Subject: 70-058

Here's my input after passing Net Essentials today at 896/1000:

This is a tough test. I read the Sybex book from cover to cover, took the Transcender tests until I was passing them with 966/1000, and still found a lot of questions that were vague. This test should be renamed to Networking Vagaries. The Transcender test helped immensely. However, it alone is not enough, nor is the Sybex book. There are questions on the test that are *not* covered in the book. Like adjusting window sizes. Be prepared.

NDIS- Absolutely required to have thorough knowledge of NDIS and ODI, and not just their ability to provide multiple bindings to a single NIC. There were *several* questions on this on the test I took. I didn't know NDIS as well as I would have liked to for this test. Study it well.

Several of the "multiple multiple choice" questions identified success and failure auditing as something I haven't heard of before.

RAID- several questions on RAID, mostly the diff. between levels 0 and 5.

Several questions on protocol mismatch scenarios.

Several questions (wfw3.11 related) on memory problems (or lack of memory) related to NIC drivers.

The multiple multiple choice questions seemed to come in packs of 2, with the scenarios the same, but the proposed solutions slightly different. Be comfortable answering these tough questions.

Know the diff. between a TDR, Protocol Analyzer, and Advanced Cable tester. There were probably five or so questions related.

Know which protocols are routable, which are used by mainframes, and when to turn off the (elusive) bridge function on a brouter. The whole brouter thing really pisses me off, btw.

Try to get an understanding of what MS wants for an answer, not just what is the correct answer. For instance, I have had instances in both the Transcender tests, and the real thing, where they claim that 10baseT is cheaper than 10base2. From my point of view, this is ridiculous, at least initially. The cable's cheaper, you don't need hubs, etc. But, that's not what Microsoft wants to hear so.....This also applies to a lot of the multiple multiple choice questions. Try to get an instinct for what answer they're looking for, rather than what you might think to be the most logical choice. (this is redmond-speak we're dealing with here).

Several questions on Volt-Ohm meter readings. Like if it shows infinity or zero, which component do you need to replace, including figuring out the diff. between readings on different cable types. This stumped me, don't know if I got it right or wrong. But good to know, anyway.

OSI- Know what connectivity devices function at what level of the OSI model. Routers, gateways, bridges, the always lovable brouter, repeaters, etc.

WAN- know the different WAN connectivity devices, what layer of the OSI model they work at, what data transmission rate they're capable of, what their general use is, etc. ATM, FDDI, ISDN, T1, T3.

Troubleshooting Apps.- Know them

One question on Mesh topology.

One question on Connectionless v. Connection Oriented communications.

Several of the mulitple multiple choice questions were related to reducing Network Utilization by %50, and proposed scenarios how you would do this.

My test questions were very different from the Transcender test. You really must know this stuff.

Use the deductive method of reasoning. There's usually two or more answers that are ridiculous, then two that are somewhat plausible. Read the questions carefully, and look at specific words to try to gain insight into the reasoning involved.

Hope this helps, and good luck!!!