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Browsing Posts published by Jonathan
Recent job hunting shows that most entry level IT related positions enlists the CompTIA A+ certification as a basic requirement. CompTIA basically means the Computing Techonology Industry Association which is a US based organisation providing very useful professional certifications for the IT industry.
According to the CompTIA website found here (clicky) and I quote :
For entry-level IT technicians, the CompTIA A+ exam covers preventative maintenance, basic networking, installation, troubleshooting, communication and professionalism.
This sounds like another ideal certification for me to pursue at the moment. I’ve done some research and have bought a book called “CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition (Exams 220-701 & 220-702)” from Amazon UK .
Basically, in order to obtain the CompTIA A+ certification you’d have to sit two exams :
- 220-701 for CompTIA A+ Essentials
- 220-702 for CompTIA A+ Practical Application
There are 100 questions for each exam and your are given 90 minutes per exam. Passing score is 675 for CompTIA A+ Essentials, 700 for CompTIA A+ Practical Application on a scale of 100-900. Not what I call easy then 
One thing to note about CompTIA exams is that they have “expiry” dates for the modules and certifications. This is to keep the certifications update to the latest requirement. I find this highly appealing and of course also useful in securing that job!
Below are all the Microsoft certification(s) I’ve earned thus far:
70-271 : Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Windows XP Operating System Certificate
Well I just finished my first Microsoft certified exam at the Prometric centre down in Edinburgh today. I managed to finish the whole exam in around an hour plus all the checking and last minute changes.
Everything was pretty straightforward and easy. I would recommend you to try the Tutorial first if this is your first time as well like me. It really helps you familiarise with the various different methods used in the exam.
Questions were pretty varied although I must say the hardest bit for me was the networking and sharing part. Some questions were rather tricky. I would recommend marking those questions those to be reviewed later. Surprisingly enough I didn’t get the question where you have to pick the correct steps from the list on the right and arrange them in order in the left. Something like this :
(This screenshot is taken from the CD provided by the training kit available to buy here : MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit: Supporting Users & Troubleshooting a Windows XP Operating System 2nd Edition: Supporting Users and Troubleshooting … XP Operating System (Pro-Certification))
(Click for larger image)
I’ve found those questions to be the trickiest when I was attempting the “Practise questions” in the Microsoft Press Readiness review suite.
I would really recommend the following book if you are thinking of attempting this examination. I’ve only spent circa one week with this baby and it really helped!
I just can’t describe how much I am loving my new HP EX490 Media Server. I’ve had it running flawlessly for 2 weeks now. Everything just works, simples! It’s small dimension also means I am saving a lot of space. I’ve configured LightsOut to further conserve my electricity consumption.
Anyway, this post is to highlight the awesome (and what makes the EX490 stand out) feature of this Media Server – it’s built in interface system. Assuming that you enable Remote Access with the appropriate user settings, there’s endless possibilities to explore! If you go to the WHS console and go to Settings>Remote Access tab and change the website homepage to the HP Mediasmart Server homepage you will be greeted with this screen when you access your server’s https URL:
(Please click on each picture to get an enlarged version)
Now isn’t that just sexy! I personally feel it is miles better compared to the original WHS page. You can virtually do ANYTHING here, browse shared folder, stream videos, stream music, stream photos, remotely connect to your server (Remote Desktop) or other online computers in your network – the options are (virtually) endless here!
One of the features I love here is the HP Photo Publisher feature. It enables you to upload media (mainly photos) from your server to some of the popular media hosting sites as shown in the screenshot below:
However I think the icing on the cake is the Media streaming option. It has (in my honest opinion) the prettiest and most functional interface one can ever ask for. I’ve only enabled Music streaming but just check this out:
There is probably more to explore but for the mean time I’m sold. I think it’s just THE essential toy for any geek out there
