliminating incorrect choices so that only a couple of possibilities remain) helps to improve the odds!
For NDA reasons, I can’t be specific about the test contents, but I do have some observations especially as it relates to the webcasts. You need to know a lot more about Exchange Server than was covered; for example, I would spend some time researching the various tools available for performing management and migration tasks. You absolutely do need to understand Group Policy. You don’t need to memorize all 1,700 settings, but if you’re not already pretty confident in this area, then spend some time researching Group Policy—what it is, how it’s used, why it’s used, and how it’s managed. You need more than a cursory understanding of this topic. And finally, you need to know the details about backup and recovery, performance monitoring, and plain old core Windows Server management. Don’t just skim this stuff, study the material, work with it in a lab environment, and really get to know it!
The 70-282 is not an easy test, but I certainly don’t want to discourage anybody from taking it. I took it, I passed it, and with the proper preparation you can too. If you have a fair amount of previous experience with Windows Server, you just need to brush up on the “testable trivia” and then focus on the Windows SBS and Exchange Server specifics. If you’re just getting started in the Microsoft world, understand that you’re not going to climb this mountain in a week. You don’t need to get your MCSE before you’re ready to do this, but you will need to dedicate some serious time and effort to your studies.
As a final note, a lot of people have asked about whether or not the exam covers Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 and/or Windows Server 2003 R2. This question was answered in a previous post on this blog (see Q&A from Week 1 Practice of the 70-282 Online Study Group), and I found that information to be accurate.”