Archive for the ‘CompTIA’ Category

Fall Clearance Sale : Ends Friday, September 24

Monday, September 20th, 2010

The summer is over.  The holiday season is around the corner. NOW is the time to get certified before you get boggled down with holiday parties, family gatherings and winter vacations. Take advantage of these next couple months and start training for your A+ certification, CCNA certification, MCITP certification and many more of the most sought after IT certifications with the help of PrepLogic.  We know how valuable your time is, and how expensive IT training programs can be. With PrepLogic’s smarter training approach,  you learn faster and at a price you can actually afford.  And, we guarantee you’ll pass your exam the first time around.  In order to encourage you to quit putting off earning your certification, PrepLogic is running an incredible sale on ALL our award winning products.  Check out what we have going on!

ALL LearnSmart Video Training $300* Off
Learn from world renown IT instructors right from your living room! Our LearnSmart video instruction is not only informative and effective, but also entertaining!  We’ve completely updated our online LearnSmart Video Training experience with integrated, downloadable study guide and audio training content and our industry-first LearnSmart Personal Trainer system.  Choose from over 100 interactive video titles now and save $300* instantly. (Max discount 40%)

$39 Printables
Study for your MCITP certification, A+ certification  or Cisco certification anywhere with these easy-to-print practice exam questions. Each PrepLogic Printables exam gives you hundreds of genuine practice questions with detailed answers and explanations plus a quick-reference answer key.  Now you can use Printables on your Kindle, iPad, Nook or smartphone.  Right now, save $70!

$3 Mega Guides
PrepLogic’s Mega Guides are condensed PDF study guides that teach you all the the essential knowledge you need to pass your exam. Why lug around heavy, superfluous texts books when you can use a 100 page Mega Guide that contains the same key material, but in a light weight, concise format.  Save over $30 on dozens of titles, including: CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security+, Microsoft SharePoint, Windows XP Professional and tons more!

ALL Practice Exams just $47
To get you accustomed to the real exam, Preplogic Practice Exam questions are presented in the same style as the real exam.  Expert authors create a large selection of realistic, challenging questions for each exam to ensure you are fully prepared for test day.  This week, you’ll save up to $180 on our whole selection of Practice Exams.

ALL Quiz Me & Lecture Series Audio Training Only $18
Master the CCNA, Network+, A+ and over 50 other IT certification titles anywhere you can listen to headphones! PrepLogic’s audio training allows you to learn while driving to work, waiting for a dentist’s appointment or lying on your couch! Listen and learn with our audio lectures and audio practice exams and you’ll be ready to take that MCITP certification exam in no time.

If you want to be competitive in 2011, you need to have certifications like A+, CCNA and MCITP on your resume. PrepLogic will help you do that with our affordable training products that help you learn faster and smarter.  Don’t miss out on this unbelievable sale. Check out our homepage or call 1-800-418-6789 to start your training today!

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New and Improved PrepLogic Learning System!

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Over the past few weeks our users have noticed some really cool new features and improvements that have been added to our Online LearnSmart Video Training. These new features are all part of our upgrade from Online LearnSmart Video Training to our brand new PrepLogic Learning System. This new system provides all the excellent features and benefits of LearnSmart Video Training, plus the extra bonus of enhanced training, custom study guides, audio training and much more. It gives you the total training solution you need to pass your exam and get certified more quickly and effectively than ever before. So, let’s take this opportunity to go over some of the new features you’ll see the next time you log in to your LearnSmart Training System.

LearnSmart Video Training

LearnSmart Video Training provides start-to-finish instruction from experts with years of training experience. LearnSmart is a video based training product created, written and developed by IT and vocational skills expert trainers. Each course contains complete instruction sufficient for certification exams from universally respected certification bodies, such as Microsoft, CompTIA, VMWare and Cisco. LearnSmart Video Training features elegant, studio quality presentation with full color video, graphics, screenshots and demos.

