📅 7-Day Server+ Crash Plan

Intensive 7-day review for CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005) covering server hardware, administration, security, storage, and troubleshooting.

About This Study Plan

This 7-day study plan breaks the SERVERPLUS (Server+) exam preparation into 7 focused study sessions with 28 actionable tasks. The plan covers all 4 exam domains — Server Hardware Installation and Management, Server Administration, Security and Disaster Recovery, Troubleshooting — ensuring complete coverage. Intensive 7-day review for CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005) covering server hardware, administration, security, storage, and troubleshooting.

7Study Sessions
28Total Tasks
4Domains Covered

Prerequisites

  • A+ or equivalent hardware experience
  • 5–7 hours per day

Study Schedule

Day 1Server Hardware
  • Server form factors: rack, tower, blade, and chassis types
  • CPU architectures: multi-socket, cores, threads, and virtualization extensions
  • Memory: ECC, registered, LRDIMM, and memory channels
  • Power: redundant PSUs, UPS, PDU, and cooling solutions
Day 2Storage & RAID
  • Storage technologies: SAS, SATA, NVMe, FC, iSCSI
  • RAID levels: 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and hot spares
  • SAN vs NAS vs DAS: protocols and use cases
  • Storage provisioning: thin, thick, tiering, deduplication
Day 3Server Administration
  • OS installation: Windows Server, Linux, and hypervisors
  • Virtualization: Type 1 hypervisors, resource allocation, vMotion
  • Remote management: IPMI, iLO, iDRAC, KVM-over-IP
  • Licensing models and asset management
Day 4Server Security
  • Physical security: data center access controls, locks, cameras
  • Network security: firewalls, VLANs, IPSec, 802.1X
  • OS hardening: patching, disabling services, access controls
  • Data protection: encryption at rest, backup strategies, secure decommissioning
Day 5Troubleshooting
  • Hardware troubleshooting: POST failures, memory errors, disk failures
  • Network troubleshooting: connectivity, performance, NIC issues
  • Storage troubleshooting: RAID degradation, disk failure, IOPS issues
  • Practice: scenario-based troubleshooting questions
Day 6Practice Exam
  • Take a full timed practice exam
  • Review all incorrect answers
  • Focus on RAID levels and storage scenarios
  • Review server management interfaces
Day 7Final Review
  • RAID comparison chart
  • Storage protocol reference
  • Quick flashcard pass
  • Rest before exam

Study Tips

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RAID levels are tested heavily — know capacity calculations and fault tolerance.

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Understand the difference between SAN protocols (FC, iSCSI, FCoE).

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Server+ is vendor-neutral — focus on concepts across HP, Dell, Lenovo.

Recommended CompTIA Study Resources

Supplement this study plan with the official CompTIA CertMaster labs and practice tests. Download the free exam objectives PDF from CompTIA's website and use it as a checklist — cross off each objective as you master it. Professor Messer's free video series covers every CompTIA exam objective and is widely regarded as one of the best free resources available.

Ready to Practice?

Put your study plan into action with Server+ practice questions.

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