Back on Wednesday, January 29, I passed the CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam. Now on Friday, March 7 I’m scheduled to take A+ Core 2 at 8:15 AM. Since January I’ve been studying, reviewing and re-studying all the concepts and chapters required to pass Core 2.
I’m excited about the possibility of attaining A+ Cert, as well as additional CompTIA certifications like Network+, Linux+ and Security+. Beyond those certs, Microsoft and Cisco would follow.
It’s been a lot easier this time around to study the concepts and tenets as I setup my own SOHO network. I was a former network administrator for a credit union in New Jersey but in the intervening years I moved to New York City and landed a role as a video reporter, which I had no prior experience.
I used my technical know-how to purchase the required video production and editing software which allowed me to canvass the field to interview a variety of New York characters.
The best video production I created was atop One World Trade Center in January 2013 as ironworkers and crane operators were rebuilding Lower Manhattan more than a decade after the tragedy of September 11, 2001.
Then Covid-19 hit five years ago this month and the publishing industry, at least for smaller pubs, was besieged by an advertising retrenchment.
So I figured I like technology and have a lot of technical know-how so I’m going to pivot back to Information Technology.
As a former network administrator I did not pursue building my own PCs, but that is exactly what I pursued within the past year. From scratch, I built out two PCs and purchased Windows server software to install on one of the boxes to designate a Windows Server to configure Active Directory for domain networking.
Now I purchased Verizon FiOS in September 2022 to feed a new smart TV in the living room. I opted too for the 1G fast Internet. I then figured I can enjoy that fiber optic connection in my home office, so I hired a contractor to run Cat 6 cable behind the walls to terminate at a wall jack in my office, which Verizon techs gladly supplied, and voila I was configuring a separate network anchored by a Synology router.
Now there is one server and three clients on an Active Directory domain, which has proved instrumental in being able to duplicate troubleshooting scenarios as suggested by CompTIA to pass the A+ Core 2 exam.
So the test is looming but I think I’m ready, which is why I took a break from studying and testing to write tonight’s entry. But it’s been a meat grinder since January 29, as I’ve been watching nearly 30 hours of video instruction provided by Total Seminars, followed by practice tests which require at least an 80 percent to pass and I’m one percentage point shy.
Onward then to Network+ with an A+ Core 2 passing grade!