Passes Cisco 642-551 SND Today

Passed the exam with a 1000 score. Being that there are no specific books out for this exam yet, I completely overstudied for the exam. I used the Cisco recommended reading materials of:

Cisco Press - Network Security Fundamentals
Cisco Press - Network Security Architectures
Cisco Press - Cisco Access Control Security AAA Administration Services
Cisco Press - CCSP Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack

I think the Network Security Fundamentals and the AAA books were the most benefitual to taking this exam for in-depth reading and the Exam Practice Pack helped out for final review in weak areas. I also went over the Exam topics that are on Cisco's website and searched for any topics in there online docs that were not covered by these books.

I had a total of 62 questions with mostly multiple choice. 2 Drag and Drop. 2 Sims. One piece of advice is to know both 6.3 and 7.0 commands for the PIX/ASA firewall software. They ask questions that involve both versions.

Alot of people say to take this exam after you have taken the other exams because this is an overview of the other 4 tests and it is a breeze to pass that way, but I prefer to go from hard to easy. In taking an look at some of the other exams I already have a groundwork and general understanding to build on for the next 4 exams.

Hope this helps someone out.

Have a great day.

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Comments

determinedgerman

Congratulation and thank you for your review. I am working on the IPS exam at the moment and I know what you mean with over studying......

Good luck on your future exams....

Webmaster

Congratulations!

Alot of people say to take this exam after you have taken the other exams because this is an overview of the other 4 tests and it is a breeze to pass that way, but I prefer to go from hard to easy. In taking an look at some of the other exams I already have a groundwork and general understanding to build on for the next 4 exams.

Cisco has moved the SND exam to the top of the list on their CCSP page, indicating they do consider it the 'first' CCSP exam. I'm sure it will be easier to pass the SND after the other 4 exams, but so is CCNA after CCNP.

Also means that if you overstudied for this one, you should be prepared better for the other 4.

Oh, and please keep the sim topics undisclosed.

wirerat

Sorry about the sims. Thank you for taking them out.

Webmaster

No problem, I know you were just trying to help.

Ahriakin

Congrats!
And thanks for the heads up on some good source material. FYI Ciscopress aim to have a specific guide out in the fall only, so accurate source information is invaluable for the moment (imho)