Pass 98-365 MTA Certification Exam Fast

98-365 Exam Has Been Retired

This exam has been replaced by Microsoft with new exam.

Microsoft 98-365 Exam Details

Passing the Microsoft 98-365 exam is the first step towards becoming a skilled Windows Server Administrator. The test is designed to impart and enhance the candidate’s proficiency in Windows-based networking, account management, and system recovery related tools. Acing it leads one to obtaining the core-level Microsoft certificate.

Certification Overview

Microsoft 98-365 is a requirement for earning the MTA: Windows Server Administration Fundamentals certification. This accreditation acts as an ideal launchpad for professionals aiming to make big in the IT field. By giving them adequate exposure to a wide spectrum of Windows Server related tools and techniques, this exam paves the easier path towards a promising career in this area and validates the candidate’s skills at the global level.

Exam Prerequisites

98-365 is an entry-level test that helps individuals to gain foundational expertise in working with Windows Server. Hence, there are no official pre-requisites, and anyone willing to develop in this sphere can sit for the exam. However, the vendor suggests having some prior understanding of Windows Server, Active Directory, networking concepts, and other basic skills for a smoother exam journey.

Exam Layout

The Microsoft 98-365 exam is 50 minutes long and contains around 40-60 questions. The vendor doesn’t reveal the exact number of questions on the website but their formats are known and include MCQs, drag-and-drops, etc. One has to earn 70% marks to gain the “Pass” status. Each task carries a different weight, and there is no negative marking for wrong answers.

The exam score remains valid for a lifetime. The fee the candidates have to pay for enrollment is $127, and the sum is subjected to change as per the country. When it comes to the languages available, 98-365 can be taken in English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, German, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Spanish (Mexico), and Russian. Also, test-takers have two choices to schedule the exam. Technology interested non-students can register for it with Pearson VUE while students or instructors can use Certiport.

Exam Domains Overview

Although Microsoft 98-365 is an entry-level exam, it covers a wide range of topics and throws light on some of the most high-end Windows Server skills. The recent exam outline version was updated on January 31, 2018. It includes six sections, that are as follows:

• Understanding server installation. This domain covers about 10-15% of the exam content. It has been designed to assess one’s understanding of installation options, device drivers, and associated services. Thoroughly and extensively, this topic covers upgrading, installing, updating, removing, installing, and troubleshooting drivers, requires the knowledge of which Windows services are suitable in certain situations, what are service statuses, recovery options, service accounts, how to select the right operating system, perform migrations, clean installs, and others.
• Understanding server roles is the second exam domain and it is comparatively larger as it carries 25-30% weight. Learning the topics under this section is an ideal way to gain a basic understanding of web services, server virtualization, application servers, file & print services, and remote access. Topics like identifying Mail, DB & collaboration servers, performing server management & troubleshooting tasks, IIS, WWW & FTP web services, SSL, certificates, component addition, ports, and separate worker processes, are covered in an impressive manner in this part of the content.

  When it comes to remote access sub-domain, it also imparts the concepts related to the multipoint services, licensing, VPN, RD Gateway, and app virtualization. In addition to all the above skills, test-takers should be able to work with network printers, provide auditing, web printing, handle print job management, be knowledgeable in virtual networks, physical to virtual conversions, VHD and VHDX formats, nested virtualization, and various other skills in this section.

• The third exam domain is all about understanding the active directory and requires one to possess enough information about accounts & groups, Active Directory (AD) infrastructure & group policy, and organizational units & containers. To succeed in these areas, one has to learn more about group nesting, default groups, local accounts, the purpose of containers, various container objects, domain controllers, replication, functional levels, group policy processing, etc.
• The fourth section is again a short one and checks one’s understanding of Storage. Test-takers should be aware of key storage technologies (with their related usage scenarios), different storage topologies, Fibre Channel, RAID redundancy, and disk types (SSD and HDD). Speaking in detail, candidates also need to learn more about software and hardware RAID, dynamic disks, and distributed files systems, among the rest.
• The next domain emphasizes some of the most crucial and latest skills related to server performance management. Applicants should be able to identify key hardware components of server, understand performance monitoring tactics, and have knowledge about Event Viewer, logs and alerts. One should pay attention to the concepts such as power usage, removable drivers, processors, memory, performance counters, and others.
• Server maintenance is the focal point of the sixth exam domain. To succeed in its corresponding tasks, candidatess have to learn about start-up process and its related steps, updates, troubleshooting methodology, and business continuity. One needs to master the topics such as planning disaster recovery, data redundancy, know how to work with Windows Update, Resource Monitor, and other tools, as well as understand default logs and event filtering, to name a few.

Career Avenues

By passing the Microsoft 98-365 exam and earning the MTA certification, an IT aspirant can make big in the Windows Server domain and grab job roles like system administrator, system engineer, or Windows engineer easily and move ahead without any hassles.

Also, these job roles are very lucrative. For instance, PayScale.com says that a Windows system administrator can make about $65k per annum on average, while compensation for system engineers is about $81k annually. As one’s expertise increases, this figure swells up as well.

Certification Paths

For the candidates who want to grow, there are ample opportunities after MTA: Windows Server Administration Fundamentals, as this is only a basic certification. It makes you eligible to apply for the MCSA: Windows Server 2016 accreditation or other options at this track. However, MTA is not a mandatory pre-requisite for any other certification but makes this journey simpler.