Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Security+ DIsaster Recovery and Redundancy

Are you prepping for the Security+ exam? Do you know the differences between disaster recovery and redundancy. Some people think the two are the same, but they aren’t.

A Security+ test candidate recently asked me for clarification between the two. In response, I wrote three related blog posts:
You can read those posts for more complete explanations. However, here is a synopsis of each.
Disaster recovery is a part of an overall business continuity plan. Often, an organization will use a business impact analysis to identify the critical systems and components. Security personnel then develop disaster recovery strategies and disaster recovery plans to ensure these systems will stay operational during and after a disaster. 
Redundancy adds duplication to critical systems and provides fault tolerance. If a critical component has a fault, the duplication provided by the redundancy allows the service to continue without interruption. In other words, a system with fault tolerance can suffer a fault, but tolerate it and continue to operate.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

How Failing Helped Me Succeed

Yes, failing helped me succeed.

 Specifically, failing the Security+ exam helped me succeed in helping thousands of others pass this exam. Years ago, I failed the Security+ exam the first time I took it.

Failed it. Two hundred and some dollars down the drain. This was back when the exam was in the SY0-101 version so it was a few moons ago when the exam was cheaper. Today, it's $302 (unless you use the free voucher code to get 10% off).
Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.
- C. S. Lewis
It was a humbling experience.

I didn't fail because the material was beyond my grasp. I had been working in IT for several years, and regularly taught Microsoft MCSE certification courses around the country.

Many of these courses included advanced security topics. No, I failed it because I took the exam for granted.

I believed the people that told me the exam was easy. (Of course, anything is easy when you know it - just make sure you know it before you believe it's easy.)

 It's not a mistake I wanted to repeat. failsuccess

Success...Read the rest of the article here.