The new PrepLogic LearnSmart Video Training features improved video controls, where you can adjust screen size and start, stop and rewind video at your leisure. This allows you to work at a speed that is the most conducive to your pace of learning, and thus the most effective. We’ve also added the ability to toggle video from the main window to the smaller, brand new Content Reader. The Reader delivers study guide material related to your video segments in an easy to navigate window.

Log In

Accessing your personal PrepLogic Learning System account is now easier than ever with our new and improved log in process. You can access your individualized Online LearnSmart Video Training by logging into your account through the PrepLogic homepage. Once you have logged in, you simply click on the “Online LearnSmart Video Training Icon” where you will then be prompted to your personal video course catalog, containing all of the certification training courses you have purchased. PrepLogic offers a wide variety of IT certification exam training, such as CompTIA A+, Microsoft MCITP Enterprise Administrator and Server Administrator, CCNA certification training and more.

Video Index

The Video Index feature functions as a table of contents for the course. The Video Index lists every segment of the course, allowing you to click on different segments and watch each segment’s corresponding video as you choose. You can watch specific segments repeatedly, in the case of more difficult material, or even skip over segments that you are already familiar with. Each video segment in the Video Index lists the length of time in that particular segment and becomes highlighted in the Index after the segment has been viewed. The Video Index organizes the course study in an easy to navigate, easy to read fashion, in which you, the student, are in control of the course and can keep track of your progress as you make your way through the material.

PrepLogic has greatly improved the functionality of the Video Index. You can now shrink and expand the streamlined Index to your preferred size. We’ve also improved the visibility and usability of the Index, which helps keep you organized through out your training by clearly showing, in a syllabus type format, the order of the videos in your training course, as well as keeping track of which videos you have watched in previous sessions.

Starred Training

Another new facet of the Video Index is the “Starred Training” feature. To the left of each segment listed in the Index, there is the option to click on a white star, which becomes yellow when clicked, marking that segment “starred” and categorizing it in your “My Starred Items” folder. This feature allows you to mark those segments you find the most important or critical to your course of study. Clicking on the “Starred Training” icon above the Video Index changes the Video Index to show only the items you starred, letting you focus on those starred videos. Choosing specific videos you want to watch, through the Starred Training feature, allows you to create your own custom course, where you can focus specifically, on what you need to be learning.

Content Reader

New Feature! The PrepLogic Learning System now includes a smart content reader that delivers “wiki-style” study guide content related to your video into an easy to use window labeled “Reader” below the Video Index. You can follow along in the Reader while watching video, enlarge the Reader content to the main screen, switching the video to the smaller screen, or email yourself the content in the Reader, creating your own PDF study guide that you can use on the go. The Reader works in conjunction with the video training for a truly comprehensive exam training experience.

IT Glossary

Recently added to the PrepLogic Learning System is the IT Glossary. This tool enables users to look up key IT terms and their definitions. Along with the definition of a term, the glossary provides related tags to that term. There are thousands of essential technical terms in the glossary, relating to fields such as networking, security, data base management and project management. The glossary is a quick and easy tool that makes sure you are familiar and knowledgeable with the language of popular certification exams like CISSP, Oracle, PMP, Microsoft MCITP, and Microsoft MCSE.

Download Extras

The Download Extras feature allows you to download custom study guides and audio training. PrepLogic is committed to making your IT certification training extremely accessible, so while you can download the PDF’s instantly to your computer you can also send the content to your mobile device, Kindle, iPad, Blackberry, Barnes and Noble Nook and many more devices. Now you can study for your IT certification exam virtually anywhere!

Audio Training

The audio segments are set up just like the Video Index, but in their own “Audio Index”, and can be played on your computer, just like the Video Lecture Series. When listening to the Audio Training Series on your computer, in your PrepLogic Learning System, glossary terms appear on the video screen to enhance your learning experience.

You can now enjoy your Lecture Series audio training online, or download it for use on your MP3 player, iPhone, iPod or any other device that plays audio. You can study in your car, at the gym or even walking the dog! Audio training helps improve memory retention so learning can occur more quickly and training can be completed faster. With the ability to listen to your certification training program on any portable audio device you will be confident and ready to take that CCNA certification exam or CompTIA Network+ certification exam in no time!

