Sunday, June 24, 2012

New CompTIA A+ Exams 220-801 and 220-802

There are some changes coming to the CompTIA A+ exam with exams 220-801 and 220-802. If you're currently studying for the 220-701 and 220-702 exams, don't worry - you'll have plenty of time to complete it. These exams will continue to be available until August 31, 2013.

New Exams

Unlike previous exams, the new exams don't have any names but instead are just identified by the numbers: 220-801 and 220-802. They are expected to be available in late September or early October 2012 and the CompTIA A+Training Kit by Darril Gibson covers all of the objectives for these exams.

Requirements

To become A+ certified with the new objectives, you need to take and pass the 220-801 and 220-802 exams. There aren't any prerequisites. However, CompTIA recommends test takers have a minimum of 12 months of lab or field work. In other words, they expect you to have been studying computers (lab work) for at least 12 months or working in an IT job (field work) for at least 12 months.

History

This is the fifth version of A+. Previous versions came out in 1993, 2003, 2006, and 2009 and over 900,000 people around the world have earned this certification. IT professionals commonly move on to higher-level certifications and better paying jobs, but start with this certification to lay a solid foundation of IT knowledge.

220-801

The primary focus of this exam is on the skills required for installing and maintaining hardware. It includes objectives in the following five domains:
  • PC Hardware 40% of exam
  • Networking 27% of exam
  • Laptops 11% of exam
  • Printers 11%of exam
  • Operational Procedures 11% of exam

220-802

The primary focus of this exam is on operating systems and troubleshooting, including troubleshooting of hardware covered in the 220-801 exam. The 220-802 objectives include the following four domains:
  • Operating Systems 33% of exam
  • Security 22% of exam
  • Mobile Devices 9% of exam
  • Troubleshooting 36% of exam

Significant Differences

A difference between the 800 series exams and the 700 series is that includes Windows 7 Enterprise, mobile devices (such as the iPad), and a significant amount of security.
Some of the significant differences in the 800 series exams compared with previous versions are:
  • Windows 7 Enterprise is included
  • Mobile devices (such as iPads) are included
  • Virtualization is new
  • Troubleshooting wireless is new
  • A significant amount of security is added (including wireless security, troubleshooting security, and SOHO security)

Performance Based Testing

New exams will also include performance based testing. Instead of just selecting an answer from multiple choices, test takers will have to actually perform a task.

As an example, the question may state this as the question.

"Navigate to the c:\Data folder and change the StudyNotes.txt file to read only. "

When you click the Simulate button, you'll have a command prompt that you need to use to perform the task. Note that you may be familiar with how to do this with Windows Explorer, but it's possible that the question will only give you the command prompt.

You would then need to enter the following two commands:
cd \data
attrib +R study.txt

If you're able to answer this successfully, it demonstrates that you know how to change the directory with the cd command and you know how to change attributes with the attrib command.

CompTIA isn't saying how many questions will be performance based, but these take a lot of effort to program so don't expect more than five to ten questions of this type.

CompTIA A+ Exams

If you plan on studying for the CompTIA A+ exams stay tuned. I'll post more information on these exams in this blog in the future. If you've finished the A+ certification and have moved onto the Network+ or Security+ exams, Microsoft exams, or the SSCP or CISSP exams, check out darrilgibson.com for more resources to help you take and pass these exams the first time you take them.

Good luck.

Darril Gibson

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Load Balancing and Session Affinity for Network+ and Security+

If you're preparing for the Network+ or the Security+ exam, you might like to review some information on "load balancing" and "session affinity" and try your hand a couple of practice test questions.

Load Balancing

A load balancer can optimize and distribute data loads across multiple computers or multiple networks. Organizations commonly use a load balancer when hosting a web site among multiple servers in a web farm. The following configuration shows a typical configuration.

When a user connects to the web site, the load balancer uses an algorithm to direct the user to a specific web server. Different users are connected to different web servers and the overall result is that the load is balanced among each of the servers.
Load balancers can be hardware based of software based. In a hardware-based cluster, the hardware device controls all of the traffic to the servers in the load balancing cluster. In a software-based load balancer, each of the servers in the load balancing cluster includes software to support the cluster.

Example Practice Test Question

Q. A web site is hosted on four different web servers. What would you use to ensure each web server has an equal amount of traffic?

