last man standing 2010?

badboyeee

chmorin wrote: »

Security + sometime near the end of the month.

whoa you haven't booked it yet?? you should check if there are any available dates.

Devilsbane

badboyeee wrote: »

whoa you haven't booked it yet?? you should check if there are any available dates.

chmorin doesn't need to book exams. He just walks in and they tend to his every need.

Krusty_47

Renewing my A+ on the 30th at 12:30 and 2:30.

Mike-Mike

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

After New Years I'm going to tackle the MCDST. then either sec+ or edst7.
(more letters on my resume and the exams now retire in dec2011 instead june2011.)

as for books ive read that the microsoft presses are the way to go for mcdst and almost any other ms exams.

the amazon.com ratings dont lie as well. Sybex's mcdst book has dismal ratings and i remember a user on here emailing the publisher about the ratings and they replied saying the first edition is something they aren't proud of. amazon's ratings for the new 'deluxe' versions is pretty much the same.

I was actually at a huge barnes and noble here in NYC studying yesterday and got a chance to hold and browse almost every IT Cert book imaginable. The MS Press books were really something. very concise and holding plenty of information. Also dont get intimidated by the number of pages in the book (near 800 i think), the page size is small like most ms press books, the font is bigger than most and alot of it is practice questions and screen captures. I have to say MSPRESS 271&272 are a lot better than the sybex mcdst. It has pretty good reviews on amazon and is the best seller.. Currently I'm using Todd Lammle's sybex book for network+ so im not trying to hate on sybex, its actually really good and supports Sybex's stellar rep.

on a side note, Make sure when you are buying the 271 and 272 books, that you get the 2nd Edition of them. They include material on win XP SP2, which you will most likely get tested on the features of.

The 271 book seems to be going for about 30-40 used. (i got mine brand new on ebay with cd for $9 yesterday )
also, the 272 book seems to be of limited press and they are all going for like 60 bucks maybe 50 used. I'm planning on buying the paperback Indian publisher's book shipped from india for $33 used from valorbooks.com. (apparently its word for word and just pressed in india for cheaper)

ok just a heads up. /longpost
wish me luck on the 30th!

i am the one that e-mailed the publisher, but I am still considering going the Sybex route.... maybe i will go to a bookstore and thumb through both books first... but at this point I am leaning towards Sybex

Cisco Inferno

yea check out the ms presses, they have good written labs and practice questions. i also think theres tons of stuff on the cd's. my 271 book is coming in the mail as i type so ill let you know how i like it after some skimming.

Rockets34Life

I got A+ and Network+ before the year's end.....Network+ was completed 12/31 at 4:30pm. I wanted to squeeze in Sec+, but I procrastinated.

Now got to deal with the every-3-years-expiring crap for Sec+, Proj+, and Server+.....sucks.

erpadmin

Rockets34Life wrote: »

I got A+ and Network+ before the year's end.....Network+ was completed 12/31 at 4:30pm. I wanted to squeeze in Sec+, but I procrastinated.

Now got to deal with the every-3-years-expiring crap for Sec+, Proj+, and Server+.....sucks.

Only A+, Network+, & Security+ will be Continuing Ed and are ISO 17024 Accredited!

Every other CompTIA like Project+, Server+, Linux+ are still "lifetime" even after 1/1/2011.....and are not ISO 17024 Accredited.

Also, when you take Security+ and enroll in the CE program...you only have to pay $147 to update Security+. When Security+ is updated, A+ and Network+ will be updated as well.

Souljacker

I'm a little fuzzy on the recertification stuff - so there is this yearly "dues" which comes out to 147 for the three years (at the Sec+ level), and then whatever the CE credits end up being over the years.

My question is - can we just sit the Security+ exam again to renew? I've been looking all over the FAQ and it alludes to that but I can't find anywhere concrete where it says "Yes, you can just sit for the Security+ exam every three years, pay your dues and all three renew".

