RTM’d today: MCITP 70-663 Exam Ref: Designing and Deploying Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

December is looking like Exam Ref month. This new Microsoft Press certification series launched in October, and we’re publishing two more titles just in time for the holidays.

The newest Exam Ref -- MCITP 70-663 Exam Ref: Designing and Deploying Messaging Solutions with Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 (ISBN 9780735658080; 448 pages) -- shipped to the printer this week, thanks to the stellar work of author Orin Thomas and our production team.

The Exam Ref series is designed for experienced, MCTS-certified professionals ready to advance their status. Each book focuses on the critical-thinking and decision-making acumen needed for success at the MCITP level. This title provides a comprehensive and concise way of preparing for 70-663, the Pro-level exam required for the MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010 certification.

Each Exam Ref is organized by exam objectives for fast, efficient study, and includes objective review questions, along with the new Thought Experiment element. Thought Experiments help reinforce the design-level thinking required to master the exam and the job role.

Here’s a preview from the book’s introduction. We’ll have a larger sample for you when the book is available in two weeks.

Introduction

This Exam Ref is designed to assist you with studying for the MCITP exam 70-663, “Designing and Deploying Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.” This Exchange Server 2010 exam focuses on which technology to use to meet a particular design objective; the MCTS exam 70-662, “Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring,” involves knowing how to configure that technology to meet a specific operational objective.

The 70-663 exam is aimed at messaging administrators in medium to large organizations. By passing the exam, you will demonstrate that you have the knowledge and experience to design complex, multi-site and multi-forest Exchange Server 2010 deployments. If you’ve also passed the 70-662 exam, passing this exam will earn you the MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010 certification.

This book will review every concept described in the following exam objective domains:

· Planning the Exchange Server 2010 Infrastructure

· Deploying the Exchange Server 201 Infrastructure

· Designing and Deploying Security for the Exchange Organization

· Designing and Deploying Exchange Server 2010 Availability and Recovery

· Designing and Deploying Messaging Compliance, System Monitoring, and Reporting

This book covers every exam objective, but it does not necessarily cover every exam question. Microsoft regularly adds new questions to the exam, making it impossible for this (or any) book to provide every answer. Instead, this book is designed to supplement your relevant independent study and real-world experience with the product. If you encounter a topic in this book that you do not feel completely comfortable with, you should visit any links described in the text and spend several hours researching the topic further using TechNet, Exchange Server team blogs, and support forums. Ideally, you should also deploy your own complex Exchange environment. This involves deploying multiple servers across multiple sites and domains. The simplest way of doing this is to build your own virtualized lab.