1 00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:02,610 In this lesson, we're going to cover some basic information 2 00:00:02,610 --> 00:00:04,770 that you need to know about our lab environment. 3 00:00:04,770 --> 00:00:07,410 Now, when you take your course here at diontraining.com, 4 00:00:07,410 --> 00:00:09,210 you're getting a premium course experience 5 00:00:09,210 --> 00:00:10,860 that includes numerous hands-on labs for you 6 00:00:10,860 --> 00:00:13,080 to practice the things you're learning in the videos within 7 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,079 a safe, secure, and cloud-based lab environment. 8 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:17,640 Now, as you progress through the course, 9 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:18,870 you're going to reach lessons that allow you 10 00:00:18,870 --> 00:00:20,640 to launch a lab within our environment 11 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,310 and interact with Windows desktops, Windows servers, 12 00:00:23,310 --> 00:00:25,410 Linux servers, network infrastructure, 13 00:00:25,410 --> 00:00:26,640 penetration testing systems, 14 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,340 and much more based on the specific certification exam 15 00:00:29,340 --> 00:00:31,650 you're studying for and preparing to take. 16 00:00:31,650 --> 00:00:34,020 Now, we believe that these labs are an invaluable additional 17 00:00:34,020 --> 00:00:35,310 resource in your journey 18 00:00:35,310 --> 00:00:37,320 to not only pass your certification exam, 19 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,360 but also to learn how to be a better technician, 20 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,070 administrator, or analyst inside 21 00:00:41,070 --> 00:00:42,780 of your cybersecurity career. 22 00:00:42,780 --> 00:00:44,880 Now, these labs that we're going to use in our courses were 23 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,760 actually designed, built, and operated by CompTIA, 24 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,280 but they are going to be integrated directly into your course 25 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,590 experience at diontraining.com. 26 00:00:52,590 --> 00:00:55,410 These labs are actually the exact same labs you would get if 27 00:00:55,410 --> 00:00:56,910 you went over to CompTIA's store 28 00:00:56,910 --> 00:00:59,700 and bought the Cert Master Lab product directly from them. 29 00:00:59,700 --> 00:01:01,890 But with us, you're getting them integrated as part 30 00:01:01,890 --> 00:01:05,670 of your certification course package here diontraining.com. 31 00:01:05,670 --> 00:01:07,350 Now, the Cert Master Labs are designed 32 00:01:07,350 --> 00:01:09,630 to enhance your understanding of the course materials 33 00:01:09,630 --> 00:01:11,520 by providing you with a hands-on experience 34 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:12,960 that mirrors the tasks that you would be asked 35 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:15,480 to perform on the job in the real world. 36 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:17,820 Now, as you navigate through these labs, you're going to engage 37 00:01:17,820 --> 00:01:19,860 with the concepts and processes that are vital 38 00:01:19,860 --> 00:01:21,600 to mastering the performance based questions 39 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,410 or PBQs that you may encounter on your exam come test day. 40 00:01:25,410 --> 00:01:27,330 Now, it's important to note that the labs are going to provide 41 00:01:27,330 --> 00:01:29,670 a much richer and more extensive experience than 42 00:01:29,670 --> 00:01:31,140 what you're going to get on exam day 43 00:01:31,140 --> 00:01:32,910 When you take a PBQ. 44 00:01:32,910 --> 00:01:34,830 For example, in the lab environment, 45 00:01:34,830 --> 00:01:36,240 you're often given 30, 60, 46 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,040 or even 90 minutes to complete a lab 47 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:39,690 and do a lot of different tasks. 48 00:01:39,690 --> 00:01:41,700 But when you're working on a PBQ on the exam, 49 00:01:41,700 --> 00:01:43,230 you'll usually only be able to spend about five 50 00:01:43,230 --> 00:01:45,660 to 10 minutes or so to solving that problem. 