Rating: 
Summary: It's not that helpful
Review: As mentioned previously, the Transcender exam was MUCH more helpful than this book. Unlike the VB exam cram books, this won't help you answer too many questions on the exam.If you want a very intro book to databases, it is ok. If you want something to pass the Microsoft Architectures exam, this book won't help very much.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent preparation for exam 70-100
Review: Don't bother with other study guides for exam 70-100, most of which get mired in MSF details and needless filler. This succinct guide covers most exam material, presented in a manner directly transferable to skills needed on the actual test. A variety of case studies illustrate key chapter concepts corresponding to exam topics in a clear and to the point manner. The critical skill for this test is to read and analyse the case studies and questions carefully before answering. I read through this guide twice, did the sample tests and passed by a wide margin.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent small book, but you'll need Transcender
Review: EXAM vs. BOOK: Looking over other reviews, you'll see wildly divergent opinions about this book. The problem is that this particular exam (70-100) is structured in a way that is unique among Microsoft's exams. Aside from the required knowledge, the mechanics of the exam process are counter-intuitive, confusing and require practice to master. First, let me say that passing 70-100 requires a knowledge base that is too broad to be contained in a single book (or even 3 or 4 books). If you go into this exam with several years of software experience, and AFTER having passed the other exams needed for MCSD, then much of the background is already covered. To be more specific, SQL Server 7 Design (70-029), is superb preparation for the IMPORTANT entity and data modeling aspects of 70-100. Since you have to learn it for 70-100, you might as well do 70-029 first. (70-029 is one of the most marketable of the electives.) Beyond that, the candidate is expected to be adept at sifting through a haystack of scenario verbiage in order to identify process flow, data flow, and the underlying "business" problem, as opposed to the technologic problem, with which we are all more familiar. This is where a book dedicated to solution architectures is useful. Brandt provides us with a readable survey of approaches to projects (including Microsoft's way of truth), development models, the array of project deliverables, including context diagrams, entity-relationship diagrams, data flow diagrams, case-use scenarios, and the physical manifestations of these. You need to know this, as well as tier models and user interface standards. Although the multiple choice questions throughout the book are not what you are likely to see on the exam, they are helpful in clarifying your understanding of topics you will definitely see on the exam. If you can sail through the big exam at the end of the book, then you have a good foundation. But you'll need more to pass the real test. WEAKNESSES: The material on data normalization are only adequate as a review if you've already learned the concepts elsewhere (do 70-029 first!). Practical applications of performance, availability, security, scalability, maintainability, and extensibility are not covered in sufficient depth. These shortcomings are acceptable if Brandt is not your only reference. I would strongly recommend Cornish, et al. as a primary book. The two books cover the material from different perspectives, and mutually fill in the gaps. EXAM MECHANICS: Build-a-tree questions usually force you to create a hierarchical answer for non-hierarchical objects -- a horrible metaphor! The drag-and-connect questions are intentionally sneaky, and unintentionally difficult to set properly without practice. (The blocks that must be shuffled around will toggle unpredictably, causing intended connections to be misdirected. Even when properly connected, the results are extremely difficult to read.) In the drag-and-drop reorder list questions, dragging will occasionally drag an object not highlighted, and will occasionally drop onto non-highlighted objects. One remedy (unlikely) is for Microsoft to recognize that these testing tools are not ready for prime time, and fix them. The other remedy, and the only realistic one I know of, is to download the free Transcender demo. I bought the Transcender product (SolutionCert) and was only able to pass the third Transcender test, after failing the first two -- and I've been doing this stuff for 22 years! CONCLUSION: Brandt is an excellent choice for a small book. Consider getting a large book, and at least download the Transcender demo to see what you're up against.
Rating:
Summary: Good as a helper book, but...
Review: Have the Transcender test exams at hand, because this book is *not* enough. Other than that, this book is quite good, organized, lists lots of topics and has good examples.
