MCSE Windows 2000 Core Requirements Training Kit IT-Training Kits: Amazon.co.uk: Microsoft Press: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

This boxed set helps you prepare for the four examinations you must pass to qualify as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) under the Windows 2000 curriculum. You'll find lots of information on Windows 2000 and its networking capabilities in this kit. Specifically, the set consists of four books and a CD-ROM:

Windows 2000 Server
Windows 2000 Professional
Active Directory Services
Network Infrastructure Administration
A 120-day evaluation version of Windows 2000 Server

This kit is among the first Windows 2000 MCSE packages on the market, and the books are pretty accurate and detailed. Written mostly by Microsoft internal documentation staff, they use a standard formula. Each module begins with a statement of concepts and facts, such as what log files are and what each of the three Windows 2000 log files is for. Then you get "how-to" information in the form of stepped procedures for viewing log contents; option tables and other material that explain how to deal with non-standard situations come next. Finally, carefully scripted exercises allow you to practise your new skills and get predictable results.

Sections on Domain Name Service (DNS), the IPsec protocol, and the management of network protocols are particularly good. As you might expect from a training kit on a product whose main new feature is Active Directory, the coverage of Active Directory services is top-drawer. Concepts, as well as practicalities, get their due. If only the CD-ROM included a copy of Windows 2000 Professional so that you could set up an experimental network.

The CD-ROM also ought to include an exam simulator, and more test-prep material in the bodies of the books themselves would have been nice. As they stand, they're fine tutorials and references, but not great test preparation aids. Each chapter includes review questions that allow a free response rather than selection from a list of options. The questions will test your knowledge, and answer keys do appear in appendices, but they don't simulate the multiple-choice format of the actual MCSE exams. Read these books for the information they contain, but wait for an Exam Cram or other question repository to get simulation tests. --David Wall

Topics covered: The Microsoft-published objectives of the four required Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) exams. Specifically, this kit contains material on the Windows 2000 Server exam (70-215), the Windows 2000 Professional exam (70-210), the Network Administration Infrastructure exam (70-216), and the Active Directory Services exam (70-217).

Product Description

Here's all-in-one training covering the core exams every Windows 2000 MCSE candidate must pass. This set includes official Microsoft study guides for Exams 70-210, 70-215, 70-216, and 70-217 -- which can also be used in preparation for the special accelerated exam (70-240) for candidates already certified on Windows NT "RM" 4.0. Students work at their own pace through an integrated system of skill-building tutorials and hands-on lab exercises. An economical alternative to classroom instruction, students can rely on official self-paced "MCSE Training Kits" from Microsoft for the skills they need on the job -- and on the exam.

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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

Excellent if you supplement with exam crams 22 Jun 2001

By kevin@ukgraduates.com

Format:Paperback

Well fokes, I gradauted in accounting, was thrown into IT in the deep end and got myself 6 months experience hands on not knowing a thing behind it all.

So if I can get through exams with these books then they must be ok, but PLEASE be careful. Don't rely on the books alone!!! The books just provide information on the 2000 operating system and don't tell you anything about networking in itself. So get yourself two books on networking aswell. I got one beginers level and one advanced level.

When you've read the books, get in some practice on your own machine with the software and then take loads of practice exams. You'll learn all sorts from the practicing.

Excellent books, not to be used by themselves though!!!

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

Ideal if you are just starting the Win2K MSCE trail 7 Nov 2000

By A Customer

This book coveres everything you will need to pass Windows 2000 MSCE exams. However there is not enough multimedia content and it does not relate Windows 2000 to Windows NT 4.0 this means you will have to labour through entire chapters just to realise that something is just the same as good old NT, or is it? Has a minute detail changed and did I miss it in the midst of all that technical stuff?

I'm an old hand at NT so I've gotta buy another book that does relate the innovations of 2K to NT

57 of 62 people found the following review helpful

MCSE Windows 2K Core Requirements Training Kit-MAGNIFICANT 6 Oct 2002

By Dean Bowen

This is fantastic tutorial for people who want to become Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers(MCSE). This is a comprehensive guide with some very realistic tutorials and practice. I recommend this as a must for this part of the MCSE qualification otherwise you'll struggle doing it. Buy this book now if you want to pass MCSE Core Exams. Text and CD package in this turorial is magnificant and is as interactive as a lecturer in the lecture room. They couldnt be any books better for candidates seeking to become Windows2000 MCSE.