51 00:01:45,660 --> 00:01:47,520 For this reason, it's important that you realize 52 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:48,930 that our labs are really designed 53 00:01:48,930 --> 00:01:49,980 to teach you the skills you need 54 00:01:49,980 --> 00:01:51,840 to be successful out in the real world, 55 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,280 and they're not designed simply to teach you 56 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:54,960 how to pass a PBQ. 57 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,510 All that being said, if you can master these labs, 58 00:01:57,510 --> 00:01:59,610 you will have no problems with any of the PBQS 59 00:01:59,610 --> 00:02:02,280 that CompTIA may throw at you come exam day. 60 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:03,810 Now, since these labs are operated 61 00:02:03,810 --> 00:02:05,760 and supported by CompTIA directly, I wanted 62 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:07,680 to go over your support options in case you need any 63 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,440 assistance while you're working on a particular lab. 64 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:11,700 Now, as a general rule, 65 00:02:11,700 --> 00:02:13,830 if you're having technical issues doing something in the 66 00:02:13,830 --> 00:02:16,980 lab, you should go to the right hand most panel of the lab 67 00:02:16,980 --> 00:02:19,380 and located there is going to be the instruction area. 68 00:02:19,380 --> 00:02:21,270 From here, you're going to see three tabs, 69 00:02:21,270 --> 00:02:23,100 and you need to click the right most tab, 70 00:02:23,100 --> 00:02:24,690 which is labeled as help. 71 00:02:24,690 --> 00:02:26,520 From here, you'll click on the support link, 72 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,130 and this will open a ticket directly with CompTIA. 73 00:02:29,130 --> 00:02:30,420 Now, whenever you click on that link, 74 00:02:30,420 --> 00:02:33,000 you're going to get redirected to the CompTIA support page, 75 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:34,110 and you'll be able to submit your question 76 00:02:34,110 --> 00:02:37,170 or issue directly to them for these lab issues, any kind 77 00:02:37,170 --> 00:02:38,310 of technical problems you're having, 78 00:02:38,310 --> 00:02:40,680 or any kind of misunderstanding with the instructions 79 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,780 that are provided in the lab environment. 80 00:02:42,780 --> 00:02:45,690 Now for 95% of the issues you may have with the lab, 81 00:02:45,690 --> 00:02:48,600 contacting CompTIA directly is going to get you the fastest 82 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,240 and best support to overcome your issues. 83 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,640 Now, for the other 5% of issues you may experience, such 84 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:56,010 as not understanding a concept being taught by the lab, 85 00:02:56,010 --> 00:02:57,120 if you need clarification on the 86 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:58,620 material or if the lab itself 87 00:02:58,620 --> 00:03:01,650 simply won't load when you try to click the Launch Lab link, 88 00:03:01,650 --> 00:03:03,180 then you need to contact the Dion Training 89 00:03:03,180 --> 00:03:04,860 Support team for assistance. 90 00:03:04,860 --> 00:03:07,620 You can contact us directly inside of the course platform 91 00:03:07,620 --> 00:03:09,870 by clicking on the discussion or Q and A tab, 92 00:03:09,870 --> 00:03:13,830 or by emailing us directly to support@diontraining.com. 93 00:03:13,830 --> 00:03:15,240 When you submit your support request 94 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,730 to our team at Dion Training, please include a screenshot 95 00:03:17,730 --> 00:03:20,220 of any errors you're seeing, including your full screen 96 00:03:20,220 --> 00:03:21,360 so we can see what operating system 97 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,150 and web browser you're using to access the labs. 98 00:03:24,150 --> 00:03:26,520 If you'd like to send us a short video showing us the issue 99 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:28,890 you're having, you can use a screen recording software like 100 00:03:28,890 --> 00:03:30,900 Loom or Descrip for free, that will allow you 101 00:03:30,900 --> 00:03:32,490 to demonstrate the issue you're having, 102 00:03:32,490 --> 00:03:33,840 and this allows us to get a faster 103 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:35,640 and more thorough response back to you 104 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:37,260 to get your issues solved. 