Most Recent Training Sessions

Below the video screen, you will find an index of your most recent training sessions. Re-live recent training sessions with a single click. You can also see what date you engaged in that session, as well as the time and duration. This tool serves as an excellent reminder of what you studied in previous sessions, and is a super-convenient way to recap your prior lessons.

Personal Trainer

PrepLogic developed the Personal Trainer tool to help you not only create a realistic study plan, but more importantly, help keep you on track with that study plan. When you begin your PrepLogic Learning System training, the Personal Trainer prompts you to set an exact date (referred to as the target completion date) of when you want to be finished with the training and fully ready to take the desired certification exam, along with the number of days per week you will be training. The Personal Trainer then calculates how many hours per week you should train in order meet that completion date.

The Personal Trainer keeps track of your progress in the course and lets you know, at the current rate you are training, if you are on pace to finish by your goal date. If you are not, the Personal Trainer tells you the expected date you will be finished if you keep at the current pace and how many hours behind your target pace you actually are. The “Stay on Pace!” reminder tells you which video to begin training with that day and which video to continue training through in order to keep your original pace. The Personal Trainer also keeps a calendar, tracking what days you trained and for how long. The calendar color codes your training into three categories: “On Pace”, “Behind Target Pace” and “Goal at Risk”. This serves as a motivational tool, and makes it clear to you how you are progressing.

The Personal Trainer Preview, conveniently located at the bottom of the screen, keeps a constant tab on your progression through the program, continuously showing you, percentage wise, how much training you have completed, how many days left remaining until your target completion date and how many hours per week you should be training in order to obtain that goal. The Personal Trainer, in combination with the Video Index, provides the much desired structure and direction of a classroom syllabus, but is actually designed by you, which allows for the flexibility you need, at a speed you can handle.

The innovative PrepLogic Learning System was designed with you in mind. The PrepLogic Learning System helps you learn faster and train smarter. The combination of Online LearnSmart Video Training, Audio Training, customizable study guides, flexible training schedules, and many more unique features make IT certification training with PrepLogic simple and enjoyable.

If you would like to inquire further about the PrepLogic Learning System or have any questions, please call 1-800-418-6789. Thank you for your interest and good luck with your IT certification training!

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Practice Exams $59 through August 31

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

For the rest of the month, PrepLogic is keeping the price of our practice exams lowered to just $59. As many of you know, almost 80% of certified professionals use practice exams to pass their tests. So, if you’re working towards passing a certification exam it’s very important that you get a great practice exam that will help you get prepared for exam day.

For years, one of our most popular practice exams is for the CCNA certification. The Cisco CCNA Certification is still one of the most important credentials a technician can earn. PrepLogic’s Practice Exams give you the most practical and reliable training you can get for this exam with 6 complete practice test modules. You’ll have the option of using simulation mode, which is a straight up simulation of your exam, or learning mode which gives you the opportunity to customize and randomize the exam for your own needs. There’s over 340 questions available in this practice exam, which will give you plenty of experience answering questions before test day. Want to test your skills now? Check out this sample question from our CCNA Practice Exam:

Question
You have two routers within your network, and you need to enable RIP as your routing protocol. The routers are connected by the 192.168.1.0/24 network. Router A also has an interface in the 10.1.1.0/24 network. Router B has an interface in the 172.16.0.0/16 network. What are all the commands necessary to enable RIP on router B, and ensure all connected networks are reachable by router A?

Select the best answer.

A. router rip
B. router rip network 192.168.1.0
C. enable router rip network 10.0.0.0 network 192.168.1.0
D. router rip network 172.16.0.0 network 192.168.1.0

Exhibit:

Q63-Exhibit

The correct answer is D

Explanations
Answer A is incorrect because this command would just activate the routing protocol.

