Exam Length: | 90 mins. | Pass Mark: | 784 |
This is a difficult exam! The pass mark is the highest Microsoft have yet set for an exam to my knowledge, excluding Networking Essentials. If you haven't installed a multiple domain model implementation of Windows NT, you have a lot of work to do to solve the questions. A lot of them revolve around the interaction between global and local groups across trust relationships; ensure you have grasped this before taking the exam. You are expected to know how member servers operate within a domain (e.g. installing an enterprise backup solution that can backup PDCs, BDCs, member servers and workstations). I was surprised to see that several common registry hacks were tested; this really tests whether you have the practical experience or have just read a few books...!
There are a lot of lengthy "scenario" questions which pop up, including four (when I took the exam) which ask you to rate a proposed solution as to how well it meets the desired objectives. Try to skim read through the scenario element to start with and get a feel for the answers first; you could easily spend the whole exam studying the scenarios and exhibits otherwise. If you are losing concentration with a particular question, leave it and come back to it. Ninety minutes is not very long at all!
In summary, groups and domains are the key to this exam; if you really understand these concepts in depth you can enter the exam feeling confident.
Domains | Understand the four domain models (single, single master, multiple master and complete trust). Know the benefits and deficiencies of each and when they should be implemented. |
Know which way a trust relationship operates (if A trusts B then B's accounts may be used to access resources in domain A). | |
Understand that trust relationships are not transitive (i.e. if A trusts B and B trusts C that A does not trust C automatically). | |
Remember which sorts of servers can be moved between domains and which cannot. | |
Understand that member servers do not participate in a domain in the same way as a domain controller. | |
Groups | Know that local groups are not visible across a trust relationship, but global groups are visible. |
Know that global groups can be placed into local groups in a different domain to grant the users contained in the group access to a resource or privilege. | |
Networks | Understand the various TCP/IP services such as DNS, DHCP, WINS. |
Know the four routing services in Windows NT 4.0: RIP for TCP/IP, RIP for IPX, the SAP Relay Agent and the DHCP/BOOTP Relay Agent. Understand what each are used for. | |
Learn when Gateway (Client) Services for NetWare are required and when the IPX protocol is sufficient. | |
Know how to ensure that a server does not become a browse master (the registry entry MaintainServerList = No). | |
Performance | Be able to identify a server problem through Performance Monitor counters (e.g. high processor and disk loads usually indicates excessive paging as a result of insufficient memory). |
Know the common PM counters for testing high processor, disk and network usage, etc. Know how to graph the total processor load in an SMP system. | |
Troubleshooting | Know that the registry can be restored through the Emergency Repair Disk and that the ERD is a good first recovery attempt in a serious system problem where Last Known Good is not an option. |
Remember that stripe sets with parity only protect against a single disk failure, and know how to recover from failure. | |
Policies | Know where policies are stored and how to select which policies take precedence in conflict between two policies. |
Printing | Know how to set up multiple print queues to one or more printers in order to optimise their use. |