A. Load balancer
B. Proxy server
C. TDR
D. Throughput tester

Answer and explanation below

Another resource available to help you take and pass the Network+ N10-005 exam the first time you take it is practice test questions for your mobile phone or other mobile device. Check it out here.

Session Affinity

Many times when a user is browsing through a site, they create an active session. Session data is maintained to ensure that the user experience is consistent.
In a load balancing cluster, it's important for the user to always use the same server in the load balancing cluster during a session. This is referred to as session affinity or sometimes as server affinity. The load balancer is responsible for maintaining session affinity.
As an example, imagine a user decides to purchase the You Can Do Anything (Three Simple Steps to Success) book from darrilgibson.com. Several steps and several web pages are included in the session. The user adds the item to the cart, clicks a button to checkout, enters shipping and billing information, and completes the sale. During this session, the user needs to connect to the same server for each step.
If the user added the item to the shopping cart on Web Server A, but was then redirected to Web Server B after clicking the checkout button, the shopping cart would be empty. Web Server B doesn't have the session information from Web Server A. The problem is avoided by using session affinity to ensure the user connects to the correct server for each step in the session.

Example Practice Test Question

Q. Of the following choices, what does a load balancer provide? (Choose all that apply.)

A. Content filtering and web page caching
B. Internet usage reports and web page caching
C. Distribution of network requests and increased availability
D. Session affinity

Answer and explanation below

Practice Test Answers

I'm betting these questions were very easy for you because the answer is the topic. However, it's valuable to take your time to understand why the incorrect answers are incorrect as well. These questions include in-depth answers.

Network+ Practice Test Questions

If you're looking for similar practice test questions for Network+, check out the CompTIA Network+ N10-005: Practice Test Questions (Get Certified Get Ahead). This resource includes 275 realistic practice test questions and over 175 flash cards to help test your readiness so that you can take and pass the exam the first time you take it. It's available for only $9.99 in the Kindle version and you can download free Kindle apps from Amazon for just about any platform.

Or get Network+ practice test questions for your mobile device.

Security+ Practice Test Questions

If you're looking for similar practice test questions for Security+, check out the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-301 Study Guide or the CompTIA Security+ SY0-301 Practice Test Questions (Get Certified Get Ahead).

Or get Security+ practice test questions for your mobile device.

1 - Load Balancer

Q. A web site is hosted on four different web servers. What would you use to ensure each web server has an equal amount of traffic?

A. Load balancer
B. Proxy server
C. TDR
D. Throughput tester

Answer: A is correct. A load balancer can balance the amount of traffic (the load) among multiple servers. A load balancer can be a hardware appliance, or  software installed on each of the systems.

B is incorrect. A proxy server provides Internet access to internal clients and includes web site caching to improve performance.

C is incorrect. A time domain reflectometer (TDR) is used to identify the location of a break in a cable.

D is incorrect. A throughput tester measures how much data can be transferred between two systems to identify the bandwidth.

Objective: 4.1 Explain the purpose and features of various network appliances.


What's next after Network+ for you?
Pass the Security+ SY0-301 exam the first time you take it
CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-301 Study Guide

2 - Session Affinity

Q. Of the following choices, what does a load balancer provide? (Choose all that apply.)

A. Content filtering and web page caching
B. Internet usage reports and web page caching
C. Distribution of network requests and increased availability
D. Session affinity

Answer: C is correct. A load balancer will balance the load among several network devices (such as several web servers). It can also sense when any of the devices fail  and stop sending traffic to the failed device, which increases availability.

D is correct. A load balancer uses session affinity to ensure that a client will always contact the same server during an active session.

A is incorrect. A content filter can filter traffic based on content such as specific web site addresses or key words. A proxy server can also filter traffic based on web site addresses and will cache web site pages to improve performance.

B is incorrect. A proxy server can track user statistics such as web site visits, and cache web pages.

Objective: 4.1 Explain the purpose and features of various network appliances.

Other Network+ Resources

You may also like to check out these Network+ blogs and other links:

Good Luck with the Exam

I hope you've found this information on load balancing and session affinity useful. Good luck on the exam.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Free Network+ Practice Test Questions (Set 2)

If you're preparing for the Network+ N10-005 exam, you might like to check your readiness with a few free practice test questions. This page includes five free practice test questions, one from each of the five domains in the Network + N10-005 domain.