Answer B is incorrect. In order to ensure that router A learns all the connected networks on router B, you must use the network command for each interface, and directly connnected interfaces.

Answer C is incorrect because “enable router rip” is not a correct command.

Answer D is the correct choice. The “router rip” command activates RIP as the routing protocol. The “network” command then activates RIP processing for interfaces associated with the networks. In order for router B to propagate and receive information, both the 192.168.1.0 and 172.16.0.0 network statements must be present.

PrepLogic’s CCNA Practice Exam also provides advanced scoring and testing features to help increase your learning speed, as well as integration with Lecture Series audio training to give you audio coaching along the way. The everyday price for the CCNA practice exam is over $100, so now is a great time to pick it up for just $59. All of our practice exams will be discounted from now through August 31. If you have any questions about the CCNA Practice Exam (or any of our other exams for Microsoft MCITP certification, CompTIA A+ certification, Cisco certification and many more) give our guys a call at 1-800-418-6789. Thanks and good luck on your exam.

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New Product Focus: Convergence+ LearnSmart Video Training

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

One of PrepLogic’s newest titles is Convergence+ LearnSmart Video Training. The new course trains IT professionals in the topics you need to know to pass the CompTIA Convergence+ certification exam. Over the past few years, the Convergence+ certification has grown in popularity and acceptance as the adoption of VoIP technology has ramped up.

Convergence+ is a credential for technicians who specialize in unified communications. Passing the exam illustrates a technician’s ability to design, implement and manage both data and voice networking.

The Convergence+ LearnSmart Video Training course goes into detail about why VoIP really matters. Expert Tom Carpenter discusses the origins of telephony and the series of technological advances that have brought us into this era. In addition to Convergence+, the material in this video can prepare you to earn your CCNA Voice certification.  Some of the topics Tom covers include:

  • Understanding Traditional Telephony
  • VOIP Fundamentals
  • Unified Communications
  • Working with Gateways
  • Configuring Dial Peers
  • Quality of Service
  • Gatekeepers
  • Troubleshooting

The 13 hour Convergence+ LearnSmart Video Training course takes you step-by-step through the process of implementing IP address schemes and IP services to meet network requirements in a medium-size enterprise branch office network. In addition, this course will show you how to design and implement full featured switched networks that converge efficiently. To help get you familiar with the course, PrepLogic has put up a free 30-minute preview of Convergence+ LearnSmart Video Training. Check it out today.

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High Tech Jobs on the Rise

Monday, May 24th, 2010

A new article published by the Associated Press has good news for people looking for a job in technology. High-tech jobs, especially positions for individuals with IT certifications, are on the rise.  According to the article, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics rates job prospects as excellent for IT positions  “ranging from network administrators, software engineers and programmers to computer manufacturers, operators and repairers.”

Sources in the article recommend certifications including CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ for those interested in taking advantage of the opportunities in the field.

Additionally, the article indicates that the opportunities aren’t limited to high-tech companies. IT positions in the medical field are likely to increase due to the ramping up of online, confidential medical records and documentation.  “Feeding that growth is the more than $25 billion that the federal government plans to spend to expand use of health IT by 2014.”  Positions that should increase in demand include network systems analysts, data communication analysts and software engineers.

For more information about IT certifications and the opportunities they provide, contact PrepLogic’s IT career counselors at 1-800-418-6789.

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CompTIA Partners with Linux Professional Institute for new Linux+

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

The new Linux+ certification is available from CompTIA and it comes with some never before available extras. CompTIA has partnered with the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) to offer IT professionals a dual certification. Individuals who pass CompTIA’s Linux+ exam will earn the CompTIA Linux+ certification as well as Linux Professional Institue’s LPIC-1 certification.

Read the Press Release

CompTIA is enthusiastic about the new partnership, stating that the new Linux+ “will provide new opportunities for both organizations and go a long way toward building a global workforce of skilled IT professionals knowledgeable about all facets of Linux.” The new partnership should expand the reach of the LPIC certification and add to the acceptance of the CompTIA certification. More importantly, a stronger Linux+ certification should ultimately provide a more substantial credential for IT professionals who specialize in open source Linux technology.

