Advice for taking SK0-004 Server+?

certnoob

Hey guys,

I don't have any IT certs but I've been in the field for about 5 years.
Basically right now I am a desktop tech but I have had my hands on some server technologies. RAID, practical datacenter experience, some server hardware experience, some Windows server administration, very limited Linux server administration.
I want to take the Server+ as my first cert and build some confidence, (which I severely lack in many areas of my life, haha) and prove to myself I CAN pass a cert and am good enough to advance in my career someday.
So I took a couple of practice exams online and it looks like I'm getting around the 75% mark - pretty good but maybe not good enough to pass.
So what would you recommend as far as a study guide or prep for the exam?
I am afraid to ask my employer to pay for the cert in case I bomb it. I'm not especially a great test taker, which raises some areas of concern for me. Do you guys know of any deals or packages where I could get a retake if necessary, I would just rather be safe than have to explain to my boss that I totally wasted their money. I do work in academia so it looks like I can get an academic discount on 1 voucher (they said "just for students" but I do have an .edu email address, so that looks like it's the only prerequisite!) but not sure if there's any packages available.

anyway, thanks a lot for any advice you can offer.

SteveLavoie

My boss pay all certification exam if they are successfull. Just bring the invoice with the transcript. Perhaps this kind of agreement is possible for you.

I have a good boss in this regard.