Calling all computer wizards!

see4 said:

@Daath 32GB RAM? Holy lord, did you buy a server mobo?

@Devildog93 Hahaha, no doubt! I love me some titties!!

P.S. - Just bought the new Macbook Pro today, went with the i7 2.6 750GB HD 8GB RAM -- this thing is balls fast. Can't decide if I want to go Bootcamp or VMWare Fusion or Parallels .... thoughts?

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Well it's the new Sandy Bridge platform, so...

I found this for the Pro3:

The ASRock P67 Pro3 has four memory sockets and, since DDR3 memory modules can now be found in capacities up to 8 GB, you can have up to 32 GB with this motherboard, if you use four 8 GB modules.

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Here: ASRock P67 Pro3

I'm only starting with 4.

Are there any Security+ dudes in this thread?

I am doing a paper on Backtrack and I would love to hear some feedback on it from people who use it, or are familiar with it

Anyone here involved in the industry? Training for it? Working?

I am referring mainly to Cisco CCNA, CompTIA Security+, and CompTIA A+.

But I am interested in other industry certifications and topics as well.

I work in the industry. I have A+, Network + and Server+ thinking about taking my Security+ as well. What questions do you have Johnny Organic?

jwn said:

I work in the industry. I have A+, Network + and Server+ thinking about taking my Security+ as well. What questions do you have Johnny Organic?

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Thanks for the response.

I am preparing to take the Cisco CCNA exams, the A+ exams, and the Security+ exam.

I was curious about the environment out there hiring-wise because I am looking for experience mainly. If the market is squishy, I may decide to stick around and get the Server+ cert and possibly the Network+ cert.

Any thoughts?

What are you trying to get into? Networking, Desktop Support/engineering, network security? Do you have any IT experience? The IT field is always hiring, I haven't had a hard time finding jobs in the field.

If you are new to the IT industry I would recommend getting your A+ first, that's a pretty universal certificate that lets you work on warrantied systems and is the easiest to get. From there you could land yourself a Desktop Support job which is a good way to get your feet wet. Most companies like to promote their IT personnel to other positions so unless you have a bunch of experience it's kind of hard to land those lucrative jobs. Also, before you go blowing all that cash on those certs remember that certs like CCNA and Security+ you have to re-certify every few years so don't take them unless you need them currently. I would recommend the A+ and Network+ to get yourself started. Also, if you know the material for the most part and don't want to study for hours on end about useless information that you will never use invest in http://www.testking.org you can purchase the actual questions from the tests and study off of those.

Other advice I would give to someone getting into the field is do not take a help desk position, you will hate it and learn absolutely nothing but how to act calm while dealing with irate people yelling at you. If you are married I'm sure you already are an expert at this.

I also forgot to mention most companies will pay for your certification tests as well once you are hired in.

Good stuff.

The certs I am working on currently are baked in the cake. I've been taking the courses since September. A+ requires a three year certification now as well. That changed at the first of the year.

I am probably taking the Security+ exam in the next few weeks. The professor will allow us to forgo the final exam with a grade of 100 if we take the certification exam instead. If I feel I am ready, I intend to do that.

After that, I will take either the A+ or the CCNA next based on when I feel I am ready.

I hold a liberal arts B.A., but no experience in IT. Salary is not really my main concern. Experience is.

I am now A+ certified.

I passed the first exam yesterday and the second one today.

Now I am drinking a beer.

Cisco is next!