The CompTIA Server+ Certification Exam (SK0-005) is designed for IT professionals who manage and maintain server infrastructure in enterprise environments. This credential validates your ability to install, configure, manage, and troubleshoot server systems across diverse platforms. Whether you're preparing for your first attempt or refining your knowledge, this page provides a clear roadmap of exam topics, question formats, and actionable study strategies to help you succeed.
Use this topic map to guide your study for CompTIA SK0-005 (CompTIA Server+ Certification Exam) within the CompTIA Server+ path.
The SK0-005 exam uses multiple question types to assess both foundational knowledge and applied reasoning in real-world server environments. Questions progress in difficulty and emphasize practical decision-making over memorization.
Questions are weighted toward practical application, ensuring candidates can handle actual server management responsibilities in production environments.
An effective study plan allocates time proportionally to each domain while building connections between topics. Dedicate 3-4 weeks to systematic review, practice testing, and targeted remediation of weak areas. Hands-on experience with virtual machines or lab environments significantly strengthens retention and confidence.
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Server Administration and Troubleshooting typically account for a larger percentage of exam items, reflecting their importance in daily server management roles. However, all four domains are tested, and weakness in any area can lower your overall score. Allocate study time proportionally but ensure you have solid foundational knowledge across all topics.
These domains overlap significantly in practice. For example, a hardware failure may require troubleshooting to diagnose, administrative access to investigate logs, and disaster recovery procedures to restore service. Understanding these connections helps you answer scenario questions accurately and prepares you for real-world responsibilities where problems rarely fit into a single category.
Hands-on experience is valuable but not mandatory if you study efficiently. Prioritize labs that cover user account management, RAID configuration, backup/restore procedures, and log analysis. Virtual machine environments are ideal for safe practice. Even 4-6 hours of focused lab work can significantly boost your confidence and understanding of how concepts apply in practice.
Candidates often rush through scenario questions without fully reading the context, leading to incorrect assumptions. Others confuse similar tools or procedures across Windows and Linux platforms. Weak understanding of disaster recovery priorities and recovery time objectives (RTO) also causes errors. Slow down on scenario items, re-read the question stem, and review explanations for every practice question to avoid repeating these patterns.
Focus on high-risk topics identified during practice testing rather than re-reading entire study guides. Drill scenario-based questions and time yourself to ensure you can complete the exam within the allotted time. Review command syntax, hardware specifications, and disaster recovery procedures in short, focused sessions. Get adequate sleep the night before the exam and avoid cramming new material in the last 24 hours.
An administrator is working on improving the security of a new domain controller. A report indicates several open ports on the server. Which of the following ports should the administrator disable?
The port that should be disabled on the firewall is port 3389. Port 3389 is used by Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), which is a protocol that allows remote access and control of a Windows system through a graphical user interface. RDP can pose a security risk if it is not properly configured or secured, as it can expose the system to unauthorized or malicious access from external sources. Therefore, port 3389 should be disabled on the firewall unless it is needed for legitimate purposes.
A technician has received tickets responding a server is responding slowly during business hours. Which of the following should the technician implement so the team will be informed of this behavior in real time?
Alerts are notifications that inform the technician or the team of any issues or events that occur on a server or a network. Alerts can be configured to trigger based on certain thresholds, such as CPU usage, disk space, memory utilization, or response time. Alerts can help the technician monitor and troubleshoot the server performance in real time. Verified Reference: [Alerts], [Server performance]
A virtual host has four NICs and eight VMs. Which of the following should the technician configure to enable uplink redundancy?
Uplink redundancy is a method used to ensure that if one physical network interface card (NIC) fails, the network connectivity for the virtual machines (VMs) does not go down. This is typically achieved by configuring multiple NICs to connect to a single virtual switch (vSwitch) and setting up NIC teaming or bonding. The vSwitch manages the internal network traffic between the VMs and the outside network by using the physical NICs assigned to it. By configuring the vSwitch with multiple NICs, you can create redundancy, so if one NIC fails, the other NICs can take over the traffic, ensuring continuous network connectivity.
Which of the following access control methodologies can be described BEST as allowing a user the least access based on the jobs the user needs to perform?
The access control methodology that can be described best as allowing a user the least access based on the jobs the user needs to perform is role-based access control (RBAC). RBAC is an access control method that assigns permissions to users based on their roles or functions within an organization. RBAC provides fine-grained and manageable access control by defining what actions each role can perform and what resources each role can access. RBAC follows the principle of least privilege, which means that users are only granted the minimum level of access required to perform their tasks. RBAC can reduce security risks, simplify administration, and enforce compliance policies.
A technician is preparing a deployment of servers to be used by staff at a remote location. Which of the following should the technician do to prevent access to the hardware configuration?
Enabling aUEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) passwordprevents unauthorized users from making changes to the server's hardware configuration settings, such as boot order or device settings. This is crucial for protecting the integrity of the server at a remote location where physical security might be more difficult to enforce.
UEFI password (Answer B):It provides security at the firmware level, preventing changes to low-level configurations unless the correct password is provided.
Administrator account (Option A):While important for OS-level access, it doesn't prevent someone with physical access from altering hardware settings via UEFI/BIOS.
Disabling WOL (Option C):Wake-on-LAN (WOL) allows a device to be powered on remotely. Disabling it can help with security but does not prevent hardware configuration changes.
Encryption at rest (Option D):Encryption protects data on the server but does not prevent hardware configuration access.
CompTIA Server+ Reference:This topic is covered underSK0-005 Objective 2.1: Install and configure server operating systems.
