11/19/2003 -- The 70-292 exam serves as the upgrade exam for Windows 2000 MCSAs to Windows Server 2003. It is also the first of the two required upgrade exams for Windows 2000 MCSEs. I took this exam recently, and like the original MCSA exam, I was impressed by the practical nature of the content tested. Unlike some tests I’ve taken in the past, this is not a route test of memory. You will need to know your stuff if you want avoid disappointment on exam day! Let’s look at some of the areas you’ll want to consider in your exam preparations:

Tip #1: Get DNS Down
Given Active Directory’s dependence on DNS, it’s probably not surprising this topic features so heavily on this exam. Although it is an upgrade exam, I found that many of the areas of the test were not about new DNS functions, but rather about my ability to support DNS generally, in areas such as client setup, DNS server configuration and management.

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That said, one new feature you won’t want to skip is the stub zone feature (which only contains the authoritative DNS servers for that zone) and why this may be useful. For example, by creating a stub zone for us.acme.com, it could allow servers in the root domain of acme.com to easily locate DNS servers for child domains for us.acme.com and uk.acme.com without having to manually maintain the list of DNS servers in those zones.

Click here to access a collection of TechNet resources on Windows 2003 DNS that you may want to use to review DNS concepts.

Tip #2: Go Remote with Remote Desktop Administration
The inclusion of Terminal Services within Windows 2000 was one of the most useful management tool additions, and this has been further updated in Windows 2003.

The naming of the options has changed slightly with this version, and what we used to know as Terminal Services in Administration mode is now known as Remote Desktop for Administration. This is installed by default and needs to be explicitly enabled in the System Properties, Remote tab. (Terminal Services is now used to describe what we used to know as application mode for Terminal Services, which is intended to share applications from the server).

Like Windows XP, Windows 2003 also has a Remote Assistance feature that allows others to be invited to provide assistance either via a control panel or group policies. I’m not sure why this is relevant for servers; however I’m not the one that designs the exams.

Click here for an overview from Microsoft on remote administration.

Tip #3: IIS Manager
Unlike previous versions, IIS is no longer installed by default and must be explicitly installed. Given the large number of IIS vulnerabilities, this then ensures that only servers that require IIS have it installed. Microsoft expects its upgrading MCSAs to have a firm grasp of how to configure IIS Web sites using the IIS Manager.

Tip #4: Automated Recovery
The Automated System Recovery feature allows full recovery of a server with just access to the Windows 2003 installation media, a diskette and the backup set (which will be a couple of gigabytes). Note that this covers the system only and not the data. This would be particularly useful for restoration of a branch server that doesn’t have local support staff available.

In order to prepare for this, you run the ASR wizard from ntbackup.exe. This creates the backup set and writes configuration information to the diskette.

When the time comes to restore the system, you boot from Windows 2003 CD, press F2 when prompted for the Automated System Recovery, then insert the diskette and the backup media if needed and the restore will continue automatically until completion. For more information, read this TechNet article.

Tip #5: Shadow Copy
This new feature allows users to retrieve their own point in time backup versions of files. It is enabled at the volume level, and then all shared folders are regularly backed up. You can configure how much disk space is allocated for these backups and also how regularly these scheduled copies are made. In order for users to access this, there is a shadow copies client to be installed, which adds a new Previous Versions tab to the File Properties dialog box.

This feature is not intended as a substitute for regular backups, but can be useful to provide users access to prior versions of their files without requiring action from an administrator. Click here for a white paper with more information.

Tip #6: SUS
Although strictly speaking this isn’t a new component, SUS was released after Windows 2000 and is clearly something that Microsoft feels is important. It is not installed as part of Windows 2003 and is downloaded separately. As a pre-requisite, you will need to have IIS installed (and recall that it is no longer installed by default).

Once installed, SUS downloads all patches to the server per a schedule, or it can be triggered manually, meaning that clients can use this to install patches rather than access the Microsoft Web site for patches directly. For the client machines, the Automatic Updates client supports Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 2003 clients and can be configured to automatically download new patches or to notify the user before downloading them from the SUS server.

For more details, go here.

Tip #7: User and Group Administration
A new feature of the Active Directory Users and Computers allows you to select multiple user objects to change their properties (press the CTRL key when selecting those to update). This brings up a subset of the user properties to be updated. You can also drag and drop users between containers. As with many topics on this exam, Microsoft expects its candidates to have hands-on experience in this area, so be very familiar with using the GUI to perform these management operations.

Tip #8: Go Back and Review DNS Again!
This topic can’t be emphasized enough: Make sure you have DNS covered before walking into that testing center.

Tip #9: Prepare for the New Question Formats
Microsoft has recently introduced some new types of questions, and for many of us this will be the first test of this kind that we will experience. In particular, there are a number of questions that require you to drag and drop items in sequence or to work with a simulation of the Windows 2003 GUI. There are also many questions that open multiple windows that require you to scroll through them to answer the question. In order to ensure you understand how these work, click here for a downloadable demo of the question types.

Tip #10: Keep an Eye Out for 70-290 and 70-291 Study Material
This exam has only been generally available for a couple of months. As of this writing, it currently doesn’t have as many study resources available as the core Windows 2003 Server exams. However, the 70-292 upgrade exam covers similar ground to the 70-290 and 70-291 exams, although as you would expect it generally concentrates on the new functions in Windows 2003. Seek out 70-290 and 70-291 materials to supplement your studies. For example, click here and here for reviews of these two exams.

Good luck with your preparations! I’m now off to prepare for the 70-296 exam to complete my Windows 2003 MCSE upgrade.

Questions? Comments? Post your thoughts below!

More articles by Greg Neilson:

Microsoft Certification Changes Mostly Good

Architecture Certifications Point Toward Future

Microsoft’s New Simulation Questions: Report from the Field

A Tale of Two Certs