Storage+ (SG0-001)

AMD4EVER

I'm currently studying for the Storage+ certification and have begun looking around the forums for threads concerning this certification. I'm surprised that I can't find any. This certification has been around a really long time but I guess it never really became all that popular. I've benefited greatly during my studies but am now getting close to taking the test. Is there anyone out there who has taken it and can give their thoughts on how difficult it was and what study materials were used? Also, anyone know what happened to SG1-001? I see that there was a beta for this certification in 2011 but after that it seems to have just disappeared.

DoubleNNs

I'm curious too. I was thinking about taking the cert too and looking for study materials.

oceandographer

I'm checking this certificate out too. I'm interested in it, since it coincides well with networking. I found a book by Logical Operations, and it's not bad, but it needed a little more clarity on things i.e. how a typical topology is laid out, what a path might look like from initiator to target etc.

I cannot for the life of me, find much information on this cert, or very much literature at all. McGraw Hill responded to an email of mine saying they'll be releasing literature for this, but there's no concrete ETA.

Anyone come up on really good literature on this?

stryder144

One book that is recommended on this forum is Information Storage and Management: Storing, Managing, and Protecting Digital Information in Classic, Virtualized, and Cloud Environments. It is available at Amazon.com.

AMD4EVER

I just finished taking the Storage+ test and passed with a 827. I'd rate the difficulty of this test as not surprisingly being typical of other CompTIA tests such as Security+. It is challenging but not what I'd call extremely difficult.

Just for a baseline, my level of experience is that I've spent a decade as a systems administrator and have only recently had any hands on experience with a storage environment. I'm definitely what would be considered a junior storage admin at best. However, I have done a bit of zoning and creation of LUNs which I think was very helpful when approaching the study material but I don't think it made the difference as to whether I passed or failed.

Below are links to the resources I used for studying and they proved to be more than enough. Maybe 10% of the questions required knowledge outside of what can be learned with these resources but for the most part you'll get what you need from just these.

One thing that I did get differing opinions on between the study material is the definition of Incremental and Differential backups. If you think you know the answer then you're probably wrong. I believe the book is right in that the SNIA definitions are used in the test which goes completely against what is used in the real world. Incremental backups get everything since the last full backup and don't reset the archive bit. Differential gets everything since the last full or differential backup. Just as oddly, SNIA names them Cumulative Incremental and Differential Incremental but in the exam they didn't use these terms. They simply called them Incremental and Differential and let you sweat as to whether they mean the generally accepted definition or the SNIA definition.

https://www.snia.org/education/dictionary/c#cumulative_incremental_backup
https://www.snia.org/education/dictionary/d#differential_incremental_backup

Other key topics to be very familiar with are types of RAID, types of fiber switch ports, speed of MMF fiber at various distances, and obviously anything to do with fabric configuration. Also, use your A+ learned common sense. When asked what someone should do first when troubleshooting a problem translate that as do whatever is easiest and sensible. Always check the basics before doing something that will cause downtime and requires a lot of effort.

Storage+ book - $40:
http://www.amazon.com/Data-Storage-Networking-CompTIA-Certification/dp/1118679210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400789590&sr=8-1&keywords=sg0-001

Storage+ videos - $30/month (only 11 hours of videos so one month should be enough):
CompTIA Storage+ Part 1: Storage Fundamentals - Online Training Course for Developers

CompTIA Storage+ Part 2: Network Storage & Data Replication - Online Training Course for Developers

CompTIA Storage+ Part 3: Data Protection & Storage - Online Training Course for Developers

uCertify - $120:
SGO-001 Test Prep, Exam simulation,Practice Questions -uCertify

Rocket Impossible

Congrats on the pass and thanks for all the info.

tmadoc

Thanks for all the info as well. I am taking the exam in 2 days and have used the exact same study materials you did (except for uCertify). I actually found this post via a Google search when trying to get clarification on the differential/incremental issue! Thanks for your comments, looks like I need the SNIA definitions. How important would you say the uCertify portion of your preparation was? I'm trying to decide if I need to add that to the mix tomorrow night as I review.

omi2123

I'm taking the test on 09/23/14. I'll let you guys know how it went. wish me luck.

Deathmage

This is very good info. I'll probably take this exam sometime next year.

tmadoc

In case anyone is curious, I passed my exam on Friday! Again, I used the same resources AMD4EVER used except for uCertify.

brownwrap

tmadoc wrote: »

In case anyone is curious, I passed my exam on Friday! Again, I used the same resources AMD4EVER used except for uCertify.

Congratulations. We use lots of storage here. Raids, EMC, NetApps. I looked at this cert because it satisfies my CEUs for Sec+

jmmusson

It's been a while since this thread was active, but for anyone who has used the Data Storage Networking book referenced by AMD4EVER, how realistic were the practice questions that were available for download from the publisher? I may take the test this week and I don't think I've seen an exam with so few practice questions available.

tmadoc

Yeah not a lot to practice with unfortunately. The practice exams with the book were okay and did raise a few good points, but I wouldn't rely solely on them.

Deathmage

considering this cert is going poof. I'm jumping on this ASAP, after my CCENT.

flyerxl

Yea, I might be looking at this too now. Especially since I'm looking into getting crossed trained in storage and switch departments in a year or two.

piedthepiper

Hi Guys,

I just randomly joined as I wanted to post about this exam and the NetApp NCSA as I have done both recently.

There is so little out there about storage exams in general, it really does puzzle me!!

I have worked with FC SANs etc for a while, but I learnt a hell of a lot from Storage+ course, I love CompTIA and it get the to the core no vendor jargon etc.

I am glad someone else noticed the whole incremental/differential thing! I only used training videos

Pluralsights and CBT Nuggets. They both talk about backups in different ways, but the core stuff is the same!

If I can offer any advice on the exam please do ask

Deathmage

piedthepiper wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I just randomly joined as I wanted to post about this exam and the NetApp NCSA as I have done both recently.

There is so little out there about storage exams in general, it really does puzzle me!!

I have worked with FC SANs etc for a while, but I learnt a hell of a lot from Storage+ course, I love CompTIA and it get the to the core no vendor jargon etc.

I am glad someone else noticed the whole incremental/differential thing! I only used training videos

Pluralsights and CBT Nuggets. They both talk about backups in different ways, but the core stuff is the same!

If I can offer any advice on the exam please do ask

What things should I focus on? I just completeled Pluralsights and CBT Nuggets videos and I read Nigel's book. However at this point I'm just watching Nigel's videos from Plural and feel like I'm very reviewing. Exam is in 5 days.