modem in practices on 70-291 microsoft press book

Hello,

I use Virtual Server to follow along with the practices in the 70-291. The
RRAS chapters use modems in some of the practice tests.

My Virtual Server hardware doesn't have any modems... should I just use NICs
and not worry about the dialing configuration practices?

I guess I could just read about the call back features for example, but I
would really like to follow the practices closely.

Should I be concerned that I'll not have the hands on experience with modems?

btw... who the hell uses modems anymore!?!?

ISApose

"ISApose" <> wrote in message
news:4C5E75C1-B954-4F60-8002-...
> Hello,
>
> I use Virtual Server to follow along with the practices in the 70-291.
> The
> RRAS chapters use modems in some of the practice tests.
>
> My Virtual Server hardware doesn't have any modems... should I just use
> NICs
> and not worry about the dialing configuration practices?
>
> I guess I could just read about the call back features for example, but I
> would really like to follow the practices closely.
>
> Should I be concerned that I'll not have the hands on experience with
> modems?

Unless you're obsessed with the remote possibility of obtaining a perfect
score,

or you're not particularly concerned about the score itself, but just
respectably passing the exam,

my recommendation would be to simply skip over the dial-up-modem-based
aspects of RRAS.


> btw... who the hell uses modems anymore!?!?

Probably nobody, but you have to put yourself in the perspective of the
timeframe when the exams were written.

Much of the MCSE:Windows Server 2003 exam content is simply "updated" exam
content from the MCSE:Windows Server 2000 content, particulary that which
did not significantly change between versions -- RRAS would be a prime
example of this.

Thus, the RRAS objectives likely date back to 1999/2000, and were simply
carried forward without much practical review.

In the end, I would imagine (and this is my philosphy in preparing for
the -291, which I've not yet taken) that the real focus should be on the
concepts and the administration, and the specific question of whether the
physical topology is dial-up-modem, ISDN, LAN, or even wireless is probably
of much less significance.

In fact, to be entirely truthful, the entire RRAS product is pretty much
dead weight these days.


--
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP(x2), MCTS(x5), MCP(x7), MCBMSP
Principal/CTO, Onsite Technology Solutions, Houston, Texas
Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2009)

MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pro...awrence.Garvin

Lawrence Garvin \(MVP\)

"Lawrence Garvin (MVP)" wrote:

> "ISApose" <> wrote in message
> news:4C5E75C1-B954-4F60-8002-...
> > Hello,
> >
> > I use Virtual Server to follow along with the practices in the 70-291.
> > The
> > RRAS chapters use modems in some of the practice tests.
> >
> > My Virtual Server hardware doesn't have any modems... should I just use
> > NICs
> > and not worry about the dialing configuration practices?
> >
> > I guess I could just read about the call back features for example, but I
> > would really like to follow the practices closely.
> >
> > Should I be concerned that I'll not have the hands on experience with
> > modems?
>
> Unless you're obsessed with the remote possibility of obtaining a perfect
> score,
>
> or you're not particularly concerned about the score itself, but just
> respectably passing the exam,
>
> my recommendation would be to simply skip over the dial-up-modem-based
> aspects of RRAS.


Thanks Lawrence, this helps a lot. I'm not really obsessing about a pefect
score, it's just that I bombed the 291 the first time on the RRAS section and
am freaking out about learning every aspect of it this time.


>
>
> > btw... who the hell uses modems anymore!?!?
>
> Probably nobody, but you have to put yourself in the perspective of the
> timeframe when the exams were written.
>
> Much of the MCSE:Windows Server 2003 exam content is simply "updated" exam
> content from the MCSE:Windows Server 2000 content, particulary that which
> did not significantly change between versions -- RRAS would be a prime
> example of this.
>
> Thus, the RRAS objectives likely date back to 1999/2000, and were simply
> carried forward without much practical review.
>
> In the end, I would imagine (and this is my philosphy in preparing for
> the -291, which I've not yet taken) that the real focus should be on the
> concepts and the administration, and the specific question of whether the
> physical topology is dial-up-modem, ISDN, LAN, or even wireless is probably
> of much less significance.
>
> In fact, to be entirely truthful, the entire RRAS product is pretty much
> dead weight these days.


GO ISA!!


>
>
> --
> Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP(x2), MCTS(x5), MCP(x7), MCBMSP
> Principal/CTO, Onsite Technology Solutions, Houston, Texas
> Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2009)
>
> MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
> My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
> http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
> My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pro...awrence.Garvin
>
>

ISApose

"ISApose" <> wrote in message
news:037C25B5-C612-41BE-8ECC-...

>> my recommendation would be to simply skip over the dial-up-modem-based
>> aspects of RRAS.

> Thanks Lawrence, this helps a lot. I'm not really obsessing about a
> pefect
> score, it's just that I bombed the 291 the first time on the RRAS section
> and
> am freaking out about learning every aspect of it this time.

Ahhh!!... I see. Still, were you to encounter a question specifically
involving the use of dial-up modems in RRAS, I'd be surprised if there were
more than one. The functionality of RRAS isn't particularly different using
modems than it is a LAN-based connection. I would imagine academic
familiarity with the differences that involve dial-up technologies would be
sufficient. Certainly there are no questions regarding modem diagnostics, or
using the modem 'AT' command set.

Note, also, that it's not impossible to simulate a modem connection between
two virtual machines, but it's not particularly easy, either, unless you
have pre-existing familiarity with serial port operations. If you have two
COM ports on your system, you can assign a serial port to each VM, and use a
null-modem cable to connect the two serial ports together. Now you have a
simulation of a modem-based environment, albeit with the characteristic of a
dedicated leased line, rather than using the PSTN.

I doubt the effort is worth the reward, though. I would imagine your efforts
would be better spent studying concepts and the actual administration
interface. You won't be able to simulate modems (or LAN connections) in the
testing environment either -- at best, on a simulation, you'd be asked to
configured, diagnose, or repair an existing RRAS *configuration*, with the
presumption that the physical data layer is functional (remember -- you're
not being tested on modem diagnostics skills, only on *RRAS*).


--
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP(x2), MCTS(x5), MCP(x7), MCBMSP
Principal/CTO, Onsite Technology Solutions, Houston, Texas
Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2009)

MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pro...awrence.Garvin

Lawrence Garvin \(MVP\)