6.1. Exam Strategy and Time Management

Exam format recap: Up to 90 questions (multiple choice + performance-based questions) in 90 minutes. That's 1 minute per question on average — but performance-based questions (PBQs) take longer. PBQs typically appear at the beginning of the exam.

Time allocation strategy:

1. PBQs first (flag if stuck): Performance-based questions are scenario simulations. If you're confident, complete them. If a PBQ is consuming more than 3–4 minutes without progress, flag it and move on — return after completing multiple choice.
2. Multiple choice: 60 seconds per question. Read the stem carefully. Eliminate obviously wrong answers. If two answers remain and you're unsure, trust your first instinct.
3. Reserve 10 minutes for review. Flag questions you're unsure about during the first pass. Use the final 10 minutes to revisit flagged questions only.

Question approach — "Given a scenario..."

Server+ uses scenario-based questions heavily. The scenario gives you a situation; your job is to identify the correct action or root cause. Strategy:

• Identify the scope first (who/what is affected) — this narrows the hypothesis space
• Identify what changed recently — most production failures trace to a recent change
• Apply the dependency stack — if a symptom is at a higher layer, the cause may be at a lower layer
• Eliminate answers that violate methodology (making multiple changes at once, skipping backups before changes, not documenting)

Exam-day mindset:

• Trust your preparation. Second-guessing memorized facts more often introduces errors than corrects them.
• If you genuinely don't know an answer, eliminate what you can, guess from what remains, and move on. Don't dwell.
• The passing score is 750/900 — you do not need to be perfect.