Net+ passed 5/26
Well, I set out a goal to get both my A+ and Net+ by the end of June. Looks like I got it done early. Took both A+ tests last week friday, passed both ~700 on each, after a week of prep work(All-in-one and exam cram 2 -- taking all the free tests I could).
So, last friday after my tests I started to study for the Net+. Read the all-in-one twice and the exam cram 2 twice. Took the test this morning and got 886. The difficulty of the questions was on par with Meyers practice tests. It was much easier than I expected.
The exam iteself:
I had no questions on SCSI drives/connectors. I think the Meyer's book exaggerated the importance of knowing this.
Know your protocol suites. Especially focus on TCP/IP and IPX/SPX. There was not much on AppleTalk for me.
Know the well-known ports and their corresponding protocol(including if it is TCP or UDP).
Know the OSI 7 layers and what devices fall where. According to my print out I missed a question on this, and I have no clue which one it was.
Know your NOS servers and clients. Know the default protocols used for each. I had questions about every type of OS. Know about cross-platform connectivity protocols.
Know DHCP, DNS, WINS, and the other common network services. Know what they do and how they effect networks.
Know the formats for MAC, IP, IPX, AppleTalk addresses. Know classes of IP addresses and their subnet masks.
Know Gateways, routers, bridges, switches, hubs, etc and how to troubleshoot problem networks.
Know the steps on troublshooting network connectivity problems. In most books these are numbered 1-8. Know them in order.
Know your connectors.
Know about fault tolerance and disaster recovery. Know the difference between the two.
Know basic topologies and hybrids.
Oh, and know command line programs, their switches, and their outputs.
Overall:
Took me about 40 minutes. All questions were straight forward and fairly simple. A few used wording that was different than in the texts I read, but it was readily apparant what was being asked. The key is to read slowly and carefully each question. I don't recall any sneaky/tricky questions. I had a bunch of exhibits, a few tasks, and a lot of scenario questions.
The practice tests on this site and mcmcse are very good resources. I took them each a few times trying to wait at least 24 hours between to kind of forget the questions. The Meyer's all-in-one book is very good and I would reccomend it over the exam cram 2 if you are on a budget and must get only 1. The practice tests from the EC2 book are better than the all-in-one.
I don't know what else to say while being vague enough to avoid "cheating." If anyone thinks something above is in too much detail, let me know and I will edit it asap. I think it is general enough to be safe though.
So, last friday after my tests I started to study for the Net+. Read the all-in-one twice and the exam cram 2 twice. Took the test this morning and got 886. The difficulty of the questions was on par with Meyers practice tests. It was much easier than I expected.
The exam iteself:
I had no questions on SCSI drives/connectors. I think the Meyer's book exaggerated the importance of knowing this.
Know your protocol suites. Especially focus on TCP/IP and IPX/SPX. There was not much on AppleTalk for me.
Know the well-known ports and their corresponding protocol(including if it is TCP or UDP).
Know the OSI 7 layers and what devices fall where. According to my print out I missed a question on this, and I have no clue which one it was.
Know your NOS servers and clients. Know the default protocols used for each. I had questions about every type of OS. Know about cross-platform connectivity protocols.
Know DHCP, DNS, WINS, and the other common network services. Know what they do and how they effect networks.
Know the formats for MAC, IP, IPX, AppleTalk addresses. Know classes of IP addresses and their subnet masks.
Know Gateways, routers, bridges, switches, hubs, etc and how to troubleshoot problem networks.
Know the steps on troublshooting network connectivity problems. In most books these are numbered 1-8. Know them in order.
Know your connectors.
Know about fault tolerance and disaster recovery. Know the difference between the two.
Know basic topologies and hybrids.
Oh, and know command line programs, their switches, and their outputs.
Overall:
Took me about 40 minutes. All questions were straight forward and fairly simple. A few used wording that was different than in the texts I read, but it was readily apparant what was being asked. The key is to read slowly and carefully each question. I don't recall any sneaky/tricky questions. I had a bunch of exhibits, a few tasks, and a lot of scenario questions.
The practice tests on this site and mcmcse are very good resources. I took them each a few times trying to wait at least 24 hours between to kind of forget the questions. The Meyer's all-in-one book is very good and I would reccomend it over the exam cram 2 if you are on a budget and must get only 1. The practice tests from the EC2 book are better than the all-in-one.
I don't know what else to say while being vague enough to avoid "cheating." If anyone thinks something above is in too much detail, let me know and I will edit it asap. I think it is general enough to be safe though.
Comments
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Orion82698
Member Posts: 483
Na, I think it looks great. Congrats on both of the passes, and thanks for the info. What's next for you?WIP Vacation ;-)
Porsche..... there is no substitute! -
janmike
Member Posts: 3,076
Great exam scores! Congrats!"It doesn't matter, it's in the past!"--Rafiki -
illogos
Member Posts: 6 ■□□□□□□□□□
Next on my list is to get MCP via 70-270(Windows XP). Then I am going to get an MCSA. I am still undecided if I should go for 2000 and then upgrade to 2003, or if I should go for the 2003 from the start. After I get my MCSA I think I am going to side track for Security+ and MCSA: Security specialization. After that I want to finish up the MCSE and Security specilization. Does anyone know if you can get both the security and messaging specs? Or are you limited to only one?
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2lazybutsmart
Member Posts: 1,119
Congratulations
Exquisite as a lily, illustrious as a full moon,
Magnanimous as the ocean, persistent as time.