If you review all the braindumps in Braindump Heaven then you will have seen most of the possible question types. The braindumps are useful in that they lessen the possibility that you will blow a question because you didn't have a book that helped you understand exactly what Microsoft was looking for in the answer. This is a fresh braindump and I chose the following questions because I don't feel they have been addressed properly in past braindumps.

Also, I omitted several questions that I remembered because they appear so frequently in other submissions. I'm sparing you from having to see them again here.

So here goes:

Question:

I had the infamous multilink modem speed question in a 3 cities scenario. I was familiar with it before going in to write and had seen a lot of conflicting opinions on how to answer it (the most popular study manuals and the Transcender exams are NOT in agreement on how to answer it). Here is how it was presented on my exam:

Offices in 3 cities (Boston, Atlanta and Los Angeles). You need to connect the three cities with an appropriate WAN technology.

Required: Communications must continue between all 3 cities even if one WAN link fails.

2 Optionals: Network must run at 1mb/s throughput on all WAN links between the 3 offices.

Must provide enough bandwidth for both voice and data transfer.

Proposed Solution: Install 16 RAS modems (28.8 kbps per modem) in each city (8 in each direction).

 The Transcender exams say the answer is divined by using a ridiculous formula where you divide the kbps value of the modems by 8 then multiplying by 1000 x #modems. You don't want to use this formula or you will get the question wrong. Consider intuitively that you can't pull bandwidth magically out of a hat. The correct answer is to multiply the number of modems used in one direction by the speed of the modem type used - in this case they are 28.8 modems.

So... 28,800 x 8 = 230,400 bits per second (230 kbps). This is well below the required 1mb/s (even if it was multilinked which the question doesn't mention by the way), thus you know to pick "D" the proposed solution does not produce the required result. (Be reasonable: If 4 modems could REALLY give you 1.44 MB of bandwidth, why would anyone pay for a T1 line?)

 Question:

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.

 The trick here is that they don't actually go out of their way to mention a server BUT you know it's answer "A" if you go by the general rule which is if you have more than 10-15 computers, you need a server with user accounts! No need to overthink this one. If there is a large number of PC's and/or the need for security, ALWAYS go with USER level and centralized security.

 Question:

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 can be affected. The solution was to remove all protocols except IPX/SPX and turn off bridging on the brouters. The principle being tested here is that Macs can't use IPX/SPx thus the proposed solution does not produce the required result.

Question: There are a couple of servers in the wiring closet of a building with a 1 meter "overhead" ceiling. Which type of cable should you use for the network if you have to support 1mb speeds and keep cost to a minimum?

choices:

A) Coax

B) STP

C) Fibre Optic

D) UTP

ANSWER: The fact that there was 1 meter of overhead gives you the tipoff immediately that the question is concerned with testing your knowledge about what happens with the cabling when there is "1 meter overhead". WELL... what does "1 meter overhead" mean? It means that you have a plenum in the ceiling and this means that this has been built so that fresh air can pass to ventilate the building so people can breathe properly. Because it also provides a convenient conduit space for cabling, it has been used heavily as a route in buildings for cabling. Fire Depts. are concerned about this b/c if there's a fire and the wrong type of cable is burned up there it will spread poisonous gases through the plenum and into all parts of that floor of the building and through the air ducts. Thus, they have passed laws that require you to use Plenum grade coaxial cabling. Only COAX is made as a Plenum-grade cable according to Microsoft's Net Essentials 2nd Edition!!!

You can't use PVC cabling (Polyvinyl Chloride) b/c when it burns it gives off poisonous gases. Also, if you need Plenum coax and you have to support 100mbs speed - then use a plenum coax type that supports that speed (perhaps coax spec RG 59/U will be what you need). This is the multimedia grade broadband coax. There are tons of different types of coax.

Question:

A SWITCH operates at what layer of the OSI model?

Correct Answer:

Physical

Data Link - this is the correct answer (datalink)

Network

Transport

Session

Presentation

Question:

Which type of server provides processing power to run programs for client computers? (Choose all that apply.)

A. file-and-print server

B. application server

The trick here is that is says: Choose all that apply. The correct answer of course is "B" - application server. All manuals were in agreement (see NetEss 2nd ed. Pg.21 for a good explanation).

 Question:

You are designing a peer-to-peer network that consists of 5 Microsoft Windows 95 computers. Which protocol should you use?

A. DLC

B. NFS

C. NWLink IPX

D. XNS

The answer here is: C This one is a little tricky b/c it doesn't give you Netbeui as an option nor does it give you TCP/IP as an option. When it comes to Windows 95 - TCP/IP is the choice to make if Netbeui is not given as a choice - but here it's not an option - so IPX NW Link is the one. Don't choose IPX/SPX or NW Link when TCP/IP is a choice. Only choose NW Link IPX if both Netbeui and TCP/IP are not given as choices.

You want to connect an Ethernet network in one part of an office building with a Token-ring network down the hall. Both networks use NWLink IPX but you must eliminate the IPX addressing and use only Netbeui on both segments after they are joined. Which connectivity device do you choose which will allow the 2 networks to communicate, but at the same time reduce network traffic levels.

Which device should you use?

A. repeater

B. bridge

C. router

D. gateway

ANS: B - they are testing here to see if you know what a translation bridge is. Some bridges can't connect different segments that use different media access schemes, but a translation bridge can. A translation bridge will also help reduce network traffic because it can analyze packets based on MAC address info and if it finds them to be from the same segment as the originating node they are simply discarded instead of being passed on to a non-local segment. The bridge can do this using address information stored in its bridging table.

  Best of luck on the exam and thank-you for any contributions on other braindumps.