CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide 4th Edition

I have an application development background … not a network engineering/admin background.I read the book twice. On the 2nd pass I took the end of chapter quizzes. I also bought the end of chapter reviews/”remember this” audios. On the weekend before the exam I reviewed my highlights and notes for each chapter while I listened to the audios. This really helped cement things and get me ramped up for the brain dump of the test.I had particular trouble piecing together chapter 3 networking concepts. That chapter kind of just cruises through that topic and you have to read it slowly and thoroughly along with chapter 4 on securing the network if you don’t have a networking background.About the book: The book is good. Sometimes I had to mentally edit and summarize the author’s explanations for myself. He tends to launch into examples and there is sometimes a lot of wordiness and you get lost as to the tie in to the subject at hand … in my opinion. But, all good content if you read it like a novel the first time you go through it and just highlight the first time. The second time you should verify that your highlights make a summarized story for you to just read during your final (third) jam session.I just took the test a couple of days ago and passed on the first try! GOD deserves all the credit and all the glory.This test is hard now. There is no way to skim through the material and pass it. There is way too much content for you to remember. You have to just drill on it until it becomes somewhat natural information to you.About the test:1. There are performance based questions now. I had about 4-5 of those as the first questions on the exam. One showed you an office layout and had you drag/drop physical access controls to each laptop server in the different rooms (like cable locks, CCTV, biometric scanners, cipher locks, etc.). Another performance question showed you a log and asked you to identify the entry where the attack started. I didn’t even know what the log was but it looked like a log of hashes and so I identified where the hashes duplicated (some kind of replay/spoof attack) and got it correct. Find a different book for performance based questions. This one lacks the ferocity needed to answer those heavily weighted questions.2. I had no questions on ports such that they asked me which service or protocol was running on which port. I came in prepared to answer just the most popular ports such as 20, 21,22,23,25, 88, 983, 443, 80. However, there were only 2 questions that included ports, services, protocols in the answers and you had to choose the correct bundle. I had heard they are moving away from port questions on the exam.3. Other areas: VLANS, containerization, SCADA, attack types, wireless APs, mobile devices, vulnerability scanning, frameworks, etc. There were a lot of “Given the following scenario, which …”.Good Luck!

I'm pretty cynical out of the gate. So, when I opened the book and visited the author's web site, I was put off a bit by the offering of other study items for purchase. I was further concerned by the author's video suggesting that others were blaming him for their failure, and him claiming they didn't follow his advice, because what amounts to them not having purchased his complementary offerings.Fast forward exactly 14 days from delivery --> And I left the test with an 834/900 (= ~93%) passing score. Despite their likely value, I did not purchase the materials. I work two jobs, so time constraints caused me to even be shy of the MANY bonus labs and included perks that didn't cost anything. Not to mention that his 10% off voucher pretty much paid for the book!I have to say though that the author was right. I read the book cover to cover, starting with the pre-assessment test (scoring 45/75 = 60% = fail). I read each chapter carefully, ensuring I understood the concepts, and matched them up until they text illuminated the diagrams for me. I took each chapter test, logging my results, and taking the time to read the excellent post-question dialog that explained not only the right answer, but why it was right - and, more importantly, why the wrong answers were wrong. By the time I took the post-assessment test, I got (66/75 = 88% = Pass).I don't want to take anything away from the author. But I could not afford the bonus materials he offered. They looked great, since his samples included Performance Based Questions, which are definitely on the exam. Instead, I used a collection of FREE practices tests from Exam Compass. They offer links to 24 progressively more difficult Security+ Practice Tests online. Though I did follow the author's recommendation to do them all until I got a 90% or better.Note: I do have the requisite 2 years of networking experience, and a good amount of IT administration experience as well. So the concepts were not unfamiliar to me. Though, given what I do know, I genuinely believe anybody can use this guide to pass the test the first time out. Study diligently, don't cut corners, and get a good night's sleep, with the cursory advice of get dressed up in fully business attire for the test.Good luck!