Network+ Practice Test Questions (set 2)

These practice test questions came from CompTIA Network+ N10-005: Practice Test Questions (Get Certified Get Ahead). This resource includes 275 realistic practice test questions and over 175 flash cards to help test your readiness so that you can take and pass the exam the first time you take it. It's available for only $9.99 in the Kindle version and you can download free Kindle apps from Amazon for just about any platform.

Question 1

Q. Which of the following layers of the TCP/IP model correspond to the Session layer of the OSI model?

A. Network Interface
B. Internet
C. Transport
D. Application

Answer below

Question 2

Q. You have been asked to assist a small business owner connect his new laptop computer to his existing wireless network. Several computers throughout the location are connecting to the network using 802.11a, but the owner’s new laptop computer cannot connect. What is the most likely reason why?

A. Incompatible standards
B. The WAP is too far away
C. The WAP is set to the wrong frequency
D. The WAP is transferring data too slow at only 11 Mbps

Answer below

Question 3

Q. Which of the following uses MIMO and OFDM?

A. 802.11a
B. 802.11b
C. 802.11g
D. 802.11n

Answer below

Question 4

Q. A technician executed the following command: tracert darrilgibson.com. What type of information does this provide? (Choose all that apply.)

A. Physical address of systems
B. MAC address of systems
C. IP address for each hop
D. IP address for local system

Answer below

Question 5

Q. You are assisting a small business owner secure his wireless network. It is currently using WEP and has three computers that are authorized to connect. Of the  following choices, what would provide the best improvement in security?

A. Disable MAC filtering and enable WPA
B. Enable SSID broadcast and use MAC address filtering
C. Change the SSID name from the default and use WEP2
D. Use MAC address filtering and WPA

Answer below

What's next after Network+?
Pass the Security+ SY0-301 exam the first time you take it
CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-301 Study Guide

Answers to Network+ Practice Test Questions

Another resource available to help you take and pass the Network+ N10-005 exam the first time you take is practice test questions for your mobile phone or other mobile device. Check it out here.

1 - Application Layer

Q. Which of the following layers of the TCP/IP model correspond to the Session layer of the OSI model?

A. Network Interface
B. Internet
C. Transport
D. Application

Answer: D is correct. The Application layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to the Session, Presentation, and Application layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model so the Application layer is the best choice of the available answers.

A is incorrect. The Network Interface layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to the Physical and Data Link layers of the OSI model.

B is incorrect. The Internet layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to the Network layer of the OSI model.

C is incorrect. The Transport layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to the Transport layer of the OSI model.

Objective: 1.1 Compare the layers of the OSI and TCP/IP models.

2 - Incompatible Wireless Standards

Q. You have been asked to assist a small business owner connect his new laptop computer to his existing wireless network. Several computers throughout the location are connecting to the network using 802.11a, but the owner’s new laptop computer cannot connect. What is the most likely reason why?

A. Incompatible standards
B. The WAP is too far away
C. The WAP is set to the wrong frequency
D. The WAP is transferring data too slow at only 11 Mbps

Answer: A is correct. 802.11a is an older standard and many wireless systems are not backwards compatible to 802.11a. Based on the symptoms and the available  answers, the problem is likely a standard mismatch. For example, the laptop computer could be using 802.11g which uses a frequency of 2.4 GHz instead of  5.0 GHz used by 802.11a.

B is incorrect. Other systems are working within the business location and there is no indication the new laptop is farther away than other systems.

C is incorrect. If other systems are working, the WAP is set to the correct frequency of 5 GHz for 802.11a. However, it’s likely that the laptop is using a newer standard such as 802.11g on 2.4 GHz.

D is incorrect. 802.11a transfers data as fast as 54 Mbps.

Objective: 2.2 Given a scenario, install and configure a wireless network.

3 - 802.11n

Q. Which of the following uses MIMO and OFDM?

A. 802.11a
B. 802.11b
C. 802.11g
D. 802.11n

Answer: D is correct. 802.11n uses multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technologies and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). 802.11n is the only one of the listed wireless standards that uses MIMO.

A is incorrect. 802.11a uses OFDM but not MIMO.

B is incorrect. 802.11g uses OFDM and DSSS, but not MIMO.

C is incorrect. 802.11b uses direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), but not MIMO.

