Introduction

This book, MCSA/MCSE 70-290 Exam Prep (Exam 70-290), is for technicians, system administrators, and other technical professionals who are pursuing the goal of becoming a Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA) or Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE). This book covers the Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment exam (70-290), which is a core exam for both of those certifications. The exam is designed to measure your skill in managing and maintaining servers in a Windows Server 2003 environment.

This book is designed to cover all the objectives Microsoft created for this exam. It doesn't offer end-to-end coverage of Windows 2003; rather, it helps you develop the specific core competencies that Microsoft says administrators who support Windows Server 2003 will need to master. You can pass the exam by learning the material in this book, without taking a class. Of course, depending on your own personal study habits and learning style, you might benefit from studying this book and taking a class.

Even if you are not planning to take the exam, you may find this book useful. The wide range of topics covered by the Microsoft exam objectives will certainly help you to accomplish the server-management tasks at your job. Experienced MCSA/MCSEs looking for a reference on the new features of Windows Server 2003 R2 in particular should appreciate the coverage of topics here. Also, this book has been updated to include coverage of service pack releases up to SP2.

How This Book Helps You

This book gives you a self-guided tour of all the areas of the product that are covered by the Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment exam. The goal is to teach you the specific skills that you need to achieve your MCSA or MCSE certification. You will also find helpful hints, tips, examples, exercises, and references to additional study materials. Specifically, this book is set up to help you in the ways detailed in the following subsections.

Organization

This book is organized around the individual objectives from Microsoft's preparation guide for the Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment exam. Every objective is covered in this book. These objectives are not covered in exactly the same order you will find them on the official preparation guide (which you can download from http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-290.asp) but are reorganized for more logical teaching. We have also tried to make the information more accessible in several ways:

• After this introduction is the full list of exam topics and objectives.

• After the introduction you will also encounter the "Study and Exam Tips" section. Read this section early on to help you develop study strategies. It also provides you with valuable exam-day tips and information.

• Each chapter starts with a list of objectives that are covered in that chapter.

• Each chapter also begins with an outline that provides an overview of the material for that chapter as well as the page numbers where specific topics can be found.

• We have also repeated each objective in the text where it is covered in detail.

Instructional Features

This book has been designed to provide you with multiple ways to learn and reinforce the exam material. Here are some of the instructional features you'll find inside:

• Objective explanations As mentioned previously, each chapter begins with a list of the objectives covered in the chapter. In addition, immediately following each objective is a more detailed explanation that puts the objective in the context of the product.

• Study strategies Each chapter also offers a selected list of study strategiesexercises to try or additional material to read that will help you learn and retain the material you'll find in the chapter.

• Exam alerts Exam alerts appear in the margin to provide specific exam-related advice. Such tips might address what material is likely to be covered (or not covered) on the exam, how to remember it, or particular exam quirks.

• Challenge exercises These exercises offer you additional opportunities to practice the material within a chapter and to learn additional facets of the topic at hand.

• Key terms A list of key terms appears at the end of each chapter. You'll find definitions for these terms in the Glossary.

• Notes These appear in the margin and contain various kinds of useful information, such as tips on technology, historical background, side commentary, or notes on where to go for more detailed coverage of a particular topic.

• Cautions When using sophisticated computing technology, there is always the possibility of mistakes or even catastrophes. Cautions appear to alert you of such potential problems, whether they are in following along with the text or in implementing Windows Server 2003 in a production environment.

• Step by Steps These are hands-on tutorial instructions that lead you through a particular task or function relevant to the exam objectives.

• Exercises Found at the end of each chapter in the "Apply Your Knowledge" section, the exercises may include additional tutorial material and more chances to practice the skills you learned in the chapter.

Extensive Practice Test Options

The book provides numerous opportunities for you to assess your knowledge and practice for the exam. The practice options include the following:

• Exam questions These questions also appear in the "Apply Your Knowledge" section. They reflect the kinds of multiple-choice questions that appear on the Microsoft exams. Use them to practice for the exam and to help you determine what you know and what you may need to review or study further. Answers and explanations are provided later in the section.

• Practice Exam and Practice Exam Answers The "Final Review" section includes a complete practice exam and the answers to the practice exam. The "Final Review" section and the Practice Exam are discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

• MeasureUp The MeasureUp software included on the CD-ROM provides additional practice questions.

Final Review

This part of the book provides you with the following valuable tools for preparing for the exam:

• Fast Facts This condensed version of the information contained in the book will prove extremely useful for last-minute review.

• Practice Exam A full practice test for the exam is included. Questions are written in the style and format used on the actual exams. Use it to assess your readiness for the real thing.

