Comptia Server Plus Courseware Instructor Sample

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CompTIA Server+ Certification

Support Skills (2009 Objectives)
Instructor Edition
Study Notes
G601Teng ver062
Acknowledgements
Course Developer ......................................................... gtslearning
Editor ..................................................................... James Pengelly
This courseware is owned, published, and distributed by gtslearning, the
worlds only specialist supplier of CompTIA learning solutions.
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CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Course Introduction
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. iii

About This Course .......................................................................................................... viii
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Module 1 / Planning Servers
Module 1 / Unit 1
Server Fundamentals
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Servers as Hardware and Software ................................................................................... 3

Server Form Factors.......................................................................................................... 8
Racks .............................................................................................................................. 10
Module 1 / Unit 2
Configuration Management
17
Project Planning Concepts .............................................................................................. 17

Server Pre-installation Planning....................................................................................... 20
Server Upgrade Plans ..................................................................................................... 24
Implementing the Plan ..................................................................................................... 26
Verifying the Plan ............................................................................................................ 27
Configuration Management ............................................................................................. 28
Documentation ................................................................................................................ 31
Equipment Disposal......................................................................................................... 37
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Module 1 / Unit 3
Storage and RAID
39
Hard Drives ..................................................................................................................... 39

The SCSI Interface .......................................................................................................... 42
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) ............................................................................................ 52
The Serial ATA Interface ................................................................................................. 54
Drive Arrays (RAID) ......................................................................................................... 56
72
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Module 1 / Unit 4
Installing an NOS
Installation Procedures .................................................................................................... 72

File Systems .................................................................................................................... 76
Installation Methods......................................................................................................... 81
Configuring the NOS ....................................................................................................... 85
Performing Shut Down .................................................................................................... 93
Module 1 / Summary
Planning Servers
99
Page iii
Course Introduction
Module 2 / Configuring Servers
101
Module 2 / Unit 1
Server Networking
103
Ethernet......................................................................................................................... 103
TCP/IP........................................................................................................................... 108
Virtual LANs (VLAN) ...................................................................................................... 113
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Module 2 / Unit 2
Directory Services
116
Configuring Directory Services ...................................................................................... 116

Managing Users ............................................................................................................ 118
Module 2 / Unit 3
File and Print Services
128
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Configuring File and Print Services................................................................................ 128

External Storage Technologies ...................................................................................... 138
Disk and Volume Management ...................................................................................... 142
Module 2 / Unit 4
Site Security
150
Module 2 / Unit 5
Server Security
Designing a Secure Site ................................................................................................ 150

Site Security Controls .................................................................................................... 154
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Secure Network Topologies........................................................................................... 161

Firewalls and Proxy Servers .......................................................................................... 165
Malware Protection Software ......................................................................................... 170
Module 2 / Summary
Configuring Servers
175
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Page iv
Table of Contents
Module 3 / Application Servers
177
Module 3 / Unit 1
Configuring Server Roles
178
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Installing Roles and Applications ................................................................................... 178

Network Configuration and Access ................................................................................ 181
Database and Application Servers................................................................................. 191
Web and FTP Servers ................................................................................................... 193
Messaging Servers ........................................................................................................ 199
Module 3 / Unit 2
Virtualization Technologies
201
Virtualization Defined..................................................................................................... 201

Virtual Platform Applications .......................................................................................... 204
Virtualization Best Practices .......................................................................................... 207
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Module 3 / Summary
Application Servers
213
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Page v
Course Introduction
Module 4 / Managing and Upgrading Servers
215
Module 4 / Unit 1
Management and Monitoring Tools
217
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Developing a Server Management Plan ........................................................................ 217

Network Management Protocols .................................................................................... 218
Server Access Tools...................................................................................................... 223
Server Monitoring .......................................................................................................... 228
System Logs.................................................................................................................. 240
Module 4 / Unit 2
Environment and Maintenance
244
Preventative Maintenance ............................................................................................. 244

Power ............................................................................................................................ 245
Server Environment ....................................................................................................... 259
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Module 4 / Unit 3
Installing and Upgrading Hardware
267
Adding and Removing Components .............................................................................. 267

Accessing the Case ....................................................................................................... 268
CPU .............................................................................................................................. 274
Memory ......................................................................................................................... 282
Expansion Cards ........................................................................................................... 291
Firmware ....................................................................................................................... 295
Module 4 / Summary
Managing and Upgrading Servers
302
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Page vi
Table of Contents
Module 5 / Troubleshooting Servers
303
Module 5 / Unit 1
Troubleshooting Procedures
305
Troubleshooting Models and Processes ........................................................................ 305

Troubleshooting Steps................................................................................................... 307
Approaching Troubleshooting ........................................................................................ 317
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Module 5 / Unit 2
Troubleshooting Scenarios
319
Troubleshooting Hardware Problems ............................................................................ 319

Troubleshooting Storage ............................................................................................... 326
Troubleshooting Network Problems ............................................................................... 333
Troubleshooting Software Problems .............................................................................. 344
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Module 5 / Unit 3
Disaster Recovery
350
Disaster Recovery Planning .......................................................................................... 350

Fault Tolerance and Redundancy .................................................................................. 352
Health and Safety .......................................................................................................... 357
Recovery ....................................................................................................................... 361
Backup Strategies ......................................................................................................... 364
Module 5 / Summary
Troubleshooting and Disaster Recovery
Index
378
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Page vii
Course Introduction
About This Course

Who Should Follow This Course?
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This course is intended for students wishing to qualify with CompTIA Server+
Certification for advanced level technical competency of server issues and technology. It
is also suitable for PC support technicians wanting to improve their skills in support and
administration.
The course has been developed to produce server support technicians who are capable
of taking and passing CompTIA's Server+ Certification exam or other similar
qualifications.
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What are the Course Prerequisites?

Ideally, you should have successfully completed CompTIA A+ Certification and have
around 12 months' experience of PC support. It is not necessary that you pass the A+
exams before completing Server+ certification, but this is recommended.
Regardless of whether you have passed A+, it is recommended that you have the
following skills and knowledge before starting this course:
Know the function and basic features of the components of a PC.
Know the PC startup process.
Use Windows to create and manage files and use basic administrative features
(Explorer, Control Panel, Management Consoles).
Basic network terminology (such as OSI Model, Topology, Ethernet, TCP/IP).
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Optionally, you can take a prerequisites test to check that you have the knowledge
required to study this course at www.gtssupport.com/flower27/SK0-003/index.htm.
Course Outcomes
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The main aim of this course is to help to prepare you for CompTIA's Server+ Certification
exam. Server+ Certification is internationally recognized by many corporations. Indeed,
CompTIA Server+ Certification is a prerequisite qualification for employment (and is
endorsed) by many leading computer manufacturers and vendors on a global basis.
This course will teach you advanced level technical competency of server issues and
technology, including installation, configuration, upgrading, maintenance, environment,
troubleshooting and disaster recovery.
Page viii
About This Course
Study of the course can also help to prepare you for other, similar technical support
qualifications and act as a groundwork for more advanced training. Other qualifications
available include:
CompTIA Network+ - a foundation-level certification of competency in network

installation and configuration.
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) - a foundation-level certification of

competency in Cisco networking appliance installation and configuration.
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Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator / Engineer / IT Professional (MCSA /

MSCE / MCITP) - Windows-specific qualifications; passing CompTIAs Network+
Certification plus either Server+ or Security+ Certification can satisfy the
requirements for the elective part of the certification, as well as providing a solid
groundwork for the further study required for MCSA / MCSE (Windows Server 2003
track) or MCITP (Windows Server 2008 Server Administrator / Enterprise
Administrator track).
Help Desk Support Analyst - The Help Desk Analyst certification series,
administered by the Help Desk Institute (www.thinkhdi.com), certifies learners
customer service and Help Desk management skills. Various levels of certification
are available, including Customer Support Specialist, Help Desk Analyst and Help
Desk Manager.
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About the Course Material
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The course material has been prepared as an aid for your use throughout the training
course. You may keep this manual for your own reference after the course is finished.
We hope you will find the course material useful for future reference.
Course Organization
This course book contains the study notes for you to refer to in class and to review at
home as you prepare for the exam. The course is divided into several modules, each
covering a different subject area. Each module is split into a series of units containing
related topics for study. Each unit has a set of review questions designed to test your
knowledge of the topics covered in the unit. Answers to the review questions are located
in the companion volume.
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Throughout the course, there will be ample opportunity for you to learn through practical
work. A series of 'hands-on' labs help to familiarize you with the concepts and
technologies that are taught on this course.
At the back of the book there is an index to help you look up key terms and concepts
from the course.
Page ix
Course Introduction
The accompanying book contains a list of the CompTIA certification objectives (and
where in the study notes you can find useful material to prepare for each objective), tips
for taking the CompTIA exams, the practical labs for you to complete in class, a
glossary of terms and concepts used in computer support, and answers to the end of
unit review questions.
When you have completed the course and want to prepare for the exam, you can take a
practice test at www.gtssupport.com/flower27/SK0-003/index.htm.
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Conventions Used in the Course

Certain conventions have been followed to help you use this course material. These are
especially useful for following the practical lab exercises.
Bullet Points
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Steps for you to follow in the course of completing a task or hands-on exercise and
review questions are indicated by numbered bullet points. Other bullet points indicate
learning objectives and feature lists.
File Conventions
The steps to follow to open a file or activate a command are shown in bold with arrows.
For example, if you need to access the Control Panel in Windows, this would be shown
in the text by:
Example: Select Start > Settings > Control Panel
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Text Conventions
Commands
Commands or information that needs to be supplied by you that are entered from the
keyboard are shown in Courier New bold.
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Displayed text and buttons
Example: Type webadmin@somewhere.com
Information that is displayed on the screen by the computer is shown in sans serif bold.
This includes button text and messages.
Examples: Click OK, Click Continue...
Page x
About This Course
Key to Symbols Used in the Notes

Icon
Meaning
A note or warning about a feature.
More information on this topic can be found in
the section mentioned.
This icon denotes a slide to
accompany the text.
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An area for your notes.

Review questions to help test what you have
learned.
A hands-on exercise for you to practice skills
learned during the lesson.
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CompTIA Authorized Quality Curriculum Program
The logo of the CompTIA Authorized Quality Curriculum (CAQC) program and the status
of this or other training material as "Authorized" under the CompTIA Authorized Quality
Curriculum program signifies that, in CompTIA's opinion, such training material covers
the content of CompTIA's related certification exam.
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The contents of this training material were created for the CompTIA
Server+ Certification exam (exam code: SK0-003) covering CompTIA certification
objectives that were current as of April 2009.
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CompTIA has not reviewed or approved the accuracy of the contents of this training
material and specifically disclaims any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose. CompTIA makes no guarantee concerning the success of persons
using any such Authorized or other training material in order to prepare for any
CompTIA certification exam.
Page xi
Course Introduction
How to Become CompTIA Certified

This training material can help you prepare for and pass a related CompTIA certification
exam or exams. In order to achieve CompTIA certification, you must register for and
pass a CompTIA certification exam or exams.
In order to become CompTIA certified, you must:
1) Select a certification exam provider. For more information please visit
certification.comptia.org/resources/registration.aspx
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2) Register for and schedule a time to take the CompTIA certification exam(s) at a
convenient location.
3) Read and sign the Candidate Agreement, which will be presented at the time of the
exam(s). The text of the Candidate Agreement can be found at
certification.comptia.org/resources/candidate_agreement.aspx
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4) Take and pass the CompTIA certification exam(s).
For more information about CompTIAs certifications, such as their industry acceptance,
benefits, or program news, please visit certification.comptia.org
CompTIA is a not-for-profit information technology (IT) trade association. CompTIAs

certifications are designed by subject matter experts from across the IT industry. Each
CompTIA certification is vendor-neutral, covers multiple technologies, and requires
demonstration of skills and knowledge widely sought after by the IT industry.
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To contact CompTIA with any questions or comments, please call (1) (630) 678 8300 or
email questions@comptia.org.
It is CompTIA's policy to update the exam regularly with new test items to deter
fraud and for compliance with ISO standards. The exam objectives may
therefore describe the current "Edition" of the exam with a date different to that
above. Please note that this training material remains valid for the stated exam
code, regardless of the exam edition. For more information, please check the
FAQs on CompTIA's website (certification.comptia.org/customer_service).
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Page xii
Study Notes
Planning Servers
Module 1 / Planning Servers

