This morning I went out and took the 70-237 exam, and passed with a score of 741 (85%) - passing grade was 700, or 80%.

The next exam I have to take is 70-238, Deploying Exchange 2007.

I plan to take this exam a week from now, so I've purchased the following e-learning collection from Microsoft to help cover the subjects:

Collection 5098: Deploying the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Infrastructure

The collection consists of five 2-hour courses, at a cost of $159.

The courses are:

Course 5069: Planning a Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Implementation

Course 5070: Planning for Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Maintenance

Course 5071: Planning the Implementation of Messaging Security and Compliance in Exchange Server 2007

Course 5990: Planning an Upgrade to Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007

Course 5991: Planning the Implementation of a Highly Available Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Environment

Studying for an exam with only 1 week of time is a tough prospect - this is a subject you have to know very well to begin with - the e-learning courses and the practice tests just help to fill out the gaps.

I've finished the 6 e-learning courses for the 70-237 exam.

• Course 5063: Designing Servers and Message Routing in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Environment
• Course 5064: Designing Security in a Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Environment
• Course 5065: Designing an Exchange Server 2007 Coexistence and Upgrade Strategies
• Course 5066: Designing Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Policies
• Course 5067: Designing a Highly Available Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Messaging Environment
• Course 5068: Designing a Disaster Recovery Strategy for a High Availability Exchange Server 2007 Environment

I'll spend the next few evenings taking the practice tests and checking the books for any portions I'm weak on.

With any luck, I'll be ready to take the exam by this Friday or the following Monday.

A few weeks ago I signed up for a Microsoft eLearning course collection to prepare for the 70-237 Designing Exchange Server 2007 exam.

Collection 5095: Designing the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Infrastructure

The collection consists of 6 eLearning courses, at a cost of $191.99.

Each course takes about 2 hours to complete.

So far, I've completed four out of the six e-learning courses.

Well, It's official - I've had my first Microsoft certified title change from "Microsoft Certified Professional" to "Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist".

Not exactly a high bar to jump over, but it's still good.

Old logo:

New logo:

The new logo will change as I take the next few exams.. the right-hand side will list each certification as I achieve them.

Plus, a new MCP Transcript:

I took my 70-236 exam today, and I passed!

In 7-10 days when my score is processed, I'll have the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Configuration certification.

This exam, along with 70-237 (Exchange Design) and 70-238 (Exchange Deployment), are requirements for the next level of certification, the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Enterprise Messaging Administrator.

All three are required for applying to the Microsoft Certified Master: Exchange 2007 program, along with a fourth requirement: a MCSE 2003 certification, or 70-640: Active Directory on Windows Server 2008.

I never completed my MCSE, so I have to take all four exams to even apply to the MCM program.

Given that I want to complete the other 3 exams by the end of January, here's my proposed schedule for doing so:

• Complete 70-237 by Friday January 9th
• Complete 70-238 by Friday January 16th
• Complete 70-640 by Friday January 23rd, or Friday January 30th at the latest.

If I can complete all three exams by January 30th, that gives me two full weeks to apply to the MCM program and provide the $12,950 (30% of $18,500) discounted payment by the deadline of February 14th.

I think I may purchase the first e-learning course by Microsoft and load it up on my netbook.. That way, it would be easier to take it with me over the holiday vacation. :)

My test for the 70-236 "Configuring Exchange 2007" exam is tomorrow afternoon.

So just to be sure, I took the practice test one more time.

Still "passed", with an 87% - mostly different questions.

On a related note, since I have changed my plans to take the 3 remaining exams by the end of January, I think I will be investing in the Microsoft e-Learning courses for the exams. They're a few hundred dollars each, but should be faster to work through.

I also have the books as well, but reading them all will take longer, I think.

The e-Learning courses are:

• Collection 5095: Designing the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Infrastructure (12 hours) $191.99
• Collection 5098: Deploying the Microsoft Exchange 2007 Infrastructure (10 hours) $159.99
• Collection 6425AE: Configuring Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Domain Services (20 hours) $319.99

  Total: $671.99

Each collection has a number of courses, each 2 hours long - 6 in the first, 5 in the second, and 10 in the last one.

I figure for 42 hours worth of training, I could do that in one week - but that would be 8 hours a day, and I'd get burned out too fast.

If I only took one 2 hour course per day, that's still 21 days - a full three weeks.

If I took 3 hours of courses per day (1 & 1/2), that's 14 days - better.

If I took 4 hours of courses per day (2 courses per day), it's only 10.5 days - pretty aggressive, but I could probably do it..

If you're interested, check out my Microsoft Certified Professional Transcript.

I've completed more than a handful of exams over the past 10 years, but never quite got around to completing the full MCSE track.

OH. MY. GOD.

30% Off Microsoft Certified Master until Feb 14th.

Microsoft is announcing 30% off their Microsoft Certified Master training for Exchange 2007 for a limited time, offer is only good until February 14, 2009, for the March (March 16th to April 4th) and May (May 4th to May 23rd) sessions.

Which means, instead of the program being $18,500, the cost would be $12,950.

I think I may have to upgrade my pace for studying, and get the rest of the 3 exams I need done by the end of January.

Seriously.. holy carp!

I took a second attempt at the 70-236 "Configuring Exchange 2007" exam, with 45 different questions from the last attempt.

I "passed", with a 91% mark, getting 41 out of 45 questions right.

