What Are the Career Opportunities?

Having the MTA: Networking Fundamentals certification, an individual can apply for a wide variety of job positions such as network administrator, helpdesk support analyst, system administrator, desktop support specialist, systems engineer, IT specialist, and others. Speaking of the salary one can expect to get, as stated by PayScale's recent research, the compensation for professionals with Microsoft networking skills is about $66k per year. Still, with extra skills and experience, one can expect even better pay. Thus, according to the same website, the annual income of network administrators can reach the mark of $83k while systems administrators can earn up to $88k per annum.

So, before taking the 98-366 exam, don't forget to pay the $127 fee and allow plenty of time to study the topics included in the outline. They are grouped into three knowledge areas and, on the day of the official exam, the candidate can explain in detail how:

• Understand protocols and services: This segment covers from 45 to 50% of the questions. This is an area that you will need to dedicate more time as it may occupy almost half of the whole exam paper. To pass it, you should understand IPv4, IPv6, TCP/IP, OSI model, names resolution, and networking services.
• Understand network infrastructures: 30-35% of the questions come from this section. As such, it is a section that needs one to have adequate time in order to excel in it. You will be tested on a wide range of networking concepts, including wide area networks, network access methods, network topologies, local area networks, and basic concepts of the Internet, Intranet, and Extranet. .
• Understand network hardware: This section includes from 20 to 25% of the total number of questions. The candidates are required to validate whether they have an understanding of the following matters: switches, routers, and media types. In particular, one will have to know transmission speed considerations, cable types and their characteristics, and switching types. .

Passing this certification exam is not a straightforward matter. You are required to conduct thorough revision in order to excel. Microsoft offers various preparation options. Among the resources you are provided with for your benefit, there are instructor-led training courses, practice tests, and official exam guides. It is important to note that you can choose any exam date that is convenient for you. Therefore, you should set aside enough time for your preparation, as the result will depend on it.

Note, that being certified adds value to your CV list and makes you visible to your future employers because this MTA certificate includes a wide range of technical fundamentals, basic technical knowledge of assessing and validate core alongside increasing technical credibility.

Now you understand the importance of this certification, and the skills that training provides. So, the first thing candidates who decide to take the 98-366 exam should do is learn the exam skills outline in detail, which can be found on the official exam page.

Reference: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-98-366.aspx

What Are the Details of 98-366 Certification Exam?

As long as 98-366 leads to the MTA certification, it has the standard pattern that includes 40 to 60 questions that should be answered within 45 minutes, and the score one should gain is about 700 points out of 1000. The registration fee for this test is $127. To enroll, applicants can choose between Pearson VUE (for those just interested in the tech field) and Certiport (for students and instructors). The registration process is quite straightforward. Candidates will have to open an account on Pearson VUE or Certiport and search for the exam code “98-366”. They will then be prompted with the instructions that they should follow to pay the enrollment fee and complete the process.

The exam will be available in different languages. Apart from English, the candidates can take it in Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Traditional Chinese, German, Italian, French, Japanese, Korean, or Portuguese.

Exam topics and subtopics

The Microsoft 98-366: Networking Fundamentals exam assesses the candidates’ knowledge of a variety of topics. The skills measured in this test are combined in a number of objectives. They are highlighted below:

• Understanding Network Infrastructures (30-35%)

  This topic area evaluates your understanding of the concepts of intranet, extranet, and the Internet. This includes firewalls, Virtual Private Network (VPN), and security zones with the focus on Azure network security. The applicants should also have an understanding of local area networks (LANs), in which they have to demonstrate their knowledge of perimeter networks, VLANs, wireless LAN, wired LAN, addressing, and reserved address ranges for the local use. In addition, the learners need to show that they understand wide area networks (WANs), such as cable modem, leased lines, ISDN, dial-up, VPN, DSL, E1, E3, T1, T3, and their characteristics (availability and speed).

  Also, the skills measured under this objective include the usage of wireless networking. You are required to demonstrate your knowledge of types of wireless networking standards along with their characteristics (ac, n, g, b, 11a, 802 including different GHz ranges), point-to-point (P2P) wireless, wireless bridging, ad hoc networks, and types of network security (WEP, WPA, 802.1x, and others).

• Understanding Network Hardware (20-25%)

  This section includes the examinees’ understanding of switches, routers, and media types. This area encompasses their knowledge of transmission speed, VLAN capabilities, speed of uplinks, number of uplinks, types and number of ports, unmanaged or managed switches, support, hardware redundancy, virtual switches, switching MAC cables and switches, Layer 3 and Layer 2 switches and security options, backplane speed, directly connected routes, routing table memory, Quality of Service (QoS), installing and configuring routing, and cable types and their characteristics.

• Understanding Protocols and Services (45-50%)

  In this domain, the students have to demonstrate their understanding of the OSI (open systems interconnection) model, TCP and UDP (User Datagram Protocol), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) model, packets and frames, well-known parts for commonly used purposes, and examples of application, devices, protocols, and which TCP/OSI layer they belong to. This area also involves their knowledge of IPv4, whereby they are required to demonstrate their understanding of IPconfig, subnetting, addressing, the use of IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4), ipv4toipv6 tunneling protocols for ensuring backward compatibility, gateway, dual IP stack, packets, ports, reserved address ranges for the local use, including local loopback IP. This subject also involves one’s grasp of IPv6, name resolutions, networking services, and TCP/IP.