If you rack servers, build RAID arrays, patch operating systems, or get paged when a production box goes down, CompTIA Server+ lets you prove those skills with a credential employers recognize. The exam covers a lot of ground, from rail kits and SAS drives to scripting and disaster recovery, so it can feel like a lot at first. The good news is that CompTIA publishes exactly what it tests, and a study plan built around that blueprint gives you a clear path to passing on your first try.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the exam format, each of the four domains and their weights, the official resources worth bookmarking, and the questions candidates ask most often.

What Is the CompTIA Server+ Exam?

CompTIA Server+ is a vendor-neutral certification from CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association. According to CompTIA, it validates your skills in server installation, management, and troubleshooting in data centers, on-premises, and hybrid environments.

The current exam code is SK0-005, which launched on May 18, 2021. It is aimed at IT professionals who already have foundational hardware and operating system knowledge (roughly the level of CompTIA A+) and want to show they can handle server-specific work. Instead of asking you to recite definitions, many questions put you in a scenario, such as a failed drive in a RAID 5 array or a server that can’t resolve hostnames, and ask what you would do.

What Is the CompTIA Server+ Exam Format?

Here is the exam at a glance, based on the CompTIA Server+ certification page and the official exam objectives:

  • Exam code: SK0-005.
  • Questions: A maximum of 90 questions.
  • Question types: Multiple-choice and performance-based questions (PBQs), which ask you to complete a task such as matching, ordering, or configuring items in a simulated environment.
  • Time: 90 minutes.
  • Passing score: 750 on a scale of 100 to 900.
  • Delivery: Pearson VUE, either at a testing center or online with remote proctoring.
  • Languages: English and Japanese.
  • Recommended experience: CompTIA A+ certification or equivalent knowledge, plus two years of hands-on experience in a server environment.
  • Results: You see your score when you finish the exam.

With 90 minutes for up to 90 questions, you get about a minute per question on average. PBQs usually take longer, so many candidates flag them, answer the multiple-choice questions first, and come back to the PBQs with the time they’ve banked.

What Content Outline Does the CompTIA Server+ Exam Use?

The current exam is based on the CompTIA Server+ Certification Exam Objectives (SK0-005), launched May 18, 2021. The document organizes the exam into four domains and 25 objectives, and it ends with a long acronym list and a suggested hardware and software list for hands-on practice.

Here is how the domains break down. The approximate question counts are calculated from CompTIA’s percentages and a 90-question exam.

  • Domain 1.0, Server Hardware Installation and Management: 18% (about 16 questions)
  • Domain 2.0, Server Administration: 30% (about 27 questions)
  • Domain 3.0, Security and Disaster Recovery: 24% (about 22 questions)
  • Domain 4.0, Troubleshooting: 28% (about 25 questions)

Domain 1.0: Server Hardware Installation and Management (18%)

This domain covers the physical side of the job: getting a server into a rack, connected, powered, and running with the right storage. It is the smallest domain by weight, but it is packed with specific details.

  • Install physical hardware, including racking (unit sizes, rail kits, cooling, PDU placement), power and network cabling, chassis types (tower, rack mount, blade), and server components.
  • Choose and configure RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD, and compare hardware and software RAID.
  • Deploy and manage storage, including NAS (NFS and CIFS) and SAN (iSCSI, Fibre Channel, and FCoE), plus capacity planning.
  • Perform hardware maintenance, including out-of-band management, KVMs and crash carts, firmware upgrades, hot-swappable components, and BIOS/UEFI settings.

What questions look like: Expect to calculate usable capacity for a RAID array, pick the right drive interface, or decide how to reach a server whose operating system has stopped responding.

Domain 2.0: Server Administration (30%)

This is the largest domain. It picks up once the hardware is ready: installing an operating system, connecting it to the network, and keeping it running and documented.

  • Install server operating systems using GUI, Core, scripted, remote, or virtualized methods, and choose partition schemes (GPT vs. MBR, LVM) and file systems (NTFS, ReFS, ext4, ZFS, VMFS).
  • Configure network infrastructure services, including IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, VLANs, default gateways, DNS, DHCP, and firewall ports.
  • Configure and maintain server roles, storage, monitoring, and data migration tools.
  • Explain high availability: clustering (active-active, active-passive, failover, failback, heartbeat), load balancing, and NIC teaming.
  • Summarize virtualization (host vs. guest, virtual networking, resource allocation) and cloud models.
  • Summarize scripting basics in Bash, Batch, PowerShell, and VBS, including variables, loops, and conditionals.
  • Explain asset management, documentation, and metrics such as MTBF, MTTR, RPO, RTO, and SLAs, plus licensing models like per-core, per-socket, and per-user.

Study tip: This domain is broad. Make a one-page sheet comparing licensing models and another for HA terms, because questions often hinge on one word, like “active-passive” versus “active-active.”