In this module, you will learn about server form factors and storage
technologies. You will also learn how to plan and specify servers
and document the server environment and how to install or deploy
a Network Operating System (NOS).
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The following table lists the CompTIA Server+ domain objectives

and content examples covered in the units in this module:
Domain Objectives / Examples
1.1 Server
Fundamentals
1.2 Deploy different chassis types and the

appropriate components
Form Factor [tower, rack, blade] (Space utilization ([U
size, height, width, depth]) Power buttons Reset
buttons Diagnostic LEDs
2.4 Explain different server roles, their purpose and
how they interact
Explain the difference between a workstation, desktop
and a server
4.1 Write, utilize and maintain documentation,
diagrams and procedures
Follow pre-installation plan when building or upgrading
servers Labeling Diagram server racks and
environment topologies Hardware and software
upgrade, installation, configuration, server role and repair
logs Document server baseline (before and after
service) Original hardware configuration, service tags,
asset management and warranty Vendor specific
documentation (Reference proper manuals, Websites,
Support channels [list of vendors])
4.2 Given a scenario, explain the purpose of the
following industry best practices
Follow vendor specific server best practices
(Documentation, Tools, Websites) Explore ramifications
before implementing change determine organizational
impact Communicate with stakeholders before taking
action and upon completion of action Comply with all
local laws / regulations, industry and corporate
regulations Purpose of Service Level Agreement (SLAs)
Follow change control procedures Equipment disposal
4.5 Given a scenario, classify physical security
measures for a server location
Secure documentation related to servers (Passwords,
System configurations, Logs)
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Unit
1.2
Configuration
Management
Use the gtstrainer.com

website to download
resources to help to setup
and run this course.
If you don't have a login for
gtstrainer or access to the
Server+ course resources,
email
sales@gtslearning.com.
This module looks at the
basic elements that need to
be in place to install a
server - chassis types,
storage / RAID, and
installing the NOS.
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No part of these notes may be reproduced in any form, electronic or printed, without the written permission
of a director of gtslearning International Limited. If you suspect that these notes have been unlawfully copied,
please telephone +44 (0)207 887 7999 or email support@gtslearning.com
Page 1
Module 1 / Unit 1
Unit
1.3 Storage
and RAID
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1.3 Differentiate between memory features / types

and given a scenario select appropriate memory
RAID and hot spares
1.6 Given a scenario, install appropriate expansion
cards into a server while taking fault tolerance into
consideration
Storage controller [SCSI, SATA, RAID] (SCSI low voltage
/ high voltage [LVD/HVD], SCSI IDs, Cables and
connectors, Active vs. passive termination)
3.1 Describe RAID technologies and its features and
benefits
Hot spare Software vs. hardware Cache read/write
levels (data loss potential) Performance benefits and
tradeoffs
3.2 Given a scenario, select the appropriate RAID
level
0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 50 Performance benefits and tradeoffs
3.3 Install and configure different internal storage
technologies
Hot swappable vs. non-hot swappable SCSI, Ultra
SCSI, Ultra320 (termination), LUNs SAS, SATA Flash
Controller (firmware levels) Hard drive (firmware,
JBOD)
6.5 Given a scenario, effectively troubleshoot storage
problems, selecting the appropriate tools and
methods
Storage tools (RAID array management, Array
management)
1.4 Explain the importance of a Hardware
Compatibility List (HCL)
Vendor standards for hardware Memory and processor
compatibility Expansion cards compatibility
2.1 Install, deploy, configure and update NOS
(Windows / *nix)
Installation methods (optical media, USB, network share,
PXE) o Imaging system cloning and deployment
(Ghost, RIS/WDS, Altiris) Bootloader File systems
(FAT, FAT32, NTFS, VMFS, ZFS, EXT3) Driver
installation (Driver acquisition, Installation methods,
Require media) Configure NOS (Device, OS
environmental settings) Patch management
how they interact
Application server (Update server) Server shut down
and start up sequence (one server vs. multiple servers
vs. attached components)
1.4 Installing
an NOS
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Page 2
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Module 1 / Unit 3
Storage and RAID
Objectives
On completion of this unit, you will be able to:
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Describe the features and performance characteristics of

server-class hard disks and solid state drives.
Describe features of the SCSI interface and know how to

configure devices correctly.
Describe features of the SATA and SAS interfaces and know

how to configure devices correctly.
Delivery Tips
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Select an appropriate RAID level for a given storage solution.
Configure a RAID array.
Timings
Theory & Review Questions
- 60 minutes
Labs - 30 minutes
Hard Drives
Students should be familiar

with basic PC hardware
already. Concentrate on
SCSI and RAID
configuration.
Like a desktop PC, a server will be configured with one or more

hard drives to store the operating system and applications
software. Disk space may also be provided on a file server as a
shared resource for network users.
Discuss some of the issues

in provisioning disks for
servers:
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* Server role and its effect

on disk usage
* Price per gigabyte
Unlike most desktop PCs however, server disks will typically be

faster for higher performance and add resilience features such as
RAID - the ability for multiple hard disks to work together to
increase access speed to files or provide redundancy in case one
of the drives fails.
Drives are available in two sizes: 3.5" Large Form Factor (LFF) or
2.5" Small Form Factor (SFF). SFF now dominates the market, with
LFF drives gradually being phased out.
* Price versus performance

requirements
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All new servers use disk interfaces based on either Serial Attached
SCSI (SAS) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA).
Some older servers may be configured with parallel SCSI
interfaces.
* Price per I/O
* Tiered storage
Page 39
Module 1 / Unit 3
HDDs and SSDs
Recently, flash memory based drives (Solid State Drives [SSD])

have been introduced to the market10. As these have no moving parts,
they generally use less power and are lower latency, especially when
reading non-sequential data. However, write times can be slower for
SSDs than for HDDs. Also, the NAND memory cells used to store data
only support a limited number of write/erase cycles, which means that
the drive will become less reliable as it ages. To compensate, the OS
and the drive controller firmware should perform wear leveling, to
distribute writes over different cells.
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Most hard disks are of the mechanical type (HDD), where data is
stored magnetically on coated metal or glass platters with drive
heads to read and write the data. The drive heads must be moved
to the required location on the disk, which introduces a degree of
latency over and above the time taken for the controller to transfer
data, particularly when the data is fragmented across different disk
sectors. The performance of a magnetic hard drive is mostly
determined by the speed at which the platters are spun (7.2K, 10K,
or 15K rpm [revolutions per minute])9.
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HP SSD with SATA interface
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The advantages and disadvantages of SSDs mean that they are

often deployed in servers where there are low disk write
requirements. For example, SSDs are better suited to front-end
web servers and HDDs to file servers.
9
A 15K drive should support an internal transfer rate of up to about 180 MBps while
7.2K drives will be around 110 MBps.
10
There are broadly two types of SSD: Single Layer Cell (SLC) and Multi Layer Cell
(MLC). SLC stores 1 bit per cell while MLC stores 4 or more bits per cell, yielding
higher capacities at lower cost. MLC can be slower however as it requires substantial
error correction processing. It is also perceived as not reliable enough for enterprise
server applications as it supports fewer write cycles, though improvements in the
technology may change that perception over time.
Page 40
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
SSDs also carry a significant price premium over HDDs and rise
almost exponentially in cost at sizes over 256 GB.
SSDs use the same interfaces as traditional hard drives (that is,
SAS or SATA).
Enclosures and Backplanes
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A drive is housed in an enclosure or caddy. The drive may then be

connected to the controller via a cable but on enterprise-class
servers it is more usual for the enclosures to be connected via a
backplane. Rather than using cabled connectors, the drives plug
(or "mate") into a combined data and power connector on the
enclosure. This means that drives can be easily added and
removed from the front of the case without having to open the
chassis.
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Enclosure and backplane on an HP server - 1) The drive mates with the port on the
backplane card; 2) Data and power cables on the other side of the backplane card
connect to the drive controller and PSU
The drives are secured and released from the server using a latch.
Many server drives are hot-swappable, meaning that they can be
added or removed without powering down the server.
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Module 1 / Unit 3
The SCSI Interface

The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) has been in use as
an expansion bus interface since the 1980s. There have been
many revisions to the standard. Originally a parallel interface, SCSI
is now used for serial connections for disk drives (Serial Attached
SCSI) and peripheral devices (Firewire or IEEE1394).
In a PC server, a SCSI adapter (known as the Host Adapter) may
be integrated with the motherboard or installed as a PCI-X or PCIe
expansion card.
SCSI supports multitasking and multithreading through
disconnect-reconnect. When a device experiences a delay in
processing a request, it can release control of the bus (disconnect),
allowing other devices to use it. When the device is ready to
transfer data, it reconnects.
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Parallel SCSI is obviously

diminishing in importance
but students still need to
know all the configuration
issues.
More information about SCSI can be located at the T10 Committee

website (www.t10.org) and the SCSI Trade Association
(www.scsita.org).
Parallel SCSI Standards
SCSI-1
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SCSI-1 is sometimes simply known as SCSI; if a number is not

mentioned you can usually assume that SCSI-1 is being referred
to. SCSI-1 is defined as an 8-bit bus with a 5 MBps transfer rate.
Up to 7 SCSI devices can be daisy-chained to a single SCSI port.
SCSI-1 devices can be used with devices that use the higher
transfer rates of the more advanced SCSI-2 protocols, but will
cause the whole bus to slow down. Practically speaking therefore,
SCSI-1 devices are obsolete.
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SCSI-2
The SCSI-2 specification was approved by ANSI in 1990. It is an

extensive enhancement of the original standard and defines
support for many of the more advanced SCSI features still in use
today.
SCSI-2 includes the following enhancements to the original SCSI-1

specification:
Page 42
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Type
Notes
Fast SCSI
A high-speed transfer protocol doubles the speed of the bus

to 10 MHz, resulting in a transfer rate of 10 MBps with 8-bit
regular SCSI cabling or even higher when used with Wide
SCSI (referred to as Fast-Wide SCSI).
Wide SCSI
Widening the original 8-bit SCSI bus to 16 bits permits more

data throughput at a given signaling speed.
More devices
per bus
A bus that runs with Wide SCSI supports 16 devices

(including the host adapter).
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SCSI uses a confusingly large number of different cable and

connectors. SCSI-2 defines new higher-density connections.
Active
termination
Termination is an important technical consideration in setting

up a SCSI bus. SCSI-2 defined the use of active termination,
which provides more reliable termination of the bus.
Command
queuing
One of SCSI's strengths is its ability to allow simultaneous

multiple outstanding requests between devices on the bus.
SCSI-3
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Improved
cables and
connectors
SCSI-3 is not so much a formal standard as a number of new

technologies and sub-standards introduced under the SCSI banner.
Some features conflict with each other or represent different
approaches to how SCSI is to be implemented or used.
Product
One of the key changes is the use of serial signaling in some

products, causing previous versions of SCSI to be retroactively
labeled SCSI Parallel Interface (SPI) or "parallel SCSI".
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Improved cabling for the use of Wide SCSI. The use of HVD
or LVD signaling and termination allows for greater cable
lengths.
Ultra SCSI
Doubling the SCSI-2 system bus speed to 20 MHz, meaning

20 MBps with 8-bit SCSI and more with Wide SCSI.
Ultra2 SCSI
Another doubling of the system bus speed to 40 MHz. No

support for SE signaling.
Ultra3 SCSI
Double Data Rate (DDR) signaling, effectively doubling

transfer rates, plus improvements to bus communication and
arbitration procedures.
Firewire
A protocol standard for one type of Serial SCSI used for

peripheral device expansion and consumer electronics.
Serial Attached
SCSI (SAS)
Serial, point-to-point interface (similar to PCIe) supporting the

SCSI command set.
Fiber Channel
(FC-AL)
Specification for a Storage Area Network (SAN) architecture

supporting the SCSI command set.
iSCSI
Use of the SCSI command set over IP-based networks.
Improved
cabling
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Page 43
Module 1 / Unit 3
The various "flavors" of Serial SCSI support hot-swapping of

devices; some types of parallel SCSI also support hot-swapping.
Summary of SCSI Types

Interface
Devices
Rate
Max Cable
Connector
Length (m)
(Excluding
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Host
Adapter)
SE
LVD
HVD
SCSI-1
5 MBps
25
50-pin
Fast
SCSI
10 MBps
25
50-pin
FastWide
SCSI
15
20 MBps
25
68-pin
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20 MBps
1.5
25
50-pin
Wide
Ultra
SCSI
15
40 MBps
25
68-pin
Ultra2
SCSI
40 MBps
12
25
50-pin
Wide
Ultra2
SCSI
15
80 MBps
12
25
68-pin /
80-pin
Ultra3
SCSI
(Ultra160
SCSI)
15
160 MBps
12
68-pin /
80-pin
Ultra
SCSI
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320 MBps
12
68-pin /
80-pin
Ultra640
SCSI
15
640 MBps
12
68-pin /
80-pin
Firewire
Serial
(63 devices)
100 - 800
Mbps
4.5
6-pin / 9pin
SAS
Serial
(128+ devices)
3 - 6 Gbps
Various
FC-AL
Serial
(127+ devices)
1 - 4 Gbps
500+
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15
Ultra320
SCSI
Various
The number of devices listed in the table excludes the

host adapter. So for example, narrow SCSI supports 8
devices including the host adapter and wide SCSI
supports 16. Note that Firewire, SAS, and Fiber Channel
are serial links and so measured in megabits or gigabits
per second rather than megabytes.
Page 44
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Installing the Host Adapter

