CompTIA Server+ SK0-005 Exam Guide 2026
Server+ is the certification for people who still work where the hardware physically is. More than half the exam is administration and troubleshooting — the work, not the theory.
On this page
CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005) certifies the administration of server hardware and software — installation, configuration, security, disaster recovery and troubleshooting, on-premises and hybrid.
What Server+ certifies
The recommended background is A+ or equivalent knowledge plus two years of hands-on experience in a server environment. This is a practitioner certification, not an entry point — it assumes you have already been doing the work.
Where Cloud+ asks how you run workloads across providers, Server+ asks how you run the machines. Racking, storage, virtualisation hosts, backup and recovery, and the diagnostic process when something physical fails.
Exam format
Multiple-choice plus performance-based questions, offered in English and Japanese, at Pearson VUE test centres or online. As with Cloud+, 90 questions in 90 minutes means pacing matters — do not let a single PBQ run away with your budget.
The four domains and their weights
Administration and troubleshooting are 58% between them. Hardware installation — the thing people assume Server+ is mostly about — is the smallest domain at 18%. Prepare for the exam that exists, not the one the name implies.
Troubleshooting at 28% is the domain that rewards experience over reading. Questions describe a symptom and ask what you check next; the skill being tested is systematic isolation, not recall. If you have never actually diagnosed a failing array or a host that will not boot, this is where a lab pays for itself.
What each domain covers
Server Administration — 30%
The largest domain, and the broadest. Installing and configuring server operating systems, roles and services, virtualisation hosts and guests, storage configuration including RAID and shared storage, user and permission management, and licensing and asset handling. If your day job is keeping servers running, most of this is already familiar — the exam work is filling the gaps around what you happen not to have touched.
Troubleshooting — 28%
Nearly as large, and the domain that most rewards experience. Hardware faults, boot and operating-system failures, storage and array problems, network connectivity, performance degradation and security-related symptoms. Questions describe a symptom and ask what you check next, so the skill under test is systematic isolation rather than knowing a specific answer.
Security and Disaster Recovery — 24%
Two halves. Security covers hardening, physical and logical access control, and data destruction and handling. Disaster recovery covers backup types and schedules, replication, restoration procedures and — a favourite exam theme — the difference between having backups and having tested restores.
Server Hardware Installation and Management — 18%
The smallest domain despite the certification’s name. Form factors and components, RAID levels, power and cooling requirements, cabling, rack layout and physical maintenance.
Who Server+ is for in 2026
The honest framing: cloud has not removed servers, it has moved who operates them. Server+ stays relevant in the places where hardware is still run in-house — data centres, manufacturing, healthcare, defence, retail, and any organisation with regulatory or latency reasons to keep workloads on-premises.
| If you are… | Verdict |
|---|---|
| A systems administrator running physical or hybrid infrastructure | Strong fit |
| Working in a data centre or MSP | Strong fit — the diagnostic content maps directly to the job |
| Moving from helpdesk toward infrastructure | Good next step after A+ |
| Working purely in public cloud | Skip it. Cloud+ or a vendor certification fits better |
How to prepare
The study-time calculator will size this to your schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Server+ SK0-005 domains?
Server Administration (30%), Troubleshooting (28%), Security and Disaster Recovery (24%) and Server Hardware Installation and Management (18%).
How long is the Server+ exam?
90 minutes for a maximum of 90 questions, mixing multiple-choice and performance-based questions. The passing score is 750 on a 100-900 scale.
What experience does Server+ assume?
CompTIA recommends A+ certification or equivalent knowledge, plus two years of hands-on experience working in a server environment.
Is Server+ still relevant with everything moving to cloud?
It remains relevant wherever physical or hybrid infrastructure is still operated in-house, which includes data centres, manufacturing, healthcare, defence and any organisation with on-premises workloads.
Practise Server+ Before You Book
500–1,000+ practice questions with worked explanations, written against the current exam objectives.
Server+ Practice Test
Practice Before You Book
500–1,000+ practice questions per exam with detailed explanations, across Azure, AWS, GCP, security, and AI certifications.