Rating:
Summary: Good summary review of important concepts
Review: Having already passed the 70-100 exam before reading this book, I reviewed it as a candidate for supplemental material for a course I teach. I found the book to have very worthwhile info in it that definitely will help people pursuing the 70-100 exam. Knowing the subjects covered in the book will certainly better prepare you to analyze the case studies that make up the bulk of the exam. However, don't expect the multiple-choice type questions throughout the book to look anything like the real test questions. The actual test is mostly case studies with tasks to complete like creating entity-relationship diagrams, data flow diagrams, drop and connect questions, with very few of the multiple choice questions like the ones this book uses throughout. Still, there are narratives of several case studies in the book with discussions of analysis and solutions that are very similar to the thought processes you have to go through on the real test. Those case studies plus the summaries of terms covered that every developer should know make the text worthwhile. You might want to supplement this text with a test-prep software package such as one from Transcender to get a real feel for the actual type of case-study questions included in the real test.
Rating:
Summary: Good summary review of important concepts
Review: Having already passed the 70-100 exam before reading this book, I reviewed it as a candidate for supplemental material for a course I teach. I found the book to have very worthwhile info in it that definitely will help people pursuing the 70-100 exam. Knowing the subjects covered in the book will certainly better prepare you to analyze the case studies that make up the bulk of the exam. However, don't expect the multiple-choice type questions throughout the book to look anything like the real test questions. The actual test is mostly case studies with tasks to complete like creating entity-relationship diagrams, data flow diagrams, drop and connect questions, with very few of the multiple choice questions like the ones this book uses throughout. Still, there are narratives of several case studies in the book with discussions of analysis and solutions that are very similar to the thought processes you have to go through on the real test. Those case studies plus the summaries of terms covered that every developer should know make the text worthwhile. You might want to supplement this text with a test-prep software package such as one from Transcender to get a real feel for the actual type of case-study questions included in the real test.
Rating: 
Summary: No book will help you with this exam ... period!
Review: Having read the book and taken (and passed) the exam, I can honestly say that NO BOOK will help you with this exam. Like the reviewer below me says, the exam is all case studies - multiple choice questions are only a small part of it. You need to be a combination busines analyst / technical architect / DBA to pass this exam. I give this book two stars only because it's the best one out there, but it really won't help you at all. If you're serious about passing, get the Transcender Exam (or the free Transcender Demo) - it's identical in structure to the real exam and the questions are amazingly similar. I'm someone who felt obligated to buy some book (any book) to help me pass - it didn't help at all.
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Summary: I passed MS 70-100 using this StudyGuide!
Review: Hey...if you're stuck on finding a great book as a major StudyGuide, then pick this one for help on MS 70-100! Worked like a charm for me...AND...I keep the book close-at-hand when I plan a new app for a client! Great work and writing by Donald Brandt! Congrats! And if I tell you what exam I'm sitting for next, will you write me one for that one too! Jim
Rating:
Summary: Two Paragraphs of the book is very useful :(
Review: I agree with most of the other reviewers.. I have used this book to cram for the exam (I have passed it -just! ) but there is nothing directly related to the questions found in the exam..However the paragrapgh about Data Normalisation and another paragraph about "Searching the internet for braindumps") have proven very useful even though the suggested sites are the subscription sites :( If you dont already know what is covered in the book and have extensive understanding and the experience in the subjects there is no point trying to learn them using this small book. I don't think any one particular book would cover the exam 100% (even the suggested microsoft course would cover about 30% of the exam) .And I see the mention of Transcender here and there for this exam.Honestly I don't think it is conclusive .Because there is apparently only one case which is similar to the real test (Which only is about database normalisation ,so this book is good enough for that and a cheap alternative).. If you download Microsoft sample for this exam it would be as useful as Trancender..Sorry for being negative about this book.. I have used other books from Coriolis for other exams and have proven really useful. But not this one..Good luck.
Rating:
Summary: The best study guide for 70-100
Review: I agree with Patrick and Mark. This book is the best study guide for the 70-100 exam but the sample tests are more important. This book contained the most concise and easy-to-read information. I bought three other guides which turned out to be a waste of time and money. If you are going to take the test, read this book once and then download the sample Transcender test. Without the Transcender samples, you will probably fail the exam, no matter how much you study.
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