Re: Server+ exam afterthoughts

James,

Thanks for the thoughts, I started studying for Server after I passed
Network. But it ended up on the back burner, now I'm studying for Linux. I
plan to get server after I pass Linux then it's off to more vender specific
certs. Very helpful post. As for your question at the end I'd say I,II,III &
IV .

Rick
--
A+, Network+

"James D. Murray" <> wrote in message
news:KMCUa.2670$.. .
>
> I just passed the Server+ exam and I thought I'd cast my afterthoughts
about
> the exam on to the Internet for any other interested people to read.
>
>
>
> I passed the A+ exam two months ago. The typical track is to next acquire
> the Network+ cert. However, after reviewing the material for both Network+
> and Server+, I decided the Server+ exam looked to be more of the natural
> next step after the A+. Although I have years of both server and network
> experience, it looked as though I'd have a much tougher time passing
> Server+, so might as well get it out of the way ASAP.
>
>
>
> I studied for about six weeks, starting with reading through the Server+
> Certification Bible by Trevor Kay and Sybex's Server+ Study Guide, and the
> MS Press Server+ Certification Training Kit. Both Kay's and Sybex's books
> are definitely worth reading. The one from MS Press is lacking in depth.
>
>
>
> I viewed most of the VTC Training CD for Server Plus. The material was not
> detailed enough to be truly useful for the exam. Also, the speaker on the
> video didn't make the presentation of the material very interesting.
>
>
>
> I also had a skim through the usual TestKing and CramSession braindump
> publications. They cover a lot of material, but most of their questions
don'
> t really resemble those on the actual exam. Neither does most of the
> Question Of the Day (QOD) practice questions available from several
> certification web sites.
>
>
>
> Starting two weeks before my exam, I started going through the Server+
> practice exams by Transcender, Boson, and MeasureUp. I'd have to say that
> the format and content of Transcender's questions most closely match the
> actual Server+ exam. Both Boson and MeasureUp have nice practice exams,
but
> many of the questions contain material that you won't see on the Server+
> exam. If you can pass all of these practice exams then you definitely know
> your server stuff.
>
>
>
> As for the Server+ exam itself, it is 80 questions in length, you have 90
> minutes to complete it, and a score of 75 or better is required to pass.
It
> took me just over an hour to answer all of the questions and I passed with
> an 82. I spent 10 minutes or so reviewing a few of my answers and ended up
> changing one or two. I decided that second-guessing my gut was not a good
> thing, so I didn't bother to completely review the entire exam (I might
have
> ended up with a lower score if I did).
>
>
>
> Make no mistake that the Server+ exam is about HARDWARE. At least half of
> the questions in some way involved RAID, SCSI, or tape backup strategies.
A
> significant portion involved trouble-shooting of failed components,
network
> problems, and performance problems using "best practices" methodology. The
> networking questions were fairly easy, so I really don't think you need a
> Network+ cert before getting your Server+ if you are already comfortable
> with network design and troubleshooting. There was only two or three MS
> Windows-specific questions, and only one involving multiple OSes.
>
>
>
> Probably one-third of the questions were the complex, scenario-based
> questions that describe a problem in detail and ask you how to diagnose
> and/or resolve it. These weren't nearly as complex as many on the M$
exams,
> but two or three were so ambiguous that it was truly impossible to
determine
> a single, correct answer. I won't give an example, but all of the
commercial
> practice exams have the same type of head scratchers in them.
>
>
>
> One funny thing I noticed was that none of the exam questions were
multiple
> choice (i.e., all radio button and no check boxes). There were also no
"none
> of the choices" selections. There were a dozen or so questions that
offered
> four possible explanations and asked you to choose the one(s) you thought
> would apply. For example (not an actual exam question):
>
>
>
> Thirty minutes before taking the Server+ exam you should:
>
>
>
> I. Arrive at the test center.
>
> II. Make sure you have two forms of identification.
>
> III. Flirt with all the women at the test center taking
>
> nursing exams.
>
> IV. Slam some coffee and ephedra and engage in Primal
>
> Scream therapy.
>
>
>
> O I and III
>
> O II and IV
>
> O III only
>
> O I, II, III and IV
>
>
>
> Now keep in mind that my exam contained only 80 of the hundreds (or
> thousands?) of questions in the Server+ exam questions pool. Just because
I
> saw or didn't see something on my exam doesn't mean you will or won't see
> it. As the saying goes: Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).
>
>
>
> In My Humble Opinion: THE SERVER+ EXAM IS PASSABLE AND THE CERT IS WORTH
> AQUIRING! Learn everything you can about RAID, SCSI, tape backup hardware
> and strategies, and server problem troubleshooting. Make server upgrading,
> configuring, networking, performance tuning, and environmental conditions
> and security secondary in your study. And, of course, you must have
> experience working in that big, cold machine room!
>
>
>
>
>

