Hi,
Took part 1 of the architecting certification two hours ago and passed with 83% score.
I did the SL-425 course at Sun Education but you really don't have to do so in order to pass the
test. The course has a very low bang/buck ratio :-) the coursebook is rather good though.
A few posts on this site made me a little nervous about the contents of the exam, but in fact it turned out to be rather easy. Check out the notes on this site from people that have taken the test and be sure to be aware of 'common architect things', like knowing stuff about the history of distributed computing, design
patterns and of course be able to sum up (dis)advantages of
java concerned technology.. I had a lot of questions on EJB myself.
Furthermore, relax and take your time...there are lots of scenario questions which should be read with care. The main thing here is to pick out the important details from the elaborate stories. Focus on type of communication, protocols and of course...don't assume, but only answer the questions. I had some trick questions...
Good luck!
Bert