105 00:03:37,260 --> 00:03:39,450 So now that you know what to do when you run into a snag 106 00:03:39,450 --> 00:03:41,790 with the labs, please remember that for technical issues 107 00:03:41,790 --> 00:03:43,860 or issues within the lab environment itself, 108 00:03:43,860 --> 00:03:45,810 you should be contacting CompTIA first, 109 00:03:45,810 --> 00:03:48,630 using the embedded help function within the lab environment, 110 00:03:48,630 --> 00:03:51,030 but for instructional or conceptual issues, 111 00:03:51,030 --> 00:03:53,400 or if the lab environment simply won't load, then I want you 112 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,250 to contact my team at Dion Training using the Q and A 113 00:03:56,250 --> 00:03:57,083 discussion tab 114 00:03:57,083 --> 00:04:00,060 or emailing us at support@diontraining.com. 115 00:04:00,060 --> 00:04:01,770 Now, another issue we often see students have 116 00:04:01,770 --> 00:04:03,570 with the lab is that it fails to open 117 00:04:03,570 --> 00:04:04,620 because it gives you an error saying 118 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:06,750 that another lab is already running. 119 00:04:06,750 --> 00:04:07,950 Now the system is designed 120 00:04:07,950 --> 00:04:10,290 so you can only have one lab running at a time. 121 00:04:10,290 --> 00:04:13,050 Whenever you load a lab lesson, you see a short description 122 00:04:13,050 --> 00:04:16,170 of that lab on the screen and a link to launch that lab. 123 00:04:16,170 --> 00:04:17,160 Now, whether or not you click 124 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:18,510 that link doesn't really matter. 125 00:04:18,510 --> 00:04:21,240 The lab has already begun to load in the background for you. 126 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,430 So if you navigate away to another lesson, 127 00:04:23,430 --> 00:04:26,100 that other lesson still thinks your lab is open. 128 00:04:26,100 --> 00:04:28,170 So before you ever leave a lab screen, 129 00:04:28,170 --> 00:04:29,760 you should always launch the lab fully 130 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:31,140 and then exit out of the lab 131 00:04:31,140 --> 00:04:32,580 by using the exit button within the 132 00:04:32,580 --> 00:04:34,170 upper corner of your screen. 133 00:04:34,170 --> 00:04:36,360 If you don't do that, you may have an issue loading your 134 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,070 next lab when you get there. 135 00:04:38,070 --> 00:04:40,260 Now, if you're experiencing issues with your labs, we know 136 00:04:40,260 --> 00:04:41,970 that this can be a frustrating experience 137 00:04:41,970 --> 00:04:43,410 because the labs are a critical part 138 00:04:43,410 --> 00:04:45,120 of your learning experience, and these kind 139 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,056 of hiccups can really disrupt your flow during your 140 00:04:48,056 --> 00:04:49,950 studying, but if you keep in mind our two support channels 141 00:04:49,950 --> 00:04:52,380 available to you based on the type of issue you're having, 142 00:04:52,380 --> 00:04:53,460 we're going to be able to get you back up 143 00:04:53,460 --> 00:04:55,200 and running much more quickly. 144 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,300 Remember, these labs are a stepping stone 145 00:04:57,300 --> 00:04:59,130 to not only passing your certification, 146 00:04:59,130 --> 00:05:01,230 but also ensuring that you are prepared for the challenges 147 00:05:01,230 --> 00:05:03,720 of working as an information technology, cybersecurity, 148 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:05,910 or networking professional out in the field. 149 00:05:05,910 --> 00:05:08,040 They are your playground for learning, experimenting, 150 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:09,900 and gaining confidence in your skills. 151 00:05:09,900 --> 00:05:11,580 So as we embark on this journey together, 152 00:05:11,580 --> 00:05:13,710 I want to encourage you to dive into the labs full 153 00:05:13,710 --> 00:05:15,660 of curiosity and determination. 154 00:05:15,660 --> 00:05:18,240 Use these labs to solidify your knowledge, to practice 155 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:20,610 and to prepare and always remember whether you have a 156 00:05:20,610 --> 00:05:22,590 technical issue or a conceptual question. 157 00:05:22,590 --> 00:05:23,730 The CompTIA support team 158 00:05:23,730 --> 00:05:25,950 and the Dion Training Support team are just a click away 159 00:05:25,950 --> 00:05:26,783 to help you.