Subject: 70-058 braindump

Whew..all that studying paid off. I passed Networking Essentials with flying colors.

First off, I want to thank all of you who have posted braindumps here. They were invaluable in terms of condensing a big 850 page book into core concepts. Here are my impressions from the exam:

1. Lots of terminology. Spend time reading the glossary in the Microsoft book.

2. The questions were very, very close to the Transcender exams I took. Try to get ahold of that product if possible.

3. Specifically, know which devices (repeaters, routers, etc.) work at which OSI level. Basically, read all the other braindumps here, and know them!!

4. I had not one but TWO questions about NDIS/ODI network card standards. Just know that they allow a network adapter card to be bound to multiple protocols.

5. Understand what the WINS server is used for. I had two or three questions dealing with resolving NetBIOS names in a TCP/IP network.

6. Had several troubleshooting questions, most of which invoked the ever-popular protocol analyzer. Gosh, ten pages in the Microsoft book showed up in at least six questions! Know these tools inside and out.

7. Had at least four cases where a user couldn't connect with the network, but all other PCs on their segment could. What to look at first? Physical connection, of course...

8. If you have mastered which devices normally use IRQs 3, 4, and 5, you should be all set.

9. BUT...had a question where 2 netcards were installed on 2 PCs with identical specs. Only one worked. What's up? It wasn't the IRQ or I/o, cuz they were diff computers.Turned out they both were assigned the same MAC address. Can't do that on the same network.

10. Finally, just relax and play detective with these questions. Deductive reasoning. There will almost always be one or to responsed which can be immediately thrown away. And between the other two, re-read the question, focusing on every word. That sublety will be the difference between the correct and incorrect response.

Take it easy!