Customer Reviews

CompTIA Security+Study Guide: Exam SY0-201

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is built on a clean language, the ideas are well organized inside each chapter, but you could perceive that chapters themselves are not in the optimal order...Sometimes you have to jump from one chapter to another to cover completely an idea exposed in this book.

On the other hand, you will have to buy additional simulations and practice questions to complete your preparation, because this book does not offer you practice questions with the appropiate level of complexity compared to the real exam.

This book needs an update badly! I took the most current version of the exam and this book by itself was no where near thorough enough to pass it. I was able to pass ONLY because I have been in the industry and have hands on knowledge of the topics covered. This book itself was no help at all honestly because most of the questions on the exam were VERY detail oriented and this book is more of a high level overview for beginners. I would honestly recommend reading the exam topics in the CISSP exam guide to understand each topic (for instance cryptography and virtualization which by the way is barely mentioned in this book and I had at least 10 detailed questions on it) in detail in order to pass the exam. I give the book 2 stars only because it is great for beginners looking to get into the security field, just no where near enough to pass the exam - at least not the one I took.

This is a review for the CompTIA Security+ Study Guide 4th edition.
I am a trainer/course developer for a technical school and am in charge of developing our new Security+ course to begin in 2011. I reviewed this and several other books (along with other study materials) to use in the course.

This is a decent book, professionally written, and reads fairly well. There are questions on the disc, and more can be purchased if the reader wishes to do so. I like the structure of the book for the most part. Also, the book is in PDF format on the disc. Plus, the disc has flashcards, which many students like to use. The book has a good glossary and index. There are also some basic labs which is one of the things I want for the course I am designing.

Here are some of the things that caused me to give this book 4 stars instead of 5:
1. The first chapter is an introductory chapter of sorts, but it is so long and covers so many concepts that it could leave the reader a little bewildered.
2. The book could do with more complete practice exams (especially in the print portion of the book where there are none)
3. I found what I believe to be several factual errors that could cause the reader to get a question incorrect on the real exam.
4. The questions are pretty good, but not the best I have seen from the various study guides I reviewed.
5. The book isn't too sturdy. It's a soft cover book, and the binding on mine hasn't held up very well. Also, the paper on my book leaves little bits of itself all over the place. could just be how this particular book's paper was cut. This is a minor point, and doesn't really play into the 4 star rating nearly as much as points 1-4.

Because of these things I decided to use two other books for the course.

I always recommend a second (and perhaps even a third) test preparation source. If you use this book, I would also recommend purchasing the additional optional practice exams, or better yet, go with another test provider such as Transcender or Pass4sure. A second study guide couldn't hurt. It's always good to get two viewpoints when studying for an exam.

All in all, not a bad book. A decent study guide, but I would supplement it with secondary material.

This was the required text for my intro to security class. The text is well organized, and the review questions are very helpful. It breaks down the topics into how best to learn them, as well as how they are organized on the security certification exam. I've learned more from the book than I have my professor. :-P

This book was my sole source of information/studying for the CompTIA Security+ exam, and I passed the first try. I had no prior security-related experience, so a lot of the material was new for me. Several of the security concepts come down to common sense, once you understand the "why"s behind a given concept.

The practice exams and flash cards on the included CD are good study materials to use after you've read the book.

Spent a few weeks reading through the book and taking the practice exam. Scored 859, Can't argue with that as a result.

This book is well-written and well-organized. I read this book cover to cover, highlighted the main ideas, and then re-read what I highlighted. I answered all of the quizzes at the end of each chapter honestly and then reviewed any that I may have had problems with. I also used a CD with practice questions that was given to me by an IT pro (not for memorization but to become familiar with the test format in a timed environment). After about 2 and a half months, I was sick of studying and decided to take the test. I work in telecommunications and don't have a whole lot of background in network security, but am changing careers and decided that self study was my best option. That being said, I passed the SY0-201 exam 2 weeks ago with an 823/900. The questions were fair and I would estimate that 95% of the material had been covered in this book. Don't bother trying to memorize purchased test questions from websites that guarantee you'll pass the exam as the exam is geared toward "forcing you to think like a network security professional".

I have strongly recommended this book to several of my co-workers and they have already purchased it and begun studying for the exam as well. All in all, this book will not disappoint you and can be used as a reference book after you have passed your Sec+ exam. Happy studying and good luck to all.

This book helped me pass the exam. However, this should not be your only source. In addition to this book, I read 2 other books on Security before I took the exam. Also, passing the Network+ certification helps you understand the concepts of security. Having all these tools will help you pass the exam.

The topic is dull but the material is presented well. The practice questions and test engine are helpfull. I scored 850 out of 900

After letting the book sit on my shelf and collect dust for about 4 months, I finally broke it open and studied the material. I read the entire book, and pretty much skipped all the hands on exercises at the end of each chapter. When I was done I reviewed the book material I had highlighted and did all the chapter and bonus exams included with the book. I also used the flash cards and to the point that I had the flash cards and exams memorized. After using all this material I passed the exam with an 855, I know not the perfect 900 but Ill live with it.

The deluxe book has two additional bonus test exams and I was able to use those as well (a friend of mine had that book) If you want to spend a bit more for the additional exams its good to go with the deluxe book. If not this book has enough material to pass the exam and move on to the next one.