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Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Administrator (Exam 70-686)
Now that you’ve read a general Windows 7 certification overview, and you know what’s needed for the exam 70-680 and the exam 70-683, let’s move on to exam 70-686.
Windows 7 Exam 70-686: Overview
The Enterprise Desktop Administrator for Windows 7 exam was created to measure an individual’s ability to support Windows 7 computing environments on an Enterprise level.
Candidates must have at least three years experience supporting the infrastructure and applications within the computing environment and managing the systems as a whole.
Microsoft also states that candidates should have at least three years of experience installing, configuring, and administering clients in a networked environment and have experience deploying Windows operating systems and applications. They should be familiar with client administration capabilities of Windows Server and with management tools such as the System Center suite of products.
Once you have successfully completed this exam, you will earn credit towards becoming a Microsoft Certified IT Professional (Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Administrator.) To fully earn this credential, you will need to take the Windows 7, Configuring exam 70-680 in addition to the 70-686.
After you have successfully completed both of the exams, you will have earned your title of Microsoft Certified IT Professional.
Windows 7 Exam 70-686: Skills Measured
You will be measured on a variety of skills on the 70-686 exam, most of which are related to imaging and maintaining computer systems. I’ll go over all of the skills listed on the exam to help give you a better idea of what you’ll be up against when taking the exam.
Although percentages are not listed, most of the sections are usually of equal sizes, so I’ll go over each section individually.
Remember, each of these sections is in depth, but not all items listed will be on the exam. These are simply guidelines to make sure you are ready for anything the exam throws at you.
• Planning and Maintaining a Client Life Cycle Strategy
This first section is mostly based on the very first steps to setting up an Enterprise network of computer systems.
For example, you may be tested on your ability to manage client licensing and software activations for applications and operating systems. This includes the activation method, licensing infrastructure, compliance and inventory audits, choosing a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU,) and the benefits of Key Management Service (KMS,) vs. Multiple Activation Keys (MAK.)
You will also have questions about planning, evaluating, approving, and managing software updates. This includes application and operating system updates. You will also need to be able to design an update strategy, be able to choose an update tool, plan and deploy a service pack update, schedule and network considerations, test updates, and audit for security compliance.
Finally, you will need to plan and manage a physical hardware and virtualization strategy. This means you will need to analyze an existing hardware environment, be able to determine if a computer system meets the minimum requirements for all software, figure in the tradeoffs between physical and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environments. You will also need to know when and how to choose between 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.
• Designing a Standard Image
The main focus of this section is simply to be able to figure out what is needed in your image.
You’ll need to be able to design an image creation strategy. What this means is you should be able to identify the operating system and enterprise applications that will be included in the image, you should be able to choose between thick, thin, or hybrid images, and you should be able to choose between role-based or geographic-based images vs. single core images, as well as image localization. This step is basically just planning how to roll out the image, and what should be on it.
Next you’ll need to be able to design a custom image. This includes much of what is required in the first section, choosing applications to be installed, figuring out what features, settings, and components need to be enabled or disabled, and testing the customized image.
You will also need to have some experience defining an image update strategy. How will you keep up performance? Will you be able to keep it all secure a month after the image has been rolled out? What about updates and efficiency?
This section is all about keeping the image maintained. You’ll be asked about the benefits of offline servicing (Media based, or otherwise,) vs. online or post-image updates (Network or web based.) So essentially, you’ll be asked about procedures both re-capturing an image, and recreating an image for updates.
• Designing Client Configurations
This section is all about configuring. You will be asked about configuring the standard system settings. Not just the old control panel though, you’ll be asked about things with a little more depth, including logon scripts, startup scripts, group policies, error reporting, and auditing policies.
There may be a few items on the exam about basic preferential settings, but most will be based on backend scripting for use with imaging. You will also be asked to define Internet Explorer settings, such as security zones, cache locations, branding, private mode, restricting or allowing plug-ins, add-ons, privacy policy, and browser protected mode.
You will also need to define client security standards such as application control policies, encryption, firewall rules, anti-malware settings, changes to Kerberos (Network Authentication protocol software) and the NT LAN Manager (NTLM,) user rights, User Access Control (UAC) policies, security templates for system lockdowns, and security standards for removable storage.
• Designing a Windows 7 Client Deployment
You will need to go over deployment methods within the exam. This includes being able to choose an appropriate deployment method such as lite-touch, zero-touch, and local installs. Your decisions to choose between these methods will be based on capacity, scale, and required changes to the infrastructure.
• Designing Application Packages for Deployment
In this section you will be asked about what needs to be checked before deploying applications, as well as what sort of applications will be used in a sense of virtualized vs. local deployment. For example, deploying a new application via a centralized server, or staggered deployment between wings of a building.
You will need to be able to weight the differences between deployments such as virtualized, Remote Desktop Services (RDS,) group policies, or software distribution. You will also need to know the difference between server-based and client-based installs. The exam will also cover scheduling considerations, staggered deployment, networking considerations, and package creation standards.
• Identifying and Resolving Deployment and Client Configuration Issues
This last section is essentially just troubleshooting after deployment. The main things you’ll need to know how to troubleshoot are Internet Explorer issues, Group Policy issues, networking issues, and authentication/authorization issues.
MCITP: Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Administrator
While this is a lot of information to take in, with the recommended three years of experience and the right training behind it, you should be able to get through the 70-686 exam with relative ease.
Remember, this is only one half of the requirements for becoming a Microsoft Certified IT Professional. You will want to look into the Configuring Windows 7 exam (70-680) to complete the requirements.
Good luck on your credentials!
Related Posts:
- Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Support Technician (Exam 70-685)
- Windows 7, Configuring (Exam 70-680)
- Windows 7, Preinstalling for OEMs (Exam 70-683)
- Windows 7 Certification Overview
- Certification Series: Exam 70-622 Vista Support & Troubleshoot
- How To Become MCITP Certified Server Administrator
- How to Deploy Windows 7 In The Enterprise
2 Responses to “Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Administrator (Exam 70-686)”
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MigrationKing Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 6:55 pm
When will TS release the Windows 7 training?
Kasia Grabowska Says:
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:26 am
Our Windows 7 training is currently in production, and unfortunately at the moment I don’t know what the release date will be. We are scheduling it for end of Q1/beginning of Q2 — but this is just an estimate. Check back with me in about a month and I will be able to give you a better answer.