Rick Blythin

Thanks for tip on the study books i am starting to study for that now


"Rick Blythin" <> wrote in message
news:r1KUa.9718$. ..
> James,
>
> Thanks for the thoughts, I started studying for Server after I passed
> Network. But it ended up on the back burner, now I'm studying for Linux. I
> plan to get server after I pass Linux then it's off to more vender
specific
> certs. Very helpful post. As for your question at the end I'd say I,II,III
&
> IV .
>
> Rick
> --
> A+, Network+
>
> "James D. Murray" <> wrote in message
> news:KMCUa.2670$.. .
> >
> > I just passed the Server+ exam and I thought I'd cast my afterthoughts
> about
> > the exam on to the Internet for any other interested people to read.
> >
> >
> >
> > I passed the A+ exam two months ago. The typical track is to next
acquire
> > the Network+ cert. However, after reviewing the material for both
Network+
> > and Server+, I decided the Server+ exam looked to be more of the natural
> > next step after the A+. Although I have years of both server and network
> > experience, it looked as though I'd have a much tougher time passing
> > Server+, so might as well get it out of the way ASAP.
> >
> >
> >
> > I studied for about six weeks, starting with reading through the Server+
> > Certification Bible by Trevor Kay and Sybex's Server+ Study Guide, and
the
> > MS Press Server+ Certification Training Kit. Both Kay's and Sybex's
books
> > are definitely worth reading. The one from MS Press is lacking in depth.
> >
> >
> >
> > I viewed most of the VTC Training CD for Server Plus. The material was
not
> > detailed enough to be truly useful for the exam. Also, the speaker on
the
> > video didn't make the presentation of the material very interesting.
> >
> >
> >
> > I also had a skim through the usual TestKing and CramSession braindump
> > publications. They cover a lot of material, but most of their questions
> don'
> > t really resemble those on the actual exam. Neither does most of the
> > Question Of the Day (QOD) practice questions available from several
> > certification web sites.
> >
> >
> >
> > Starting two weeks before my exam, I started going through the Server+
> > practice exams by Transcender, Boson, and MeasureUp. I'd have to say
that
> > the format and content of Transcender's questions most closely match the
> > actual Server+ exam. Both Boson and MeasureUp have nice practice exams,
> but
> > many of the questions contain material that you won't see on the Server+
> > exam. If you can pass all of these practice exams then you definitely
know
> > your server stuff.
> >
> >
> >
> > As for the Server+ exam itself, it is 80 questions in length, you have
90
> > minutes to complete it, and a score of 75 or better is required to pass.
> It
> > took me just over an hour to answer all of the questions and I passed
with
> > an 82. I spent 10 minutes or so reviewing a few of my answers and ended
up
> > changing one or two. I decided that second-guessing my gut was not a
good
> > thing, so I didn't bother to completely review the entire exam (I might
> have
> > ended up with a lower score if I did).
> >
> >
> >
> > Make no mistake that the Server+ exam is about HARDWARE. At least half
of
> > the questions in some way involved RAID, SCSI, or tape backup
strategies.
> A
> > significant portion involved trouble-shooting of failed components,
> network
> > problems, and performance problems using "best practices" methodology.
The
> > networking questions were fairly easy, so I really don't think you need
a
> > Network+ cert before getting your Server+ if you are already comfortable
> > with network design and troubleshooting. There was only two or three MS
> > Windows-specific questions, and only one involving multiple OSes.
> >
> >
> >
> > Probably one-third of the questions were the complex, scenario-based
> > questions that describe a problem in detail and ask you how to diagnose
> > and/or resolve it. These weren't nearly as complex as many on the M$
> exams,
> > but two or three were so ambiguous that it was truly impossible to
> determine
> > a single, correct answer. I won't give an example, but all of the
> commercial
> > practice exams have the same type of head scratchers in them.
> >
> >
> >
> > One funny thing I noticed was that none of the exam questions were
> multiple
> > choice (i.e., all radio button and no check boxes). There were also no
> "none
> > of the choices" selections. There were a dozen or so questions that
> offered
> > four possible explanations and asked you to choose the one(s) you
thought
> > would apply. For example (not an actual exam question):
> >
> >
> >
> > Thirty minutes before taking the Server+ exam you should:
> >
> >
> >
> > I. Arrive at the test center.
> >
> > II. Make sure you have two forms of identification.
> >
> > III. Flirt with all the women at the test center taking
> >
> > nursing exams.
> >
> > IV. Slam some coffee and ephedra and engage in Primal
> >
> > Scream therapy.
> >
> >
> >
> > O I and III
> >
> > O II and IV
> >
> > O III only
> >
> > O I, II, III and IV
> >
> >
> >
> > Now keep in mind that my exam contained only 80 of the hundreds (or
> > thousands?) of questions in the Server+ exam questions pool. Just
because
> I
> > saw or didn't see something on my exam doesn't mean you will or won't
see
> > it. As the saying goes: Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).
> >
> >
> >
> > In My Humble Opinion: THE SERVER+ EXAM IS PASSABLE AND THE CERT IS WORTH
> > AQUIRING! Learn everything you can about RAID, SCSI, tape backup
hardware
> > and strategies, and server problem troubleshooting. Make server
upgrading,
> > configuring, networking, performance tuning, and environmental
conditions
> > and security secondary in your study. And, of course, you must have
> > experience working in that big, cold machine room!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

RICHARD reason