The majority of servers will incorporate a SCSI host adapter (most
likely to support Serial Attached SCSI) on the motherboard. If SCSI
is not supported on the motherboard (or if an upgraded SCSI /
RAID solution is required), a host adapter or storage controller
must be installed in a suitable expansion slot (typically a x4 or x8
PCIe slot or PCI-X slot).
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Remember that SCSI throughput is restricted to the

throughput of the local bus. For example, a host adapter
connected to a version 1 PCIe x1 slot would only have
250 MBps bandwidth and would not be able to take
advantage of Ultra 320 SCSI speeds.
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Connecting the SCSI Devices
Parallel SCSI devices may be internal, external or a combination of

both. Many configurations are possible. You can connect disk
drives, tape devices, CD-ROM drives, and scanners.
Internal devices are connected to a single piece of flat ribbon cable

and require a connection to the power supply or (in the case of
most drives) plug into a backplane.
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External devices are daisy-chained. A cable is connected to the

external port at the back of the host adapter, then to one of the two
ports at the back of the first external device. If a second device is
required, another cable is connected to the first device, then to one
of the two ports on the second device and so on. External devices
normally require a connection to the mains supply and should be
powered up before you turn on the server.
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Internal devices - ribbon cable
Page 45
Module 1 / Unit 3
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External devices - daisy chained
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Internal and external devices
SCSI Signaling
In addition to the different parallel SCSI standards, there are three

types of parallel SCSI signaling:
Single-Ended (SE - the original specification).
High Voltage Differential (HVD).
Low Voltage Differential (LVD).
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Each type places signals on the cabling differently.

SCSI systems use a parallel data path and can suffer from data
skew (when the signal on each wire travels at different speeds).
This limits cable lengths to 3m (10 feet) for fast SCSI or 6m (20
feet) for standard SCSI using SE signaling.
Page 46
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Differential SCSI uses two signal paths for each data line and the
method by which data is transmitted makes it much less
susceptible to corruption. Differential signaling can either be highpower (to achieve longer distances) or low power. In the event,
LVD proved much more popular, to the extent that HVD is very
rarely found on devices designed for the PC server marketplace.
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SE and LVD devices can be combined on the same bus, but the
SE maximum bus length then applies and performance of LVD
devices can be reduced, as the whole chain operates at the speed
of the SE device (unless you use a bus expander connected to the
host adapter to separate SE and LVD devices).
HVD devices must not be placed on an SE or LVD bus.
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Symbols for SE, HVD, LVD, and LVD/SE (multi-mode) SCSI ports
Students taking the exam

should be aware of the
number of pins used in the
most common SCSI
connectors.
SCSI Connectors and Cabling

Internal SCSI Connectors
Older internal SCSI devices are generally connected by 50 or 68way ribbon cable depending on whether the bus is narrow or
wide11. The connector on the device is either a male 50-pin IDC
(Insulation Displacement Connector)12 or a female 68-pin High
Density (HD) connector.
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Male and female IDC50 connectors
Male HD68 connector
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Most SCSI hard drives now use the Single Connector

Attachment (SCA)13. This 80-pin adapter combines the functions
of data and power connector and enables autoconfiguration of
SCSI settings, such as the ID and termination, and hot-swapping,
plus "sideband" signals, such as LED and status monitoring. Such
drives slot into a backplane rather than use cabling. The connector
on the drive is male.
11
These connectors were also used with backplanes to implement drive arrays.
It is possible to obtain 68-wire cable to 50-pin connector adapters.
13
There are two versions: SCA-1 and SCA-2. SCA-1 is obsolete.
12
Page 47
Module 1 / Unit 3
External SCSI Connectors

External SCSI devices can be connected to the PC-based
controller through various types of connector:
SCSI-1 - DB25 or (more commonly) 50-way Centronics "edge"

connectors.
Male and female 50-pin Centronics connectors
SCSI-2 and -3 - High Density DB connectors (50-pin and 68pin) or Very High Density (Micro-Centronics) 68-pin connectors.
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Male and female DB25 connectors
High Density 68-pin male and female connectors
Very High Density 68-pin male and female connectors
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Centronics connectors use clips to secure the connector; other

types are screw-in. The cabling is round and often quite thick
because of the heavy shielding used.
Terminating the SCSI Devices
A parallel SCSI bus must be terminated correctly in order to work.

Termination absorbs the signal passing along the bus so that it
does not reflect back onto the bus and corrupt valid signals.
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You must install manual terminators or enable termination on the

devices at each end of the SCSI bus. Only SCSI-1 devices require
manual termination; the later specifications are self-terminating
(automatic termination).
All terminators must be powered. Power can be supplied from the
device itself, from the host adapter, or from the backplane (if
present).
Page 48
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Types of Terminator
Different iterations of SCSI have used different termination methods. If
all the devices on the bus are the same type, configuration is usually
straightforward, but when there is a mix of devices, things can be more
complex.
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Passive terminators - these are simple devices used with SCSI1 and SE signaling14. A terminator pack may be internal to the
device and enabled or disabled by a jumper or switch or an
external resistor pack may need to be fitted.
Active terminators - these contain circuitry to regulate the
voltage of the termination current, making them more reliable
devices. Active terminators are recommended for SE signaling
and required for differential signaling. Active terminators are
always built into the device and in many cases will be
configured automatically by the SCSI driver software.
Active negation terminators - these contain circuits to cope with

fast bus speeds and are required for Ultra SCSI and faster.
Multimode - normally a terminator must match the type of signaling

in use, but a multimode (or LVD/SE) terminator is one that can be
used with both SE and LVD signaling15. An LED should indicate
what type of signaling is in use.
High-byte - if a wide bus contains narrow devices (or a wide

device is connected to a narrow bus), the "wide" or "high-byte"
signals must be terminated at the point where the bus changes
from wide to narrow (typically this will be implemented in the
cable adapter).
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Enabling and Configuring Terminators
Termination may involve adding a special terminator plug to the

open port on the back of the last external device, implementing
resistor packs on the device, setting jumpers or switches, crimping
a terminator adapter to cabling, or running a setup program. Check
your documentation for each device to see how it is terminated.
The host adapter should be terminated if there are only internal or

only external devices attached to it. If both internal and external
devices are attached to the host adapter, you should disable
termination on the adapter itself and enable termination on the
ends of the internal and external chains.
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Host Adapter Termination
14
A passive terminator is essentially just a resistor; it absorbs the signal. This method
is not always completely reliable, especially over longer cable runs.
15
It may also simply be described as providing "LVD Termination"; in which case
confirm that it is multimode. You may also see references to "Forced Perfect"
terminators; these are used with SE devices to provide better performance than an
active terminator.
Page 49
Module 1 / Unit 3
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Correct termination of a mix of internal and external SCSI device chains
A guide to SCSI configuration can be found at:

www.scsita.org/aboutscsi/SCSI_Termination_Tutorial.html
Setting SCSI IDs

A SCSI ID is an identifying label (a number from 0 to 7 [or 0 to 15
for wide SCSI]) assigned to each device. Each device on a SCSI
bus must have a unique ID, including the host adapter, which is
usually set to 7 or 15. Many older host adapters also insist that the
bootable device (usually a hard drive) be set to ID 0.
SCSI IDs are necessary because each device must be uniquely

identified when using the SCSI bus or when another device is
sending a command. The SCSI ID determines which device has
priority. When two or more devices are trying to use the SCSI bus
at the same time, the highest ID is given priority (hence the use of 7
for the host adapter).
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Make sure your students

know how many SCSI
devices can be connected
together. For example, if 7
devices could be connected
to a host adapter (0-6),
including the host adapter
there are 8 SCSI IDs.
Students taking the exam
will need to understand this.
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Page 50
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
On a wide bus, 7 is still the highest priority ID (it runs 7 to

0 then 15 to 8).
Setting IDs usually involves either physical or software setup. Many
external devices have a simple mechanism on the outside for
setting the ID, such as a dial or a window displaying the number,
and buttons to change it.
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Hard drives tend to have their IDs set using jumpers. These
jumpers are commonly marked as A0, A1, A2, and A3 on the drive
circuit board. The jumpers represent the binary increments 1, 2, 4,
and 8 respectively. By combining the jumpers, any ID can be set
between 0 and 15.
For example:
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Jumper
A3
A2
A1
Represents
Setting
OFF
ON
OFF
ON
Binary digit
Setting
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
Binary digit
Make sure your students

know how to set the SCSI
ID with the jumpers.
A0
=5 (SCSI ID5)
=2 (SCSI ID2)
Logical Unit Number (LUN)
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Plug-and-Play SCSI or SCSI Configured AutoMatically (SCAM)

automates the assignment of device IDs and allows the SCSI bus
to dynamically shift and reallocate IDs when a new device is added
to it. It also allows for the automation (or simplification) of
termination.
Some parallel SCSI devices can perform more than one function
(an auto-loading tape drive for instance). In this case, each function
must be allocated a Logical Unit Number (LUN) from 0 to 7 or 0 to
15. This is normally assigned by the manufacturer.
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Longer (64-bit) LUNs are also used in Storage Area

Networks (SAN) based on Fiber Channel or iSCSI. See
Unit 2.3 for more information about SANs.
Page 51
Module 1 / Unit 3
SCSI Drivers and Configuration Utilities

When installing a SCSI drive array onto a new computer, the
adapter vendor will provide one or more utilities to configure the
array. For example, an Adaptec host adapter is provided with the
following configuration tools:
Array Configuration Utility / SCSI Select - press CTRL+A when
prompted during the boot sequence to use this graphical menubased program (stored in the adapter's firmware).
Adaptec Storage Manager - boot from the supplied CD / DVD to

run this graphical utility.
ARCCONF - a command-line utility that can be used to create

batch configuration files.
You can use these tools to configure SCSI bus settings (such as
host adapter ID, termination, enable disconnect/reconnect, and so
on) and configure a RAID array level (see later in this unit).
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With the host adapter installed and the correct SCSI configuration
applied, device driver installation for non-hard disk devices can be
configured through the operating system or vendor setup utility as
normal.
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Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
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Serial Attached SCSI is the next generation of SCSI interface. It

uses a serial interface with full-duplex communication over 2-pair
wiring (much like PCI Express) but retains support for the SCSI
command set.
SAS components can be rated at 3 Gbps or 6 Gbps.
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A significant feature of SAS is support for thousands of devices (up

to 16,384), using an Ethernet switch-like device called an
expander. Each device is identified by a unique, manufacturercoded ID, so there is no manual configuration to be performed.
Also, SAS does not require termination, removing another complex
configuration issue.
SAS also goes some way to uniting the SATA and SCSI standards.
It provides both hardware support (the same connectors and cable)
and software support (through the SATA Tunneling Protocol) for
SATA drives. This offers the opportunity to mix low-cost SATA
drives with high-cost, high-performance SAS drives in an integrated
storage solution, providing more flexibility than current models.
Page 52
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Serial Attached SCSI Connectors

SAS devices feature a combined 7-pin data port16 and 15-pin power
port (though some drives may also have a legacy 4-pin Molex
power port too).
SAS connections are typically either single-lane (a simple adapter
to device connection) or multi-lane (a single port on the adapter is
connected to four devices).
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Ports can either be "straight-through" or flush / surface mounted

with right-angle connectors. Flush-mounted fittings are used in
blade servers and other systems with restricted space. SAS
backplane connectors are designed to "blind-mate", which means
that a connection is made reliably when a drive caddy is inserted
into a backplane. The design of the pins also reduces the chance of
damage through ESD or a power spike (the full power pins connect
after the other pins).
Hot-pluggable drives are not screwed into the chassis but slot into
a drive cage. The cables for the devices connect to the drive cage
(backplane) rather than the drive units.
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Hot-pluggable drives on HP Proliant server
When removing a drive, you will probably need to use a utility or

the OS to stop the device. This completes any cached write
operations and prevents the NOS from trying to write data to the
device while it is being removed. You also need to power down the
device, either using software or a switch on the drive bay.
Indicators on the drive bay should show when a drive is safe to
remove. The drives are physically released and inserted using a
lever or latch mechanism.
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Unused drive slots should be filled with blanks to maintain

the correct airflow and cooling within the chassis.
A number of connectors are associated with the use of SAS host
adapters and drives:
16
In fact, on most SAS devices there are two data connectors (for redundancy). This is
referred to as "dual-port". Obviously the backplane or cable must also support a
redundant connection for this to work.
Page 53
Module 1 / Unit 3
SFF 8087 - internal mini connector for both adapter card

