Am I ready for ICND2? OF COURSE I AM!!

mikeybinec

I've been involved with Cisco since 2009. Took all four NetAcad classes and when I finished, tried the 640-802 and failed with
a 780 or something like that. Then I went to Nat Uni for a couple of years and got my BS degree. Now I am focused on CCNA again. When I think about the 640-802, I specifically recall a EIGRP simulation question. The routers were in different ASs. So I configured them to be in the same AS. I waited for the adjacency to form---and it didnt. Now I know everybody is laughing out there but at that time, my mindset was that i would get the console message saying the adjacency formed. And so i started screwing around with adding wildcard masks to the IP addresses at the end of the network statements. I never thought that a Cisco exam simulation ain't gonna show you the console message. So I probably wasted a couple of minutes on a question.

So fast forward to today. I find out the new Cisco objectives include material from ccnp, i.e. Etherchannel. I have the CCENT, and I have finished studying Lammle, a little Odom, Browning and Exam Cram. I am gonna hit the Boson and Pearsonitcertification.com practice exams for the next couple of weeks. The last two things I had to commit to memory and lab was the snmp and netflow--all new stuff

Tonight I am labbing OSPF again and jamming with Guns n Roses and making sure of all my sh ip os commands. Tomorrow it will be STP. The next day wil be EIGRP. I consider myself on the expert level in subnetting.

So where's the trap? Someone here mentioned IPv6. What is there to know? EUI and compressing? I cant think of anything else. I am a big fan of Graziani and his position is that the IPv6 format is a 3-1-4 The first three octets are the global routable, the fourth octet is for the subnet, and the last four octets are for the interface (in the /64 format). FF is multicast FE is link local blah blah blah.

So that's where I am--So what's up Tech Exam people? Any advice?

Thanks and regards

Jon_Cisco

I didn't stress to much about IPv6. I learned it at the start but didn't have a lot of time to review it and I did ok.

If your passing the practice exams and you know why your choosing the answers then you should be ok. Just be careful that you are not remembering the answer from the last practice test. It's the logic you need to know.

There is a lot to it and time management was my weak point for both tests. The problem I run into is that I find the right answer then spend to much time confirming it before hitting next. Good for getting it right but at the end of each test I was short on time and answering questions with no time to review them.

Good Luck!

VinnyCisco

Just a heads up... there will be no Guns n Roses on the test.

mikeybinec

VinnyCisco wrote: »

Just a heads up... there will be no Guns n Roses on the test.

The truth hurts

Thanks

gcr

I feel you man. I failed my first attempt at the ICND2.

I just passed the ICND2 today with 898. This was my second attempt. The first time I failed by 15 points.

I realized this tests are really about time management and being fast at gathering information. Don't get me wrong, you do have to understand the technologies involved, but if you only understand the technologies and do not train yourself in testing under the pressure of time, you are taking your chances. Also, don't get stuck at any given question for too long. If you can't figure out, take your best guess and move on.

After I failed the first time I was kind of lost. I didn't know how to approach the whole thing since I really knew the material. So what I did was to do a LOT of practice testing with Boson and Odom book's tests. Then, go over my wrong questions and find out where and why I chose the wrong answers. Over and over till I started scoring around 900 consistently. The Boson test comes with really good explanations for each question. It really goes into detail about why a specific answer is right and why the wrong answers aren't.

It is key to know by heart all the default values {OSPF&EIGRP (hellos, router ID selection, costs, etc.), STP&RSTP (port types, port roles, Root bridge selection, BID priority, etc.) and Frame Relay}, and being able to spot super fast how any given network design should run when things are setup right. Being able to read the running config and routing tables fast and comparing them with the network design is also a must. Master show commands (although many of them won't even work on the simulations).

Also get super fast at subnetting. I got an app on my phone and practiced everyday (it's kind of fun). The app gives your an IP address with the prefix and you have to enter the Net address, first host address, last host address and broadcast address.

Anyway, just wanted to share my experience with you and hopefully be of help.
Just keep pushing and you'll get it next time!!!

Best of luck!