Subject: 070-058 Networking Essentials

Missed by three questions, one on "Standards and Terminology" and two on "Troubleshooting". Time was not an issue and I completed the last question with about 40mins left on the clock. I reviewed two that I had marked, and then I scanned every question to make sure there were no more than 12 answers [maximum allowable mistakes to pass] that I wasn't absolutely sure about. There were only about half a dozen uncertainties so, rather than sweat it out for another 20 minutes, I ended the test.

Looking back, my two grumbles must be the wording of some of the questions [always an issue unfortunately] and the content of the SSK.

For example, the SSK only has vague explanations on Special [Troubleshooting] Tools [p655 onwards], yet the exam concentrates quite a bit on media problems. I was worried before sitting the exam that I would fall over choosing between Protocol Analyzer and, for example, Network Monitor [both can look inside packets, both can track over a period of time, etc]. However, I shouldn't have worried because there was clearly only one suitable answer to each of these questions.

Here are a couple of questions which needed extra thought:

1]

Servers: 27 NT Servers
Clients: 750
Protocols: NetBEUI, NWLink IPX, TCP/IP

A new client is introduced running NWLink IPX protocol and it can't see some shared resources. What could be wrong? [Choose one]

A) SubNet mask is wrong on client
B) Protocol mismatch
C) NetBIOS name duplication
D) Physical cable failure

A and D can be eliminated immediately but is the correct answer B or C? I think they are both valid but would have appreciated more info. Are all the servers running all the listed protocols? Does the new client fail to access resources on just one server, ie that with the same NetBIOS name? I decided to go for C.

2]

I had the scenario question where 2 hours server downtime was okay. Needed virus protection of servers and clients, fault tolerance, backup solution, auditing etc.

There was an optional result of protecting passwords from password cracking utilities, and the obvious link in their proposed solution was "make users change password every 40 days". I know this is good practice but I wouldn't say it protects against password cracking utilities.

3]

Win95 clients and NT Servers. What should you implement to minimise the administration required to protect network data?

Can't remember all the answers but do they wish to minimise admin for network administrator or users? Reading carefully into the options, two were the same answer but worded very differently. I therefore answered centralised account administration with user level security on all shares. Although this places all administration on network admin, it does centralise account admin and allow the use of Global Groups, which can be a big saviour.

4]

Network consists solely of Windows NT Workstations. What security models can be used to protect network data? [Choose all]

A) User-Level
B) Share-Level

Can password-protected shares be used on NT Workstation in a workgroup environment? I think not and only chose A. Actually this is another area where the SSK falls a bit thin on the ground. Beware.

That's about it for the puzzlers. All the rest, even the scenarios, were unbelievably straightforward and I was expecting worst. One recommendation I make is to get hold of the NE Review Questions from The Creative Edge at http://frontpage.idsonline.com/sallard/. Plenty of questions [>100] compiled by Steve Allard. No answers, but if you don't now them already, the extra reading will help with your revision. Good work Steve.

Anyway that's my core exams out of the way. Next up is TCP/IP. Good luck folks.