("host") and 4 drive or backplane ports ("target").
SFF 8088 - external mini connector for both adapter card and
drive enclosures.
SFF 8484 ("Multilane") - legacy 32-pin internal or external HD

connector (host) supporting four 7-pin lanes (target). The
remaining pins are used for "sideband" signals (LEDs and
status monitoring).
SFF 8470 ("Infiniband") - legacy jackscrew connector for both

internal and external use.
SFF 8482 - internal connector compatible with both SAS and

SATA drives. This type of connector would be used principally
to attach SATA devices (such as DVD drives) to an SAS bus.
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8087 and 8088 are newer connectors (with the product

name Molex iPass) and will support increased SAS bus
speeds when standardized (rated up to 10G).
The Serial ATA Interface
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Serial ATA (SATA) was developed to address the limitations of the

now obsolete parallel ATA or IDE interface. SATA would be used
on low-end server hardware as a cheaper option than SAS.
4 SATA motherboard ports in front of an IDE port on an Intel motherboard
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As the name suggests, SATA transfers data in serial format. This

allows for thinner, longer, more flexible cables (up to 1m [39"]) with
smaller, 7-pin data connectors. Each port supports a single device.
SATA cable for HP workstations
Page 54
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
The original SATA standard (SATA 1.5 Gbit/s or SATA/150)

supports speeds of up to 150 MBps. This standard was quickly
augmented by SATA 2.0, which specifies a 3 Gbps (300 MBps)
transfer rate, and then SATA 3.0, running at 6 Gbps.
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Other additions in SATA 2.0 include the use of port multipliers, which
allow up to 15 drives to be connected to a single SATA adapter, and
Native Command Queuing (NCQ), which enables the drive to
analyze read/write operations and perform them in the most efficient
manner, depending on the location of data on the disk
SATA 6 Gbps adds some extensions to NCQ to support
isochronous data transfer (prioritizing real time data such as video
to ensure smooth playback).
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There is also an eSATA standard for the attachment of external

drives, with a 2m (78") cable. The main drawback of eSATA
compared to USB or Firewire external drives is that power is not
supplied over the cable. This is not so much of an issue for 3.5"
drives, which require a separate power supply anyway, but limits
the usefulness of eSATA for 2.5" portable drives. This drawback is
addressed by the eSATAp standard, which uses a different port
and connector to eSATA.
More information on SATA standards can be obtained from

www.sata-io.org.
Hot Swapping
Many drives retain a 4-pin Molex port for

compatibility with legacy power supplies).
Molex-SATA conversion adapters are
also available.
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One of the major advantages of SATA over PATA is the support for
hot swapping and consequently better compatibility with RAID
configurations. Serial ATA 15-pin power connectors have been
redesigned to provide support for both hot plugging and a 3.3V
power supply in addition to the usual 5V and 12V.
SATA power connector
As mentioned earlier, SAS includes hardware and software support

for SATA devices. The reverse is not true however; SAS devices
cannot be plugged into an SATA bus.
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SATA and SAS
A single enclosure could contain a mix of SAS and SATA devices,

though a mix of SATA and SAS could not be used in the same
logical volume. Mixing 3 Gbps and 6 Gbps devices is generally not
recommended as it may impair 6 Gbps operation.
Page 55
Module 1 / Unit 3
Drive Arrays (RAID)

With RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), multiple
physical disks can be grouped into a single logical volume. Usually,
this is done to improve fault tolerance; if a physical drive fails, the
logical volume is protected by the data stored on the other physical
drives in the array.
RAID can also be said to stand for "Redundant Array of

Inexpensive Disks" and the "D" can also stand for
"devices".
The RAID advisory board defines RAID levels. The most common
levels are numbered from 0 to 6, where each level corresponds to a
specific type of fault tolerance. There are also proprietary RAID
solutions.
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RAID is heavily tested on

the exam, so make sure
students understand
different RAID levels,
calculating usable storage,
number of failures a
configuration can support,
hardware versus software
implementations, and
options for reconfiguring an
existing array.
RAID Level
Fault Tolerance
Striping without parity (no fault tolerance)
Level 1
Mirroring/duplexing
Level 2
Striping with ECC (Error Correction Code)
Level 3
Striping with a dedicated parity disk
Level 4
Independent data disks with shared parity disk
Level 5
Independent data disks with distributed parity

blocks (striping with parity)
Level 0
Level 6
Second parity
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In addition to these primary levels, it is also possible to "nest" one

RAID solution within another (for example, you could mirror two
stripe sets to boost performance without sacrificing fault tolerance).
RAID Performance
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To choose an optimum RAID solution, you need to balance the

server role with factors such as cost, performance, and security.
Higher RAID levels usually require more costly controllers. Security
is a measure of the number of drive failures that an array can
support.
Performance involves a number of different factors but the most
important to assess are probably the balance between read and
write operations and between transactional and sequential Input /
Output (I/O):
Page 56
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Read / write balance - depending on the server role, disk

activity may be predominantly reads or writes (for example,
80% reads and 20% writes). Some RAID levels have better
read performance and some have better write performance.
Sequential versus transactional (or random) I/O - this refers to

how data on the volume is typically accessed. Sequential I/O
means reading or writing data at the same physical location;
transactional (or random) I/O means the controller has to scan
different areas of the disk or array to retrieve or write the data.
In terms of database applications, transactional I/O is
associated with adding and updating records while sequential
I/O is more typical of querying data for reports or serving large
files. The OS and user file access is also typically transactional
but a media server would use predominantly sequential I/O.
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RAID 0 (Striping Without Parity)
Disk striping is a technique where data is divided into blocks and

spread in a fixed order among all the disks in the array. The block
stripe size is often 64K but can be configured to an optimum value
between 2K and 512K based on the size of the array and the type
of data served (in much the same way as a cluster size can be
chosen for a volume file system).
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Data1
Data4
Data6
Data7
Data2
Data3
Data5
Data8
RAID 0 requires at least two disks. Its principal advantage is to

improve performance by spreading disk I/O over multiple drives. As
disk reads and writes can take place on multiple disks
simultaneously, the effect of latency (the time taken for the disk
head to locate a sector on the disk) is reduced. The number of
physical disks used in the array sets the stripe width; using more
disks (greater width) should benefit performance. Also, the best
performance is obtained when each disk has its own controller.
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RAID 0 (striping) - data is spread across the array
Page 57
Module 1 / Unit 3
The logical volume size is the combined total of the smallest

capacity physical disk in the array. When building a RAID array, all
the disks should normally be identical in terms of capacity17. If disks
are different size, the size of the smallest disk in the array
determines the maximum amount of space that can be used on the
larger drives. RAID 0 adds no storage overhead and is a means of
obtaining a large logical volume from multiple, low capacity disks.
Consequently, RAID 0 would never be used for live data storage. It

has specialist applications for hosting read-only or relatively static
data18 (in a front-end web server or media server to serve files that
are backed up elsewhere for instance) where speed is more
important than data security.
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However, because it provides no redundancy, this method cannot

be said to be a true RAID implementation. If any physical disk in
the array fails, the whole logical volume will fail, causing the server
to crash and requiring data to be recovered using disk recovery
tools (and as the data on the failed physical disk may not be
recoverable, this can be very difficult, if not impossible). Note that
the chance of failure increases with the number of drives used in
the array (stripe width).
As well as data security, RAID 0 risks availability, as the

failure of one disk causes the whole array, and therefore
the server, to fail. You could compensate for this by
duplicating servers (clustering) but only at considerable
expense.
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RAID 1 (Mirroring/Duplexing)
Mirroring requires two hard disks19 and a single disk controller.

The mirror disk is a duplicate of the data disk. Each write operation
is duplicated on the second disk in the set, introducing a small
performance overhead. A read operation can use either disk,
boosting performance somewhat.
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Performance is difficult to quantify but RAID 1 is generally

seen as performing worse than a single drive but better
than higher RAID levels at writes and better than a single
drive but worse than other RAID levels at reads.
17
And ideally in terms of type and performance, though this is not mandatory.
That is, if it is acceptable to rely upon the last backup made for data recovery.
19
It is possible, in some implementations, to add more mirrors (triple-mirrored RAID).
Storage efficiency is very low though.
18
Page 58
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Data123
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This strategy is the simplest way of protecting a single disk against

failure. If one disk fails (degrading the array), the other takes over.
There is little impact on performance during this time (obviously the
boost of having two drives available for read operations is lost), so
availability remains good, but the failed disk should be replaced as
quickly as possible as there is no longer any redundancy. When the
disk is replaced, it must be populated with data from the other disk
(rebuilding). Performance while rebuilding is reduced, though
RAID 1 is better than other levels in that respect and the rebuilding
process is generally shorter than parity-based RAID.
Data123
RAID 1 (Mirroring) - data is written to both disks simultaneously
In terms of cost per gigabyte, disk mirroring is more expensive than

other forms of fault tolerance because disk space utilization is only
50 percent. Also the total volume size cannot exceed the available
capacity of the physical disks. However, for peer-to-peer and
modest server-based LANs or for enterprise workstations, disk
mirroring usually has a lower entry cost because it requires only
two disks and a relatively cheap RAID controller. Stripe sets with
parity (RAID level 5) require three or more disks and the RAID
controllers are more expensive. RAID 1 is also a good choice for
servers where fault tolerant write performance is paramount.
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Duplexing is simply a mirrored pair with an additional disk

controller on the second drive. This reduces channel traffic and
potentially improves performance. Duplexing is intended to protect
against controller failures as well as media failures.
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Data123
Data123
RAID 1 (Duplex mirror) - an extra controller provides redundancy
Page 59
Module 1 / Unit 3
RAID 3 (Striping with Parity Disk)
The use of small byte-level stripe sizes means good performance

with large files and other types of sequential I/O (such as streaming
media files) but poor performance with random access (especially
random write access). The use of a dedicated parity disk can also
impair write performance, as the disk is a bottleneck under heavy
loads.
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RAID 320 uses byte-level striping with a dedicated parity disk. Parity is
extra information recorded by the array so that if one of the disks fails,
the data can be reconstructed from the parity information until a
replacement disk can be added. RAID 3 requires 3 disks - two for the
stripe set and one for the parity information. It can support the failure
of any one of the three disks and performance is not substantially
impaired when the array is degraded. The parity calculations mean
that rebuilding the array can take a long time however.
RAID 4 also uses a dedicated parity disk but uses block-level

striping rather than byte-level striping. As such, it offers almost no
advantages compared to RAID 5 (see below) and consequently is
not widely used.
RAID 5 (Striping with Distributed Parity)
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Striping with parity (RAID 5) is a popular strategy for fault tolerant

designs. It differs from RAID 3 in that it writes parity information
across all the disks in the array. The data and parity information are
managed so that the two are always on different disks. If a single
disk fails, enough information is spread across the remaining disks
to allow the data to be completely reconstructed. Only one disk
failure can be tolerated however and performance while the array is
degraded can be poor. Rebuilding is also lengthy.
Read performance is good, especially for transactional (or random)