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New! PrepLogic A+ Training on Your Amazon Kindle

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Aplus-Essentials

Now you can train for your exam with PrepLogic on your Amazon Kindle ebook reader. Just this week, PrepLogic has launched the A+ Essentials (220-701) Exam Manual and the A+ Practical Application (220-702) Exam Manual for the Amazon Kindle. PrepLogic’s Exam Manual line of IT certification training is perfect for the Amazon Kindle. Each Exam Manual gives you the down and dirty details you need to pass your exam and get certified. These products were designed specifically for the Amazon Kindle, so you can use them anywhere, take notes and learn whenever you have the opportunity. They’re available directly through the Amazon Kindle store, so you can choose, download and start learning in under a minute. The first wave of titles include the A+ Essentials (220-701) Exam Manual and the A+ Practical Application (220-702) Exam Manual. Shortly after PrepLogic will be introducing the Cisco CCNA (640-802) Exam Manual, Network+ (N10-004) Exam Manual, Window 7 Configuration (70-680) Exam Manual and many more. Of course, if you have any questions about the CompTIA A+ or any other certification training, please give PrepLogic a call at 1-800-418-6789.

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CompTIA Goes Green with Eco-Friendly IT Certification

Friday, March 26th, 2010

A new certification from CompTIA can help IT pros demonstrate their knowledge of environmentally friendly IT practices. According to CompTIA, the Strata Green IT certificate is designed to “enhance the technology professional’s experience, knowledge and existing certifications to incorporate green IT methodologies.”

CompTIA is the certification entity that brings you the A+, Network+, Security+ and many more vendor-neutral certifications. As their motto suggests, the company’s goal is “Advancing the Global IT Industry.” With their newest credential, CompTIA hopes to help people who are concerned about the environment as well as their company’s bottom line. Environmentally friendly “green” initiatives have ramped up over the past few years, and the benefits of going green are plenty. The CompTIA Strata Green fact sheet states that eco-friendly initiatives can lower costs, reduce economic impact and “ultimately enhance a company’s green credentials and improve competitiveness.”

To earn the Strata Green IT certificate, CompTIA recommends that the candidate have 18+ months of experience and possess a CompTIA A+ or CompTIA Server+ certification. The test has 30 questions and lasts 60 minutes. The passing score is 70%.  A list of test objectives can be downloaded from CompTIA. Some of the knowledge areas that are required to pass include knowledge of green IT methodologies, ROI for green practices, cost-cutting green techniques and environmentally sound waste disposal. In addition, test-takers will need to be familiar with many of the green-related organizations and standards including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others.

The CompTIA Strata Green certificate exam is available now and can be taken at Pearson VUE and Prometric centers. If you have any questions about this exam, or any other CompTIA certification exam, give PrepLogic a call at 1-800-418-6789.

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PrepLogic Responds to Your Feedback

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

How about another round of QA with your Managing Editor and a few inquisitive customers? Our first item comes from the A+ Essentials (220-701) Practice Exam. The question is:

Your boss wants you to procure an external hard drive for his PC so that it can be quickly backed up. If he wants the quickest backup, which of the following busses should you use? Select the best answer.

A.) IEEE 1394
B.) IEEE 1284
C.) RS-232
D.) USB 2.0

The correct answer is A. Let’s run through why A is the right choice.

