CCNA Security, What are your sources?

Adsplosion

Hello all,
I am proud to say that I was able to pass my ICND2 exam yesterday, which I definitely felt was not an easy thing. The materials I used included a cisco week course with QA and the Wendell Odom book. Strangely I found the Cisco Course which included access to the learning materials on the Cisco Learning Space lacking hugely. For instance no mention of MPLS, not one example of SNMPv3 configuration which featured heavily in my test just to mention a few things. It was lucky that I had done multiple practice exams with Boson as I would not have been able to highlight where I was severely lacking. My success in these exams is highly important to myself personally as I am currently on a scheme with my local police force that allows me to promote and retain my job, as long as I can progress through ICND1 - ICND2 and finally CCNA Security (6 months to learn each).

I am on my last stage before becoming a fully fledged network engineer in their eyes. But I have to confess I am worried about what I have read of the IINS exam and my personal experience with Cisco learning material so far. A lot of people seem to have no faith in the official guides, videos or course. I have also read some disgruntled students (passed and failed) that are not happy with the way questions are worded. I want to get my study right and I want some confidence in what I am learning, apologies for such a long winded post but I would be massively grateful if you guys could recommend me Good comprehensive trustable sources of learning that will help me pass the exam and not leave me open to surprise.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this post, I would be grateful for your insights.

atippett

I don't know if you have access to skillsoft, but the videos on there are good. I used them and the official guide (which is as bad as you've heard) and the Boson practice exams.

p@r0tuXus

Full disclosure:

I have not taken this exam, I am only preparing to study for it. I have made a list of resources which I think will prove valuable and I'll list them in no particular order. You can do your own research on them and decide if they're right for you and I realize some of them may be redundant, but I've heard it's better to be over-prepared for this cert. I've talked to people who have it that are on track to gain their CCNP and they say if they hadn't been covering some of that CCNP R&S material the 210-260 exam would have been ridiculous.

• CBT Nuggets (Keith Barker)
• Pluralsight (Formerly Train signal)
• GNS3 Labs focusing heavily on ASAs and ASDM

• https://www.bookdepository.com/CCNA-Security-210-260-Official-Cert-Guide-Omar-Santos/9781587205668?redirected=true&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_campaign=ShoppingUs&utm_source=US&utm_content=CCNA-Security-210-260-Official-Cert-Guide

• (Ccna Security Lab Manual 1.2 (3rd edition))
http://www.textbooks.com/Ccna-Security-Lab-Manual-12-3rd-Edition/9781587133473/Cisco-press.php?CSID=AUBZOCSABTZT3TAOQMODCKS2B

• http://product.half.ebay.com/31-Days-Before-Your-CCNA-Security-Exam-A-Day-By-Day-Review-Guide-for-the-IINS-210-260-Certification-Exam-by-Patrick-Gargano-2016-Paperback/219385354&tg=info

• http://www.boson.com/certification-kit/kit-cisco-210-260-iins

PCTechLinc

I'm going to emphasize what was said on the previous posts about the Boson practice tests. I found them to be the most accurate compared to the actual 210-260. I went through ALL the questions in not-timed mode, and if I got a question wrong, read the entire description. Additionally, it tells you what resource you can use to read the description of WHY it was correct or not.

albinorhino187

I watched the CBT Nuggets course, including all "extra" videos. I also read "31 days before your CCNA Security exam". And I used the Boson tests. While watching the CBT Nuggets, I also mirrored the GNS3 lab to follow along and practice with. I never even opened the OCG.

I got the minimum passing score, but I only studied for 1.5 months. I felt very rushed, but I had a self-imposed deadline. Be careful when planning your CBT viewing time. There are many 3-4 minute videos where Keith will "assign you" 4-5 videos from his CCNP videos, and each of those could be 45+ minutes long.

GmvProject

albinorhino187 wrote: »

I watched the CBT Nuggets course, including all "extra" videos. I also read "31 days before your CCNA Security exam". And I used the Boson tests. While watching the CBT Nuggets, I also mirrored the GNS3 lab to follow along and practice with. I never even opened the OCG.

I got the minimum passing score, but I only studied for 1.5 months. I felt very rushed, but I had a self-imposed deadline. Be careful when planning your CBT viewing time. There are many 3-4 minute videos where Keith will "assign you" 4-5 videos from his CCNP videos, and each of those could be 45+ minutes long.

Do you have an estimate hour count per day when you did this for 1.5 months? I keep hearing that this is a brutal test; I'm planning on studying for 2 months for this; but looks like I will be needing more.

Thanks!

medic

Another vote for CBT Nuggets and the Boson practice tests.

Adsplosion

Thanks for your assistance guys, its much appreciated, its a real shame that CBT nugget is subscription based and pricey! But as I have seen thus far to pursue CISCO I get out what I put in.

I've noted that CISCO have an official video guide, has anyone used that before?

neonman

Another option if CBT Nuggets is to expensive is https://www.pluralsight.com/ you can sign up for x amount of free hours video before you buy. You could pay for 1 month at a time as well.

Good luck.