Anyone able to clarify? I'm the kind who actually likes to cram for exams, and this would end up much better for me anyway as I don't work in security or attend seminars\classes that would qualify. I more or less got the cert to complete the trifecta.

Slowhand

Souljacker wrote: »

My question is - can we just sit the Security+ exam again to renew? I've been looking all over the FAQ and it alludes to that but I can't find anywhere concrete where it says "Yes, you can just sit for the Security+ exam every three years, pay your dues and all three renew".

That's a good question. The best course of action is probably to shoot off an email to CompTIA and find out. (The rest of us would probably benefit from the answer they give you, as well.)

JDMurray

Souljacker wrote: »

My question is - can we just sit the Security+ exam again to renew?

According to the CompTIA Continuing Education Program FAQ, you can either participate in the continuing education program or retake the cert exam every three years. I don't see any mention of an annual fee that is required to keep CompTIA certs active. Depending on what you do to earn Continuing Education units, retaking the exam is probably the more expensive way to go.

dynamik

Has anyone read: http://www.comptia.org/Libraries/Certification_Documents/CE_FAQ.sflb.ashx

It thoroughly details everything. And yes, there are annual maintenance fees (page 5).

JDMurray

Ah, good spot.

I wonder how many employers will care that someone's CompTIA cert(s) is paid-in-full. It'll probably be enough that the cert was awarded and not care if it is maintained or not. I'm seeing that a lot with the CISSP too.

erpadmin

JDMurray wrote: »

Ah, good spot.

I wonder how many employers will care that someone's CompTIA cert(s) is paid-in-full. It'll probably be enough that the cert was awarded and not care if it is maintained or not. I'm seeing that a lot with the CISSP too.

I always thought this was done with Cisco as well. I've known quite a number of CCNAs who just let the thing expire.

JDMurray

My CWNA and CWSP have expired, and I haven't re-upped them because I'm currently not doing anything with wireless, otherwise I would.

rwmidl

I was looking at Comptia's CE Chart, and for Sec+ I find it somewhat odd that the SANS GSEC isn't listed, yet CCIE and CISSP are? Also Microsoft's MCITP isn't listed either.

JDMurray

Maybe CompTIA requires a "business relationship" with a cert vendor before they'll accept their certs in the CE program.

Souljacker

JDMurray wrote: »

According to the CompTIA Continuing Education Program FAQ, you can either participate in the continuing education program or retake the cert exam every three years. I don't see any mention of an annual fee that is required to keep CompTIA certs active. Depending on what you do to earn Continuing Education units, retaking the exam is probably the more expensive way to go.

It looks (at least to me) to be the easiest, though. Most of the categories have a low level of max CEU's you can earn for them, so I don't see how doing things that way would be either more efficient or less costly. In order to earn enough CEUs, several seminars, educational courses, and other activities will have to be performed over the years. I don't know many cheap technology seminars, especially in smaller areas not near the major cities.

If buying a 50 dollar book, reading a week or two and sitting the exam again will be good enough, that's the route I'd rather take.

JDMurray

There's really two groups of CompTIA cert holders: 1) those new to collecting credits for maintaining certs, and 2) those already collecting credits to maintain other certs.

People in group #2 (myself included) will have no problem meeting the credit requirements for maintaining the A+/N+/S+ certs, as we're already collecting credits that can be (re)used with the CompTIA certs. We are already attend seminars, classes, workshops, and all the other things that generate credits. And some of those things our employers send us to for free.

However, people in group #1--who are likely collecting their very first entry-level certs--probably do not already do a lot of things that count towards CompTIA cert-maintaining credits. These requirements will seem overwhelming, especially for people who don't do anything that can count for credits. This definitely changes the flavor of the A+/N+/S+ certs from the entry-level, life-time hobbyist certs that everyone enjoys. I can see where this would put off an entire market segment of CompTIA certification customers from attempting these certs at all.

In the end, it all comes down to what you think is necessary to get what you want done.