SEC540 study approach

adele62

Just completed the SEC540 Cloud security and DevOps automation course. I must say it was a very deep learning curve for me and I was very impressed with the labs despite having little exposure to DevOps in my current role.

So, I'm going to knuckle down and start prepping for my exam and I intend to do it in 3 months if possible. To all the peeps out there who've done the same course with little exposure to DevOps, how did you prepare? How much should I focus on the labs in regards to exam content and does a very good index help you in the exam even if you have little cloud security and DevOps exposure?

Any advice will be much appreciated!

E Double U

I have no experience with that course, but have completed five SANS courses and the related GIAC exams. My preparation was exactly the same for each:

- Go through all of the course material (including the labs) & build my index
- Take 1st practice exam
- Go through all of the course material again while looking for gaps in my index; stronger focus on my weak areas based on practice exam results
- Take 2nd practice exam
- Go through all of the course material again while looking for gaps in my index; stronger focus on my weak areas based on practice exam results
- Take real exam & pass :-)

A good index was helpful for all five of my GIAC exams. I was actually learning the material while building the index. Typing everything out helps reinforce what I have heard/read to the point that I did not need the index on some questions because I knew the topic very well. In numerous cases I was able to select the best answer based on my own knowledge and simply used the index to confirm my thoughts. 

Good luck!