| Date sent: | Mon, 04 Aug 1997 17:44:00 -0500 |
| Subject: | MCSE TCP/IP 70-59 Brain dump |
I took the TCP/IP 4.0 test today and passed with a score of 931-much better than I expected. <VBG> To study for the test I had instruction at S.M.U.S.E.A.S. in Houston covering _Internetworking with Microsoft TCP/IP on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0_ (course #688), and Transcender's TCP/IP-CERT Version 1.0 (which is designed primarily for the 3.51 test). If you can do fairly well on the 3.51 Transcender test, you should do very well on the 4.0 actual test.
As several have said there are many questions on the use of various utilities. The questions would often ask something like, "You want to do X. Which utility would you use?" The options would be a list of the available utilities, nbtstat, netstat, Performance Monitor, Network Monitor, ipconfig, arp, and net. If you have a pretty good idea of what each does, you shouldn't have too much difficulty with these questions.
I made the following tables for reference before I started the test:
# of # of Hosts
Mask subnets Interval A B C
192 2 64 4M 16K 62
224 6 32 2M 8K 30
240 14 16 1M 4K 14
248 30 8 512K 2K 6
252 62 4 256K 1K 2
254 126 2 128K 510 -
255 254 1 64K 254 -
192 224 240
1 64-127 32-63 16-31
2 128-191 64-95 32-47
3 96-127 48-63
4 128-159 64-79
5 160-191 80-95
6 192-223 96-111
7 112-127
8 128-143
9 144-159
10 160-175
11 176-191
12 192-207
13 208-223
14 224-239
The first table of course specifies the valid masks, the number of subnets for each mask, the interval to be used to calculate the subnet ranges for each mask, and the number of hosts per subnet for each of the three classes of licenses.
The second table's columns are the valid ranges for the subnetted octet for the first three valid masks (these will be all you need, if at all, I am told). I had one question that made use of the 224 subnet range column. It had to do with a workstation who's IP address and gateway address were not within the same range. For example the mask was 255.255.224.0, the IP address was something like 131.107.64.2 and the gateway address was something like 131.107.98.1. With this mask and IP address this computer would never be able to talk with its gateway. The table makes that clear.
These tables are not difficult to construct, if you know how they are derived. I memorized only the first number for the number of hosts on class A, the first mask, 192, and the first interval number. The rest I derived from these numbers. There are many good resources that explain this process.
There were 6 scenario based questions as I recall. The first three were grouped together and were identical except for the solution. You had to give an answer based on whether a required result was met and how many optional results were met. The fourth and fifth scenario questions were also grouped together in the same way with only the solutions differing. There was one other scenario question that was not grouped with any others.
I had about four questions on the syntax of HOSTS and LMHOSTS files. One of the LMHOSTS questions presented a sample like this:
131.107.3.4 #MainServer #PRE
131.107.4.1 #Router1
131.107.54.38 #Server1
The question asked what you need to do to correct the file. ANSWER: remove the first # from each line.
There were two interesting HOSTS questions:
You are able to connect to an FTP server by using its IP address, 202.12.127.7, but not its domain name, "development". The HOSTS file reads,
131.107.3.200 server1
131.107.5.5 sales department
111.36.254.134 UNIX development
202.12.127.7 development
Why can't you connect to the FTP server with the domain name, "development"?
Another was similar.
You are able to connect to an FTP server by using the domain name, "development", but when you try to connect with 202.12.127.7, you cannot. The HOSTS file reads the same as above.
Why can't you connect to the FTP server with the IP address, 202.12.127.7?
In both cases the problem lies in the fact that "development" is resolved on the third line of the file, and not the fourth. The uppercase "UNIX" causes you to overlook that line. You need to remember that multiple host names can be on a line, and where the first instance of the host name is found in HOSTS (even if it is not the first host name on the line), that is where the IP address will be resolved.
If you are studying for this test, study hard, but don't be too worried about it. There were 58 questions to answer in 90 minutes, and required a score of 750 to pass. You can use the Windows calculator, but if you have to use it much, you will run out of time. Better to make the tables and use them as much as possible. I completed the test in 66 minutes, so if you know your stuff you should have plenty of time for the test, and time to review if you wish.
Good luck!
-Gil