I was recently asked, in conjunction with my volunteer efforts, to hold four sessions focused on exam preparation for the CompTIA 220-1001 certification exam (more commonly known as the A+ Core 1 Exam). I begin with the first session tomorrow (September 14th) will follow-up sessions on September 17th, 21st, and 24th (Tuesdays and Fridays). The focal point of these sessions will be (1) to detail the information I provided in my February 2017 posting (intelligent guessing and time management) and (2) to show how to utilize the CompTIA exam objectives as the central document in exam preparation.

In my June 2019 posting, I discuss this exam and provide links to the worksheet I created. My updated worksheet can be viewed by clicking HERE. The Word version (in a zip file) can be downloaded by clicking HERE. I’ve learned that anything detailed in the exam objectives is “fair game” and you should walk into the exam booth expecting to be questioned on disclosed items.

The table below identifies the exam domains and the expected percentage content on the exam. I will be basing time spent on each domain based upon this percentage.

Domain                                                         Percentage on Exam
1.0      Mobile Devices                                                14%
2.0      Networking                                                       20%
3.0      Hardware                                                          27%
4.0      Virtualization and Cloud Computing                 12%
5.0      Hardware and Network Troubleshooting           27%

I will also introduce students to resources that are available at no cost, including the videos developed by Professor Messer for the exam. All-in-all, I think this will be useful for students as they work towards passing this certification exam.

You can access the videos for each of the exam preparation sessions by clicking on the links below:

Session 1 – September 14, 2021 – Completed Domain 1 (see Note 1)

Session 2 – September 17, 2021 – Completed Domain 2 through 2.6

Session 3 – September 21, 2021 – Completed Domains 2 and 3

Session 4 – September 24, 2021 – Completed Domains 4 and 5 (see Note 2)

Note 1: In Session 1 I could not recall another item relating to performance-based questions (PBQs). Unfortunately due in large part to complexity, they do not use virtual computers (more commonly known as virtual machines), and use a simulated environment. This makes the simulations a bit “wanky” but it also provides an opportunity to figure out the correct pathway because if you go down the wrong path it ends quickly (after a step or two).

Note 2: The focus for Domain 4 is “Virtualization and Cloud Computing.” As noted in our discussion, “cloud” is becoming an ever-increasing component of IT and cybersecurity. I encourage all of you to take advantage of a free line of courses and certifications provided by Oracle, a leading company in databases and cloud computing. To gain a more in-depth understanding of the “cloud” consider taking the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Foundations course (7 hour online course) and take the OCI Foundations Associate certification. Oracle is offering the course and this certification until December 31, 2021 at no cost. I also detailed the virtual network consisting of three virtual computers (Kali, Windows 10, and Metasploitable), created in VirtualBox as the hypervisor, for use in the free Metasploitable course.

 

 

Today I managed to pass the new Security+ certification exam (see my transcript). Since I will be teaching the academic course that is aligned with this certification for Saddleback College in the fall, I decided to use this as an opportunity to evaluate CompTIA’s learning content that included their textbook and their virtual labs. I believe based upon my success that both of these learning resources were very useful in my preparing for the exam.

My next effort will focus on the new CySA+ certification. I expect to take the next month preparing for the exam, focused on the CS0-002 exam objectives. Just like I did for the new Security+ exam, I’ll be evaluating the content of CompTIA’s textbook and virtual labs for the CySA+ exam preparation. Following my usual practice of creating a worksheet for the exam that incorporates a table containing the exam objectives along with a space for notes, you can view the blank worksheet in .pdf format by clicking HERE, and download an editable Word (.doc) version by clicking HERE.

I’m focused on completing the new Security+ exam by mid-May. I started the process in my usual way, creating a table with the exam objectives on the left side, and a blank area to make notes on the right. Yes, it is 35 pages in length, but I’ve found it an excellent exam prep tool. You can download the .pdf version by clicking HERE. You can download the Word file in a zipped format by clicking HERE.

To assist in passing the exam I’m going to focus solely on CompTIA’s courseware. This is partially in an effort to determine if I’m going to adopt their learning products for use this summer and fall semesters for teaching. My recent experience has me believing it is best to do so, but I have not actually used their products for exam preparation.

I’ll update this post as I get more into exam preparation.

 

The most challenging aspect of the CompTIA A+ Core 2 exam was getting to take the exam. Because of the unavailability of seats in the PearsonVue testing centers near me, I had to wait until today (June 18th) to take the exam. With a scheduled start time of 5:00 p.m., because of computer networking issues, I spent an hour waiting to take the exam. Following my usual practice, I skipped the “performance-based questions” and focused on the standard multiple choice questions. My score was far from perfect as noted in the Exam Report, but about what I expected based upon some of the questions and answers that were focused on outdated technical solutions, long ago erased from my mind. My sense is with the exception of a very small number of questions, I’d seen most of the questions before. That sighting I believe was in January of 2016 when I took the 220-902 exam. I had hoped that there would have been more questions that were based upon the rapid changes in technology in the 3.5 years that have passed since the 220-901/220-902 exams were released in December of 2015.

Now I can continue my focus on preparing for the (ISC) CCSP certification.

 

Success today with the A+ Core 1 exam passed. The score sheet reflects a 744/900 with a 675 required to pass. I followed my typical pattern, when comfortable with my answers to the typical multiple choice exams to ignore the performance-based questions. I found the exam a little more challenging than expected, largely because of my move away from hardware, recognizing the move to virtualization and cloud computing. However, did notice questions that were focused on both virtualization and cloud. My updated worksheet can be viewed by clicking HERE. The Word version (in a zip file) can be downloaded by clicking HERE.

So it is back to work on my study efforts for the CCSP, with a brief interruption on June 18th to take the A+ Core 2 exam. I’m thinking I’ll be in a position to take the CCSP exam by the end of June (or at least able to schedule it by then).

I took the Cloud Essentials+ beta exam today. The exam was pretty much as anticipated, with 110 questions and 90 minutes time to complete. I did not feel pushed but took almost all of the time, measuring the quality of the questions to see if they covered information contained in the exam objectives. That was generally the case, but I did see a couple of questions that I think are outside the scope of the exam objectives. My “no score” exam report is available by clicking HERE. What will be useful is the Worksheet that I completed (see the right column), available by clicking HERE. You can download the word file that has been zipped by clicking HERE. The worksheet items in the right column were specific content in the exam objectives that I did not feel I knew enough about when I did a very limited preparation today. Hence their inclusion. What I can tell you is I’m certain this limited exam prep helped raise my exam score (useful hint).

Off tomorrow at 4:30p.m. to take the A+ Core 1 exam.

Today (April 29th), CompTIA started beta testing the new Cloud Essentials (CLO-002) certification. Information relating to the exam is contained below:

My plan is to take the exam as soon as I can get a voucher and complete some limited preparation. In terms of preparation I started by creating a Worksheet from the new exam objectives. I’ll do my typical study method which involved going through the exam objectives, identify content I’m not familiar with, and utilizing Google to search for information relating to that content. I’ll update this post as I move forward.