CompTIA Server+
1 Server Hardware
1-1 Server Types
1-1 1 Rack Servers
1-1 2 Tower Servers
1-1 3 Blade Servers
1-1 4 Micro Servers
1-1 5 Hyper-converged Infrastructure
1-1 6 Virtual Servers
1-2 Server Components
1-2 1 CPUs
1-2 2 Memory (RAM)
1-2 3 Storage Devices
1-2 4 Power Supply Units (PSUs)
1-2 5 Cooling Systems
1-2 6 Network Interface Cards (NICs)
1-2 7 Batteries and Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)
1-2 8 Chassis and Enclosures
1-3 Server Form Factors
1-3 1 ATX
1-3 2 EATX
1-3 3 MicroATX
1-3 4 Mini-ITX
1-3 5-1U, 2U, 4U
1-4 Server Management
1-4 1 Remote Management Interfaces
1-4 2 Out-of-Band Management
1-4 3 In-Band Management
1-4 4 KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) Switches
1-4 5 Serial Console
2 Server Virtualization
2-1 Virtualization Concepts
2-1 1 Hypervisors
2-1 2 Type 1 Hypervisors
2-1 3 Type 2 Hypervisors
2-1 4 Virtual Machines (VMs)
2-1 5 Virtual Disks
2-1 6 Virtual Networking
2-2 Virtualization Platforms
2-2 1 VMware vSphere
2-2 2 Microsoft Hyper-V
2-2 3 Citrix XenServer
2-2 4 KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
2-3 Virtual Machine Management
2-3 1 VM Creation
2-3 2 VM Configuration
2-3 3 VM Migration
2-3 4 VM Cloning
2-3 5 VM Snapshots
2-4 Resource Management
2-4 1 CPU Allocation
2-4 2 Memory Allocation
2-4 3 Storage Allocation
2-4 4 Network Allocation
3 Server Storage
3-1 Storage Technologies
3-1 1 Direct-Attached Storage (DAS)
3-1 2 Network-Attached Storage (NAS)
3-1 3 Storage Area Network (SAN)
3-1 4 Object Storage
3-1 5 Cloud Storage
3-2 Storage Protocols
3-2 1 SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)
3-2 2 SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment)
3-2 3 SAS (Serial Attached SCSI)
3-2 4 iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface)
3-2 5 Fibre Channel
3-2 6 NFS (Network File System)
3-2 7 SMBCIFS (Server Message BlockCommon Internet File System)
3-3 RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)
3-3 1 RAID 0
3-3 2 RAID 1
3-3 3 RAID 5
3-3 4 RAID 6
3-3 5 RAID 10
3-3 6 RAID Levels Comparison
3-4 Storage Management
3-4 1 Disk Partitioning
3-4 2 File Systems
3-4 3 Volume Management
3-4 4 Backup and Recovery
3-4 5 Data Deduplication
4 Server Networking
4-1 Network Protocols
4-1 1 TCPIP
4-1 2 DNS (Domain Name System)
4-1 3 DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
4-1 4 HTTPHTTPS
4-1 5 FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
4-1 6 SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
4-1 7 SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
4-2 Network Configuration
4-2 1 IP Addressing
4-2 2 Subnetting
4-2 3 VLANs (Virtual Local Area Networks)
4-2 4 Routing
4-2 5 Firewall Configuration
4-3 Network Services
4-3 1 Web Servers
4-3 2 Mail Servers
4-3 3 File Servers
4-3 4 Print Servers
4-3 5 Database Servers
4-4 Network Security
4-4 1 Encryption
4-4 2 Authentication
4-4 3 Access Control
4-4 4 Intrusion Detection and Prevention
4-4 5 VPN (Virtual Private Network)
5 Server Maintenance and Troubleshooting
5-1 Hardware Maintenance
5-1 1 Component Replacement
5-1 2 Firmware Updates
5-1 3 Driver Updates
5-1 4 Regular Cleaning
5-2 Software Maintenance
5-2 1 Operating System Updates
5-2 2 Application Updates
5-2 3 Patch Management
5-2 4 Backup Procedures
5-3 Troubleshooting Techniques
5-3 1 Diagnostic Tools
5-3 2 Error Logs
5-3 3 System Monitoring
5-3 4 Performance Tuning
5-4 Disaster Recovery
5-4 1 Backup Strategies
5-4 2 Restore Procedures
5-4 3 Failover and Failback
5-4 4 Business Continuity Planning
6 Server Security
6-1 Security Concepts
6-1 1 Confidentiality
6-1 2 Integrity
6-1 3 Availability
6-2 Security Measures
6-2 1 Physical Security
6-2 2 Network Security
6-2 3 Data Encryption
6-2 4 User Authentication
6-2 5 Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
6-3 Security Protocols
6-3 1 SSLTLS
6-3 2 SSH (Secure Shell)
6-3 3 IPSec
6-3 4 Kerberos
6-4 Security Best Practices
6-4 1 Regular Audits
6-4 2 Security Policies
6-4 3 Incident Response
6-4 4 Compliance
7 Server Administration
7-1 User Management
7-1 1 User Accounts
7-1 2 Group Management
7-1 3 Permissions and Access Rights
7-1 4 Password Policies
7-2 System Configuration
7-2 1 Time and Date Settings
7-2 2 Network Configuration
7-2 3 Resource Allocation
7-2 4 Service Management
7-3 Monitoring and Reporting
7-3 1 Performance Monitoring
7-3 2 Resource Utilization
7-3 3 Event Logs
7-3 4 Reporting Tools
7-4 Automation and Scripting
7-4 1 Task Automation
7-4 2 Scripting Languages
7-4 3 Configuration Management Tools
8 Server Compliance and Standards
8-1 Industry Standards
8-1 1 ISO Standards
8-1 2 ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
8-1 3 COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies)
8-2 Regulatory Compliance
8-2 1 GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
8-2 2 HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
8-2 3 PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)
8-3 Best Practices
8-3 1 Documentation
8-3 2 Change Management
8-3 3 Risk Management
8-3 4 Continuous Improvement
3-3-3 RAID 5 Explained