Some of the questions I missed last time involved syntax questions - ie, what command with which specific syntax do you need to run to accomplish a certain task.

This is where the exams don't reflect reality, because half the time if I don't remember the complete syntax, I look it up.

It's what any good engineer or admin should be able to do, reference a manual or research.

Check it out:

I took a practice test today for the 70-236 Configuring Exchange 2007 exam, and to my dismay.. I failed.

But I didn't fail by much - only 2 percent, or 1 question. I got 35 questions correct out of 45, and passing (80%) is 36 out of 45.

Apparently, I got the easy questions wrong, and the hard questions right!

Take a look:

I'll review the "Installing and Configuring" section again later, and see if I don't do better on the next round.

Just finished Chapter 5, page 290 out of 750, or 38% done reading the 70-236 book.

Ordinarily if this was a particularly enthralling fantasy or sci-fi book, I'd be done with a 300-page paperback in a few hours.

This is more difficult - I actually have to remember this stuff, and understand it.

It's almost like I'm back in college... :)

As I was studying my books for the exams I'd need for the Microsoft Certified Master - Exchange 2007 program (aka Exchange Ranger), I was contemplating how or if I was going to be able to pay for this thing, being that the cost exceeds $18,000.

I figured I basically had two options:

1. Get my employer to pay for the program and the travel expenses:
   • Application: $150
   • "Tuition": $18,500  - either paid direct by the company, or partially by education reimbursement of approximately $5500.
   • Airfare: $500 (Atlanta to Seattle, Round Trip)
   • Hotel: $2200-2500 for 22 days, easily $100+ a night for a decent hotel.
   • Food: $700, about $30 a day.
   • Total: Approximately $22,350 for a seriously tough 3-week training and certification course.
2. Pay for it all myself.
   • Application: $150
   • Tuition: $18,500, or $595 for 36 months.. $21,445 total.
   • Airfare: Free. Delta Skymiles will pay for it.. :)
   • Hotel: $2200-2500 for 22 days. Possibly less, if I can leverage air miles, etc.
   • Food: $700
   • Total: $24,795.

Option #1 is less expensive to me, because there is the assumption that my employer will fund most if not all of the trip.  

Option #2 is much more expensive to me, but then again so are the benefits - it's technical training of a caliber that is difficult to obtain anywhere other than at Microsoft.

Personally, I think #2 is more ethical - I invest in my own training, and can therefore personally drive the results I want to get.

Also, a great list of the pre-reading materials suggested for MCM - in addition to the pre-requisite exams:

Microsoft Certified Master Pre-Readings and Documents

One of the suggested reading materials for Exchange is the Exchange 2007 Help file - yes, ALL OF IT.

Making my way through the 70-236 book.. on page 117 out of 750, Chapter 3 out of 13.

Also, a great blog post on Do you have what it takes to become a Microsoft Certified Master? at the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog - http://msexchangeteam.com/

Interesting note on the program fees for MCM (Master) and MCA (Architect):

• Microsoft Certified Master: All - $18,500.00 (USD)

• Microsoft Certified Architect: All - $5,000.00 (USD)

I say it's interesting because MCA was reported at being $25,000.. not $5000.

Still, that's $23,500 in total.. yikes!

Two other IT Industry standards that I need to learn about:

• MOF - Microsoft Operations Framework
• ITIL - Information Technology Infrastructure Library

They're standards and certifications focused around the "soft" skills of the IT industry, or IT business processes.

I'm good at processes and procedures...

They're one of the things one ought to learn to get beyond just the technical aspect of IT and into more of a consulting role.

For the first exam I have to take - Exam 70-236, Configuring Exchange Server 2007 - I'm studying the Microsoft self-paced training kit book.

I'm currently on page 30 out of .. 750... or about 4% through the book.

I know most of this stuff already, but you still have to go through the book to cover it all..

I've got a lab server downstairs running Windows Server 2008 and the Hyper-V virtualization software, booting off of an iSCSI SAN Storage array.

The server has no hard disks in it - just the chassis, a quad-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an Intel PRO/1000 PT Server Adapter to serve as the iSCSI boot adapter.

Cost me about $1200 for the server, and it runs pretty damn well.

I hope to make it through this book and all of the labs by the end of next week, so I can get at least this first exam out of the way.

One of the advanced Microsoft certifications I want to achieve, among many, is the new Microsoft Certified Master program for Exchange 2007.

Microsoft Certified Master

Microsoft Certified Master - Exchange 2007

This is a certification course that involves 3 weeks of in-depth training at Microsoft's campus in Redmond, and has a high price tag of $18,500.

However, before I can even apply to take the course, I have to pass four exams:

• Exam 70-236: TS: Exchange Server 2007, Configuring
• Exam 70-237: PRO: Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
• Exam 70-238: PRO: Deploying Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

Additionally required:

• Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Windows Server 2003
  or
• Exam 70-640: TS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

Since I never got around to completing my MCSE, I'll have to take all four exams.

For these exams, I plan to study the books and perform lab work on a Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V system I have running.

The next course rotation for the MCM Exchange 2007 track is March 16–April 4, 2009.

That gives me a little less than 4 months to take 4 exams - pretty aggressive, no?

I don't actually expect to attend the March 16–April 4 course track, but at least it's a goal I can set.

There should be more course rotations available after that, hopefully ones that are located closer to Atlanta.