CompTIA Server+ SK0-005 — Readiness Assessment (Mastery)

By Mr Sparkles · Updated Jun 17, 2026

CertificationServer+ (SK0-005)
Questions25
Passing Score95%
Format92% Multiple Choice
Sessions Logged644
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Certification Summary

CompTIA Server+ SK0-005 targets system administrators and server technicians responsible for the physical and virtual maintenance of data center hardware. These professionals spend their time managing the lifecycle of server components, often dealing with the reality that a documented maintenance window serves more as a suggestion than a hard limit for the hardware team.

Server Administration, Troubleshooting, and Security and Disaster Recovery constitute the majority of the exam, focusing on how you handle degraded RAID arrays or unexpected permission shifts to keep services online. The rest of the content covers hardware installation and configuration, where you identify specific cabling standards and physical components required to populate a rack. You will spend significant time analyzing terminal outputs and log file snippets to diagnose hardware-level faults.

Topics covered

This quiz

Server Hardware Installation and Management5 (20%)
Server Administration7 (28%)
Troubleshooting8 (32%)
Security and Disaster Recovery5 (20%)

Exam blueprint

Official domain weights for this certification.

Server Hardware Installation and Management18%
Server Administration30%
Security and Disaster Recovery24%
Troubleshooting28%
Server Hardware Installation and Management5 questions
  • Power and Cooling1 q
  • RAID and Storage Design1 q
  • Firmware and Out-of-Band Management1 q
  • Memory and Hardware Faults1 q
  • Cabling and Network Interfaces1 q
Server Administration7 questions
  • Virtualization and Resource Management1 q
  • Network Services1 q
  • High Availability1 q
  • Containers and Virtualization1 q
  • Scripting and Automation1 q
  • Licensing and Capacity Planning1 q
  • Logs, Metrics, and Failure Patterns1 q
Troubleshooting8 questions
  • Storage Performance1 q
  • Boot and Firmware1 q
  • Network Connectivity1 q
  • Performance Analysis1 q
  • Directory and Authentication Services1 q
  • DNS and Application Access1 q
  • Certificates and Secure Services1 q
  • Structured Troubleshooting Methodology1 q
Security and Disaster Recovery5 questions
  • Backup and Recovery1 q
  • Server Hardening1 q
  • Identity and Access Management1 q
  • Decommissioning and Data Sanitization1 q
  • Business Continuity and DR Testing1 q

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Question catalog for this preview

Catalog listing of the 5 preview questions for this quiz.

Question 1

A file server connected to a SAN begins generating intermittent application timeouts. The SAN dashboard reports no failed disks and no controller errors. On the server, multipath software shows two available paths to the same LUN, but all I/O is using one path. The inactive path shows repeated failback attempts. Switch logs show occasional link resets on one Fibre Channel port.

What should the administrator investigate first?

Answer choices

  • A. Whether the file server's NTFS allocation unit size is too small for the application workload.

  • B. Whether multipathing is misconfigured or one SAN path is unstable, causing path failover and I/O disruption. (Correct)

  • C. Whether the LUN should be converted from RAID 5 to RAID 0 to eliminate write parity overhead.

  • D. Whether the server's DNS suffix search order is causing storage targets to resolve incorrectly.

Explanation

The evidence points to path instability or incorrect multipath behavior. A SAN can have healthy disks and controllers while a host still experiences latency from a failing cable, transceiver, HBA port, switch port, zoning issue, or MPIO policy problem. Repeated failback attempts and link resets are direct clues.

Allocation unit size might affect performance but does not explain path failback. RAID 0 would remove fault tolerance and is not an appropriate fix. DNS suffix order is irrelevant to Fibre Channel paths and does not explain switch link resets.

Question 2

A company documents an RTO of four hours and an RPO of one hour for its order database. The current backup plan takes a full backup nightly at 11:00 PM and copies it offsite by 3:00 AM. A restore test takes nine hours and loses all transactions since the previous night.

Which conclusion is most accurate?

Answer choices

  • A. The plan meets the RPO because the backup is copied offsite every night.

  • B. The plan meets the RTO because a restore test was successfully completed.

  • C. The plan fails both RTO and RPO and requires more frequent recovery points and a faster recovery architecture. (Correct)

  • D. The plan fails only the RPO because restore duration is unrelated to RTO.

Explanation

The plan fails the four-hour RTO because restoration takes nine hours. It also fails the one-hour RPO because up to nearly a full day of transactions can be lost. The recovery design needs more frequent recovery points and a faster recovery strategy.

Offsite nightly backups do not guarantee a one-hour RPO. A successful restore test is useful, but it must meet the business time objective. Restore duration is exactly what RTO measures.

Question 3

An internal application is moved from SERVER01 to SERVER02. Most users reach the new server using app.corp.local, but one application server continues connecting to SERVER01. DNS records are correct, and nslookup on the affected server returns SERVER02. However, the application log shows connections to SERVER01 by IP address.

What should the administrator check next?

Answer choices

  • A. The affected server's application configuration, local cache, or hosts file for a hardcoded old IP address. (Correct)

  • B. The authoritative DNS zone, because nslookup proving SERVER02 means DNS must be broken.

  • C. The SAN zoning configuration, because application connections by IP are caused by storage masking.

  • D. The default gateway, because stale DNS records always remove the default route.

Explanation

If nslookup returns the new server but the application still connects to the old IP, the problem is likely local to the application server or application configuration. A hardcoded IP, stale local cache, or hosts file entry can bypass normal DNS behavior.

The evidence does not support authoritative DNS failure. SAN zoning is unrelated to application IP connections. Default gateways do not change because DNS records are stale.

Question 4

After a certificate renewal, Linux clients fail to connect securely to an internal API. Windows clients continue working. The certificate is valid, the hostname matches, and the issuing root CA is trusted. A TLS diagnostic shows the server presents the leaf certificate but not the intermediate certificate.

What is the most likely cause?

Answer choices

  • A. The server is not presenting the full certificate chain, and some clients cannot build the trust path automatically. (Correct)

  • B. The certificate uses RSA instead of ECC, and Linux clients do not support RSA certificates.

  • C. The API must be moved from TCP 443 to TCP 8443 because renewed certificates require a new port.

  • D. The root CA must be installed inside the server's RAID controller firmware.

Explanation

Some clients can fetch or cache missing intermediate certificates, while others require the server to present the correct full chain. Linux clients failing while Windows clients work is a common symptom of missing intermediates.

Linux supports RSA certificates. TLS certificates do not require changing ports after renewal. RAID controller firmware is unrelated to TLS trust chains.

Question 5

A production server begins dropping client connections after a storage firmware update. Place the troubleshooting actions in the best order.

Answer choices

  • A. Establish a theory based on evidence such as logs, timing, affected components, and recent changes.

  • B. Verify full system functionality and implement preventive measures such as monitoring or change documentation updates.

  • C. Identify the problem by gathering symptoms, scope, impact, logs, and recent change details.

  • D. Test the theory in a controlled way or escalate if testing requires vendor support or a maintenance window.

  • E. Establish a plan of action, implement the fix, and monitor the result.

Explanation

A disciplined troubleshooting process starts with identifying the problem, then forming and testing a theory. After confirming the cause, the administrator implements a fix, verifies functionality, applies preventive measures, and documents the work.

Jumping directly to remediation can increase downtime or hide evidence. Documentation should occur after the outcome is known, although notes should be kept throughout the process.