Domain 3.0: Security and Disaster Recovery (24%)

This domain covers protecting server data and getting it back when something goes wrong. It mixes physical security, access control, hardening, and backup strategy.

  • Summarize data security concepts (encryption at rest and in transit, retention) and physical security (mantraps, biometrics, fire suppression, HVAC).
  • Explain identity and access management: role-based and rule-based access, password policies, MFA, auditing, and single sign-on.
  • Apply server hardening: disable unused services and ports, patch, configure host firewalls, and use HIDS/HIPS.
  • Summarize decommissioning, including media destruction methods like wiping, degaussing, and shredding.
  • Explain backups (full, incremental, differential, synthetic full, snapshot), rotation, restore methods, and validation.
  • Explain disaster recovery: hot, warm, cold, and cloud sites, synchronous vs. asynchronous replication, and testing methods like tabletop exercises and failover tests.

What questions look like: A company needs the fastest possible restore after a failure. You’ll need to know that a restore from full plus differential backups needs only two backup sets, while full plus incremental needs every incremental since the last full.

Domain 4.0: Troubleshooting (28%)

Troubleshooting ties everything together. You’re given symptoms and asked to find the most likely cause or the best next step.

  • Explain CompTIA’s troubleshooting methodology, from identifying the problem and scope through root cause analysis and documentation.
  • Troubleshoot hardware failures such as memory errors, POST errors, overheating, and failed power supplies or fans.
  • Troubleshoot storage problems such as failed drives, misconfigured RAID, cache battery failure, and “OS not found” errors.
  • Troubleshoot OS and software problems such as service failures, patch failures, memory leaks, and clock skew breaking domain logins.
  • Troubleshoot network connectivity using tools such as ping, tracert/traceroute, nslookup, dig, netstat, ipconfig, and ip addr.
  • Troubleshoot security problems such as open ports, rogue processes, and permission misconfigurations.

Study tip: Memorize the methodology steps in order. Many questions ask what you should do next, and the answer depends on where you are in that sequence.

How Should You Use the CompTIA Server+ Blueprint to Build a Study Plan?

The objectives PDF works best as a checklist, not something you read once. Here is a simple way to use it:

  1. Take a baseline. Answer a mixed set of practice questions before you start reviewing so you know where you stand in each domain.
  2. Rate every objective. Go through all 25 objectives and mark each as strong, developing, or weak.
  3. Weight your time. Domains 2.0 and 4.0 together make up 58% of the exam. A weakness there costs more than the same weakness in Domain 1.0.
  4. Map your misses. For every question you get wrong, write down the objective number it belongs to. Patterns show up fast.
  5. Get hands-on. The objectives include a suggested lab list. Even a laptop running a hypervisor with a Windows Server evaluation and a Linux VM lets you practice partitioning, DNS, scripting, and command-line troubleshooting.
  6. Finish with timed mixed sets. In the final weeks, practice under time pressure so pacing isn’t a surprise on exam day.

What Official Resources Should You Use?

Commonly used references:

  • The Official CompTIA Server+ Self-Paced Study Guide (Exam SK0-005)
  • CompTIA Server+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, 2nd Edition (Exam SK0-005)

Frequently Asked Questions About the CompTIA Server+ Exam

What is the passing score for CompTIA Server+?
You need a 750 on a scale of 100 to 900. Because the score is scaled, it doesn’t translate directly into a percentage of questions answered correctly.

Are there prerequisites for the Server+ exam?
No. CompTIA recommends A+ certification or equivalent knowledge and two years of hands-on server experience, but neither is required to register.

How soon will I get my results?
Your score appears on screen when you finish the exam. Your certification record then updates in your CompTIA account.

What if I don’t pass?
Under CompTIA’s retake policy, you can retake the exam right away after your first attempt. Before a third or later attempt, you must wait at least 14 calendar days from your last attempt. Each attempt requires a full exam fee.

Does CompTIA Server+ expire?
Yes, now it does. Server+ used to be “good for life,” but CompTIA moved it into its Continuing Education (CE) program effective October 1, 2025. The certification is valid for three years, and you renew by earning 30 continuing education units (CEUs) or through another approved option. Details are on CompTIA’s Server+ CE transition page.

How long should I study?
If you already work with servers, six to eight weeks of steady study is often enough. If you’re coming from a help desk or A+ background, plan on about three months so you have time for hands-on labs.

Start Preparing for the CompTIA Server+ Exam With Pocket Prep

Pocket Prep’s CompTIA Server+ practice questions give you 530 exam-style questions, each with a detailed explanation, organized by the same four domains. Try the Weakest Subject quiz to see where to focus, then use the Timed Quiz to practice the pacing you’ll need on test day. You’ve got this!