Objective: 3.3 Compare and contrast different wireless standards.

4 - Tracert

Q. A technician executed the following command: tracert darrilgibson.com. What type of information does this provide? (Choose all that apply.)

A. Physical address of systems
B. MAC address of systems
C. IP address for each hop
D. IP address for local system

Answer: C is correct. The tracert (or traceroute) command identifies the IP address of each of the hops between two systems. Each hop is a router and the round trip
time (RTT) shows how long it takes to get to and from the two systems. Try it with tracert GetCertifiedGetAhead.com.

Answer: D is correct. The result shows the name and IP address of the local system.

A and B are incorrect. You can identify the physical address or media access control (MAC) address, and the IP address of the local system with the ipconfig /all command, but not with the tracert command.

Objective: 4.3 Given a scenario, use appropriate software tools to troubleshoot connectivity issues.

5 - WPA and MAC Address Filtering

Q. You are assisting a small business owner secure his wireless network. It is currently using WEP and has three computers that are authorized to connect. Of the following choices, what would provide the best improvement in security?

A. Disable MAC filtering and enable WPA
B. Enable SSID broadcast and use MAC address filtering
C. Change the SSID name from the default and use WEP2
D. Use MAC address filtering and WPA

Answer: D is correct. Of the choices given, using media access control (MAC) filtering and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) provides the best security, especially because Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) has been cracked. MAC address filtering can be used to restrict access to only the clients with specific MAC addresses (but a dedicated attacker can beat this). WPA security ensures that only clients that have the pre-shared key can connect. WPA2 is preferable over WPA when
available.

A is incorrect. While MAC address filtering can be beaten by a dedicated attacker, having it provides more security than disabling it.

B is incorrect. Manipulating service set identifier (SSID) broadcast provides very little security. It can hide a network from users making it more difficult to
connect, but attackers using a wireless sniffer can still see it.

C is incorrect. Changing the SSID from its default is a good security practice but there is no such thing as WEP2.

Objective: 5.1 Given a scenario, implement appropriate wireless security measures.

You may also like to check out these Network+ blogs and other links:


Good Luck with the Network+ Exam

I hope you've found these Network+ practice test questions useful. Good luck on the exam.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Free Security+ Practice Test Questions (Set 2)

If you're preparing for the Security+ SY0-301 exam, you might like to check your readiness with a few free practice test questions. This page includes six free practice test questions, one from each of the six domains in the Security+ SY0-301 exam.

Security+ Practice Test Questions (set 2)

These practice test questions came from the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-301 Study Guide. The Study Guide includes full explanations of all the objectives and includes over 450 realistic practice test questions.

Question 1

Q. Of the following choices, what is the best choice for a device to filter and cache content from web pages?
A. Web security gateway
B. VPN concentrator
C. Proxy server
D. MAC filtering
Answer below.

Practice Test Question 2

Q. Employees in the accounting department are forced to take time off from their duties on a regular basis. What would direct this?
A. Account disablement policy
B. Mandatory vacation policy
C. Job rotation policy
D. Dual accounts for administrators
Answer below.

Pass the Security+ SY0-301 exam the first time you take it
CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-301 Study Guide

Practice Test Question 3

Q. What type of malware do users inadvertently install with USB thumb drives?
A. Spam
B. Trojans
C. Buffer overflow
D. Logic bomb
Answer below.

Practice Test Question 4

Q. An attacker is entering incorrect data into a form on a web page. The result shows the attacker the type of database used by the website and provides hints on what SQL statements the database accepts. What can prevent this?
A. Error handling
B. Antivirus software
C. Antispam software
D. Flood guards
Answer below.

Learn by listening
Key points from the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-301 Study Guide
Over one hour and 20 minutes of audio from the "Remember This" blocks
Over three hours and 20 minutes of questions and answers on audio

Practice Test Question 5

Q. A user is issued a token with a number displayed in an LCD. What does this provide?
A. Rolling password for one-time use
B. Multifactor authentication
C. CAC
D. PIV
Answer below.

Practice Test Question 6

Q. Sally encrypted a project file with her public key. Later, an administrator accidentally deleted her account that had exclusive access to her private key. Can this project file be retrieved?
A. No. If the private key is lost, the data cannot be retrieved.
B. Yes. The public key can decrypt the file.
C. Yes, if a copy of her public key is stored in escrow.
D. Yes, if the organization uses a recovery agent.
Answer below.

