Final Thoughts

This exam is one that expects a great deal of background knowledge of Windows 2000 networks and network services. It would be wise to take this exam after completing the core exams (70-210, 70-215, 70-216, and 70-217) as an elective toward your MCSE certification. If you plan to use this exam as an elective toward your MCSA, I would recommend you take it last, only after taking the 70-210, 70-215, and 70-217 exams. Group Policy reigns supreme in Windows 2000, and as such it permeates the content of this exam—regardless of its absence from the official exam objectives page. The profile statement from Microsoft says it all: "Candidates for this exam operate in medium to very large computing environments that use Windows 2000 and Active Directory."

I wish you the best of luck in pursuing your certification goals and thank you for choosing this text to help you take the next step toward those goals. Everyone involved in this project has put their best efforts into creating and delivering a thorough and useful work that not only covers the exam objectives but also provides additional information that we believe will be useful to you to keep your networks secure.

—Will Schmied,
January, 2003