Answer choice B, IEEE 1284, is the spec for parallel ports which, when compared to either USB or FireWire (IEEE 1394), is much slower—about 1.5 MB/s. Definitely out. C, RS-232 is the spec for serial ports. Also too slow at 115 KB/s. That leaves A and D. USB 2.0 is an excellent transfer mechanism; but, when compared to FireWire, it’s slower: 480 Mpbs.
Tom from Mariposa CA had a question about the explanation for why FireWire is correct. We explain that FireWire is good for up to 800 Mbps and is, thus, faster than USB 2.0. Tom writes: “IEEE 1394 is 400 Mbps; USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps; IEEE 1394b which is not a choice here, runs at 800.”
Technically, Tom is correct. The b revision for IEEE 1394 is the one that runs at 800 Mbps. But, the community doesn’t refer to FireWire by its revision designation in more common parlance. All things being equal, the IEEE 1394 revision that runs at 400 Mbps is actually IEEE 1394-1995. But we don’t call it that; likewise, we don’t refer to the 2006 revision of the standard as IEEE 1394c-2006. Nor will we call the as yet unreleased (and blazingly fast at 6.2 Gbps!) IEEE 1394 revision as IEEE P1394d. Whatever the currently used FireWire standard is, it will be referred to as IEEE 1394 (or FireWire).

The next item we’ll go over comes from PrepLogic’s CCNA Voice Practice Exam. The question states:
“Using the given analog sound wave diagram, which part of the sound wave depicts the amplitude?” For reference, we’ve included this diagram.

ccna-voice-q43

The answer choices are as follows:

A.) Letter A
B.) Letter B
C.) Letter C
D.) Letter D

The correct answer is B.

James from Melbourne, Australia remarks that he “[does not] agree with… letter B. Self study says it’s… Letter C”.
Here’s the rub: the diagram actually shows two different types of amplitude identified by both Letter B and Letter C. So how do you distinguish? Well, only one type of amplitude is important to telecommunications and, thus, the CCNA Voice exam: peak amplitude. Peak amplitude is exemplified by Letter B. Peak-to-peak amplitude (Letter C) is a common way of measuring amplitude, but peak amplitude—the absolute value of the signal, is more appropriate for this measurement.

The last item we want to discuss comes from PrepLogic’s Security+ (SY0-201) Practice Exam. The question:

Which of the following is NOT true about password security?

A.) Passwords are kept secret at all times.
B.) Passwords are of a minimum sufficient length.
C.) Passwords are of a minimum sufficient strength.
D.) Passwords are generated of personal possessions or preferences.

The correct answer is D.

Stuart from Sierra Vista, AZ writes that he sees two answer choices that are repeated. This is actually another excellent demonstration of how CompTIA creates distracters that pull you away from the correct answer. The problem is that, in reading quickly, answer choices B and C do, indeed, look the same. However, if you look closely you’ll see that answer B indicates passwords “of a minimum sufficient length” while answer C indicates passwords “of a minimum sufficient strength.” This just shows that you have to make sure to read your questions very carefully when taking the test.

Ok, that’s all for now. Check back soon for another installment!

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A+ Certified Guy Going for the Gold in Vancouver

Friday, February 26th, 2010

A little less than an hour from now (1 p.m. PST), Olympic athlete and certified IT professional Steven Holcomb will continue his quest for the Gold Medal at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.  As reported by the Microsoft Born to Learn blog and by CNET, Steven’s an A+ certified professional and a Microsoft MCP who has taken some time off from the tech world to pursue the ultimate prize in both the 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh events at the super-fast Whistler track in Vancouver.  Holcomb and his partner Curtis Tomasevicz finished out of the medal race at sixth place in the 2-man event. However, coming into competition on Friday Holcomb, Tomasevicz and their U.S. teammates Steve Mesler and Justin Olson are sitting in first place in the 4-man bobsleigh event.

Holcomb is an avid video gamer and is pursuing a computer science degree.  And you can see his dedication to the IT business just by looking at his twitter name; pcbobsledder.  He also likes to have fun at work. Check him out as he does The Holcy Dance in his free time in Vancouver.

Be sure to check out Holcomb as he continues his quest for Olympic gold. The 4-man bobsleigh event concludes Saturday, February 27.

UPDATE

They did it!

CompTIA A+ certified technician Steven Holcomb and his “Night Train” U.S. Olympic 4-man Bobsleigh team took the Gold Medal.  It was the first time the U.S. won the gold in that event since 1948, and almost certainly the first Olympic Gold Medal for an A+ certified technician.

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