The Windows Server 2008 MCITP betas (70-646 and 70-647) open on December 21, I think. And invites will go out right round then, so please keep clam. <update December 21> OK, prep guides are live and betas are open for registration now. If WS is your bag, baby, here is the invite information and you are welcome to participate. ------------------------------------------------------

You are invited to take the following beta exams.

  • 71-646: PRO: Windows® Server 2008, Server Administrator counts as credit towards Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Server Administrator
  • 71-647: PRO: Windows® Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator counts as credit towards MCITP: Enterprise Administrator

If you pass the beta exam, the exam credit will be added to your transcript and you will not need to take the exam in its released form. By participating in beta exams, you have the opportunity to provide the Microsoft Certification program with feedback about exam content, which is integral to development of exams in their released version. We depend on the contributions of experienced IT professionals and developers as we continually improve exam content and maintain the value of Microsoft certifications. Please remember that participation in the beta process is completely voluntary and Microsoft makes no promises or guarantees regarding the beta exam process. You can expect to receive your score on the beta exam within 12 weeks of taking the exam, although in some instances, beta exams may take longer to score and your results may be delayed.

Availability

  • Registration begins: December 21, 2007
  • Beta exam period runs: December 21, 2007–January 18, 2008
  • Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately. Beta exams have limited availability and are operated under a first-come-first-served basis. Once all beta slots are filled, no additional seats will be offered.
  • Testing is held at Prometric testing centers worldwide, although this exam may not be available in all countries (see Regional Restrictions). All testing centers will have the capability to offer this exam in its live version.
  • Regional Restrictions: India, Pakistan, China

Registration Information

  • You must register at least 24 hours prior to taking the exam.
  • Please use the following promotional codes when you register for your exam.
  • 71-647: use Promo code 647Q at registration
  • 71-646: use Promo code Q646 at registration
  • Look for the prefix "71" at registration
  • Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately.
  • To register in North America, please call: Prometric: (800) 755-EXAM (800-755-3926)
  • Outside the U.S./Canada, please contact: http://www.register.prometric.com/ClientInformation.asp

Test Information and Support

-------------------------------------------In the meantime, you might want to try this on for size: "Windows Server 2008 RC1 with Hyper-V Beta is publicly available here." Alternately, you could put that in your pipe, and smoke it.

Try the Windows Server learning portal or Windows Server 2008 info on TechNet for help brushing up on items below.

Skills measured by Exam 70-646

Planning for Server Deployment (19%)

  • Plan server installations and upgrades.
  • May include but is not limited to: Windows Server 2008 edition selection, Rollback planning, Bitlocker implementation requirements
  • Plan for automated server deployment.
  • May include but is not limited to: Standard server image, Automation and scheduling of server deployments
  • Plan infrastructure services server roles.
  • May include but is not limited to: Address assignment, Name resolution, Network access control, Directory services, Application services, Certificate services
  • Plan application servers and services
  • May include but is not limited to: Virtualization server planning, Availability, resilience, and accessibility
  • Plan file and print server roles
  • May include but is not limited to: Access permissions, Storage quotas, Replication, Indexing, File storage policy, Availability, Printer publishing

Planning for Server Management (23%)

  • Plan server management strategies.
  • May include but is not limited to: Remote administration, Remote desktop, Server management technologies, Server Manager and ServerManagerCMD, Delegation policies and procedures
  • Plan for delegated administration.
  • May include but is not limited to: Delegate Authority, Delegate Active Directory objects, Application Management
  • Plan and implement group policy strategy.
  • May include but is not limited to: GPO Management, GPO backup and recovery, Group policy troubleshooting, Group policy planning

Monitoring and Maintaining Servers (20%)

  • Implement patch management strategy.
  • May include but is not limited to: Operating system patch level maintenance, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Application patch level maintenance
  • Monitor servers for performance evaluation and optimization.
  • May include but is not limited to: Server and service monitoring, Optimization, Event management, Trending and baseline analysis
  • Monitor and maintain security and policies.
  • May include but is not limited to: Remote access, Monitor and maintain NPAS, Network access, Server security, Firewall rules and policies, Authentication and authorization, Data security, Auditing

Planning Application and Data Provisioning (19%)

  • Provision applications.
  • May include but is not limited to: Presentation virtualization, Terminal server infrastructure, Resource allocation, Application virtualization alternatives, Application deployment, System Center Configuration Manager
  • Provision data.
  • May include but is not limited to: Shared resources, Offline data access

Planning for Business Continuity and High Availability (19%)

  • Plan storage.
  • May include but is not limited to: Storage solutions, Storage management
  • Plan high availability.
  • May include but is not limited to: Service redundancy, Service availability
  • Plan for backup and recovery.
  • May include but is not limited to: Data recovery strategy, Server recovery strategy, Directory service recovery strategy, Object level recovery

Skills measured by Exam 70-647

Planning Network and Application Services (23%)

  • Plan for name resolution and IP addressing.
  • May include but is not limited to: Internal and external naming strategy, Naming resolution support for legacy clients, Naming resolution for directory services, IP addressing scheme, TCP/IP version coexistence
  • Design for network access.
  • May include but is not limited to: Network access policies, Remote access strategy, Perimeter networks, Server and domain isolation
  • Plan for application delivery.
  • May include but is not limited to: Application virtualization, Presentation virtualization, Locally installed software, Web-based applications
  • Plan for Terminal Services.
  • May include but is not limited to: Terminal Services licensing, Terminal Services infrastructure

Designing Core Identity and Access Management Components (25%)

  • Design Active Directory forests and domains.
  • May include but is not limited to: Forest structure, Forest and domain functional levels, Intra-organizational authorization and authentication, Schema modifications
  • Design the Active Directory physical topology.
  • May include but is not limited to: Placement of servers, Site and replication topology, Printer location policies
  • Design the Active Directory administrative model.
  • May include but is not limited to: Delegation, Group strategy, Compliance auditing, Group administration,
  • Organizational structure
  • Design the enterprise-level group policy strategy.
  • May include but is not limited to: Group policy hierarchy and scope filtering, Control device installation, Authentication and authorization

Designing Support Identity and Access Management Components (29%)

  • Plan for domain or forest migration, upgrade, and restructuring.
  • May include but is not limited to: Cross-forest authentication, Backward compatibility, Object migration, Migration planning, Implementation planning, Environment preparation
  • Design the branch office deployment.
  • May include but is not limited to: certificate request and installation; self-enrollments; delegation; Active Directory Metadirectory Services (AD MDS); Windows Server virtualization
  • Configure the read-only domain controller (RODC).
  • May include but is not limited to: Authentication strategy, Server security
  • Design and implement public key infrastructure.
  • May include but is not limited to: Certificate services, PKI operations and maintenance, Certificate life cycle management
  • Plan for interoperability.
  • May include but is not limited to: Inter-organizational authorization and authentication, Application authentication interoperability, Cross-platform interoperability

Designing for Business Continuity and Data Availability (23%)

  • Plan for business continuity.
  • May include but is not limited to: Service availability, Directory service recovery
  • Design for software updates and compliance management.
  • May include but is not limited to: Patch management and patch management compliance, Microsoft Update and Windows Update, Security baselines, System health models
  • Design the operating system virtualization strategy.
  • May include but is not limited to: Server consolidation, Application compatibility, Virtualization management, Placement of servers
  • Design for data management and data access.
  • May include but is not limited to: Data security, Data accessibility and redundancy, Data collaboration