I/O. Write performance is better than RAID 3 but worse than
RAID 1.
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Page 60
RAID 2 was never developed into a commercial product.
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Data1
Data3
Parity5-6
Data7
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Data2
Parity3-4
Data5
Data8
Parity1-2
Data4
Data6
Parity7-8
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RAID 5 (Striping with Parity)
RAID 5 requires a minimum of three drives but can be configured

with more. This allows more flexibility in determining the overall
capacity of the array than is possible with RAID 1. A "hard"
maximum number of devices is set by the controller or OS support
but the number of drives used is more likely to be determined by
practicalities such as cost and risk (remember that adding more
disks increases the chance of failure).
RAID 6 (Second Parity)
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If the controller supports it, the risk of disk failure can be

offset by configuring a hot spare (see "Enterprise RAID
Configurations") below.
RAID 6 is like RAID 5 but with two sets of parity information,

meaning that the array can support the simultaneous loss of two
disks before it fails. This improves fault tolerance and availability at
the expense of write performance. Rebuilding the array is still slow
but the backup of a second parity set means that the operation can
be delayed more safely to a convenient time than is the case with
RAID 5. RAID 6 requires a minimum of 4 disks.
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RAID 6 is not that widely deployed however as RAID 5 with a hot

spare or nested RAID are generally seen as providing more
effective solutions.
Page 61
Module 1 / Unit 3
Nested RAID
Nested RAID means configuring an array of arrays (or a spanned
array) to combine the benefits of redundancy and performance.
Nested RAID also allows for larger logical volumes while preserving
fault tolerance. The main drawbacks are that these solutions tend
to use a lot of disk units and require more expensive RAID
controllers.
As described above, RAID 0 is striping with no parity (that is, no

fault tolerance is provided). This provides high throughput, but
leaves the data at risk. RAID 1 provides mirroring; the highest
achievable disk fault tolerance. RAID 0+1 is a combination of both
these configurations. Two stripes sets with no parity are mirrored,
thus providing fault tolerance.
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RAID 0+1 / RAID 1+0 (RAID 10)
This configuration provides for very high throughput and can

support one disk failure in the array. Note that it carries the same
50% disk overhead that mirroring does.
You will need at least four disks to create this configuration and
there must be an even number of disks.
RAID 1+0 (or RAID 10) is a stripe of mirrors. This configuration

offers better fault tolerance (one disk in each mirror can fail and the
array will still function) and consequently is more popular than
RAID 0+1. Sometimes though, the terms are used interchangeably
by vendors.
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Sub-volume (RAID 1)
Volume
(RAID 0)
Data1
Data3
Data5
Data7
Data1
Data3
Data5
Data7
Sub-volume (RAID 1)
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Data2
Data4
Data6
Data8
Data2
Data4
Data6
Data8
RAID 10 - either disk in each of the sub-volumes can fail without bringing down the
main volume
RAID 10 allows for large logical volumes (an array may support up
to 128 disks for instance) and high performance. The main
drawbacks are the 50% disk space utilization and the need for a
costly RAID controller.
Page 62
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
RAID 5+0 (RAID 50)

RAID 5 provides for fault tolerance across a stripe set. It allows for
moderate write performance, good read performance, and
acceptable fault tolerance. RAID 0 gives higher throughput but no
fault tolerance.
Sub-volume (RAID 5)
Data1
Data2
Parity1-2
Data3
Parity3-4
Data4
Parity5-6
Data5
Data6
Data7
Data8
Parity7-8
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RAID 5+0 (or RAID 50) is RAID 5 sets striped across a RAID 0 set.
This provides better performance and fault tolerance. Each of the
RAID 5 stripes can sustain a single disk failure, so in essence, your
single RAID 5+0 array can support multiple disk failures.
Volume
(RAID 0)
Sub-volume (RAID 5)
Data9
Data10
Parity9-10
Data11
Parity11-12
Data12
Parity13-14
Data13
Data14
Data15
Data16
Parity15-16
Sub-volume (RAID 5)
Data17
Data18
Parity17-18
Data19
Parity19-20
Data20
Parity21-22
Data21
Data22
Data23
Data24
Parity23-24
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RAID 50 - data is striped (RAID 0) across three RAID 5 subvolumes of three disks
each; one disk in each subvolume can fail without data loss
A minimum of six disks is required, the number of disks must have

factors that are two integers (for example, RAID 5+0 could use 10
disks but not 11), and one integer must be 2 or greater and the
other integer 3 or greater. The configuration of the array determines
fault tolerance and capacity. For example, an array with 2 sets of 6
disks has better storage efficiency but worse fault tolerance than an
array of 4 sets of 3 disks.
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The main advantage of RAID 5+0 is the support for very large fault
tolerant volumes with better storage efficiency than RAID 1+0. The
main disadvantage is that the controllers that can support RAID
5+0 are at the top end of the market and consequently very costly.
Write performance will generally be lower than RAID 1+0 but read
performance (especially random reads) will be better.
Page 63
Module 1 / Unit 3
RAID 5+1
RAID 5+1 (or RAID 51) is mirroring RAID 5 arrays. This provides
outstanding fault tolerance and availability, but is complex to
implement and expensive; as well as the cost of the controller, the
array is likely to have below 50% storage efficiency.
Calculating Usable Storage
If the disks are different sizes, the size used is that of the
smallest disk. Extra disk space on larger drives is wasted.
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The following table shows how to calculate the amount of disk space
available when using commonly implemented RAID configurations.
RAID Level
Usable Disk Space
Total space of all disks in stripe set. For example, 3 disks

each 80 GB in size would result in a 240 GB volume.
Level 1
Half of the disk space on the disks is available. One disk

is a copy of the other. Therefore, if you implement RAID 1
with two 80 GB disks, you end up with 80 GB of storage
available.
Level 3
Level 4
One disk is used for parity so the total available space is

the capacity of all the drives but one.
Level 5+0
This is the same as for RAID 1:

(Drive Size * # Drives) / 2 (or half)
Level 1+0
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Level 0+1
(# Drives - 1) * Drive Size for RAID 5 or (# Drives - 2) *

Drive Size for RAID 6. The level of fault tolerance and
available disk space are inverse. As you add disks to the
set, fault tolerance decreases but usable disk space
increases21. If you configure a RAID 5 set using 3 disks,
of each disk is set aside for parity; if four are used, is
reserved on each disk. Using a three 80 GB disk
configuration would create a 160 GB usable volume.
Level 5
Level 6
Level 0
The array capacity is:

Drive Size * (# Drives per Set -1) * # Sets.
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The storage efficiency is:
(# Drives per Set -1) / # Drives per Set
For example, in an array of 12x80 GB disks, a 2x6-disk array

gives a capacity of 800 GB (80*(6-1)*2) - 83% efficiency. A 3x4disk array has a capacity of 720 GB - 75% efficiency.
21
Remember that a RAID 5 array can only sustain a single drive failure; RAID 6 can
sustain two drive failures. The more drives there are in a set, the higher the risk is that
one will fail.
Page 64
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Implementing RAID
It is possible to implement RAID using either hardware or software.
Hardware Solutions
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A hardware solution means that creating volumes from an array of

physical disks is an operation supported by a plug-in controller card
or by the motherboard22, independently of the installed operating
system. Hardware solutions are principally differentiated by their
support for RAID levels. Entry-level controllers might support only
RAID 0 or RAID 1, mid-level controllers might add support for RAID
5, RAID 6, and RAID 1+0, while the top-end would add support for
RAID 5+0 and RAID 5+1. Vendors may also define proprietary
RAID levels and solutions.
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In addition, some hardware implementations allow you to replace a

failed drive without shutting down the system. Another advantage
of hardware-based RAID is that the operating system sees the
array as one volume. This allows you to install the operating
system onto an array, which isn't always possible when using
software arrays. The disadvantages of a hardware implementation
are that they can be more expensive than software solutions and
may lock you into a single vendor solution.
A RAID controller may have the following performance-boosting

components:
Processor - a true RAID controller card comes with a CPU to
handle the I/O and parity calculations, reducing the load on the
server's main CPU.
Cache - memory in which to store read/write operations that

cannot be processed quickly enough. This improves the
throughput of the RAID controller. However, using write cache
reduces fault tolerance because in the event of a power failure,
data in the cache will be lost.
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The cache can usually be allocated flexibly between read and

write operations to reflect the server role. This will usually be
set to 50/50 by default but could be changed using the array
configuration software to 80/20 for instance or to 100/0 or 0/100
to completely disable write or read cache respectively.
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High-end RAID controllers feature an on-board battery (which

can supply power for between 24 and 72 hours) to mitigate this
risk. Otherwise, the write cache can be disabled via the
management program or the card's BIOS setup.
22
Zero Channel RAID is a low cost card for use where the motherboard has its own
SCSI channels. This reduces the cost and size of the adapter card. RAIDIOS (RAID
Input/Output Steering) is an Intel standard for ZCR motherboard and card design.
Page 65
Module 1 / Unit 3
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HP RAID controller card with battery-backed cache
Having installed the controller and connected the drives, the next
step would be to boot the server and access the low-level RAID
Array Configuration Utility stored on the controller's firmware this is usually accessed by a key combo such as Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C,
or F8. This utility will allow you to choose which drives to use as
part of an array and in what configuration (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5,
or RAID 10 for instance).
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Configuring RAID on a Dell server
Some utilities might be set to apply a default configuration

automatically - for example if there are two drives it
selects RAID 1 and if there are three or more it selects
RAID 5.
Having configured the array, the next step would be to use the
operating system setup software to configure formatted partitions or
volumes on the array and install the OS.
Page 66
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
NOS setup, file formats, and disk utilities are covered in

Units 1.4 and 2.3
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When the OS is installed, you can install the graphical RAID

management software. This will allow you to monitor the health of
the array, add or remove disks, rebuild a degraded array, configure
the cache, and so on. High-end controllers and management
software may support additional functions (see "Enterprise RAID
Configurations" below).
HP RAID configuration utility
Software Solutions
RAID Level
OS Support
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Many operating systems provide the option to configure disk arrays

into logical volumes using standard disks and controllers. The
following table lists the general level of support for software RAID in
Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X:
Level 1
Windows Client / Windows Server / Linux / Mac

OS X
Level 5
Windows Server / Linux
Level 6
Linux
Level 1+0
Linux / Mac OS X
Other
nested
Linux supports most types of nested RAID
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Windows Client / Windows Server / Linux / Mac

OS X
Level 0
23
Windows uses the Dynamic Disks feature to support striped and mirrored volumes.
This is not available on any "Home" edition and cannot be used on laptops.
Page 67
Module 1 / Unit 3
A software solution is considerably cheaper, as RAID controller

cards can be very expensive. The capacity of multi-core CPUs
means that a software solution may be able to compete on
performance with hardware RAID solutions (especially with budget
hardware RAID24). Also, a software solution could combine older
IDE/ATA and SCSI disks in an array.
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Another feature of operating systems is the ability to create logical

volumes that span multiple physical disks. This is referred to as
Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD). Unlike RAID 0, data in a spanned
volume is usually written to each disk sequentially rather than
striped across all the disks in the set, so there are no performance
benefits. However, like RAID 0, if any disk underpinning the volume
fails, the whole volume will fail. Consequently, this is not a
configuration that is used too often25.
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Enterprise RAID Configurations
Most hardware vendors, such as Dell and HP, provide server

configurations for small businesses which include a RAID controller
and a basic disk configuration which allows the installer to
configure RAID - implementing RAID 1 with 2 disks or RAID 5
across 3 disks being fairly typical approaches. The operating
system, of course, sees only a single hard disk, and the vendor will
provide software tools to monitor and configure the RAID controller.
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In addition, because hardware RAID has been implemented, the

administrator will be able to hot swap the damaged disk (replace
the failed unit without shutting down the OS), thereby keeping the
system operational all the time. When the new disk is installed, the
RAID controller transparently synchronizes it with the remaining
disks in the set.
At a lower entry-level, an administrator could implement RAID

using software provided by the vendor. The advantage is slightly
reduced cost, but because the OS is responsible for distributing
data across the set, it involves workload, which has a performance
impact on the server. In addition, if a disk fails, the server would
need to be shut down for the disk to be replaced, and that defeats
the object of fault tolerance.
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These two scenarios deal with small business solutions - buying an

off-the-shelf RAID controller and a minimal number of disks. Both
these solutions present the network administrator with a potential
problem in the future - expansion.
24
Some motherboard RAID solutions are "fake RAID"; that is, they are advertized as a
RAID controller but actually only provide multiple disk channels and offload all the
processing to the main CPU. Fake RAID controllers do not support battery-backed
cache (though not all controllers without battery-backed cache are "fake").
25
One possible use is to "rescue" an OS that has run out of disk space. It should only
be seen as a stopgap measure though.
Page 68
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
All these configurations suffer from the same problem; space

cannot be added. Once a mirror or stripe set (with or without parity)
has been configured, the volume created remains fixed in size. The
only way to extend the volume is to back up the data, remove the
volume, add a new disk to add space, then create a new volume restoring the data to the new, bigger volume26.
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Enterprise systems utilize more advanced and flexible schemes for

disk configuration. Some of these schemes allow for the expansion
of sets with total transparency to the user, and no downtime for the
server. For example:
Hot swapping - the ability to add or remove disks while the server
is operational.
Hot spare - this is one or more drives that are installed in the
server but not actively used as part of the array. If the controller
detects a drive failure, it switches a hot spare into the array
automatically and starts to rebuild it. While expensive in terms of
provisioning, this reduces risk in situations where it would be
difficult for a technician to physically add a new drive within an
acceptable time frame.
Online Capacity Extension - OCE allows an administrator to

extend the volume without needing to start over. The administrator
can add one, or more, disks to a RAID configuration at any time,
increasing the available usable disk space.
Online RAID Level Migration - ORLM allows an administrator to

change the RAID level (from RAID 1 to RAID 5 for instance).
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Consider the benefits in this scenario. Your server was installed

with an off-the-shelf RAID 5 configuration, utilizing three disks, and
has performed reasonably well. However, the nature of RAID 5 is
that disk writes are fairly slow. You need to improve the
throughput. By adding a single new disk, while the system is online
(hot swap), you can configure a RAID 10 volume (ORLM),
improving the volume's write throughput.
Other enterprise class RAID features include:
Drive Roaming - the ability to move disks from one server to

another without downing that server. The array system keeps track
of where the disk is. This might be useful in situations where large
volumes of data need to be shifted from server to server.
Controller spanning - allows an array to encompass disks that

are attached to multiple controllers. There are practical limits to
the number of devices a single controller can support.
Supporting multiple controllers extends these limits.
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26
A mirror can be "broken" without the need to backup and restore. However, the disk
that makes up the mirror will still need to be made bigger, which means a new disk.
Page 69
Module 1 / Unit 3
n-way mirroring - this allow for a mirror to contain more than 2

copies - in fact, it contains n copies. This provides for very high
fault tolerance at the expense of extremely low storage
efficiency.
Array splitting - this feature allows an administrator to remove

