i am looking for some good text for this exam. i think i may use proxy 2.0 for an elective since it isn't expiring and would like to hear what you all think.

i found some good prices on ibooks.com but need to see if there's some membership thing i missed while searching all the book sites. (post post notes: i went back to iBooks and realized that they are electronic books. don't really think i want that. anyone used them?)

looking specifically at the Sybex family of books. here are the links to the titles:
MCSE Proxy Server 2.0 - http://www.ibooks.com/SiteSrvr/ SSS00QFK67R3CRPYR5KAWJ1MKEAWJ1
M KECTFP/bmrsrc/WPgs/SiteBrowser.htm?Op=4&B=2680&I=1
and the accompanying Exam Notes - http://www.ibooks.com/SiteSrvr/ SSS00QFK67R3CRPYR5KAWJ1MKEAWJ1
MK ECTFP/bmrsrc/WPgs/SiteBrowser.htm?Op=4&B=748&I=1

if those links don't work and you want to see the books: www.ibooks.com and search for proxy. they are in the first 5 or so listings.

i used both sybex and the big blue book by allan r. carter (i think it's from IDG) for NT Server in the Enterprise and i must say the book by alan r. carter blew the sybex away. so, your thoughts please on these and any others.

thanks.


------------------
chunder

• MCPx3
  
• Network+
  
• CNE 5
  

Report this post to a moderator

I wish I'd heard of Carter before I went nuts looking for a good book. As it was, I couldn't follow the Sybex very well. I used Exam Prep (NOT Exam Cram) to get ready, and I think it did me good. The Exam Prep book doesn't give you any explanations on the practice questions like the Exam Cram does, but the questions are pretty comprehensive. Unfortunately, there are some errors in the book, but these are addressed on Coriolis' web site (www.coriolis.com) in the "Errata" section. You'll need the ISBN of the book, which is 1576102645.

To find books, I use www.bestbookbuys.com. You give it the title or an ISBN number, and it looks at about 30 different vendors and finds who has the books and compares prices and shipping. Great source.

That's my 2 cents, hope it helps. Good luck!

------------------
Russ
A+, MCPx5

Report this post to a moderator

hey kingsway4us,

thanks for the info on the book but did you really think it was a good book? what else did you use to study? did you pass on attempt #1? the reason i ask is the reviews on Amazon.com aren't good at all.

also, the IDG book equivalent to allan r. carter's is actually by curt simmons. i think i may try and go that route + an exam cram or exam notes -- unless you can convince me otherwise. i mean, the reviews of the exam prep weren't good.

thanks for your thoughts.

------------------
chunder

• MCPx3
  
• Network+
  
• CNE 5
  

Report this post to a moderator

The simplest thing I can say is that the Exam Prep book worked for me where the Sybex didn't. I passed Proxy on my first attempt...but I spent two months studying for it. If you don't have a lot of confidence in the Exam Prep because of the reviews, I wouldn't get it. But I was one of those people who did benefit a good deal from it.

Sometimes you'll see that in the reviews, too...someone gives a book one star and someone else gives it a five star. I think it just boils down to personal preference and what you can understand.

As for what else I used:

SmartCertify CBT; I don't recommend it. I spent 6 weeks going through it twice (even taking notes the second time through), and I didn't feel like it was preparing me enough. 6 weeks is a lot of time to spend on something when you don't get a whole lot out of it.

I used all the free sample tests and questions I could get my hands on, which included Exam Essentials (recommend), Transcender (a 12-question demo) (recommend) and Accutest (from www.mcseguide.com)(recommend). I used Coriolis' online tests, 34 questions a pop (recommend). And what you've seen in other posts about the Transcender tests is the truth: understand the concepts and you should do okay.

So, two things I didn't like about the Exam Prep: 1)the answers to the review questions were never explained, except for only a couple of chapters (this made it really worthless when it came to the scenarios), and 2)the chapter on IIS focused mainly on IIS 4.0, not 3.0, so I didn't even read that chapter. I leaned on the Sybex for that, because it focused on 3.0. I can see where the Exam Prep could garner some negative reviews, but overall, it was a good deal of help to me.

Boy, this kinda sounded wishy-washy. But I hope you can get something out of this. If nothing else, you got yourself a good link to some good prices on books.

Good luck. I wish I'd known about Carter before last week...



------------------
Russ
A+, MCPx5

Report this post to a moderator

thanks again for your thoughts, kingsway4us. i actually have the ExamPrep for test 240 but can't really say much about it at this point, it's sitting there next to my novell and linux books at home collecting dust and yelling at me to hurry with these last 2 tests. however, i did decide to go with the IDG book (http://www1.fatbrain.com/asp/bookinfo/bookinfo.asp?theisbn=0764533363) and the ExamNotes (http://www1.fatbrain.com/asp/bookinfo/bookinfo.asp?theisbn=078212304X). The reviews for the IDG book weren't necessarily as good as those for Sybex but i just didn't like what i saw with Sybex for the Enterprise and DID like what i saw with IDG (even though this is a different author, i like the format of these books). And the ExamNotes had better reviews than ExamCram (reviews based on those from Amazon.com). I will also be using ExamEssentials and other practice tests so I think i should be in good shape. I don't plan to spend the 2 months that you did, however... gotta get it done (my own timeline, not MS's now).

i might also mention that i picked up these books from www.fatbrain.com for about $10 total cheaper than Amazon.com had them. I like fatbrain.com. I would have gotten them from http://lcis.booksonline.com had they even had a sigle book on Proxy. kinda pissed me off -- i joined the club and got a couple good books but can't find others that i need... it's still a good deal though to join.

anyway, i have rambled plenty. i will be posting more info here as a study (and pass!).

Thanks again for the help.

p.s. how's the snow in WY? gettin some here! yippee!

------------------
chunder

• MCPx3
  
• Network+
  
• CNE 5
  

Report this post to a moderator