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The best way to prepare for the MCSE certification is through hands-on
experience. Unfortunately, most aspiring engineers don’t have unlimited
access to the hardware resources required to gain this experience. If you’re
fortunate enough to work in a hardware-rich environment, odds are the boss
doesn’t want you practicing on the corporate network. But building your
own lab may seem like an expensive proposition. It doesn’t have to be.
Most scenarios you’ll need to model for the MCSE exams can be accomplished
simulating a two-computer environment using software you already have or
can download for free.
Software:
Most systems come preloaded with Windows XP Home edition. While this is an adequate Host operating system, it does not provide advanced networking features included with Windows XP Professional. I recommend upgrading to Windows XP Professional at the time the system is purchased. From most vendors, this is an additional $100. After that, go to Microsoft’s webpage and download a trial version of Virtual PC 2004. Install it on your system. You can download evaluation copies of Windows Server 2003 and the other server products (i.e. ISA, Exchange, and SQL Server) from Microsoft as well. While you’re there, download the latest version of the GPMC (Group Policy Management Console). These are all tools that you will want to experiment with during your studies.
Hardware:
I mentioned minimum hardware requirements for Virtual PC in January 2004. However, minimum requirements are not enough to create an efficient lab. I recommend a single-processor system of 1GHz or higher. The choice of vendor is totally dependent on your budget, as Virtual PC supports AMD or Intel equally. I’ve been asked if a dual-processor system is worth the investment. Right now, though Virtual PC will run on computers with multiple processors, it is only capable of addressing one processor. I recommend maxing out system memory since RAM is fairly inexpensive. The majority of motherboards contain either two or three DIMM slots. Go with a minimum of 756MB of RAM (in either a 512MB + 256MB combination, or using three 256MB chips). Remember, if you want to run more virtual operating systems, you will need more memory to support them. A good rule-of-thumb is to have as much total RAM as required by the recommended configurations of each virtual machine you wish to run simultaneously. From a hard drive perspective, you need to insure that you have enough space for each virtual operating system. Provide at least 4GB for your Host OS and support files and an additional 2GB per Guest OS. A standard lab configuration shouldn’t require more than 10GB, but purchasing anything below 20GB is foolish. The dollar per gigabyte ratio doesn’t get better below that point. The remaining components (such as video, sound, and CD-ROM) can all be standard bargain pieces, since Virtual PC does not rely heavily on them for performance.
Lab Work:
You can create your own exercises using Microsoft’s "How To" articles.
Another great resource is the "Top 10 Things to Study" I found on an
MCSE review site. I have combined the lists I found into a single task
list:
- Configure and troubleshoot folder permissions
- Configure Volume Shadow Copy on your server
- Run Automated System Recovery
- Download and install Software Update Services (SUS)
- Create and restore backups
- Create, assign, and manage permissions to printers
- Manage group policy objects (GPO) and use the GPMC
- Create user accounts in Active Directory and add them to groups
- Configure and recover RAID arrays (which Virtual PC can simulate)
- Configure and manage dial-up and VPN connections (RRAS)
- Install a Certificate Authority (CA) and issue/publish certificates
- Install, configure, and manage DNS
- Practice sub-netting and understand IP addressing
- Install and configure ISA Server
- Create and manage DHCP scopes and options
- Use and understand the capabilities of Network Monitor
- Use and understand Event Viewer and System Monitor
- Work with the encrypted file system (EFS) and IPSec
- Use the sample security templates
- Use all the TCP/IP troubleshooting tools (ping, tracert, ipconfig, netsh)
- Use both NetBIOS and host name resolution
- Manage forests, domains, OUs, and trusts
- Configure sites, links, bridgehead servers, and cost
- Raise the functional level of a forest and domain
- Load the support tools (especially replmon)
With these exercises, you’re bound to run into problems. Don’t allow
yourself to take the easy way out by reformatting and starting from scratch.
Take each problem as an opportunity to troubleshoot and research solutions.
Many are solved by returning to the Microsoft TechNet site and searching
the Knowledge Base. You’ll learn the ins and outs of Windows Server 2003
by doing this. You’ll be much better prepared for the exams. You might
even be ready to tackle these problems in a live environment!
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