This book includes several valuable appendixes as well:

• Appendix A, "Accessing Your Free MeasureUp Practice TestIncluding Networking Simulations!"

• Appendix B, "MeasureUp's Product Features"

• Appendix C, "Glossary"

These and all the other book features mentioned previously will provide you with thorough preparation for the exam.

For more information about the exam or the certification process, you should contact Microsoft directly:

• By email: mailto:[e-mail].

• By regular mail, telephone, or fax, contact the Microsoft Regional Education Service Center (RESC) nearest you. You can find lists of Regional Education Service Centers at www.microsoft.com/traincert/support/northamerica.asp (for North America) or www.microsoft.com/traincert/support/worldsites.asp (worldwide).

• On the Internet: www.microsoft.com/traincert/.

What You Should Know Before Reading This Book

The Microsoft Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment exam assumes that you are familiar with Active Directory and networking in general, even though there are no objectives that pertain directly to this knowledge. We show you tasks that are directly related to the exam objectives, but this book does not include a tutorial in working with the finer points of Active Directory and networking. If you are just getting started with Microsoft Windows and networking, you should check out some of the references at the end of each chapter for the information you will need to get started. For beginners, we particularly recommend these references:

• Mastering Windows Server 2003, by Mark Minasi (Sybex, 2003). This is an excellent starting point for information on Windows Server 2003 and common tasks.

• Windows XP Power Pack, by Stu Sjouwerman, et al. (Que Publishing, 2003).

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Delta Guide, by Don Jones and Mark Rouse (Sams Publishing, 2003). This is a great book to have if you are already familiar with Windows 2000.

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Unleashed R2 Edition, by Rand Morimoto, et al. (Sams Publishing, 2006). This book covers the R2 features that we don't cover here.

Hardware and Software You'll Need

This volume is intended to be a self-paced study guide. As such, the concepts presented are intended to be reinforced by the reader through hands-on experience. To obtain the best results from your studies, you should have as much exposure to Windows Server 2003 as possible. The best way to do this is to combine your studies with as much lab time as possible. In this section, we will make some suggestions on setting up a test lab to provide you with a solid practice environment.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is available in the following versions:

• Standard Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition is the entry-level product in the product line. This edition is designed for the small- to medium-sized environments and departmental servers.

• Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition is designed for medium to large environments. It includes features for enterprise environments, such as clustering and support for up to eight processors and 32GB of memory.

• Datacenter Edition Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition is designed for high availability and large environments. It includes support for up to 32 processors and 64GB of memory. This version is only available preinstalled on high-end hardware.

• Web Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition is positioned and priced as a lower-cost web platform. As such, it doesn't support features such as Terminal Services in Application mode, nor can it be used as a domain controller.

You should be able to complete all the exercises in this book with any of the first three editions of Windows Server 2003. (If you can afford to use a datacenter server as your lab machine, invite me over.) Your computer should meet the minimum criteria required for a Windows Server 2003 installation:

• Pentium or better CPU running at 133MHz or faster

• Minimum of 128MB RAM

• 2GB of disk space for a full installation

• CD-ROM or DVD drive

• Video card running at 800x600 with at least 256 colors

• Microsoft or compatible mouse

Of course, those are minimum requirements. I recommend the following, more realistic, requirements:

• Pentium III or better CPU running at 550MHz or faster

• At least 256 MB of RAM, and as much more as you can afford

• 5GB of disk space for a full installation

• CD-ROM or DVD drive

• Video card running at 1280x1024 or higher with at least 65,000 colors

• NIC

• Suitable switch or hub

• Microsoft or compatible mouse

In addition to a machine running Windows Server 2003, you might want one or more client workstations to test accessing shares over the network, Terminal Services, and other functions. For best results, Windows 2000 or Windows XP clients are recommended because they are required to support features such as Group Policy and the Software Update Serviceitems that will probably appear on the exam.

Two products that have proven invaluable to us in the writing field are VMWare (www.vmware.com) and Microsoft Virtual PC (www.microsoft.com). These products enable you to create and run multiple virtual client sessions on your PC.

Microsoft, of course, is highly motivated to spread the word about Windows Server 2003 to as many people as possible. So you can download trial versions of Windows Server 2003, along with other Microsoft products, at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/trial/default.mspx.

You might find it easier to obtain access to the necessary computer hardware and software in a corporate environment. It can be difficult, however, to allocate enough time within a busy workday to complete a self-study program. Most of your study time will probably need to occur outside normal working hours, away from the everyday interruptions and pressures of your job.