| The topics in this book have been structured around the objectives outlined by Microsoft for Exam 70-297. This ensures that you will be familiar with the topics that you'll encounter on the exam. Some of the topics covered later in the book might require an understanding of topics covered in earlier chapters. Therefore, we recommend that you read the book from start to finish for your initial reading. After you've read the book, you can brush up on certain areas by using the index or the table of contents to go straight to the topics and questions that you want to reexamine. We've tried to use the headings and subheadings to provide outline information about each given topic. After you've been certified, we think you'll find this book useful as a tightly focused reference and an essential foundation of Windows Server 2003 reference material. Chapter Formats Each Exam Cram 2 chapter follows a regular structure, along with graphical cues about especially important or useful material. The structure of a typical chapter is as follows: Opening hotlists Each chapter begins with lists of the terms you'll need to understand and the concepts you'll need to master before you can be fully conversant with the chapter's subject matter. We follow the hotlists with a few introductory paragraphs that set the stage for the rest of the chapter. Topical coverage After the opening hotlists, each chapter covers the topics related to the chapter's subject. Exam alerts Throughout the topical coverage section, we highlight the material most likely to appear on the exam by using a special exam alert layout that looks like this:  | This is what an exam alert looks like. An exam alert stresses concepts, terms, software, or activities that will most likely appear in one or more certification exam questions. For that reason, we think any information offset in exam alert format is worthy of extra attentiveness on your part. |
Even if material isn't flagged as an exam alert, all the content in this book is associated in some way with test-related material. What appears in the chapter content is critical knowledge. Notes This book is an overall examination of computers. As such, we dip into many aspects of Windows Server 2003. Where a body of knowledge is deeper than the scope of the book, we use notes to indicate areas of concern or specialty training.  | Cramming for an exam will get you through a test, but it won't make you a competent IT professional. Although you can memorize just the facts you need to become certified, your daily work in the field will rapidly put you in water over your head if you don't know the underlying principles of application development. |
Tips We provide tips that help you build a better foundation of knowledge or focus your attention on an important concept that will reappear later in the book. Tips provide a helpful way to remind you of the context surrounding a particular area of a topic under discussion.  | You should also read Chapter 1, "Microsoft Certification Exams," for helpful strategies used in taking a test. The introduction to Practice Exam 1 in Chapter 7 contains additional tips on how to figure out the correct response to a question and what to do if you draw a complete blank. |
Practice questions This section presents a short list of test questions related to the specific chapter topic. Each question has a following explanation of both correct and incorrect answers. The practice questions highlight the areas we found to be most important on the exam. Need to Know More? Each chapter ends with a list of additional resources that offer more details about the chapter topics.
The bulk of the book follows this chapter structure, but there are a few other elements that we would like to point out: Practice exams The practice exams, which appear in Chapters 7 and 9 (with answer keys in Chapters 8 and 10), are very close approximations of the types of questions you're likely to see on the current 70-297 exam. Answer keys These provide the answers to the sample tests, complete with explanations of both the correct responses and the incorrect responses. Glossary This is an extensive glossary of important terms used in this book. The cram sheet This appears as a tear-away sheet inside the front cover of this Exam Cram 2 book. It is a valuable tool that represents a collection of the most difficult-to-remember facts and numbers that we think you should memorize before you take the test. Remember, you can dump this information out of your head onto a piece of paper as soon as you enter the testing room. These are usually facts that we've found require brute-force memorization. You need to remember this information only long enough to write it down when you walk into the test room. Be advised that you will be asked to surrender all personal belongings before you enter the exam room itself. You might want to look at the cram sheet in your car or in the lobby of the testing center just before you walk into the testing center. The cram sheet is divided under headings so that you can review the appropriate parts just before each test. The CD-ROM The CD-ROM includes a searchable PDF copy of the book. The CD-ROM also contains the PrepLogic Practice Exams, Preview Edition exam simulation software. The Preview Edition exhibits all of the full functionality of the Premium Edition, but offers only enough questions for one practice exam. To get the complete set of practice questions and exam functionality, visit www.preplogic.com.
Contacting the Authors We've tried to create a real-world tool that you can use to prepare for and pass the 70-297 MCSE certification exam. We're interested in any feedback that you care to share about the book, especially if you have ideas about how we can improve it for future test-takers. We'll carefully consider everything you say and will respond to all reasonable suggestions and comments. You can reach us via email at dhuggins@skyweb.ca or billferguson@charter.net. Let us know if you found this book to be helpful in your preparation efforts. We'd also like to know how you felt about your chances of passing the exam before you read the book and then after you read the book. Of course, we'd love to hear that you passed the exam and even if you just want to share your triumph, we'd be happy to hear from you. Thanks for choosing us as your personal trainers, and enjoy the book. We would wish you luck on the exam, but we know that if you read through all the chapters and work with the product, you won't need luck you'll pass the test on the strength of real knowledge! |
