ISA 2004 70-350 MCP tips or info?

donaghs

Hey, I'm thinking of going for this exam in the next 2 months by self-study. I've worked with the product a little, have the book, and already have the 4-exam-MCSA 2003 under my belt.

Basically, has anyone done it and have any info it? Info on simulations would be particularly welcome. Because its a relatively new exam, and MSCE "elective" rather than "core", there's not as much info out there on the web.

All help appreaciated!:)

mick.fr

Yeah I passed it last year.
It was not that difficult but some questions were not really easy.
There are a few questions about Exchange publishing rules and authentifications, so make sure you know Exchange and the OWA process through ISA.

This exam is not very popular, like SMS etc...
People usually do not bother taking such elective exams.
But still having it and getting specialized in security will give you some extras while searching for a job in IT.
Myself I get a great increase in my daily rate since I get MCSE: Security.

Best source of information about ISA is without a doubt, isaserver.org

Static M.e.

Would you not be better off getting the ISA 2006 MCP?

I would be interested to see how you get on, if you could post back once completed it would be great.

GL

mick.fr

Static M.e. wrote:

Would you not be better off getting the ISA 2006 MCP?

I would be interested to see how you get on, if you could post back once completed it would be great.

GL

Does not exist, will not exist.
Like there is no official course for this product, neither a Beta version of the course.
2006 is just an update of 2004, with some improvements, but nothing more really.

Static M.e.

I heard 2006 was more of a feature pack allright but I presumed (wrongly of course) that a MS exam would cover it.

Thanks for the update mick.fr

mick.fr

The next version of ISA (2007, 2008?) will certainly have a new exam as it will be for 64 bits and future Windows Server (Called Longhorn atm) plus some really nice new features.

donaghs

Hey, thanks for all the feedback. Does anyone know if there are simulations on this exam? And if so what sort of simulations they encountered. The MS sites don't say if they are part of the exam, and I don't know anyone who's done it.

E.g. 70-270 XP didn't have simulations, but 70-290 & 70-291 2003 did have simulations.
Thanks!

Static M.e.

Did some reading about the exam, 70-350 supposedly its 50 Qs, No Sims and is suppose to be easy enough in the grand scale of things. You should be able to download a trial copy from MSDN.

Im now thinking of taking this exam aswell, Ive just come from an 8 hour session infront of ISA 2006 configuring new rules, I did a general install over the weekend so today was tidyup.

Its quite neat really, very easy to configure once you get your head around it. I also found it very different from 2000.

Im told the Thomas Shinder books are excellent for ISA. Also some ISA websites I found usefull, hopefully they might help.

http://www.isaserver.org/
http://www.isaserver.bm/
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/newsgroups/server/isa.mspx
http://isatools.org/
http://www.isascripts.org/

They are more ISA related than exam related but if your going to dl a trial version and play around with it they should be able to answer any technical questions you might have.

Static M.e.

donaghs,

Not sure if your still looking for information on this, Ive started using the CBT nuggets for this exam and they really seem to cover it, first time using the nuggets but im quite impressed.

Taking the exam on Friday so Ill let you know what its like then, The Tom Shinders book is also very comprehensive

donaghs

Thanks Static m.e! I'd appreciate any feedback from the real exam. I've fallen behind on my study. And I forgot to book the exam - i suppose having an exam date is the best incentive to get studying. Will book it this week for early March. I'm about half way through the MS book, and have two PCs to try out the examples (although the book recommends having a network of 3 servers and one workstation!). I got some CBT Nuggets too but need to find the time to look at them. Best of luck on Friday:)

Static M.e.

Just back from the exam got 858 needed 700 to pass.

The exam was easy enough, the main points were
Default gateway questions (Knowing to use the internal address on a router and that the ISA box shouldn't have an default gateway assigned on its internal NIC)
Publishing questions (How to configure Listeners, how to set up publishing rules, link translations)
What client to use when, SecureNAT, Web proxy, Firewall Client or a combination.
Firewall Chaining (linking two ISA boxs, using a firewall user account)
PPTP and L2TP&IPsec
Knowing when to enable a rule or not, knowing what rule to enable.
Knowing to add a route inbetween Perimiter and internal networks
ISA Arrays, Network load balancing, Virtual adapters, CARP, Caches

You should really get the nuggets and watch them if you can't get any time on a ISA 2004/2006 box.

Anything else you need to know about just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

aidan_walsh

Congrats Static M.e.

donaghs

Just passed it. 50 questions. Glad its over, thats me done with exams for another year hopefully.

Thanks for all the advice. I wouldn't say it was easy, but Static MEs post covers the main topics on the exam very well. Definately a help to have done 70-290 & 70-291 to familiarize myself with core MCP exam stuff.

mick.fr

Congratz guys, so now we got 2 more ISA certified gurus.
A quick question, are you actually using it in your company or client(s) network ?

Static M.e.

Congrats Donaghs!! Glad you made it.

Yes Mick.fr we use to use ISA 2000 and moved to ISA 2006 about 6-8 weeks ago


PS Thanks Aidan

aidan_walsh

Congrats Donaghs.