Well-Rounded Education

Microsoft stays true to its self-paced training kit roots with this MCSA offering

The MCSA Self-Paced Training Kit is an 814-page hardcover book that includes a glossary and index designed to help the beginning student learn the skills necessary to successfully pass exam 70-218.

Microsoft Press has the self-paced training kit format down to a science, and this book follows that formatting closely. Series elements include a lesson followed by an exercise, review and summary. Each lesson maps to a specific skill tested on exam 70-218, and several lessons are grouped into a single chapter.

The book is written by Craig Zacker, who has either authored or co-authored 11 other computer books. The writing style is smooth and easy to read. In addition, there are answers to all questions in the back of the book, allowing students to check their own answers against Microsoft's. This book meets every expectation of a self-paced training kit, and I was unable to find anything negative about it.

To help the student learn this material, Microsoft includes a 120-day evaluation copy of Windows 2000 Advanced Server. It's invaluable to have the software needed for practicing labs while you're learning the material.

I've always found the self-paced training kits from Microsoft to be excellent for learning what's necessary to pass the corresponding exam. In addition, though, these kits hold nuggets of knowledge that even an experienced administrator will find helpful. I recommend this tool to any person interested in passing exam 70-218.

About the Author

Bill English, MCSE, MCT, CTT, is an author, trainer, and consultant specializing in network security and the Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint platforms. He owns Networknowledge, (www.networknowledge.com) a consulting and training business, and has co-authored four books on Exchange 2000 Server, including The Exchange 2000 Server Administrator's Companion (Microsoft Press) and Exchange 2000 Server: The Complete Reference (McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media). He's currently working on a new book from Addison Wesley on SharePoint Portal Server 2001.

Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.