Ladies and Gentlemen, please meet (one of) your newest Security+ certified pro...ME!

erpadmin

Hi, I'm erpadmin. You may remember me from conversations such as when I discussed my PeopleSoft experience or when I discussed that I was also A+ and Network+ certified. Today, I'm gonna now say that I PASSED!! I not only passed, I slayed that m***********r!!

870 out of 900. In all seriousness, all I used the last two days was Darril Gibson's book and the Transcenders. The Transcenders were ridiculously much harder than this exam. I'm going to say this about Darril Gibson's book...if you went through every chapter, took the practice exams at the end of the chapters, and then did the practice exam at the end of the book and did well on all of them, then take the exam. I have never said that about any study material, but this one definitely earns that. I did get one port question. (And I will not violate the NDA to tell you which one...but if you study the minimum amount of ports AND know what they are, you will be ok!).

This book, years of experience, self-confidence in my abilities and the encouragement of this forum was the reason I passed in 50 minutes. If you are using Darril Gibson's book for Security+, believe me, for the 2008 objectives, that's all you need. I didn't even finish my Labsim....just had his resource on my trusted Kindle. I will personally e-mail him later on today to thank him....him and Transcenders for making the tests harder than they needed to be. (Not a bad idea....forces you to really know your stuff!)

Devilsbane

I beleive that we have already met, but congratulations anyway!

DoubleD

nice one gives me confidence for when I do mine next month

veritas_libertas

Congratz, what is next?

erpadmin

Devilsbane wrote: »

I beleive that we have already met, but congratulations anyway!

That first paragraph (most of it) of the line is actually a reference or more like an allusion....was hoping someone would get it.

But thank you all the very same.

Devilsbane

erpadmin wrote: »

That first paragraph (most of it) of the line is actually a reference or more like an allusion....was hoping someone would get it.

But thank you all the very same.

I got it, but posted anyway.

erpadmin

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Congratz, what is next?

I will discuss in detail in the Student Experience WGU thread, but basically I am considering taking a small break. (like a couple of days, a week). Wifey is starting to feel neglected and I want to spend some time with her before I get back to the fast pace I put myself on. My 12 CUs are done and it hasn't even been a month since I started.

erpadmin

DoubleD wrote: »

nice one gives me confidence for when I do mine next month

If you noticed, I had planned on taking it next week or something. Between the fact that the information was finally sinking in, the fact that I had done a lot of this already, and folks just posting that they had passed with almost relative ease, I figured my time had come. That, and I wanted to see if I could fullfill my 12 CU requirement at WGU within the month. It looks I did.

Seriously, just go over the material, take his practice tests. MeasureUp and Transcenders are both very good exams. Once you start seeing 85%-95%, you are ready. Anything else, you're just psyching yourself out (and that's pretty bad in and of itself!)

veritas_libertas

erpadmin wrote: »

I will discuss in detail in the Student Experience WGU thread, but basically I am considering taking a small break. (like a couple of days, a week). Wifey is starting to feel neglected and I want to spend some time with her before I get back to the fast pace I put myself on. My 12 CUs are done and it hasn't even been a month since I started.

Good idea...

DoubleD

cool and yeah What I dont get it is Transcenders the same as Measure UP?

erpadmin

DoubleD wrote: »

cool and yeah What I dont get it is Transcenders the same as Measure UP?

They are both practice exams. I am very comfortable with the Transcenders.

Devilsbane

DoubleD wrote: »

cool and yeah What I dont get it is Transcenders the same as Measure UP?

No. They are both self testing platforms, but they are completely independant.

Paul Boz

Just study in the kitchen when your wife is cooking dinner.

erpadmin

Paul Boz wrote: »

Just study in the kitchen when your wife is cooking dinner.

She cooks while I'm at work. Only on the weekends I might be home. (Most of the time... ).

Also, I'm one of those don't-bother-me-while-I'm-reading-people. I can multitask with a lot....but reading I can't and won't.

earweed

Congrats on the new cert. Hopefully you don't get too big a head from your good score..lol

erpadmin

earweed wrote: »

Congrats on the new cert. Hopefully you don't get too big a head from your good score..lol

You mean like that guy who got 900 and wrote his response in bold? Or the chick who got 880, (though when I read her one post, I understood...).

Nah man, I was shooting for 750, tbh. My motto is really "A pass is a pass!" But if I know something, I'm just gonna answer it.

Thanks man. Really appreciate it.

dynamik

Tell you wife "hi" for me. And congratulations on the cert!

Paul Boz

LOL lovin the neg rep for my wife in the kitchen joke.

erpadmin

Paul Boz wrote: »

LOL lovin the neg rep for my wife in the kitchen joke.

I SWEAR TO YOU IT WASN'T ME! You know I keep it real.

