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Part I: Exam Preparation > 0.0—Planning and Specifications
Chapter 1. 0.0—Planning and Specifications
OBJECTIVES
This chapter covers topics that are a very important part of CompTIA’s Server+ Concepts and Skills document but that are not specifically mentioned in the CompTIA document. Both of these CompTIA documents are on the CD-ROM included with this book. The information in these topics is required knowledge not only for the successful completion of the CompTIA Server+ exam but also in the daily life of a server hardware specialist. A thorough understanding of these topics is absolutely necessary to be successful installing, configuring, upgrading, maintaining, and troubleshooting a network server. The topics covered in this chapter can be considered to be part of job dimension 0.0—Planning and Specifications, which is added here to the Server+ exam blueprint to make it complete.
Although this dimension and its objectives covered in this chapter do not in fact actually exist in the Server+ exam blueprint, these are very important concepts to understand. The knowledge you gain from this chapter will provide you with the background you need to understand the remaining chapters that cover the actual job dimensions and objectives in the exam blueprint.
There are Review and Exam Questions in the “Apply Your Knowledge” section at the end of this chapter to help you assess your learning of the material. However, there are no questions directly on this material on the Practice Exam in the “Final Review” section of this book or in the ExamGear test simulator on the CD-ROM. The Practice Exam and the ExamGear questions focus on the material presented in Chapters 2 through 8, the subject matter of which is the seven job dimensions and their respective objectives as outlined in the exam blueprint by CompTIA.
The learning objectives covered in this chapter include the following:
0.1 Identify the two types of networks
Peer-to-peer network
Server-centric network
The network hardware specialist needs to know that there are two different types of networks and under what conditions each should be implemented.
0.2 Identify major categories of network servers. The major categories of network servers are
Workgroup server
Departmental server
Enterprise server
Server appliances
To make sure that the network server will support the number of users and/or applications required to meet the demands anticipated by the customer, the server hardware specialist must understand the industry terms used to describe network servers with varying capabilities.
0.3 Identify various roles that can be assigned to network servers. Examples of roles include the following:
Gateway
Router
Bridge
Firewall
c Network Address Translation (NAT)
Proxy server
Database server
Client/server
Application server
Mail server
FTP server
SNA server
Remote access server (RAS)
File and print server
Terminal server
Fax server
Domain Name Server (DNS)
Windows Internet Naming Server (WINS)
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Server (DHCP)
Web server
Video server
CD-ROM library server
Directory services server
Every server hardware specialist should be aware of the different roles that a network server can play in a network. Each network server role has different hardware requirements that must be met for the network server to adequately meet the needs of the role. The four major network server hardware components—processor, memory, disk subsystem, and network subsystem—have different degrees of importance in each different role. The network server hardware must match the network server role for the network server to meet the requirements of the role it will have in the network.
0.4 Identify the major Intel processors and the importance of clock speed, processor cache speed and size, and symmetric multiprocessing (SMP):
Intel processors
Processor cache
Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP)
The server hardware specialist must determine the appropriate Intel processor(s) to select based on the category of the network server and the role of the network server in the network. The selection of the proper processor(s) will dictate the processor clock speed, the processor cache speed and size, and whether symmetric multiprocessing can be supported by the network server.
0.5 Identify the various buses that are part of the network server. The major buses include:
Memory bus
System bus
The speed of the memory bus determines how fast data can be moved from the processor to memory and from the memory to the processor. The type, speed, width, and number of the system buses determines how quickly data can move from outside the network server to inside the network server.
0.6 Identify the characteristics of different types of memory. Identify how the amount of memory affects network server performance. Identify how interleaving of memory affects network server performance. Major memory topics include:
Amount of memory
Memory interleaving
Type of memory
The server hardware specialist should be able to determine which memory configuration will best allow the network server to meet the needs of its assigned role in the network.
0.7 Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the various types of disk subsystems. Content may include the following:
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE/ATA)
Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE/ATA2)
Ultra ATA / Ultra DMA
Serial ATA
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.)
Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL)
Serial Storage Architecture (SSA)
Storage area network (SAN)
storage (NAS)
The server hardware specialist must be able to select the best disk subsystem that will meet the role that the network server will perform on the network.
0.8 Identify different network subsystems. Successfully attach various devices to and remove various devices from the network subsystem. Content may include the following:
Ethernet
Token Ring
Network interface cards (NICs)
Network devices
Network protocols
Network management
The server hardware specialist should be able to attach a network server and other network devices to a network. The server hardware specialist should be able to troubleshoot a network server that is not communicating over the network.
0.9 Identify various types of hardware used for backup systems. Backup hardware types include:
Tape drives
Disk drives
Other backup devices
The server hardware specialist should be able to determine which backup system hardware best meets the need of the network server based on the amount of data to be backed up and the amount of time available to perform the backup.
0.10 Identify hardware components that might fail and plan on redundancy of those components. Content may include the following:
Power supplies
Fans
Hot swap
Hot plug
Fail-over
Hot spare
NIC fail-over
Server hardware specialists should determine the degree of redundancy required by the network server and which hardware components need redundancy.
