The Accidental MCSE -- Redmondmag.com

The Accidental MCSE

Are you an NT 4.0 MCSE who has passed most, but not all, of the seven required exams for your Windows 2000 MCSE? If so, you may have achieved your Win2K certification without even knowing it.

By Keith Ward
01/01/2002

Microsoft recently made a change to its Win2K MCSE requirements, allowing older NT 4.0 exams to count as electives. That means if you’ve passed the core four and your design elective, you can use up to two of your older electives toward your Win2K MCSE. The exams that count are in the chart below.

The decision to include the older exams as electives was based on their relevance to Win2K technologies, according to Dan Truax, manager for Microsoft’s certification strategy group. “We try to keep electives that are still applicable to the right products,” Traux said. For instance, your knowledge of TCP/IP in NT is still useful for Win2K, so the TCP/IP exam can be used as an elective.

None of the tests included in the chart are core exams. “What won’t count is the core. We want to keep core integrity,” Truax said.

The decision to include some older electives valid for the Win2K MCSE track was made at the same time Microsoft decided to version its certifications and not decertify NT 4.0 CSEs. It also signals a further change in how Redmond views the importance of exams that deal with technology that’s no longer cutting edge but still has value in a majority of businesses.

Exam Number	Title
70-013	Implementing and Supporting Microsoft SNA Server 3.0
70-018	Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Systems Management Server 1.2
70-026	System Administration for Microsoft SQL Server 6.5
70-027	Implementing a Database Design on Microsoft SQL Server 6.5
70-059	Internetworking with Microsoft TCP/IP on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
70-076	Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Exchange Server 5
70-087	Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
70-078	Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Proxy Server 1.0
70-079	Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Internet

The page that lists the Win2K MCSE requirements can be found at www.microsoft.com/traincert/mcp/mcse/requirements.asp. Truax said that Microsoft will also be posting information on the inclusion of the older electives on its certification FAQ page at www.microsoft.com/traincert/mcpexams/faq/default.asp.

About the Author

Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.

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