This is actually my first review for Amazon. I had purchased 2 books prior to this one that I can strongly recommend. Sadly I purchased this book thinking it would have more information or detail than the others....BOY did it! I'm writing this review because I have found the book so unbelievably difficult to read. The author is a PhD and he goes out of his way to prove at every opportunity. Every paragraph seems to go on forever without defining the topic. I have to read paragraphs multiple times just to get an understanding of what he is try to explain. I need to understand the terms and processes, I do not need to write a thesis paper on every technology topic. Worst of all the questions provided in the exams are insane. There was nothing like them on the certification exam that I took. The certification exam questions were lengthy and complicated but less confusing than the author's. Lastly the "bonus" exam that you get for free when registering...good luck, I gave up trying to figure that one out.
If you want a good study guide for the Security Plus certification, I have read and can recommend Darril Gibson's, CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-201 Study Guide which was very easy to read, great examples, and covered the basics. I then purchased Emmett Dulaney's, CompTia Security + study guide which was also easy to read, direct, a bit more detailed, and to the point.
This book does an excellent job of covering all required topics, however it does not put emphasis on some of the more important areas such as forensic concepts like chain of custody and others. I used this book as my sole resource and scored 863/900 and only studied for about 2 months.
I had no classes in Security Plus. But I did have some experiences with PKI and other aspects that is covered in this book. I read this book from cover to cover. I use the practice exams thats on the CD (all of the exams). I went back over the book again. This book is very detail and breaks down everything and if you read it, you may have an "aha" moment. I got a score in the 800s (900 is perfect and 750 is the minimum score). This book helped a lot and is a great reference book and a really good gateway book towards getting a CISSP certification.
20 hours of studying and you should pass as well.
This book is not an easy read, but if you need a reference book to look things up later on it might work well. Also, the complete book comes as a chapter-by-chapter collection of pdf files on the accompanying CD, so you can read it on the go.
I purchased 2 books prior to this that I can strongly recommend in place of this one. Sadly I purchased this book thinking it would have more information or detail than the others....BOY did it! I'm writing this review because I have found the book so unbelievably difficult to read. I gave up after only 200 pages and 8 chapters, about 1/4 of the book. The author is a PhD and he goes out of his way to prove it at every opportunity. Every paragraph seems to go on forever without defining a topic. I had to read paragraphs multiple times just to understand what he is trying to explain. I need to understand the terms and processes; I do not need to write a thesis paper. Perhaps worst of all, the sample exam questions provided in the book are rather pointless and do not test good comprehension of the subject.
If you want a good study guide for the SYO-301 Security+ certification, I can recommend books by Darril Gibson and Glenn Clarke. Both are easy to read, with great examples, and straight to the point.
This book is very comprehensive and covers everything on the test. All the concepts are explained very well and are easy to follow. I would definitely buy more books in this series. I took the Sec+ test and got an 848. I would highly recommend it.
This study guide is very thorough. It provides information about each topic area that other study guides gloss over or do not cover. Use the Objective Table in the back of the book to find the areas covered for the Security + exam. It is very helpful in finding all topic areas and locating which chapter it is covered in the book. I studied for two weeks and passed the exam my first attempt. I will definitely keep this book and use it as reference materials.
I purchased this book to help me pass the SY0-301 Comptia Security+ Exam. It is indeed a comprehensive book to say the least. If you are looking at this book as a reference for your shelf then by all means get it. If you are looking for this book to pass the test then make sure you have another study guide as well.
The topics are covered in great depth but the layout of the materials is in need of work. There are some topics for the test that I didn't find in here. Some topics are covered repetitively. I can think of at least 4 different places that cover the same information on password policies.
The index of the book is definitely lacking. It was much easier to just look up information online. The digital version (pdf) is broken up into one pdf per chapter so good luck doing a word search to find the topic your studying.
Also of note: There are number of mistakes in the text as well as the review tests at the end of each chapter. Attempting to find the erratas on McGraw-Hill was fruitless since there aren't any.
I did pass my test with 871/900 and I will keep the book for reference but make sure you have a second method of study if you're taking the test.
Product Details :
Hardcover: 704 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 3 edition (July 19, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0071771476
ISBN-13: 978-0071771474
Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
More Details about CompTIA Security + All-in-One Exam Guide Exam SY0-301, 3rd edition
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