(without impacting function of the server) any of the disks in the
array.
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Installing Drives in a RAID Array

It is best (and may be required, especially for a proprietary
hardware RAID solution) for all drives in an array to be the same
size and model.
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When replacing a failed drive in a RAID array, take

extreme caution to remove the correct drive. The
consequences of removing a working drive if the array
supports only one drive failure should be obvious. The
failed drive should be made obvious through a red LED.
If adding drives to the array, verify that the controller supports

additions.
Once a drive has been added or replaced, reboot to check that the
drive has been recognized. The management software may rebuild
the array automatically or you may need to start the process
manually.
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If upgrading the RAID controller, make sure you backup data first
and research the manufacturer's instructions thoroughly. It may be
possible to migrate the existing configuration and data from one
controller to another, but you cannot depend on this being the case
and so must plan to have to rebuild the array and restore data from
backup.
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As well as installing the controller adapter card, you may need to

update the firmware on the controller. The firmware level of the
controller is displayed at boot time during the POST sequence or
will be reported to management software.
In some cases, you may want also want to update the firmware on
the hard drives themselves. Firmware updates might fix
performance or reliability issues, especially if the disks belong to a
new model or use a relatively new technology, such as SSDs.
Most vendors now provide software tools for updating the firmware
on disks and controllers, making the process much simpler than
before.
Page 70
Study Notes
Storage and RAID
Review Questions
Module 1 / Unit 3 / Storage and RAID
Answer the following questions. The correct answers are in the
"Labs and References" volume.
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1) True or false? LFF and SFF represent two different fixed drive
technologies?
False - they are different hard drive form factors (3.5" versus
2.5"). SSDs (Solid State Drives) are the alternative to HDDs.
2) How would you expect hot-pluggable drives to be attached to a

server?
Through a backplane (the drive "mates" to a port on the
backplane without requiring cabling).
Run lab 1 after completing

the review questions with
the students.
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3) What type of SCSI hard disk subsystem would you expect to be

provisioned on a new server - SAS or Ultra320?
SAS. Ultra320 is a type of parallel SCSI and is no longer used
for hard disks (legacy servers may use it though and it is still
an option for provisioning tape drives).
4) What are the main issues to consider when configuring a parallel

SCSI bus?
Ensure all devices use a compatible SCSI standard and
signaling type, set termination correctly, and configure each
device with a unique SCSI ID.
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5) True or false? SATA and SAS use compatible connectors.

True, though an SAS device cannot be connected to an SATA
port.
6) What type of fault tolerant RAID is most likely to be provided on

low-end controllers?
RAID 1 (and often RAID 10 too). Remember that RAID 0 is not
fault tolerant.
8) What feature of a RAID controller card mitigates the risk of

incomplete disk writes being lost because of power failure?
Battery-backed cache.
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7) If each drive is 120 GB, what is the capacity of a RAID 6 array

consisting of 7 drives?
600 GB - (7-2)*120.
9) What distinguished JBOD from RAID?

Just a Bunch of Disks spans multiple disks but doesn't use
striping, mirroring, or parity to improve performance or
provide fault tolerance.
Page 71
Study Notes
Index
Index
Where a term or phrase is abbreviated, the abbreviation is the form listed in the index.
Note that index references are made to the nearest main heading for the topic in which
the term appears.
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*nix .................................. 73
.NET .............................. 192
1
3
32-bit versus 64-bit ........ 274
8mm Tape ..................... 371
Backplane ................ 41, 273

Backplane Failure .......... 327
Backup .......... 364, 367, 375
Backup Security ............ 370
Bad Cables .................... 333
Bad Sectors ................... 326
Bank .............................. 285
Banking Plate ................ 291
Bare Metal Backup ........ 366
Bare Metal Hypervisor ... 202
Baseline ................... 28, 229
Beep Codes ................... 322
Best Practice ................... 34
Biometrics ...................... 154
BIOS ...................... 295, 297
Blackout ......................... 247
Blade ................................. 9
BMC............................... 222
Bonding ......................... 107
Bootloader ....................... 76
BOOTMGR ...................... 76
Broadcast ...................... 110
Brownout ....................... 247
BSOD ............................ 345

BTU ............................... 262
Bus Types and Speeds . 291
Business Impact
Assessment ................... 350
Bypass Procedures ....... 258
C
Cable Problems ............. 327
Cabling .......................... 264
Cache ............................ 276
Cache (Read/Write Levels)
......................................... 65
Cache Failure ................ 331
Cache Turned Off .......... 332
Caching Engine ............. 168
Camera Card ................. 292
Can Reach By IP not By
Host Name..................... 338
Cannot Access Logical
Drive .............................. 326
CAS Latency.................. 285
CCTV ............................. 158
Centralized Administration
....................................... 207
Centronics ....................... 48
Change Control ............... 29
CHAP ............................. 189
Chassis Intrusion ........... 268
Checklist ........................ 267
chkdsk ........................... 148
CIM ................................ 222
Circuit-Level Gateway ... 167
CISC .............................. 274
Classful Subnet ............. 111
Classification of Systems
....................................... 361
Cloud Computing ........... 206
Clusters ......................... 354
CMOS ............ 295, 296, 298
CMOS Battery ............... 321
Cold Site ........................ 361
Component Failure ........ 333
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AAA Server.................... 189

Access Logs .................. 158
ACL 118, 128, 132, 166, 194
Active Cooling ............... 260
Active Directory ............. 118
Active Termination .......... 48
Adapter Teaming ........... 107
Addressing .................... 111
Administration ................. 31
Administrator ................. 119
Agents ........................... 220
AGP ............................... 291
Air Conditioning ............. 262
Air Flow ........................... 13
Alarms ................... 156, 358
Altiris ................................ 84
AMD versus Intel ........... 278
Anti-Virus Software ....... 171
Apache .......................... 193
Application Exception .... 167
Application Layer ........... 109
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10G Ethernet ................. 104
Application Layer Gateway

....................................... 167
Application Server ......... 191
Application Virtualization 206
Archive Attribute ............ 367
Archiving ........................ 367
ARP ............................... 108
Array Management .......... 65
Array Rebuild ................. 332
ASPI ................................ 52
Asset Management ......... 31
Attached Devices ............ 97
ATX................................ 248
Audio ............................. 292
Authentication ................ 118
AutoLoader .................... 372
Availability ....................... 30
Page 379
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CompTIA Server+ Certification

Support Skills (2009 Objectives)
Instructor Edition
Labs and References
G601Teng ver062
Acknowledgements
Course Developer ......................................................... gtslearning
Editor ..................................................................... James Pengelly
This courseware is owned, published, and distributed by gtslearning, the
worlds only specialist supplier of CompTIA learning solutions.
sales@gtslearning.com
+44 (0)20 7887 7999 +44 (0)20 7887 7988
Three Elysium Gate, 126-128 New Kings Road, London, SW6 4LZ, UK
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www.gtslearning.com
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
CompTIA Server+ Objectives
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Domain 1.0 System Hardware ........................................................................................... 1

Domain 2.0 Software ......................................................................................................... 3
Domain 3.0 Storage........................................................................................................... 4
Domain 4.0 IT Environment ............................................................................................... 5
Domain 5.0 Disaster Recovery .......................................................................................... 6
Domain 6.0 Troubleshooting.............................................................................................. 6
Exam Tips
Labs
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Registering for the Test ..................................................................................................... 9

Taking the Test.................................................................................................................. 9
After the Test ................................................................................................................... 10
Retaking the Test ............................................................................................................ 10
55
Answers to Review Questions
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Module 1 / Planning Servers ............................................................................................ 55

Module 2 / Configuring Servers ....................................................................................... 58
Module 3 / Application Servers ........................................................................................ 61
Module 4 / Managing and Upgrading Servers .................................................................. 62
Module 5 / Troubleshooting Servers ................................................................................ 65
Glossary
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Labs and References

The material in this course will help you to learn and practice the
CompTIA Server+ Certification Examination Objectives (Exam
Code: SK0-003 / Release Date: April 2009).
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It is CompTIA's policy to update the exam regularly with

new test items to deter fraud. The exam objectives may
therefore describe the current "Edition" of the exam with a
date different to that of the objectives. Please note that
this training material remains valid for the dated
objectives, regardless of the exam edition.
Students should use these

tables to help to revise for
the exam.
Stress that the training
material remains current for
the stated exam code,
regardless of the date or
edition appearing on the
exam.
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The exam syllabus is divided into domains. Questions in the exam

are designed to reflect the weighting assigned to each domain:
Domain
% of Exam
21%
2.0 Software
19%
3.0 Storage
14%
4.0 IT Environment
11%
1.0 System Hardware
5.0 Disaster Recovery
11%
6.0 Troubleshooting
24%
Domain 1.0 System Hardware

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The following tables list where the domain objectives and content
examples of the exam syllabus are covered in this course.
4.3 Installing and

Upgrading
Hardware
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1.1 Server
Fundamentals
1.1 Differentiate between system board types, features,

components and their purposes
Dip switches / jumpers Processor (single and multi) Bus
types and bus speeds On board components (NICs, Video,
Audio, USB, HID, Serial, Parallel) Expansion slots (PCI,
PCIe, PCI-X, AGP, ISA) BIOS Riser Card / backplane
Storage connectors (SCSI, SATA, IDE, Floppy)
1.2 Deploy different chassis types and the appropriate
components
Form Factor [tower, rack, blade] (Space utilization ([U size,
height, width, depth]) Power buttons Reset buttons
Diagnostic LEDs
Cooling (Fans, Water cooled, Passive, Active, Shroud, Ducts,
Redundant cooling, Hot swappable, Ventilation) Power
(Connectors, Voltages, Phase) Redundant power
Shut off switches - chassis intrusion Expansion bays
Refer To
4.2 Environment
/ Maintenance
4.3 Installing
Hardware
Page 1
Labs
Refer To
1.3 Differentiate between memory features / types and

given a scenario select appropriate memory
RAID and hot spares
Memory pairing ECC vs. non ECC Registered vs. nonregistered Types (DDR, Fully buffered DIMM, DDR2,
SDRAM, DDR3) Memory compatibility (Speed, Size, Pins,
CAS latency, Timing, Vendor specific memory) Onboard vs.
riser card
1.4 Explain the importance of a Hardware Compatibility
List (HCL)
Vendor standards for hardware Memory and processor
compatibility Expansion cards compatibility
Virtualization requirements
1.3 Storage and

RAID
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1.5 Differentiate between processor features / types and

given a scenario select the appropriate processor
Heat dissipation (heat sinks, fans, liquid cooling)
Multicore Multiprocessor Cache levels Stepping Speed
VRMs Execute disable (XD) or not execute (NX)
HyperThreading VT or AMD-V AMD vs. Intel (noncompatible CPUs) Processor architecture (RISC, CISC)
Vendor slot types 64bit vs. 32 bit
1.6 Given a scenario, install appropriate expansion cards
into a server while taking fault tolerance into
consideration
Storage controller [SCSI, SATA, RAID] (SCSI low voltage /
high voltage [LVD/HVD], SCSI IDs, Cables and connectors,
Active vs. passive termination)
Manufacturer specific (Fax cards, PBX cards, Camera cards,
VoIP) HBAs NICs Video Audio Port expansion cards
(USB, IEEE 1394, Serial, Parallel)
1.7 Install, update and configure appropriate firmware
Driver / hardware compatibility Implications of a failed
firmware upgrade (redundant BIOS) Follow manufacturer
instructions and documentation
4.3 Installing and