Paul Boz

erpadmin wrote: »

I SWEAR TO YOU IT WASN'T ME! You know I keep it real.

I've got 650+ positive rep. I don't care who it was, lol.

K_Rich

Congrats on the pass!!

neversleeps

Congrats on the pass erpadmin!!

rogue2shadow

Congrats on the pass

earweed

Now it's time for knwminus to take his. That thread of his for his Sec+ trek has gotten really long.

erpadmin

The good thing about my pass, now I can congratulate those who passed it now. (Not like I couldn't before...but to me it just didn't make sense to do so without having done it myself...) At least now I'm in a position to advise on this exam. (Without, of course, violating NDA).

security tech

erpadmin wrote: »

Hi, I'm erpadmin. You may remember me from conversations such as when I discussed my PeopleSoft experience or when I discussed that I was also A+ and Network+ certified. Today, I'm gonna now say that I PASSED!! I not only passed, I slayed that m***********r!!

870 out of 900. In all seriousness, all I used the last two days was Darril Gibson's book and the Transcenders. The Transcenders were ridiculously much harder than this exam. I'm going to say this about Darril Gibson's book...if you went through every chapter, took the practice exams at the end of the chapters, and then did the practice exam at the end of the book and did well on all of them, then take the exam. I have never said that about any study material, but this one definitely earns that. I did get one port question. (And I will not violate the NDA to tell you which one...but if you study the minimum amount of ports AND know what they are, you will be ok!).

This book, years of experience, self-confidence in my abilities and the encouragement of this forum was the reason I passed in 50 minutes. If you are using Darril Gibson's book for Security+, believe me, for the 2008 objectives, that's all you need. I didn't even finish my Labsim....just had his resource on my trusted Kindle. I will personally e-mail him later on today to thank him....him and Transcenders for making the tests harder than they needed to be. (Not a bad idea....forces you to really know your stuff!)

Congratz. You give me confidence....I have Darril's book and I feel really comfortable with the information. However, i didn't purchase Transcenders or MeasureUp practice exams. Not sure if i can afford to purchase them right now. But I feel ready...i take the test in 2 Weeks. I am using this time to review items I am a little shaky on...

DoubleD

security tech wrote: »

Congratz. You give me confidence....I have Darril's book and I feel really comfortable with the information. However, i didn't purchase Transcenders or MeasureUp practice exams. Not sure if i can afford to purchase them right now. But I feel ready...i take the test in 2 Weeks. I am using this time to review items I am a little shaky on...

measure up is cheaper and if you sign onto the mailing list they send emails giveing you 30 percent discount

LinuxRacr

Congrats, and good job. I plan to finish Darril's book this weekend, and try to pass the test before I turn 31 next month...

erpadmin

security tech wrote: »

However, i didn't purchase Transcenders or MeasureUp practice exams.

I only bought the Transcenders. MeasureUp was given to me (as part of my tuition) by WGU. I was hoping to spend the $258 or whatever it is on the exam (or get a voucher from an extremely reputable source). All I had were the Transcenders at the time and it really was a difficult exam and made me question my abilities in reading. When I saw the Darril Gibson thread afterwards, I jumped on the bandwagon and bought his book. In retrospect, those practice exams at the end of the chapters PLUS the one at the end of the book SHOULD be all you need to pass.

I can't stress this enough though: READ the questions AND the answers. I'll give you an example from Darril's book on what I mean.

1) What is bad about a network that uses coaxial cabling?
A) Vampire taps can be used to capture light pulses.
Data emanation from the core.

Oooo, I think I have a gimme, because I've been reading that Vampire taps are used to capture data from coaxial cables. So I'm choosing A) (out of this paraphrased example, it's different in the book). But because I didn't read the rest of the answer and just saw Vampire Taps, I got it wrong and was shocked! Until I saw that the correct answer is B and then I understood. (light pulses aren't used in coaxial) You will find the test is full of these and I probably got tripped up on a couple of those (I have a feeling I know which ones too...) on the real test. The day prior to the exam, I immersed myself in work and then relaxed and slept. Any cramming I did was on my way to the exam site (only like 1 and 30 minutes worth...).

If you follow the reading advice and answer your questions with stuff that you're sure about, you will know by the time you get to question 100 whether or not you passed. I did not go back and change anything. I just hit end exam and then closed my eyes during the hourglass until I saw "Congratulations".

Seriously, I think you'll do fine.

erpadmin

LinuxRacr wrote: »

Congrats, and good job. I plan to finish Darril's book this weekend, and try to pass the test before I turn 31 next month...

Thank you. Coincidently (wasn't really thinking about it), I turn 33 on Wednesday.

Travler

Congratulations! (From someone who hasn't passed it yet )