Many people who take Microsoft exams often complain that
the exam they took does not map well to the course that the exam is supposed to
be based on. For some courses and exams, this is true. And, in these
instances studying the courseware alone will make it difficult to pass the exam.
Complicating the issue of course-to-exam mapping is the use of scenario-based
questions that force you to integrate, synthesize and analyze information that
may occur in a number of different places. In Part I of this Series, we looked
at the issue of questions that require you to pull together
information from disparate places in a single course and make a decision based
on that information. In this part of the Series (Part II), we will look at the issue of
answering questions that require you to know information from both within and
outside a course.
Take the example of the Proxy Server 2.0 exam. Proxy
Server 2.0 is a product that requires IIS to run. As a
consequence of the relationship between IIS and Proxy Server, you should be able
to anticipate that a number of questions on the exam are going to test you on
your knowledge of both Proxy Server and IIS. Let's look at a hypothetical scenario question.
As a consultant, you have been
asked to troubleshoot a problem with access to the Proxy Server. Proxy Server
2.0 is installed on a Domain Controller in a trusting Domain of the accounts
domain, where all the user accounts are located. Staff in the office use either Internet Explorer or
Netscape. Full-time office staff have no
difficulty getting out to the Internet through the proxy server using either
browser. However, temporary office staff can use only Internet Explorer to
browse the Internet. If any of the temporary staff use Netscape, they
are denied access.
This scenario could go further by adding a number of
different elements and providing more information, including irrelevant details
that act as red herrings. But, imagine you are the consultant. How do you begin
to solve this problem? First, looking at the security on IIS and Proxy Server
2.0 is a good place to start. You discover that anonymous connections to the
Proxy Server are not allowed and that users need to authenticate to the Proxy
server using either Basic Authentication or NT Challenge/Response.
Next, you need to consider the difference between IE and
Netscape. IE supports both NT Challenge Response and Basic
Authentication. However, Netscape supports only Basic Authentication, which
means among other things that you are always prompted to log on when you try to
access the Internet through the Proxy Server.
Here's another difference to consider. Basic
Authentication requires the logon locally right in NT. That means users have the
right to sit down at the console of a machine and log on to it. On a domain
controller, domain users do not have this right by default. The administrator
has to grant it. So, the solution to our problem has something to do with this
right. For whatever reason, workstation restrictions or the granting of rights
to temporary staff, the temporary staff does not have the ability to logon
locally to the Proxy Server.
That's quite a bit of information you had to know to get
you through a question based on this scenario. Unfortunately, the Proxy Server
2.0 course isn't going to be much help to you as a source of information--it
doesn't discuss the issues surrounding Basic Authentication in any depth. That
information can be found in the IIS course. However, the IIS 4.0 course may make no
mention of the requirement for the logon locally right to support Basic
Authentication. And, in the labs for the IIS and Proxy Server courses, you might
miss this point because all the student machines are configured as stand-alone
servers, which allow the logon locally right by default to all users. So, either
you have to make this connection on your own or your instructor has to do it for
you.
Although you have to know material from both the Proxy
and the IIS courses, you also have to know material from other courses, such as
the Administering NT, Core Technologies, and Enterprise courses. Would it be
fair to ask you such a question on the Proxy Server exam? Absolutely. For two
reasons: 1) the scenario-based question tests you on your ability to integrate
and analyze information, and 2) the scenario is relevant and pertinent to
supporting Proxy Server and falls within stated objectives of the exam goals.
That the information to answer the question can't be found in the Proxy Server
course is not relevant. To support Proxy Server, you need to already have a good
understanding of IIS and NT.
To study for an exam such as Proxy Server, or any of the
advanced MCSE electives, you will have to go outside the course to make sure you
have an understanding of the applications and the OS that Proxy Server depends
on. Just studying the course materials alone will leave you in poor shape to
take the exam. And, as a general rule, you should always be prepared to study
material outside the course that the exam is based on. Furthermore, if you are
studying with the goal to memorize as much information as possible, you are
probably not using your study time effectively--you have to make connections
within the information you are absorbing, not just memorize it.
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