One of the clear problems with the CompTIA A+ has always been that it clearly caters to promoting Microsoft products and not being vendor neutral as it has always claimed to be. With the latest release, literally half of the exam is Windows only. There is no section for macOS, any Linux, iOS, Android, Chromebooks, nothing, nada. It's become a Windows exam, which means that they don't just skip the underlying principles that they claim the exam is about, and skip the neutrality for the industry that they claim it is about, but they also leave people going into entry level positions totally unprepared for the real world where running into non-Windows OSes is common. If you were learning from nothing but the A+, you might not even be aware that non-Windows exists. Let alone non-PC hardware, which appears to also be completely skipped.

This was very informative, I like the simplicity of the explanations. Also @scottalanmiller thanks for the extra feedback! I watched this a week ago btw

@connorsoliver said in An Overview of RAID - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

Is using a RAID 1 configuration faster as well? Or is its main purpose so if you lose one of the drives you have a backup?

Primary purpose is definitely data protection. But RAID 1 provides a 200% read performance benefit over using a single drive. Write performance is the same as a single drive.

@connorsoliver said in An Overview of Storage Devices - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

What did he mean when he said there's only a limited number or writes on a USB flash drive.

So this is a small mistake on the A+ material. They are making assumptions about the storage media based on the communications protocol. But it's based on very common things. A standard USB flash drive using a flash memory technology that "wears out" as you write to it, but essentially never wears out as you read it.

So the way that a USB stick is "meant to be used" is that you store things on it and read it a lot. You can change it, but it isn't meant for constant writes.

So under "normal" use, USB sticks last a long time. But it you write to it constantly (like when using it as swap) you will cause the memory chip(s) to die quickly.

@connorsoliver said in Installing and Configuring Expansion Cards - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

I've seen that people have used two graphics cards in a setup. How does this work exactly? I'm assuming you don't use the video outputs of both graphics cards.

Generally it is handled by a proprietary "bridge" for those specific cards that makes two (or more) cards act as one. Same as have two CPUs in a single PC.

@connorsoliver said in Understanding PC Memory - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

What exactly does registered memory do?

Wikipedia has about the best explanation of this. Mostly we ignore this, IT people really don't think about registered vs non-registered memory, that's something bench people worry about or your server vendor, but not IT. CompTIA mentions it because it is a bench exam.

Registered (also called buffered) memory modules have a register between the DRAM modules and the system's memory controller. They place less electrical load on the memory controller and allow single systems to remain stable with more memory modules than they would have otherwise. When compared with registered memory, conventional memory is usually referred to as unbuffered memory or unregistered memory. When manufactured as a dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a registered memory module is called an RDIMM, while unregistered memory is called UDIMM or simply DIMM.

Registered memory is often more expensive because of the lower number of units sold and additional circuitry required, so it is usually found only in applications where the need for scalability and robustness outweighs the need for a low price – for example, registered memory is usually used in servers.

DDR2 uses a clock speed twice as high as the bus speed. So DDR2 is double the speed of DDR given the same bus. The clock that the computer provides to the RAM is the same speed. But the memory clock speed in these cases as either 1x or 2x the bus speed from the computer. So the clock speed is double.

@travisdh1 said in Motherboard Jumpers and Connectors - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@Dashrender said in Motherboard Jumpers and Connectors - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@travisdh1 said in Motherboard Jumpers and Connectors - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@connorsoliver said in Motherboard Jumpers and Connectors - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

Why are jumpers a thing? It seems like there would be a more effective way of doing the things that they are used for.

I think the last jumper I used was the last IDE HDD I used. That was at least only a single jumper to deal with.

Anyone else remember the days of 486 boards and the masses of jumpers to set all the board settings instead of having everything set in the BIOS?

486, you youngin'. 😛

I was messing with computers all the way back to the 80-86 days, just didn't have one at home till the 486 era.

The first computer I purchased (at age 13) was an 8086. though I think 286 or 386's were out at the time.

@connorsoliver I went on an image search of motherboards this morning. The Asus 99 deluxe only has a south bridge if you want to take a look.

@connorsoliver said in CPU Sockets - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

Is the LGA or PGA configuration more common in CPUs?

LGA is more common. And getting even more common in the future.

@connorsoliver said in Motherboard RAM Slots - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

What exactly does RAM affect in a computer? I'm assuming it has to do with speed right?

Not really. But kind of. It's complex. "Speed" is not at all the simply idea that it seems like with computers. There is so much more to it. Speed under what workloads, for example.

