MCTS SQL Server 2005 Implementation & Maintenance Study Guide (Exam 70-431)

List Price: $49.99 Discount Price: $26.43

Customer Reviews:

It worked for me [Posted on 2008-05-14]
This is my first Microsoft certification so I wasn't 100% sure how to approach preparing for it. My knee-jerk reaction was to buy a book and do all of my learning from just the book. I found myself reading at night and then during the day (while working) I would try and apply what I had read the previous night to what I was working on that day. Without realizing it I was really just using the book to guide my hands-on learning.

Having said that, the book did a very good job of introducing the exam topics, making note of important topics (HINT: This will probably be on the test), and chapter review questions. I felt the review questions were fairly similar in style to the 70-431 multiple choice question. The practice test's simulation questions are a little buggy, I don't think I could ever answer any of them, but it wasn't that big of deal since I use SSMS everyday. I thought the web content was pretty good, videos, and the second practice test but it is very difficult to navigate to the material. I almost gave up looking for it but somehow I did find it.

I beleive that you could pass the test just by using this book (or any other book) but I think that you should really do the majority of your learning with hands on experience. I do reccomend this book to aid your studying, it worked for me.

Great book, poor practice tests. [Posted on 2008-06-11]
I just passed this test at Microsoft TechEd on my first attempt. The book is well organized and covers all the basics of the exam. My test included 47 questions,35 multiple choice and 12 simulations. The practice exams that are included with the book are horrendous and will not prepare you for the test. Do not rely on them. The book will give you all the basics but you will need to know how to apply them to real world examples. It's not enough to know about snapshots and replication, you'll need to know how to implement them in the most effective Microsoft way. I do recommend this book because it will help prepare you for the test but it's not enough on it's own to pass the test. Good luck.

Wasted money and time [Posted on 2008-09-14]
In preparation for taking the certification test, I purchased this book and the Training Kit from Microsoft Press. As I was planning to take several certification tests, I wanted to find out which was better: Microsoft's training materials or third-party materials. I flipped a coin to see which I would start with, and this book "won".

I studied it over a period of weeks. I passed the included electronic exam with the book. Time to move on to the second book, right? So I decided I would take the test included with the Microsoft kit. If I passed it, I would know that I didn't need to spend the weeks studying that one, and could proceed directly to the certification test. Of the first 10 questions on the Microsoft Training Kit test, I got 2 right, and had absolutely no clue on 6 of them. They were not covered at all in this book.

Getting over my frustration at wasting my time, I found the Microsoft book "cleaner" in that it had less errors and the test questions actually covered their lesson material more thoroughly. After some topics in the Study Guide, I had lots of questions about how it really worked. The Microsoft book answered most (not all) of them, and had test questions covering the Guide's unexplained non-answers.

I still have not finished the Training Kit, but at 35% of the book read, I have increased my score on their trial test from 20% to 50%. The trend implies that by the time I finish the book, I should be over the passing grade.

The Guide (this book) glosses over, with glancing explanations, several complex topics such as messaging/queueing and jobs. I did find that it was better than the Kit (Microsoft) on the Security chapter. The electronic test in the Kit has many more questions, and it looks like they are more structured like certification exam questions. The Guide's questions are all select one (radio-button) or check-all-appropriate (toggle-boxes). The Kit had those, plus drag-and-drop order of steps questions (take these 7 steps, which ones -in order- do you need to accomplish this task). If I remember the exam simulators correctly (this may be inaccurate), the Guide randomly selects from 95 questions, and the Kit from 195.

I have to say: Don't waste your time. Buy the Microsoft Press Training Guide for this topic.

Good book [Posted on 2008-10-02]
Being new to SQL Server, I chose this book as the only reference to study for the exam based on the reviews, and I wasn't mistaken.
It covers all the exam topics in the right order, and it gives enough explanation about each subject that would get you through the exam.
However,if you need to pass the exam,you need to get your hands on some test banks because the review questions in the book won't suffice as the only prep questions for the test.
There is a lot of free stuff on the internet if you yahoo or google 70-431.
I had 47 questions,of which 12 were simulations. I just passed the exam two days ago with no training classes and minimal hands-on, on the first try.

Good luck

Good for patient newbies [Posted on 2008-11-02]
I have had it for a month and got thru only half of this book. Good for newbies with lot of detail oriented material. However there's lot of rubbish that one could skip. But its good with a soft copy of the book included in the CD to listen thru using reading software! One suggestion to author is to avoid repeating details and explaining useless scenarios in too much detail.

Click here for more details and discount information...