Version 4.1 - 1.0 - Networking and Network Security 14%
Topic 1.0 - Infrastructure, Connectivity, Communications and Network Security
I'm at the back end of my studies and I find myself getting "antsy" to take the test. If you look at the symptoms, there is no physical difference between fear and excitement. It is all perception. So I'm going to call it "antsy" to describe this stage. This is where you constantly argue with yourself about your state of preparation. If you've taken any certification test, you have felt this to varying degrees.
First, I tell myself that I'm totally prepared and I'm over studying as a method of procrastination. This may be true. Then I tell myself that I'm not as ready as I think and my overconfidence will trick me into scheduling the exam before I complete everything that I planned to use for materials. This may be true also. But the most likely scenario is that it's a little of both. So here's what I intend to do about it.
One of my suspicions is that I'm over studying the material I have already mastered. This is leading me to become bored and believe I'm procrastinating. The other suspicion is that I'm ignoring the material I have not yet mastered. This is leading me to worry that I'm not yet ready. The only way that I know to sort through this is to write. Your method may be different, but that's how I'm dealing with this.
In the Army, they taught us "See one, Do one, Teach one" as a method of learning. First you see it done (hopefully correctly). You watch and it looks so simple. It makes sense. But, the problem is that if you just watch someone else do it, you will quickly forget everything you learned. So then you perform the task yourself. You find that it's not as easy as it looks. By performing the task, you may notice small, key items that you may have glossed over or ignored. And yes, you may have to continue practicing until you can successfully perform the task. It may take more than "one" attempt. But once you can perform the task, you should try to teach someone else. This reinforces the training and forces you to totally understand it. If you can't explain it, you don't really understand it.
With that in mind, I'm going to go through the Security Written 4.1 blueprint. Once I write about it, I know I understand it. Then I can "put it to bed" and feel confident that I have mastered the topic. This will keep me from re-studying mastered subjects and avoiding my areas of weakness. It will force me to move forward.
Do not rely on my notes to study for your exam. You are free to use them to enhance your studies. But I do not offer any guarantees on completeness and what I will be writing is no substitute for any classes, videos or recommended reading materials. But perhaps I may explain something in a different way which may help things "click" or "stick" in your mind. Also remember that you are starting at a different point of experience. I will be writing from my experience - which may be more or less than yours. My emphasis will be different. And even the paid video courses will tell you that they don't claim to completely prepare you for the exam.
One of the things to note in the blueprint is the approximate percentage of each topic. This topic will be about 14% of the exam. Don't spend 80% of your time covering 14% of the exam. You will never get to the end this way. If you look at the sub-topics, there are 7 of them. Some of the sub-topics have multiple topics. And there is no guarantee that you will see a question on each topic. Each exam is different and it is an adaptive exam. If you miss a question, you are going to be hammered on that topic. So don't think you can skip over something and just get one or two questions wrong. It may cost you 5 or 6 questions - and that will eat up the questions you see for that section. You may not get to the subjects you know if you can't dig your way out of the ones you don't.
That's about all on the topic in general. Now onto the sub-topics.