Answers to Security+ Practice Test Questions

Other resources available to help you take and pass the Security+ exam the first time you take it include:

1 - Proxy Server

Q. Of the following choices, what is the best choice for a device to filter and cache content from web pages?
A. Web security gateway
B. VPN concentrator
C. Proxy server
D. MAC filtering
Ans: C is correct. A proxy server includes the ability to filter and cache content from web pages.
A is incorrect. A web security gateway can filter web-based content, but it doesn’t always have caching capabilities.
B is incorrect. A VPN concentrator provides access to VPN clients.
D is incorrect. MAC filtering can be used with port security on a switch, but doesn’t filter web page content.
Objective: 1.1 Explain the security function and purpose of network devices and technologies

2 - Mandatory Vacations

Q. Employees in the accounting department are forced to take time off from their duties on a regular basis. What would direct this?
A. Account disablement policy
B. Mandatory vacation policy
C. Job rotation policy
D. Dual accounts for administrators
Ans. B is correct. Mandatory vacation policies require employees to take time away from their job and help to detect fraud or malicious activities.
A is incorrect. An account disablement policy (sometimes called an account expiration policy) specifies when to disable accounts.
C is incorrect. Job rotation policies require employees to change roles on a regular basis.
D is incorrect. Dual accounts for administrators help prevent privilege escalation attacks.
Objective: 2.1 Explain risk related concepts

3 - Trojans

Q. What type of malware do users inadvertently install with USB thumb drives?
A. Spam
B. Trojans
C. Buffer overflow
D. Logic bomb
Ans. B is correct. Users can unknowingly transfer and install Trojan horse malware onto their systems with USB thumb drives.
A is incorrect. Spam is unwanted email filtered with antispam software.
C is incorrect. A buffer overflow occurs when a system receives unexpected data or more data than program can handle.
D is incorrect. A logic bomb is a program or code snippet that executes in response to an event, such as a specific time or date.
Objective: 3.1 Analyze and differentiate among types of malware

4 - Error Handling

Q. An attacker is entering incorrect data into a form on a web page. The result shows the attacker the type of database used by the website and provides hints on what SQL statements the database accepts. What can prevent this?
A. Error handling
B. Antivirus software
C. Antispam software
D. Flood guards
Ans. A is correct. Error handling will return a generic error web page rather than a detailed error that can provide an attacker with valuable information to launch a SQL injection attack.
B is incorrect. Antivirus software can detect malware, such as viruses and worms, and prevent it from running on a computer.
C is incorrect. Antispam software can filter out unwanted or unsolicited email (also called spam).
D is incorrect. Flood guards can prevent SYN flood attacks.
Objective: 4.1 Explain the importance of application security

5 - Rolling Password

Q. A user is issued a token with a number displayed in an LCD. What does this provide?
A. Rolling password for one-time use
B. Multifactor authentication
C. CAC
D. PIV
Ans. A is correct. A token (such as an RSA token) provides a rolling password for one-time use.
B is incorrect. While it can be used with multifactor authentication (requiring the user to also enter other information such as a password), it doesn’t provide multifactor authentication by itself.
C and D are incorrect. A CAC and a PIV are both specialized types of smart cards that include photo identification.
Objective: 5.2 Explain the fundamental concepts and best practices related to authentication, authorization and access control.

6 - Recovery Agent

Q. Sally encrypted a project file with her public key. Later, an administrator accidentally deleted her account that had exclusive access to her private key. Can this project file be retrieved?
A. No. If the private key is lost, the data cannot be retrieved.
B. Yes. The public key can decrypt the file.
C. Yes, if a copy of her public key is stored in escrow.
D. Yes, if the organization uses a recovery agent.
Ans. D is correct. If an organization uses a recovery agent, the recovery agent can decrypt the file, in some cases by recovering a copy of the private key, and in other cases by using a special recovery agent key.
A and B are incorrect. Data encrypted with a public key cannot be decrypted with the same public key.
C is incorrect. A private key is stored in escrow, but a public key would not be stored in escrow.
Objective: 6.3 Explain the core concepts of public key infrastructure

Other Resources

You may also like to check out these Security+ blogs and other links:

Good Luck with the Security+ Exam

I hope you've found these Security+ practice test questions useful. Good luck on the exam.