Upgrading
Hardware
1.4 Installing an
NOS
3.2 Virtualization
Technologies
4.2 Environment
and
Maintenance
4.3 Installing and
Upgrading
Hardware
1.3 Storage and
RAID
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4.3 Installing and

Upgrading
Hardware
4.3 Installing and
Upgrading
Hardware
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Labs and References
Domain 2.0 Software

Refer To
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2.1 Install, deploy, configure and update NOS

(Windows / *nix)
Installation methods (optical media, USB, network share,
PXE) Imaging system cloning and deployment (Ghost,
RIS/WDS, Altiris) Bootloader File systems (FAT,
FAT32, NTFS, VMFS, ZFS, EXT3) Driver installation
(Driver acquisition, Installation methods, Require media)
Configure NOS (Device, OS environmental settings)
Patch management
Configure NOS (Initial network)
Configure NOS (User)
Configure NOS (Roles, Applications and tools)
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Imaging system cloning and deployment (Virtualization

templates)
2.1 Server
Networking
2.2 Directory
Services
3.1
Configuring
Server Roles
3.2
Virtualization
Technologies
2.3 File and
Print Services
2.5 Server
Security
2.2 Directory
Services
2.2 Explain NOS security software and its features

Basics of file level permissions vs. share permissions
Software firewall (Port blocking, Application exception,
ACL) Malware protection software (Antivirus,
Antispyware)
2.3 Given a scenario, implement and administer NOS
management features based on procedures and
guidelines
User management (Add and remove users, Group
memberships, Policies, Logon scripts)
User management (Setting permissions) Resource
management (ACLs, Quotas, Shadow volumes, Disk
management)
Resource management (Performance monitoring,
Baselining) Monitoring [tools and agents] (SNMP
[MIBs], WBEM [WMI])
1.4 Installing
an NOS
Database server Web server Messaging server

DHCP server DNS server Application server
(Dedicated, Distributed, Peer to peer) Remote access
server NTP server
1.4 Installing
an NOS
2.2 Directory
Services
2.3 File and
Print Services
2.5 Server
Security
3.1
Configuring
Server Roles
Application server (Proxy server, Filtering server)
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File and print server
4.1
Management
and
Monitoring
Tools
1.1 Server
Fundamentals
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how they interact
Explain the difference between a workstation, desktop
and a server
Application server (Update server) Server shut down
and start up sequence (one server vs. multiple servers
vs. attached components)
Directory services server
2.3 File and

Print Services
Page 3
Labs

how they interact
Virtualized services
Application server (Monitoring server)
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2.5 Summarize server virtualization concepts,

features and considerations
Resource utilization Configuration Interconnectivity
Management server Reasons for virtualization (Cost
benefits, Redundancy, Green initiative, Disaster recovery,
Testing environment, Ease of deployment)
2.6 Describe common elements of networking
essentials
TCP/IP (Subnetting, DNS, DHCP, Classes, Gateways,
Static vs. dynamic, IP stack, Ports) Ethernet (Types,
Speeds, Cables) VLAN
DMZ
VPN
Refer To
3.2
Virtualization
Technologies
4.1
Management
and
Monitoring
Tools
3.2
Virtualization
Technologies
2.1 Server
Networking
2.5 Server
Security
3.1
Configuring
Server Roles
Domain 3.0 Storage
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3.1 Describe RAID technologies and its features and

benefits
Hot spare Software vs. hardware Cache read/write
levels (data loss potential) Performance benefits and
tradeoffs
3.2 Given a scenario, select the appropriate RAID
level
0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 50 Performance benefits and tradeoffs
3.3 Install and configure different internal storage
technologies
Hot swappable vs. non-hot swappable SCSI, Ultra
SCSI, Ultra320 (termination), LUNs SAS, SATA Flash
Controller (firmware levels) Hard drive (firmware,
JBOD)
Floppy (USB)
Refer To
1.3 Storage
and RAID
1.3 Storage
and RAID
1.3 Storage
and RAID
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Tape Optical (DVD, DVD-R, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW,

Blu-Ray)
3.4 Summarize the purpose of external storage
technologies
Network attached storage Storage area network
Transport media (iSCSI, SATA, SAS, SCSI, Fiber
Channel)
Tape library WORM Optical jukebox
4.3 Installing
and
Upgrading
Hardware
5.3 Disaster
Recovery
2.3 File and
Print Services
5.3 Disaster
Recovery
Labs and References
Domain 4.0 IT Environment

Refer To
4.1 Write, utilize and maintain documentation,

diagrams and procedures
Follow pre-installation plan when building or upgrading
servers Labeling Diagram server racks and
environment topologies Hardware and software
upgrade, installation, configuration, server role and repair
logs Document server baseline (before and after
service) Original hardware configuration, service tags,
asset management and warranty Vendor specific
documentation (Reference proper manuals, Websites,
Support channels [list of vendors])
4.2 Given a scenario, explain the purpose of the
following industry best practices
Follow vendor specific server best practices
(Documentation, Tools, Websites) Explore ramifications
before implementing change determine organizational
impact Communicate with stakeholders before taking
action and upon completion of action Comply with all
local laws / regulations, industry and corporate
regulations Purpose of Service Level Agreement (SLAs)
Follow change control procedures Equipment disposal
4.3 Determine an appropriate physical environment
for the server location
Check for adequate and dedicated power, proper
amperage and voltage, (UPS systems [check load,
document service, periodic testing], UPS specifications
[run time, max load, bypass procedures, server
communication and shut down, proper monitoring])
Server cooling considerations HVAC (Adequate cooling
in room, Adequate cooling in server rack, Temperature
and humidity monitors)
4.4 Implement and configure different methods of
server access
KVM (local and IP based) Direct connect Remote
management (Remote control, Administration, Software
deployment, Dedicated management port)
4.5 Given a scenario, classify physical security
measures for a server location
Secure documentation related to servers (Passwords,
System configurations, Logs)
Physical server security (Locked doors, Rack doors,
CCTV, Mantraps, Security personnel) Access control
devices (RFID, keypads, pinpads) Biometric devices
(fingerprint scanner, retina) Security procedures
(Limited access, Access logs, Limited hours) Defense
in-depth multiple layers of defense Reasons for
physical security (Theft, Data loss, Hacking)
1.2
Configuration
Management
1.2
Configuration
Management
4.2
Environment
and
Maintenance
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4.1
Management
and
Monitoring
Tools
1.2
Configuration
Management
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2.4 Site
Security
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Labs
Domain 5.0 Disaster Recovery

5.3 Disaster
Recovery
5.3 Disaster
Recovery
5.3 Disaster
Recovery
5.3 Disaster
Recovery
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5.1 Compare and contrast backup and restoration

methodologies, media types and concepts
Methodologies [full, incremental, differential] (Snapshot,
Copy, Bare metal, Open file, Databases, Data vs. OS
restore, Rotation and retention [grandfather, father and
son]) Media types (Tape, Disk, WORM, Optical, Flash)
Backup security and off-site storage Importance of
testing the backup and restoration process
5.2 Given a scenario, compare and contrast the
different types of replication methods
Disk to disk Server to server (Clustering, Active/active,
Active/passive) Site to site Site types (Cold site, Hot
site, Warm site, Distance requirements)
5.3 Explain data retention and destruction concepts
Awareness of potential legal requirements Awareness
of potential company policy requirements Differentiate
between archiving and backup
5.4 Given a scenario, carry out the following basic
steps of a disaster recovery plan
Disaster recovery testing process Follow emergency
procedures (people first) Use appropriate fire
suppressants Follow escalation procedures for
emergencies Classification of systems (prioritization
during recovery)
Refer To
Domain 6.0 Troubleshooting

Refer To
6.1 Explain troubleshooting theory and

methodologies
Identify the problem and determine the scope
(Question users/stakeholders and identify changes to
the server / environment, Collect additional
documentation / logs, If possible, replicate the problem
as appropriate, If possible, perform backups before
making changes) Establish a theory of probable
cause [question the obvious] (Determine whether there
is a common element to symptoms causing multiple
problems) Test the theory to determine cause (Once
theory is confirmed determine next steps to resolve
problem, If theory is not confirmed re-establish new
theory or escalate) Establish a plan of action to
resolve the problem and notify impacted users
Implement the solution or escalate as appropriate
(Make one change at a time and test/confirm the
change has resolved the problem, If the problem is not
resolved, reverse the change if appropriate and
implement new change) Verify full system functionality
and if applicable implement preventative measures
Perform a root cause analysis Document findings,
actions and outcomes throughout the process
5.1
Troubleshooting
Procedures
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Labs and References
Refer To
6.2 Given a scenario, effectively troubleshoot

hardware problems, selecting the appropriate tools
and methods
Environmental issues (Dust, Humidity, Temperature,
Power surge / failure)
Hardware tools (ESD equipment)
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Common problems (Failed POST, Overheating,

Memory failure, Onboard component failure, Processor
failure, Incorrect boot sequence, Expansion card
failure, Operating system not found, Drive failure,
Power supply failure, I/O failure) Causes of common
problems (Third party components or incompatible
components, Incompatible or incorrect BIOS, Cooling
failure, Mismatched components, Backplane failure
Hardware tools (Power supply tester [multimeter],
System board tester, Compressed air)
software problems, selecting the appropriate tools
and methods
Software tools (Defragmentation tools)
Software tools (System logs, Monitoring tools [resource
monitor, performance monitor])
4.3 Installing
and Upgrading
Hardware
5.2
Troubleshooting
Scenarios
2.3 File and

Print Services
4.1
Management
and Monitoring
Tools
5.2
Troubleshooting
Scenarios
Common problems (User unable to logon, User cannot

access resources, Memory leak, BSOD / stop, OS boot
failure, Driver issues, Runaway process, Cannot mount
drive, Cannot write to system log, Slow OS
performance, Patch update failure, Service failure,
Hangs no shut down, Users cannot print) Cause of
common problems (Malware, Unauthorized software,
Software firewall, User Account Control [UAC/SUDO],
Improper permissions, Corrupted files, Lack of hard
drive space, Lack of system resources, Virtual memory
[misconfigured, corrupt], Fragmentation, Encryption,
Print server drivers/services, Print spooler)
6.4 Given a scenario, effectively diagnose network
problems, selecting the appropriate tools and
methods
Networking tools (net use / mount)
Common problems (Internet connectivity failure, Email
failure, Resource unavailable, DHCP server misconfigured, non-functional, or unreachable, Destination
host unreachable, Unknown host, Default gateway misconfigured, Failure of service provider, Can reach by IP
not by host name) Causes of common problems
(Improper IP configuration, VLAN configuration, Port
security, Improper subnetting, Component failure,
Incorrect OS route tables, Bad cables, Firewall [misconfiguration, hardware failure, software failure], Misconfigured NIC, routing / switch issues, DNS and/or
DHCP failure, Mis-configured hosts file Networking
tools (ping, tracert / traceroute, ipconfig / ifconfig,
nslookup, route, nbtstat, netstat)
4.2
Environment
and
Maintenance
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Print Services
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5.2
Troubleshooting
Scenarios
Page 7
Labs
Refer To

storage problems, selecting the appropriate tools
and methods
Storage tools (RAID array management, Array
management)
Storage tools (Partitioning tools, Disk management,
System logs, Net use / Mount command, Monitoring
tools)
Common problems (Slow file access, OS not found,
Data not available, Error lights, Unable to mount the
device, Drive not available, Cannot access logical drive,
Data corruption, Slow I/O performance, Cache failure,
Multiple drive failure) Causes of common problems
(Media failure, Drive failure, Controller failure, HBA
failure, Loose connectors, Cable problems, Misconfiguration, Improper termination, Corrupt boot
sector, Corrupt file system table, Array rebuild,
Improper disk partition, Bad sectors, Cache battery
failure, Cache turned off, Insufficient space, Improper
RAID configuration, Mis-matched drives, Backplane
failure)
Common problems (Unsuccessful backup, Restore
failure)
1.3 Storage and

RAID
2.3 File and

Print Services
5.2
Troubleshooting
Scenarios
5.3 Disaster
Recovery
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Labs and References
Exam Tips
Exam Tips
Registering for the Test
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Two commercial organizations currently administer the CompTIA

