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CompTIA Security+ Cert. (SY0-501) Practice Tests.

Passed Security+ on my first attempt with a score of 834/900

Today I passed on my first attempt with a score of 834/900. A pass is a pass but the score, in my opinion, proves that the resources below work.

I am a software developer with no real hard IT background (switches, routers, networking, etc). This is my first (and last) cert... no A+ or Networking+.

Resources used, in the order provided: 1. Professor Messer video series

1. Darril Gibson's book, including all quizzes and tests from his book

2. Jason Dion's Udemy practice exams

3. Mike Meyers' Udemy practice exams

I studied for 4 weeks with the last week being more relaxed and just a general refresher of all topics covered.

I found the practice tests from the resources above to be more technical and ambiguous than the actual test. If you are passing the tests from the above listings you are ready for the test. The performance-based questions from the test were straightforward and fast to complete.

Darril Gibson's book is by far the absolute best primary resource to study. Professor Messer's videos are a good introduction to each exam topic and for a general baseline knowledge prior to reading the book. The Udemy practice tests were worth it for me just to get experience from a broad set of differently styled questions.

I am happy to answer any questions. Thanks to this subreddit for giving me the resources needed to be successful.

For practice tests I used these: https://www.udemy.com/course/comptia-security-cert-sy0-501-practice-tests/

I didn't really use any of the books, and I didn't have the Gibson book. That said, I used the SY501 practice tests at UDemy, and found them to match reasonably well with the actual test, which I took last month, with some comments:

I'd say that the actual questions were a bit harder than the practice questions on Udemy, but I found them useful. I found that reading the explanations of the answers, even for ones that I got right was useful in helping tune my brain the the way the questions tend to be worded/asked. I found this to be more useful than the actual questions themselves. The UDemy questions didn't include any of the performance/practical type questions.

Some background for reference: I'm an old systems integration engineer with a lot of Linux experience, and some experience dealing with the other systems I touch (network, storage, VMs, etc.). So I am technically inclined, and was familiar with most of the concepts covered by SY501, but the details of were all new to me.

I studied using the online self-paced videos from Global Knowledge, and the GK test, as well as the Mike Meyers videos/tests on UDemy. The GK videos were pretty decent, and IMO covered more material from the actual test than the Mike Meyers videos from UDemy/Total Seminars, which were very good. However, the UDemy/Meyers videos didn't cover a decent portion of the test material. So if you use those, track the objectives in your study guide so that you can study those remaining objectives.

I found that my Linux/Bash experience helped on some questions with understanding coding syntax, and what certain statements might mean, but this was only a couple questions. I think I could have managed with the UDemy videos alone, if I had been willing to dive into the CompTia SEC+ study guide, but to be honest, I just couldn't bring myself to more than glance at the book.

I made liberal use of the UDemy tests, the excellent study guide (SY401) from kamekeisen (Reddit link below), quizlet (I made quizzes instead of notes, especially for things like ports and crypto stuff).

I personally didn't find the test too difficult or stressful, but I used all my time, and the real issue is remembering all that information from so many different areas, as well as the way they word the questions and answers. You really have to read ALL of the question, at least once, AND read all of the answers at least once.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CompTIA/comments/5jzpei/i_passed_security_and_built_you_all_a_study_guide/

https://www.udemy.com/course/comptia-security-cert-sy0-501-practice-tests/