Active Directory MCM: Going to Seattle

It is official. I am definitely attending the 9/9 rotation, just two weeks to orientation day. Time to book my flight and choose some lodging. But that is just logistics.

What I really need to do is get some reading done. For the uninitiated, there is a "pre-reading" list to go through to ensure familiarity with all of the topics that will be covered. If you have not taken the time to look at the list, I can safely say that there are probably over a thousand pages of Technet articles (some of them 30 to 60 pages all by themselves). If that sounds like alot, let me assure you, it IS. But if you have a passion for the technology that you are certifying in, it is actually pretty fun finding out the details of so many things that you know "just work"... well, work most of the time, because if they never broke, we wouldn't have jobs, would we?

In the Active Directory Master certification, the list of general topics include things like directory concepts, name resolution, rodc, 2008 features, authentication, AD replication, sites, migration, FRS, DFS, group policy, disaster recovery, certitificates, LDS, ADFS and RMS. Most of these are topics that any AD administrator knows something about (or should), but the great thing about the reading is that you get sucked down into some of the details that really come in handy if you are an actual engineer in the field. Even if you are NOT looking for a Master certification, this reading could make you a much better technician.

You can find the reading material here http://www.dynamicevents.com/MCM/MCM_Windows2008-Directory_Pre-reading_v5.pdf

So after about  weeks of part time reading, I am a little over halfway through the reading material, and I have the next two weeks to read full time. Fortunately, I have not run across many new concepts, mostly technical details that I was not previously awareof. I have no doubt that I have only seen the tip of the iceberg in that regard. Hopefully the rest of the iceberg does not rip a hole in my skull and make my brain start leaking...

If anything of note comes up before I get to Seattle, I will be sure to add an update. And I would like to hear your MCM tale if you have one.

"The problem with internet quotes is that no one has verified the source" -- Abraham Lincoln

- Peter Trast, MCITP EA, MCITP DBA, MCT LinkIn with Peter