Strata exams - VUE and Prometric. You can locate a test center
using the links on CompTIA's website:
www.comptia.org/certifications/testprep/testingcenters.aspx
Arrive at the test center at least 15 minutes before the test is

scheduled.
The test center administrator will demonstrate how to use the
computer-based test system.
You must have two forms of ID - one with picture, both with
signature, preferably with your private address (driving license,
passport, and so on).
Books, calculators, laptops, PDAs, or other reference materials

are not allowed.
Pens, pencils, and paper are not required! You must not
attempt to write down questions or remove anything from the
exam room.
It is CompTIA's policy to make reasonable accommodations for

individuals with disabilities.
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Try to allocate some time to

discuss the format of the
exam.
Make sure students
understand that "unscored"
items will appear that may
test things that are not part
of the exam objectives.
For example, exam items
that have been written for
the next version of the exam
objectives are often
"seeded" into the current
exams to gather
psychometric data to check
their validity.
Remind students that free
practice exams are
available at
www.gtssupport.com/
flower27/SK0-003/index.htm
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Taking the Test
There are 100 questions which must be answered in 90

minutes. The passing score is 750 on a scale of 100-900.
Read each question and its option answers carefully. Don't rush
through the exam as you'll probably have more time at the end
than you expect.
At the other end of the scale, don't get "stuck" on a question

and start to panic. You can mark questions for review and come
back to them.
As the exam tests your ability to recall facts and to apply them
sensibly in a scenario, there will be questions where you cannot
recall the correct answer from memory. Adopt the following
strategy for dealing with these questions:
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Labs
Narrow your choices down by eliminating obviously wrong

answers.
Don't guess too soon! You must select not only a correct
answer, but the best answer. It is therefore important that
you read all of the options and not stop when you find an
option that is correct. It may be impractical compared to
another answer.
Use information and insights that you've acquired in working

through the entire test to go back and answer earlier items
that you weren't sure of.
Think your answer is wrong - should change it? Studies

indicate that when students change their answers they
usually change them to the wrong answer. If you were fairly
certain you were correct the first time, leave the answer as it
is.
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Don't leave any questions unanswered! If you really don't know

the answer, just guess.
The exam may contain "unscored" questions, which may even

be outside the exam objectives. These questions do not count
towards your score.
After the Test
A score report will be generated and a copy printed for you by

the test administrator. The score report will show whether you
have passed or failed and your score in each section. Make
sure you retain the report!
5 days after passing the exam, go to www.comptia.org/careerid

and create an account (or log on to an existing account) using
the information in your score report. You can use this site to
order your certificate.
If 6 weeks have passed after ordering your certificate and you

haven't received it, contact questions@comptia.org
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Retaking the Test
If you do fail the test at the first attempt, then you can retake it at
your convenience. However, should you fail the test at the second,
third, or subsequent try, you will not be able to resit the exam for at
least 30 days after your last attempt. Study your score report to see
which areas of the exam you were weak on.
Page 10
Labs and References
Labs
Labs
Lab 1
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Configuring RAID
In this lab, you will set up and investigate the server computer and
use the configuration utility to create a virtual disk on a RAID array.
Exercise 1 - Investigating the Storage Components
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In this exercise you will investigate how the drives are attached to
the motherboard. The steps assume you are working on a tower
form factor server with a hot-pluggable backplane. Your instructor
will advise you if there are any special steps to take with the
servers available in your training room.
1) Remove the panels covering the chassis - most servers allow
tool free access but you may need to use a key to unlock the
chassis or a screwdriver to remove the panels.
2) Observe the drive caddies and the mechanism for releasing

them. Eject one of the drives and observe the ports at the back
and on the backplane. What type of drive is it?
__________________________________________________
Duration - 30 minutes
The servers should be
made available at each
students' work area, ideally
with service documentation
(key service information is
usually printed on the
reverse of the main panel).
Cables should be
disconnected from the
chassis and left for the
student to select.
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It is assumed that all the

servers are SATA or SAS. If
you have any parallel SCSI
systems, show how SCSI
IDs and termination is
configured.
3) Fit the drive back into the same slot, making sure its locking
lever is properly in place.
For example, two drives

allows RAID 1, three drives
allows RAID 5, four drives
allows RAID 5, RAID 6,
RAID 10, etc.
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4) Make a note of the number of drive and free bays and

consequently the RAID configurations you could deploy with the
current devices and if all the bays were filled:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
5) Look at the connections behind the backplane - you should be

able to observe a power connector to the PSU and a drive
connector to the RAID controller card or motherboard RAID
controller.
Ignore any restrictions

imposed by the RAID
controller for now.
6) Re-fit the panels to the server chassis.
Page 11
Labs
Exercise 2 - Setting Up the Server

In this exercise, you will connect peripheral devices to the server.
1) Connect the keyboard and mouse to USB or PS/2 ports as
appropriate.
2) Use a VGA cable to connect the display port to the monitor.
Make sure the monitor is connected to the mains and switched
on.
If there is a management port, make sure you do not use

that!
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3) Use an RJ-45 patch cable to connect the network adapter to the

classroom network. If there are multiple ports, use port 1.
4) Connect the power cable and switch on the server.

5) Observe the POST messages and when prompted, press the
key combo such as Ctrl+A or Ctrl+C to start the RAID
configuration utility.
Exercise 3 - Configuring a Virtual Disk
In this exercise, you will explore the functions of the low-level

firmware configuration utility and use it to create a virtual disk.
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Each setup utility is different so the instructions here are

only a general guide as to what to do. Review the system
documentation or ask your instructor for help if you cannot
work out how to access a particular option.
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1) Observe the properties for the main storage controller (there

should only be one). Look for two key bits of information:
Firmware revision level - this is useful to know in case you

have a problem with the controller that could be fixed by a
firmware update.
Boot priority - the controller should be enabled and top

priority (boot device 0).
2) Find the option to create a new volume and observe which

RAID levels are supported by the controller.
3) You can create any type of fault tolerant RAID volume available
to you. Select the type of volume you want to create then add
the required number of disks to the volume.
Page 12
Labs and References
Glossary
Glossary
*nix
An operating system based on some type of UNIX (including Berkeley System Distribution [BSD],
Mac OS X, and Solaris) or Linux.
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64-bit Server Environment

From the mid 1990s to the present, most PC and server platforms have been 32-bit. This means that
instructions generated by software and the OS can be a maximum of 32-bits in size, as this is the size
of the CPU's general registers. 64-bit offers better performance (when running 64-bit software) but the
main advantage is the increase in address space (from 4GB to 16TB). Linux has supported 64-bit
CPUs since 1996. On the Windows platform, there are two competing architectures: IA-64 used by
Intel Itanium CPUs and x86-64 (referred to as EM64T by Intel) used in AMD Opteron and Intel's Xeon
CPUs. In terms of software, 64-bit is now well-supported by the major database vendors, such as
Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and MS SQL Server.
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802.11
See: Wi-Fi.
802.1X
802.1X (or EAP [Extensible Authentication Protocol]) is an authentication standard, developed to
allow remote, wireless, and wired authentication to be centrally managed. A client device passes
authentication information to a RADIUS server on the wired network for validation. The authentication
information could be a user name and password or could employ smart cards or tokens.
802.2
See: Ethernet.
8mm Tape Backup

8mm (") data tape storage systems appear similar to the tape cartridges used by many video
cameras, although the media is higher quality.
AAA
Authorization, Authentication, and Accounting - the key features of a security system.
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Account Policies
User security information - such as password expiration and uniqueness - can be configured globally
as a set of rules (or policy) and applied automatically.
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ACL (Access Control List)

A list configured on a resource or appliance (firewall or switch) that determines access / deny access
rules. Filtering is often performed on the basis of MAC or IP address.
Active Directory
The database which contains the users, groups, and computer accounts in a Windows 2000 (or later)
domain.
Adapter Teaming
Adapter teaming allows two or more NICs to function as one logical interface, providing load
balancing and fault tolerance.
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)

The shared PCI bus quickly became a bottleneck for high-end graphics processing applications. The
AGP bus was developed as a dedicated video bus by Intel. AGP works at between 66 and 533 MHz
(or 266 - 2133 MBps bandwidth). AGP buses also support a direct link to the CPU and they can use
motherboard RAM, as well as being able to write and read data simultaneously from video memory.
Page 67
Glossary
AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)

CPU manufacturer providing healthy competition for Intel's Pentium line. AMD chips such as the K6
and Athlon have been very popular with computer manufacturers and have often out-performed their
Intel equivalents.
APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing)
APIPA was developed by Microsoft as a means for clients configured to obtain an address
automatically that could not contact a DHCP server to communicate on the local subnet. The host
randomly selects an address from the range 169.254.1.0 - 169.254.254.255. This is also called a linklocal address.
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Application Server
Any server making a software application available to clients. Applications are developed on different
models (dedicated, distributed, and peer-to-peer). There are various frameworks for application
development, notably Sun's J2EE (Java) and Microsoft's .NET platform.
ARP (Address Resolution Protocol)
When two systems communicate using TCP/IP, an IP address is used to identify the destination
machine. The IP address must be mapped to a device (the NIC's MAC address). ARP performs the
task of resolving an IP address to a hardware address.
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ATA/ATAPI
ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) is the main disk interface for PCs (also referred to as IDE).
ATAPI (ATA Packet Interface) is a protocol extending IDE support to types of drive other than the
hard disk (such as, CD-ROM, Zip drive, tape units).
Attenuation
Degradation of a signal as it travels over media. This determines the maximum distance for a
particular media type.
Auditing
Windows and other operating systems provide the ability to track system access and usage and
report this activity to a log file. The network administrator can use this trail to track appropriate (or
inappropriate) access of resources.
se
Authentication
Identifying a user on a network. Authentication allows the network administrator to control access to
the network and (with some sort of rights system [authorization]) to particular resources on the
network (directories, printers, configuration, and so on). Standard authentication consists of a user
name and password (a logon). Secure authentication requires that transmission of the logon be
encrypted.
nl
O
Backbone
A backbone is a fast link that connects the various segments of a network.
Backplane
In a backplane, rather than using cabled connectors, the drives plug (or "mate") into a combined data
and power connector on the enclosure. This means that drives can be easily added and removed
from the front of the case without having to open the chassis.
Backup
Recovery of data can be provided through the use of a backup system. Most backup systems provide
support for tape devices. This provides a reasonably reliable and quick mechanism for copying critical
data. Backups take place under a schedule of tape rotation, which allows for optimum efficiency of
backup and restore operations and for storage of media offsite.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the range of frequencies supported by a particular media type and more generally the
maximum data rate supported by a link.
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CompTIA Server+ Certification

product vendor regarding specific questions as to operation.

Tel: +44 (0)20 7887 7999

Fax: +44 (0)20 7887 7988

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. iii

Module 1 / Planning Servers

Servers as Hardware and Software ................................................................................... 3

Project Planning Concepts .............................................................................................. 17

Hard Drives ..................................................................................................................... 39

Installation Procedures .................................................................................................... 72

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

Module 2 / Configuring Servers

Configuring Directory Services ...................................................................................... 116

Configuring File and Print Services................................................................................ 128

Designing a Secure Site ................................................................................................ 150

Secure Network Topologies........................................................................................... 161

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

Module 3 / Application Servers

Installing Roles and Applications ................................................................................... 178

Virtualization Defined..................................................................................................... 201

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

Module 4 / Managing and Upgrading Servers

Developing a Server Management Plan ........................................................................ 217

Preventative Maintenance ............................................................................................. 244

Adding and Removing Components .............................................................................. 267

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

Module 5 / Troubleshooting Servers

Troubleshooting Models and Processes ........................................................................ 305

Troubleshooting Hardware Problems ............................................................................ 319

Disaster Recovery Planning .......................................................................................... 350

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

About This Course

What are the Course Prerequisites?

Know the PC startup process.

Basic network terminology (such as OSI Model, Topology, Ethernet, TCP/IP).

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

About This Course

CompTIA Network+ - a foundation-level certification of competency in network

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) - a foundation-level certification of

Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator / Engineer / IT Professional (MCSA /

About the Course Material

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

Conventions Used in the Course

Displayed text and buttons

Example: Type webadmin@somewhere.com

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

About This Course

Key to Symbols Used in the Notes

An area for your notes.

CompTIA Authorized Quality Curriculum Program

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

How to Become CompTIA Certified

4) Take and pass the CompTIA certification exam(s).

CompTIA is a not-for-profit information technology (IT) trade association. CompTIAs

Module 1 / Planning Servers

The following table lists the CompTIA Server+ domain objectives

1.2 Deploy different chassis types and the

Use the gtstrainer.com

CompTIA Server+ Certification Support Skills (2009 Objectives)

Domain Objectives / Examples

1.3 Differentiate between memory features / types

Storage and RAID