Exam 70-351: TS: Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006, Configuring is now available at VUE and Prometric. When you pass 70-351, you earn a stand-alone certification: MCTS: ISA Server 2006, Configuration.

Here's a sentence on ISA: ISA Server is the integrated edge security gateway that helps protect your IT environment from Internet-based threats while providing your users with fast and secure remote access to applications and data.

Here's a sentence on ISA certification: A certification on ISA is a great way to show your boss, or a company you'd like to work for, that you get the full picture and ins and outs of something they care about a lot (working online! security! acronyms!) and that you cared enough to take the time to study and pass an exam. Good confidence booster, too, knowing you know what you need to know*. 

The prep guide is just days away from publishing (here's where you'll find it, eventually), but we get so many questions about this, I'm poasting the topic areas, below. I think there is one classroom course coming out to support this exam--the prep guide will point you to that when available. In the meantime, visit the TechCenter for ISA--there should be a lot of resources there that can get you started in your studies.

If you go to sign up for this exam, don't forget to register for second shot.

Skills measured by Exam 70-351

Planning and Installing ISA Server 2006

  • Plan an ISA Server 2006 deployment
  • Assess and configure the operating system, hardware, and network services
  • Deploy ISA Server 2006

Installing and Configuring Client Computers

  • Install Firewall Client software
  • Configure client computers for ISA Server 2006. Types of client computers include Web Proxy, Firewall Client, and SecureNAT
  • Configure a local domain table (LDT)
  • Configure ISA Server 2006 for automatic client configuration by using Web Proxy Automatic Discovery (WPAD)
  • Diagnose and resolve client computer connectivity issues

Configuring and Managing ISA Server 2006

  • Configure the system policy
  • Back up and restore ISA Server 2006
  • Define administrative roles
  • Configure firewall settings
  • Configure ISA Server 2006 for Network Load Balancing
  • Configure ISA Server 2006 to support a network topology

Configuring Web Caching

  • Configure forward and reverse caching
  • Optimize performance of the ISA Server 2006 cache
  • Diagnose and resolve caching issues

Configuring Firewall Policy

  • Plan a firewall policy
  • Create policy elements, access rules, and connection limits. Policy elements include schedule, protocols, user groups, and network objects
  • Create policy rules for Web publishing
  • Create policy rules for mail server publishing
  • Create policy rules for server publishing

Configuring and Managing Remote Network Connectivity

  • Configure ISA Server 2006 for site-to-site VPNs
  • Configure ISA Server 2006 as a remote access VPN server
  • Diagnose and resolve VPN connectivity issues

Monitoring and Reporting ISA Server 2006 Activity

  • Monitor ISA Server 2006 activity
  • Configure and run reports
  • Configure logging and alerts

* You know?