SK0 005 Notes and Study Guide Nmoleo Software
SK0 005 Notes and Study Guide Nmoleo Software
Nicholas Anand
November 05, 2022
Contents
1 Server Hardware Installation and Management 3
1.1 Physical Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1 Racking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.2 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Network Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.4 Server Chassis Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.5 Server Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.1 RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2 Capacity planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.3 Hard Drive Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.4 Interface Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.5 Shared Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Server Hardware Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3.1 In-Band Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3.2 Out-of-Band Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 Server Administration 7
2.1 Server Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.1 Microsoft Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.2 Partitioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.3 File System Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Network Infrastructure Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Server Functions and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3.1 Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4 High Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4.1 Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5 Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.6 Scripting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.7 Asset Management and Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.7.1 Company Policies and Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.8 Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.8.1 Licensing Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.8.2 License Count Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1
CompTIA Server+ SK0-005 Notes 2
4 Miscellaneous 12
4.1 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.1.1 Troubleshooting Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2 Web and Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 Contents
3 CompTIA Server+ SK0-005 Notes
1.1.2 Power
PDU: Power Distribution Unit
Measuring Capacity
Capacity is measured in volt-amperes (VA)
The ratio between the VA and the watts is called the power factor (PF)
VA × PF = W
Copper Connectors
SFP
Definition
Small Form-Factor Pluggable
SFP is a compact, hot-pluggable interface module used for network communications. It is the successor
to GBIC and is sometimes referred to as mini-GBIC.
SFP Type Maximum Speed Connector
SFP 1 Gbps SFP
QSFP 4 Gbps QSFP
SFP+ 10 Gbps SFP
SFP28 25 Gbps SFP
QSFP+ 40 Gbps QSFP
QSFP28 100 Gbps QSFP
– Self-contained
– Space-efficient
– Cost-effective
– Densely populated racks require more cooling, which raises energy costs
Blade Server:
Tower Server:
HBA: Host Bus Adapter - circuit board or IC that connects a host system to a storage or network
device
Memory Types
Memory Type DIMM Pins SO-DIMM Pins
DDR 184 200
DDR2 240 200
DDR3 240 204
DDR4 288 260
DDR5 288 262
Bus Types
Type Width Speed Bandwidth
8-bit ISA 8 bits 8.3 MHz 7.9 Mbps
ISA 16 bits 8.3 MHz 15.9 Mbps
EISA 32 bits 8.3 MHz 31.8 Mbps
VESA/VL 32 bits 33 MHz 127.2 Mbps
PCI 32 bits 33 MHz 127.2 Mbps
64-bit PCI 64 bits 66 MHz 508.6 Mbps
PCMCIA 32 bits 33 MHz
AGP 32-bit Speed of Processor
1.2 Storage
DAS: Direct Attached Storage
VSS: Volume Shadow Service - Microsoft technology that can create snapshots of files or volumes,
even when they are in use. Requires NTFS or ReFS.
1.2.1 RAID
Definition
Redundant Array of Independant Disks
RAID is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple drives into one or more logical units
for the purposes of data redundancy, performance improvement, or both.
JBOD
Definition
Just a Bunch of Disks
The term JBOD is sometimes used to refer to a collection of drives in one single storage enclosure that are
not configured in a RAID array.
Thin provisioning: Using virtualization technology to trick applications into thinking you have more
storage than is actually available
Fibre Channel
Definition
Fibre Channel is a high-speed data transfer protocol that provides in-order, lossless delivery of data
FCoE: Fibre Channel over Ethernet - allows the Fibre Channel protocol to be transmitted over an
Ethernet link
WWNN: World Wide Node Name - universally unique identifier assigned to a device on a fibre channel
network - similar to a MAC address
WWN/WWPN: World Wide (Port) Name - WWNN for a specific port of a device on a fibre channel
network
RDP: Remote Desktop Protocol - a Microsoft proprietary protocol for remote GUI access
RAS: Remote Access Server - provides a suite of services used for remote access
Crash cart: Mobile cart with a secured laptop that is used to provide a direct connection to malfunc-
tioning servers
iDRAC: Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller - allows for local and remote management of
PowerEdge servers
IPMI: Intelligent Platform Management Interface - set of specifications for an autonomous computer
subsystem that provides management and monitoring capabilities independently of the host system’s
operating system and hardware. Commonly used for out of band management.
2 Server Administration
2.1 Server Operating Systems
HCL: Hardware Compatibility List
SCCM: System Center Configuration Management - also known as Microsoft Endpoint Configuration
Manager. Used to manage, control, inventory, and patch large groups of computers.
WDS: Windows Deployment Services - allows you to deploy Windows operating systems over the
network
RIS: Remote Installation Services - Microsoft PXE server used to remotely execute boot environment
variables
WMI: Windows Management Instrumentation - extensions to the Windows driver model that allow
scripting languages to manage Windows computers and servers
2.1.2 Partitioning
2 Server Administration 7
CompTIA Server+ SK0-005 Notes 8
ReFS: Resilient File System - Microsoft proprietary file system designed to maximize data availability
and scale efficiently
Definition
A server cluster consists of a group of servers working simultaneously under a single IP address.
Active-passive: One node is used to handle all requests, while one or more additional nodes are
designated as backups in case the active node goes down.
2.5 Virtualization
Intel-VT: Intel Virtualization Technology - provides hardware assistance to virtualization software
2.6 Scripting
Bootstrap: The process of loading a set of instructions when a computer is first powered on
8 2 Server Administration
9 CompTIA Server+ SK0-005 Notes
RTO: Recovery Time Objective - targeted duration of time between failure and resuming normal
operations
RPO: Recovery Point Objective - maximum length of time permitted that data can be restored from
- maximum tolerable amount of data loss
2.8 Licensing
2.8.1 Licensing Models
Per-socket: Licence costs are determined using the number of CPU cores
Site-based: A software package can be installed on multiple computers at the same physical location
Node-locked: A license for a software application is assigned to one or more specific hardware devices
PKI: Public Key Infrastructure - a set of roles, policies, hardware, software, and procedures needed
to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke certificates and keys
XD: Execute Disable Bit - allows a processor to distinguish between bits of code that should and
should not be executed
Archive bit: A file attribute used to indicate whether or not the file has been backed up
Snapshot: A type of backup copy used to create an exact copy of an entire application, disk, or
system.
– Includes the data that has changed since the previous backup
– Storage efficient and has the fastest backup time
– Slow recovery
– A single corrupted incremental backup file would ruin the entire backup
Differential backup
– Includes the data that has changed since the last full backup
– Fast recovery
– Not storage efficient and requires regular full backups
– Does not clear the archive bit
Full backup
Synthetic backup
– Combines the last full backup and all the incremental backups into one single backup file that
contains the same data as the full backup
– Takes less time than a full backup and is more storage efficient
– Not as effective if lots of changes are made and still relies on incremental backups
3.5.2 Replication
Definition
Replication is the process of making multiple copies of data and storing them at different locations for the
purposes of backups, fault tolerance, and improving accessibility.
Replication Types
4 Miscellaneous
4.1 Troubleshooting
4.1.1 Troubleshooting Steps
1. Identify the problem
2. Establish a theory of probable cause
3. Test the theory to determine the cause
WINS: Windows Internet Naming Service - legacy service that maps NetBIOS names to IP addresses
MDI-X: Medium Dependent Interface Crossover - uses a straight-through cable rather than a crossover
cable
4.3 Hardware
CRU: Customer Replaceable Unit
12 4 Miscellaneous