@connorsoliver said in Motherboard Expansion Slots and Bus Speeds - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

I sawn in this video that it talked about 32 bit and 64 bit connections. Does this have anything to do with wether your computer is determines as a 32 or 64 bit machine?

The system bus has nothing to do with weather your CPU is 8/16/32/64 bit. ISA/VESA/AGP/PCI/PCIx are all independent of the CPU.

@Dashrender said in An Overview of Motherboard Types - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@scottalanmiller said in An Overview of Motherboard Types - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@Dashrender said in An Overview of Motherboard Types - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@JaredBusch said in An Overview of Motherboard Types - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@scottalanmiller said in An Overview of Motherboard Types - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@JaredBusch said in An Overview of Motherboard Types - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@scottalanmiller said in An Overview of Motherboard Types - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@mary said in An Overview of Motherboard Types - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

Are there more issues with heat with the smaller boards? Also what are the expansion slots used for?

Definitely, way more of an issue. It's what keeps boards so often so big.

Not really. Heat issues are almost exclusively related to the CPU and GPU any more. Memory just a little. Almost no other component gets hot.

So heat dissipation is needed for those 3 things. That has little to do with the board size.

The smaller the board, though, the less capacity for cooling.

That is not the board. The board does not cool those devices. Well heat radiates, so anything touching them cools it to a minor degree, but that does not affect anything to any degree that matters.

Most memory run cool enough that direct air over the chips suffices.

CPU and GPU need a heatsink and sometimes a fan to push air over the heatsink.

Frequently small mobos also mean small cases, these small cases can run into issues of lack of airflow... but really, the issue isn't the size of the mobo, but other things.

Mostly, yes. Although you have less board space for cooling, too. Giant server boards have room for front to back high volume airflow, for example.

Again, the board has zero to do with it. The case has everything to do with it. Granted, typically, small boards equal small cases, but this is in no way a requirement.

True

@connorsoliver I was wondering the same thing. I know we can download equivalents on our phones, but didn't think it was an option on the BIOS.

@mary said in BIOS Configurations - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

If your graphics card was failing would that show up in the diagnostics as well? This will be a great tool if you suspect hardware failure. As to the fake BIOS, if you make changes in the virtual environment will it show you a reflection of those changes?

Depends on the diagnostics. As external hardware, diagnostics of it tend to be more limited.

@Pete-S said in BIOS and UEFI - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@travisdh1 said in BIOS and UEFI - CompTIA A+ 220-901 220-902 Video Training by Prof. Messer:

@Pete-S How long did you spend holding UV lights over those chips? Me = many hours, way to long.

Haha, spent a lot of time doing that. But I had an UV eraser which basically meant you could put it in and walk away.

I spend enough time doing it so I could immediately tell that the EPROM I posted a pic of above, is made by Texas Instruments (from the logo) and it's 256 kbit (from 27C256) so 32 kilobyte memory.

I am just about to add the first RAID video, I want to watch it all first and see what all it has.

@kelly said in How Much and Long Does the A+ Typically Influence IT Hiring?:

I realize that recording a video saves you a ton of time in getting out your thoughts, but I'm not going to be able to keep up with your thoughts if this is your new way of posting 🙂

I’ve told him many times I will not watch videos, but I don’t think he cares but I have no idea what he said in any of them.

@sully93 I have a video from MangoCon 2016 where instead of talking about "what isn't IT" I talk about what it is. I have a recent SAMIT video on separating IT from SE. I'll do one soon on separating IT from Bench.

@IRJ said in Logical IT Certification Progression:

@Dashrender said in Logical IT Certification Progression:

@scottalanmiller said in Logical IT Certification Progression:

@Dashrender said in Logical IT Certification Progression:

@guyinpv said in Logical IT Certification Progression:

al details. I don't regret buying or reading through any of them. Books on Windows, DOS, printers, networks, repair and troubleshooting techniques, system design and building, etc etc. All of that is good.

Answer questions posed at an interview.

Besides, bench techs don't think, according to @scottalanmiller, they work by script - aka, reading a script and doing what it says. Once you have to start making decisions, you're no longer a bench tech, you're in IT.

Not quite, but that's closer. Bench is about tech, about consumer gear or business stuff that falls into consumer spaces. IT is "Business Information Infrastructure."

Lots of bench people make decisions. Like if you are building a white box desktop for a gamer, the bench guy will likely make several decisions from CPU to GPU to RAM to case and power supply. It's not a script, but it is not BII, either.

hey - you're making it grey again 😛

There isn't nearly as many strictly hardware people anymore these days.

Not nearly, most are in datacenters now.