0.11 Define server clustering. Describe the hardware components required to cluster servers.
Server hardware specialists should determine when clustering of servers is necessary and should be able to identify the equipment necessary to cluster multiple servers.
0.12 Identify hardware components that give a network server the capability to scale up to meet the demands of a larger workload.
Server hardware specialists should be able to identify when a given network server has been overburdened and whether the network server can be easily scaled up to meet the increasing demands placed on it.
0.13 Identify hardware components that give a network server the capability to be up a very high percentage of the time, up to and including a 24 hour per day, 7 day per week operating environment.
Server hardware specialists should be able to recognize an environment when a network server will need to be up a very high percentage of the time. A server hardware specialist should be able to identify the various methods that can be employed to guarantee high availability of the network server.
0.14 Identify various strategies to perform backup of the data on the network server and plan for the recovery of the data in the event of a hardware failure. Backup and recovery strategies include:
Full backup
Incremental backup
Differential backup
Server hardware specialists should be able to describe and facilitate the implementation of backup and recovery strategies that meet the needs of the role of the network server.
0.15 Identify various methods to provide the network server with fault tolerance. Fault-tolerance methods include:
Uninterruptible power supplies
Redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID)
Server hardware specialists should understand the requirement of providing an uninterruptible power supply for a network server. The redundancy, clustering, scalability, and high availability sections cover other fault-tolerant topics.
0.16 Identify techniques and plan for recovery from a disaster (total failure of the network server).
Server hardware specialists should be able to plan for recovery from a disaster (total failure or loss of the network server). The final product from this planning effort is a disaster-recovery plan.
0.17 Identify miscellaneous hardware components that are part of a network server. Content may include the following:
Video controller
Video monitor
Universal Serial Bus
FireWire
Keyboard
Mouse
CD-ROM drive
DVD-ROM drive
Floppy disk drive
Modem
Server hardware specialists should be able to select the proper miscellaneous hardware that is part of a functioning network server.
0.18 Identify situations when network servers should be installed in a server rack and the proper installation of the network server into a server rack. Identify specialized components and installation requirements for rack-mounted network servers. Content may include the following:
EIA rack unit (1.75 inches)
Keyboard/video/monitor (KVM) switch
Cable management
Rack layout
Security
Cooling
Rack-mounted keyboard/trackball
Rack-mounted monitor/LCD panel
Rack-mounted uninterruptible power supply (UPS)
Server hardware specialists should be able to identify when a network server should be mounted into a server rack. A server hardware specialist should be able to select and install the specialized equipment associated with rack-mounted network servers.
0.19 Identify network operating systems. A server hardware specialist should be able to recognize the characteristics of various network operating systems. Content may include the following network operating systems:
Novell NetWare 4
Novell NetWare 5
Microsoft Windows NT Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
UNIX
Linux
IBM OS/2 Warp Server
Server hardware specialists should be able to identify various network operating systems. A server hardware specialist should be able to install, start up, shut down, and perform simple troubleshooting on the major network operating systems.
0.20 Identify hardware and software available to manage network servers. Content may include the following:
Vendor-specific installation and configuration software
Vendor-specific management software
Vendor-specific management hardware
Antivirus software
Documentation
Server hardware specialists should be able to identify and use various hardware and software tools to manage a network server.
0.21 Creating an installation plan
Server hardware specialists should understand the process of creating an installation plan. The first step in installing a new network server is to verify the installation plan. After verification, the installation plan is used as a guide for the network server installation.
OUTLINE
Network Address Translation Server
Remote Control Remote Access Technique
Remote Node Remote Access Technique
Windows Internet Naming Service Server
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Server
Industry Standard Architecture
Extended Industry Standard Architecture
Peripheral Component Interconnect
Double Data Rate Synchronous DRAM
Buffered Memory and Registered Memory
Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE/ATA-2)
Small Computer System Interface
Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.)
Wireless Networks (IEEE 802.11)
Simple Network Management Protocol
SCSI Accessed Fault-Tolerant Enclosures
Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
Hardware RAID Versus Software RAID
Miscellaneous Network Server Hardware
Rack-Mounted Keyboard/Trackball
Rack-Mounted Monitor/LCD Panel
Vendor-Specific Installation and Configuration Software
Vendor-Specific Management Software
STUDY STRATEGIES
To successfully learn the material outlined in the objectives listed in this chapter, do the following:
Read the objectives at the beginning of this chapter.
Study the information in this chapter.
Review the objectives again.
Answer the Review and Exam Questions at the end of the chapter and check your results.
Review the Exam Tips available in various places in this chapter. Make certain that you understand the information in the Exam Tip. If you don’t fully understand the Exam Tip, review the information in the chapter related to this topic.
Due to the length of this chapter, it contains several Review Breaks, which summarize the information contained in the immediately preceding section of the chapter. In most cases, the Review Breaks contain recommendations and suggestions on network server technology.
