Hey all!
I passed my ICND2
It was a fair exam a little harder than I expected and definitely revealed a few holes in my study strategy.
Some things I've identified:
- More time required reading Cisco documentation
- More time required on self-driven study (deeper reading into certain 'describe' topics)
- More time getting familiar with the technologies (aka living with them) versus. configure/test/move-on/forget
The last point has driven me to bite bullet and I've decided on building out a lab for the CCNP. I found that during my ICND2 studies I became way too detached from the physical side of networking. I also only really discovered how cool GNS3 was at the very end of my ICND2 so I'll be utilising both a physical and virtual lab for CCNP Route.
The virtual equipment is great for testing and knocking out labs quickly but something feels missing. I've almost become a little intimidated by real equipment after not having used it for the longest part of my studies (and not having any industry experience). My strategy for the CCNP will be both utilising the physical lab and GNS3 but with a focus on forcing myself to spend time tinkering and playing with the physical lab (as if it was my own personal production environment).
Below is a build list which I spent compiling over the past few weeks, most of the equipment has been purchased. I'm pretty happy with the build and happy to have passed ICND2. I'll be going onto ROUTE next.
(All prices are in $AUD so this ends up being around USD $360)
