Passed CSA+

johndabomb44johndabomb44 Member Posts: 32 ■■■□□□□□□□
Hey,


I just wanted to thank each and everyone of you posting your results (pass or fail) as it helped me to learn what they REALLY ask for on the test. I passed CSA+ yesterday and I would like to share my experience:


1. You better know nmap like the back of your hand : I'm talking like every kind of flag and output as well.

2. In fact, you should REALLY know the command line tools very well: I would say spend more time focusing on the command line tools and their outputs than the GUI ones.

3. Skip the Lab style questions: Each one took me almost 20-30 minutes to solve (and no they are not easy). They will eat up your time if you don't manage them well and it's generally better to skip and come back once you knock out all the easy multiple choice questions.

4. About 30% of the multiple choice questions were what I would classify as "trick questions": Make sure you read the WHOLE question. If they add something into the question that on first glance doesn't make sense with any of the answers (or even the question), take a step back and try to view it from another angle. Chances are it DOES somehow factor in. You can also flag for review and look at it later.

5. Know what these are (I did not see these in the study book I used so I'm adding them here to help out):

COOP (What the acronym stands for as it relates to cold/warm/hot sites), How to calculate fractions (I know that sounds incredibly basic but I can't tell you why. It's just I haven't done a lot of difficult math in awhile and I wasn't expecting it on this test), Microsoft services like svchost, lsass, etc and know if it's malicious or not by looking at netstat connections.




Study Material I used:


-Sybex CSA+ Exam Guide by Mike Chapelle: Fantastic book, also comes with 400+ practice questions and flash cards.
-CompTIA Certmaster: I bought the deluxe exam edition (voucher, retake, CertMaster) in case I failed this test. Anyways, I personally think CertMaster is borderline garbage. What I do like though is it splits questions up based on exam objectives so you can see which ones you need to read over.



Again, thank all of you.

Comments

  • KhohezionKhohezion Member Posts: 57 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Thanks for you input for this test... I'm sitting for it in October, i'll take your words to heart in regards to the knowing command line stuff and those terms. This one seems alot more technical than SEC+...
  • johndabomb44johndabomb44 Member Posts: 32 ■■■□□□□□□□
    It is more technical than Sec+ for sure. If you look at some of the other threads, some people have posted links to a CSA+ Lab whic
  • fire692fire692 Member Posts: 19 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats johndabom44 and you offer some very sound advice in "Skip the Lab style questions"!

    I failed to post this when I tested a couple of weeks ago but I followed the same advice mentioned above and in another post here .

    Wound up finishing with about 5 minutes remaining.
  • DAVIS NGUYENDAVIS NGUYEN Member Posts: 1,472 ■■■□□□□□□□
  • greg9891greg9891 Member Posts: 1,189 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Congrats!
    :
    Upcoming Certs: VCA-DCV 7.0, VCP-DCV 7.0, Oracle Database 1Z0-071, PMP, Server +, CCNP

    Proverbs 6:6-11Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
    When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep, So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler And your need like an armed man.
  • SvobodaSvoboda Member Posts: 95 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Congrats on the pass.

    All of the CertMaster products are lacking IMO. However, getting it as a cheap resource and the retake voucher makes it worth it IMO.
  • walterbyrdwalterbyrd Member Posts: 40 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Continuity of operations planning (COOP)

    Just in case anybody wanted to know.
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