Starting CCNP

thomas_

Well, I wasn't ever expecting to make a post like this. CCNP always seemed to be one of those certs I would get after having tons of experience being a Network Engineer full time for a few years(which didn't seem like a job I would ever get.) Working as a full-time Network Engineer isn't in my past work experience although I do have some experience working with networks.

However, recently I stumbled into a job which utilizes things covered in CCNP. I've been learning at work, but it's more of a "if this happens, type these commands to look for these things, and then type this to resolve the issue." There isn't really any deeper explanation, so I figured I might as well start studying for CCNP since a lot of things I'm seeing in the configs at work are covered in the CCNP exam.

I went ahead and bought the Official Certification Guide library today. I also have the Boson Netsim simulator for CCNP that I bought about a year ago and haven't done a whole lot with, so maybe I'll get some use out of it now. I think I'm going to start with the SWITCH exam followed by ROUTE and then TSHOOT. I'm hoping to complete this in about a year to a year and a half.

Ismaeljrp

That's a very healthy amount of time to get it done. Haven't read the OCG, but I've heard good things. I'm in the midst of my studies as well so just want to say have fun and happy learning!!

Fearoeire

Best of luck as well. I'm a couple of weeks into ROUTE and am aiming to complete all within a year. Going for the RST plan, as I'm finding it hard to get the proper switches for labs, and have GNS3 working perfectly.

GwhizZ

Hi Thomas Best of Luck, I'm actually writing 300-115 on tuesday
Been a Network Engineer for the past +/- 5 Odd Years, only did CCENT, then got lazy
I'm really enjoying studying for SWITCH, it has actually made my job so much easier in terms of troubleshooting

hurricane1091

Good luck. For reference, I've been studying since the beginning of December at a casual pace, and am taking the T-SHOOT on Friday.

ITBot

Let us know what you think of the Boson sims!

LonVenu

Are you gonna use Packet Tracer or GNS3 ?
Good Luck.

Danielh22185

noahp34 wrote: »

Let us know what you think of the Boson sims!

I highly recommend them! I used it for Switch and am currently using it for TSHOOT. I wish I would have done the same for Route...

thomas_

@Ismaeljrp - Thanks, what are you studying right now?

Fearoeire wrote: »

Going for the RST plan, as I'm finding it hard to get the proper switches for labs, and have GNS3 working perfectly.

Yeah, I've read online that switches don't play nice in simulators and can have glitches. At some point I would like to get the actual hardware, but I don't want to buy an entire kit outright, but then I get too analytical when I look at buying everything separately.

GwhizZ wrote: »

Hi Thomas Best of Luck, I'm actually writing 300-115 on tuesday
Been a Network Engineer for the past +/- 5 Odd Years, only did CCENT, then got lazy
I'm really enjoying studying for SWITCH, it has actually made my job so much easier in terms of troubleshooting

Good luck on your exam! It's nice to hear that your studies have had a direct impact on your work performance. Hopefully, it does the same for me.

hurricane1091 wrote: »

Good luck. For reference, I've been studying since the beginning of December at a casual pace, and am taking the T-SHOOT on Friday.

Good luck on your exam on Friday. A casual pace is what I'm shooting for as well. I only have about an hour(max) a day during the week days I can study for it and a maybe a few hours each day on the weekends. I'm going to see how it works and then adjust from there.

noahp34 wrote: »

Let us know what you think of the Boson sims!

Yeah, I'll definitely let everyone know how I like them. I would like to get some physical gear just to mess around with though.

LonVenu wrote: »

Are you gonna use Packet Tracer or GNS3 ?
Good Luck.

I'm going to try out Boson. I bought their NetSim product a year ago when I wanted to brush up on some things, but never used it. Eventually, I would like to get some gear, but everytime I look into buying actual gear I never pull the trigger. I don't have access to Packet Tracer and I don't have IOS images to use for GNS3.

hurricane1091

Thanks you.

I used real equipment for the entire studying process, simply because it's very available to me at work. I actually have a rack in the lab at work, and a terminal server I set up and remote to, and am able to get to all devices (4 routers + 4 L3 switches). It's as good as it can possibly get, but I am sure than virtual labbing works well too. I probably would not pay for equipment.

ITBot

I'm going to take advantage of the current Boson sale and pickup the full CCNP simulator and practice test package. Maybe I can convince work to pay for it.

Thanks!

Ismaeljrp

thomas_ wrote: »

@Ismaeljrp - Thanks, what are you studying right now?

Hey Thomas,
I'll be done with OSPF topics by tomorrow, and onto redistribution topics. I'm using the CCNP Simplified book for now filling any missing info with Chris Bryant's ROUTE book on kindle, and various training videos from INE/CBTNuggets/Udemy/Youtube. I've just ramped up my hours to an avg of 3 hours per day on weekdays and 6 on weekends after a casual 3 weeks of study. Have to get ROUTE by Sept. 6

ande0255

I wanted to get this done by the end of the year, but with so much going on in summer, I nailed EIGRP and OSPF then took a break from studying right at Redistribution and getting back into the swing of things is proving to be a pain in the ***.

My best advice is to type down bullet points or blog about your studies and labbing, so you can look back at your wording and get a quick refresher on topics that might go stale if you take any breaks in studies. I thought I could tank my way through the summer, but too many people want me to go out into the sunlight, hisssss!

Ismaeljrp

Actually that's not a bad spot to pick up your studies again, just refresh your IGP studies with training videos and labbing, should only take a weekend and hop right on redistribution.

txraider09

Good luck! I had the hardest time with Switch(failed twice). Route wasn't too bad and T-Shoot was fun. Don't want too long to take T-Shoot after completing Route and Switch.