3-3-3 RAID 5 Explained

Key Concepts

RAID 5 Overview

RAID 5 is a data storage virtualization technology that combines disk striping with parity to achieve both performance and fault tolerance. It requires a minimum of three disks and distributes data and parity information across all disks in the array.

Data Striping

Data striping in RAID 5 involves dividing data into blocks and distributing these blocks across multiple disks. This technique enhances read and write performance by allowing multiple disks to operate in parallel. Each block of data is written to a different disk, ensuring that no single disk becomes a bottleneck.

Parity Information

Parity information in RAID 5 is used to reconstruct data in the event of a disk failure. Parity is calculated based on the data blocks across all disks and is stored on a rotating basis across the disks. This means that each disk in the array will store a portion of the parity information at different times.

Fault Tolerance

RAID 5 provides fault tolerance by allowing the array to continue functioning even if one disk fails. When a disk fails, the system uses the parity information stored on the remaining disks to reconstruct the lost data. This ensures data integrity and availability, making RAID 5 suitable for environments where uptime is critical.

Performance

RAID 5 offers improved read performance due to data striping, as multiple disks can be read simultaneously. However, write performance is slightly reduced because parity information must be calculated and written with each data block. Despite this, RAID 5 remains a popular choice for applications requiring a balance of performance and fault tolerance.

Examples and Analogies

Think of RAID 5 as a team of workers building a wall. Each worker (disk) contributes a brick (data block) to the wall, and they also keep a record (parity information) of the bricks' positions. If one worker (disk) is absent, the team can still complete the wall by using the record to fill in the missing bricks. This ensures the wall (data) remains intact and functional.

Another analogy is a puzzle where each piece (data block) is placed by a different person (disk), and they all keep a note (parity information) of the piece's position. If one person (disk) loses their piece, the others can reconstruct it using their notes. This ensures the puzzle (data) can still be completed and enjoyed.