Networking Essentials (test 70-58)

Well, I took good old 70-58 today. Breezed through it with about 45 minutes to spare and scored a cool 948. No real surprises on this test. I read Sams' MCSE Teach Yourself Networking Essentials in 14 days. I also read some of the MS Press Network Essentials book but found it WAY too dry. Other than that, I read as many braindumps as possible and took the Transcender tests until I knew them like the back of my hand. Total preparation time - about two weeks.

Breakdown:

Standards and Terminology - 100%

Planning - 100%

Implementation - 92%

Troubleshooting - 86%

If my math is right, I got 3 wrong out of 58

I have noticed a great deal of confusion in the brain dumps when you get a question similar to this:

You have a network of 75 Windows 95 and WFW 3.11 machines. Choose an appropriate security model.

a. Centralized security w/user level.

b. Peer to peer w/share level

etc, etc.

Hmmm, they don't mention an NT or Novell server. Must be "B", right?

Wrong!!

Just because they don't mention a server, do NOT discount answer "A". You have to look at Micro$ofts general rule of thumb. The general rule of thumb is if you have more than 10-15 computers, you need a server with user accounts! Do not overthink this one. It should be a no-brainer. Think of what MICROSOFT considers "appropriate". If there is a large number of PC's and/or the need for security, ALWAYS go with USER level and centralized security.

Some questions that I got:

I had two questions with clients that can't connect and are running NWLink. The correct answer, of course, is incorrect frame type. Same type questions (two more!!) with newly installed NIC cards that initialize but can't communicate. Wrong transceiver type.

A scenario question with a network of PC's, NT Servers and Mac's running IPX/SPX, NetBEUI and AppleTalk. You want to eliminate broacast storms. A requirement was that none of the clients would be affected. The solution was to remove all protocols but IPX/SPX and turn off bridging on the brouters. RED FLAG because of the Mac's. They cannot use IPX, therefore the requirement is not met.

Got both three city T-1 line scenarios that everyone seems to get. The triangle meets all requirements and the two T-1 lines meets requirement and one optional

Never got the 16 RAS modem question and I was GLAD because I just don't buy the modem speed/8*100*number of modems formula. If 4 modems could REALLY give you 1.44 MEG of bandwidth, why would anyone want to pay for a T-1 line?!?!

This exam really isn't hard if you are prepared. I'd say it's 50% memorization and 50% common sense.

Read the brain dumps, know the protocols and what layer they are in, know the networking devices and the layer they are in, know the troubleshooting tools and when to use each one. As others have said, when in doubt, choose protocol analyzer or ATM! I think the PA was the correct answer every time it showed up. ATM was correct for about three different questions.

Here is a brief outline of the OSI layers that I made to do some last minute cramming. I wrote down most of this during the 15 minute demo prior to the real test.

Layer	Description	Protocol	Device	Special
Application	Network access, flow control and error recovery. Packet creation starts here.	SMB, NCP	Gateway
Presentation	Translates data, converts protocols, encrypts and manages data compression.	NCP	Gateway	The redirector operates here.
Session	Provides synchronization between computers.	N/A	Gateway
Transport	Packet handling, error free delivery.	TCP, SPX, NWLink, NetBEUI	Gateway
Network	Addressing, routing, manages net problems, packet switching and reassembling data.	IP, IPX, NetBEUI, DLC, DecNET	Router, Brouter
Data Link	Converts raw data into packets, manages physical layer communication.	N/A	Bridge, Brouter, Switch, Remote Bridge	Divided into LLC and MAC. MAC communicates with the NIC.
Physical	Transmits data, defines cables, cards and physical aspects.	N/A	Repeater-hub, multiplexer	Most network problems occur here!!

2 down, 4 to go. On to NT Server!!!