A+ training and hands-on hardware usage.

[J Siergiej]

We are going to begin training students for A+ cert and am wondering what types of hardware you use during the training. I'm talking the hands-on stuff not just simulations. Does anyone have a list of "nice to haves" they use for training? PC's, Laptops, switches, etc...

Are there any specific OS requirements also such as Windows or Linux servers to play with that anyone uses. I'd like to set up a nice lab that students can actually perform the required work.

Thanks for any input or suggestions you have.

j

 

[Eugene]

I use the cheapest computer and as long as it has enough ram you can load any OS pretty much. So you can use it to strip it down and then after it is put back together just load the OS and can set into Core 2 with it later on as needed.

 

[Akram F. Sulaiman]

For learning the hardware part such as motherboards, CPUs, RAMs, Power Supplies, fans, heat sinks, expansion cards, cables, ports, HDDs, SSDs and so on we use individual separated parts for each of the listed components. You can ask even your students to bring any unused or unworking PCs or laptops they have to take them apart.

For the OS and other software topics, we use our regular lab PCs. We use the build-in Hyper-V of Windows 10/11. We ask the students to build the VMs and install Windows 10 and Linux and they will use these VMs for the rest of the semester practicing all the software-related configuration settings and tools.
The physical PCs that we are using to setup the Hyper-V are average PCs with Intel Core i3, 4GB RAM and 1 TB HDD (Although SDDs are recommended for performance issue)

Really, we are enjoying this setting as well as the students themselves. @Stephen Schneiter @Rick Butler

 

[Rick Butler]

For learning the hardware part such as motherboards, CPUs, RAMs, Power Supplies, fans, heat sinks, expansion cards, cables, ports, HDDs, SSDs and so on we use individual separated parts for each of the listed components. You can ask even your students to bring any unused or unworking PCs or laptops they have to take them apart.

For the OS and other software topics, we use our regular lab PCs. We use the build-in Hyper-V of Windows 10/11. We ask the students to build the VMs and install Windows 10 and Linux and they will use these VMs for the rest of the semester practicing all the software-related configuration settings and tools.
The physical PCs that we are using to setup the Hyper-V are average PCs with Intel Core i3, 4GB RAM and 1 TB HDD (Although SDDs are recommended for performance issue)

Really, we are enjoying this setting as well as the students themselves. @Stephen Schneiter @Rick Butler

A lot of folks (myself included) have used this approach to get good hands on for A+. The biggest issue is keeping it from being all messy!

 

[DennisLinux]

It could be that I am too deep in IT, BUT ...
Hands-on vs virtualized is no longer a better thing.
As one of my students once said to me "That's so 1900's"
Most of the work now in IT is via a command line interface or a remote desktop.

If you are touching the hardware or running cable, you are in a lower-paid job.

The overwhelming platform for computing devices these days is mobile devices.
The majority of interaction with a server is remote, or keyboard.

At the A+ level, like when I learned to fix TV and radios, is just remove and replace the entire system.
It's faster and the cost to to have someone troubleshoot is sometimes close to the cost of replacement.

It MIGHT be time to replace A+ ...

 

[J Siergiej]

It could be that I am too deep in IT, BUT ...
Hands-on vs virtualized is no longer a better thing.
As one of my students once said to me "That's so 1900's"
Most of the work now in IT is via a command line interface or a remote desktop.

If you are touching the hardware or running cable, you are in a lower-paid job.

The overwhelming platform for computing devices these days is mobile devices.
The majority of interaction with a server is remote, or keyboard.

At the A+ level, like when I learned to fix TV and radios, is just remove and replace the entire system.
It's faster and the cost to to have someone troubleshoot is sometimes close to the cost of replacement.

It MIGHT be time to replace A+ ...

I agree with most of what you said, but A+ is for the entry level position. You're not likely going to be CSO with it but it opens doors to opportunity. I want my students to be comfortable handling computers. Opening them up. Swapping components. Can't do that on a screen. You have to earn your sheet metal cuts while trying to push in an ISA card.

 

[Steve Linthicum]

The days of trying to figure out what's wrong with the hardware are likely aligned with ancient history. Last month I struggled a bit, making a quick check and concluding that with my Dell laptop it was likely a hardware wireless adapter issue. With eyes not being what they use to be, rather than open it up I elected to purchase a USB wireless adapter for $12.99 that arrived the next day, and the situation was resolved. Yeah, dealing with IRQs and I/O addressing was interesting, but I'm thankful hardware issues are no longer what they were, and are mostly dealt with by throwing them on the E-Waste pile.

 

[Akram F. Sulaiman]

It could be that I am too deep in IT, BUT ...
Hands-on vs virtualized is no longer a better thing.
As one of my students once said to me "That's so 1900's"
Most of the work now in IT is via a command line interface or a remote desktop.

If you are touching the hardware or running cable, you are in a lower-paid job.

The overwhelming platform for computing devices these days is mobile devices.
The majority of interaction with a server is remote, or keyboard.

At the A+ level, like when I learned to fix TV and radios, is just remove and replace the entire system.
It's faster and the cost to to have someone troubleshoot is sometimes close to the cost of replacement.

It MIGHT be time to replace A+ ...

Dear @DennisLinux we got your point. However, pls do not forget that A+ is targeting on the first place the entry-level technicians (even some candidates are intermediate and high school students) and not highly and deep IT pros like you, so to help them down the road for understanding the advanced IT skills, they should have a very solid understanding on the basic tools and simple way of work (as they say "Back to Basics" is the key). otherwise, they will not fly too high on the sky of IT world. step-by-step and believe me they will WOW us on what they can do on IT. Also, still the majority of companies around the world are still using workstations and laptops computers for their mainstream workforce and not mobiles and tablets as their CEOs do