MCSA 70-410 Cert Guide R2: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 (Cert Guides) 1st Edition

This book WAS helpful in passing the exam. I barely passed, and only by 1 or 2 questions. Some of the practice test questions that came with the book were similar to the real world exam questions. There were also a number of questions on the actual exam that I believe were outside the scope of the book, and probably outside the scope of 70-410... I'm also pretty sure a lot of the [trick] questions were written by sociopaths... I remember back in the days of NT4 and Server 2000 when the exam questions tested your real-world knowledge. Now-a-days, it seems like they just test you on the most obscure things they can think of, providing a myriad of similar answers that are just slightly wrong... As I was taking the exam, I thought to myself, "I bet somewhere in the 1000 page book I just read is that obscure power shell command, but I've used Windows Server for 10 years and I've always just used the GUI before"... Why isn't that a choice here? The whole point of Windows Server was that it had a nice GUI. I never understood why you'd bother with "server core"... Power Shell is fine too, but if the same thing can be accomplished in less steps in the GUI or with a previous tool, why bother re-inventing the wheel? Then again, this is just the "server" version of Windows 8, so my expectations should have been lower...I had looked at many other books before deciding to buy this one. This one is by far the best out there, but expect some pain on the 70-410 exam... Right now Microsoft is doing a "second chance" promotion, where if you fail you can take the exam again for free.The 70-411 and 70-412 "cert guide" books are non-existent as of this writing. I'm not sure if something happened to the author, or if Pearson just lost interest, but once you pass 70-410, I'm not sure what is the best book to continue.... I have not gone past 70-410 yet. Maybe it's best to just wait for Server 2016 at this point... I found the Microsoft Press books to be extremely lacking.

*Disclaimer: I work with Server 2012 R2 every day, so my experience coming into this was an intermediate level.I echo the other reviewer's comments that this cannot be your only source for material. Is is very good, likely the best 70-410 prep book out there, but there are a couple of things to acknowledge before picking it up.1: It's impossible for your brain to absorb 1,200 pages worth of information with one read-through, and it's too long to read through several times. This isn't osmosis; you won't just eventually 'get it'. You need a second source of information.2: Even with its impressive depth, there's still some pieces missing - pieces you may be tested on. There were powershell cmdlets I was tested on that were not in the book.My study procedure was:1: Read the book cover to cover. Highlighted everything that warranted review. Did all the chapter tests and the post test.2: Went back through the book and copied everything I highlighted into a document. This would be my study guide. It referenced commands, memory tables, and page numbers to sections in the book that required extra study.3: Went through the whole Pluralsight 70-410 video series, skipping sections I was comfortable with.Passed on my first attempt.

yes just finished this book. really worth it. this book wont build scenarios for you to try. its just tells u what functionality exists and where to find it. so it really depends on the type of book you want. however what i like about this book is that it seems to really cover and know the exam very well. there are multiple instances where new themes are introduced and just touched upon like WDS and noted that this will be tested in 411. i read this in conjunction with Panek's Sybex series. thats nearly 2000 pages of mcsa fun. i feel i know the core material quite well and will sit my exam. i am an experienced test taker so take what you will. MBA. ITIL. network+. PMP. and Six sigma in the last few years and all did very well and passed on first try.Please note book is 1000 pages so it aint for the faint hearted. and there will be sections like domain local. universal groups and global groups that you may need to read over and over to grasp.

Great book:I finished the book in 2 weeks, roughly 1 chapter a day after work with my own Server/Hyper-V Cluster Lab. Don't let the 1000 page book scare you, it's really 500 pages of reading with a lot of filler pages:screen shots, Appendix, and chapter questions.Pros: Good starter book, covers a lot of information, Screen shots are very helpfulCons:My number "1" complaint:The chapter questions are to "EASY" - include more chapter questions ranging from easy, moderate and hard - 20 to 25 questions. Real word example questions like the actual 70-410 test. I personally would prefer Core/PowerShell info split from GUI - ie 13 chapters covering GUI and 2 chapters covering Core/PowerShell. A fair amount of typos (check the errata) and extra unnecessary word use /verbiage. I also have the SYBEX MCSA (William Panek) 70-410 book as a second reference and material guide + Technet + online test banks Q&AsThis book alone is not enough to pass the 70-410 exam.

This book is a good start and reference for exam 70-410. You will need this to pass but please don't fully rely on this book. You will FAIL if you do. I bought this book as well as purchased/practiced the Transcender and the Pearson test question. Just over 500 questions in both of them. Still I failed the first exam and passed the second exam. Though during the second exam, I resigned myself to failing. Questions in the actual test is not as simple as the test exams or the book. A lot of test questions do not give you the full picture and expect you to actually know the commands fully.Gone are the days of MS exams where you could memorize tests questions. Now when you pass, you really feel like you deserve it.YES, you need this book to help you pass the exam but don't rely on this book fully. TechNet and everything else including real life lab experience is what you need to pass.

I've used a few books to learn the 70-410 syllabus but this is by far the best. It is extremely well laid out, following the exam objectives completely. The content for these is very detailed, with excellent examples throughout. I also really like the chapter "assess you knowledge" tests, these really help target training needs and the exams included on the CD are very good. This is as a complete guide as I've seen and puts the Microsoft books to shame (they are appalling by the way, stay well clear), I've learnt a lot from this book, even little things on topics I was sure I knew inside-out. As a result I am more confident and able with the subject matter. If I do the 411 and 412 I'll be getting the other books in this series.

This is the perfect book to start learning about Windows Server. Excellent explanation and lot of figures to see if you're doing something correctly in your server. I'm very satisfied. There is also a CD with a lot of tests

Excellent book, after using training videos and failing twice at the exam I convinced work to buy me this book. Read it over the course of about a month and then finally passed.

Perfectly balanced descriptions with links to read more if you need more explanation. I tried several books before finding this one. I will certainly be buying the 70-411 version once released and recommend it to everyone studying for the 70-410.

This is the book to get for the 70-410 exam. It is the only book to get for the 70-410 exam. Yes, I did pass.