Too many initals...

phdillard

LERs, LSRs, MDFs, GPOs, and on and on. This particular topic seems to have an overabundance of initials for everything. I get the basic concepts of the material, but I'm starting to doubt my ability to remember what all these stand for. I don't plan on taking the Net+ exam, I'm just studying it as a foundation for pursuing CCNA. BUT if I were to take the Net+, how much of it would test my knowledge of all these initials?

DoubleNNs

I don't even know what LERs, LSRs, MDFs, or GPOs are. I took both the Net+ and the CCENT (started the ICND2, but took a break.)
I honestly don't even remember going over any of those while studying for either test (does GPO have something to do w/ Group Policy? That doesn't sound like a Net+ objective..) - but it might just be that I've forgotten them because they're the less important acronyms.

Just get the concepts down pat and know the important acronyms, such as SSID, VLAN, DHCP, DNS, etc. Especially if you're going for the CCNA, it's much more important that you understand how they work and how to set them up on a router than anything else. Once you have that knowledge down, it'll be hard to forget the acronyms.

mjb2424

In addition to what DoubleNNs said, the only really important thing about acronyms is being able to associate them with a "domain." This will greatly increase your process of elimination abilities. It is very likely that you will get a question that refers to something only by its acronym. With questions like that, chances are that if you have a general idea of what the acronym refers to, you'll get the question right.

For example:

Which of the following adverse occurrences could be prevented by enabling STP?

A) A malicious user being allowed to gather network device information
A layer 2 loop being created
C) Route flapping
D) A successful brute force logon

The question does not lead as to what STP relates to (Spanning Tree Protocol, it prevents L2 loops), but if you know that it relates to switching, this question is substantially easier.


With that being said, I do believe there is the occasional, pointless, CompTIA being CompTIA question that will actually ask you what something stands for. IE, is HTML Hypertext Markup Language or Hyperlink Markup Language? Pretty sure I saw one of these on my Net+.

Snow.bros

I don't know about the other acronyms but i think you should be familiar with the MDF acronym because i think you might get tested on it and you should see it listed in exam objectives the last time i checked.

DoubleNNs

What is MDF?

JLAW904

main distribution frame

Darril

You should know what all the acronyms are that are listed in the CompTIA Network+ objectives. As others here have indicated, you don't need to know all of the acronyms you listed but you do need to know some. CompTIA has a habit of using acronyms in their questions which really tests your knowledge of the acronyms. If you can simply say the words that are represented by the acronym, you often have your answer to the question.

SteveFT

I'd highly suggest MemoryLifter. The software basically allows you to create learning modules that are flash cards, practice test questions, etc. I create my own questions which, in my opinion, is time consuming, but considerably more effective than taking notes. When I take notes, I never look at them again. If I do for some reason, they really don't test my knowledge.

As in the question posted above by mjb, you could write a note such as "Prevents a layer 2 loop from being created" and you can setup the software so that you can type in STP for the answer, or require 2 answers such as STP and Spanning Tree Protocol.

Even if you do all of this, you are going to forget most of the things you don't work with on a regular basis. However, it is probably good to know generally what something is when you hear it.

MrXpert

Yes unfortunately got to learn those acronyms. They are ubiquitous. When I studied for CompTIA exams, I found what worked for me was writing out a spread sheet of acronyms and then I'd fill in the full names then compare it to what they should be. I think also the more you see the words behind the acronyms you're more likely to recognize it in the exam as the answer should just jump out at you.

--chris--

MrXpert wrote: »

Yes unfortunately got to learn those acronyms. They are ubiquitous. When I studied for CompTIA exams, I found what worked for me was writing out a spread sheet of acronyms and then I'd fill in the full names then compare it to what they should be. I think also the more you see the words behind the acronyms you're more likely to recognize it in the exam as the answer should just jump out at you.

Solid advice. This has worked very well for me, althought I have not actyally sat for an exam