Lighting the fire... [Update: Passed!]

Well everyone, I've noticed that I've been slacking in my study efforts lately so I went ahead and bought my voucher today. I'm going to schedule my test for Oct 6. Wish me luck in my studies during the next few weeks and I wish the same to everyone in their studies as well.

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Comments

Ghent

Good luck. It's been my expierience that I usually have to do something drastic like that myself just to get motivated.

pandimus

I concur. the hardest part is getting on the ball, so I agree with your principle of scheduling a test just so you have to study.

hoop__it__up

u guys r right in that department, i've been studying like twice a week then i 4get most of it and i've been studying for net+ since like May and still can't finnish studying . i had too many gaps between my studies its better to schedule it right away to think like its a final test Peace

Lexxdymondz

Thats what I normally do. Figure about how long I'll need to study then get my exam appt. Then I'll start studying and if worse comes to worse I can cancel or resched. depending on how far along I am in my studies.

fugi1

I'm not working at the moment so it's pretty easy for me, i spend about 2 to 3 hours a day on net+, at the moment it's not sinking in yet, it's like some of what i've read is totally erased from my brain the next day, just need to be patient, it will sink in eventually.

bellboy

2 or 3 hours a day sounds about right. any more is just overkill. good luck.

jlambert

I'm doing about 2-3hrs also. my test is Oct 8th since the 6th was not avaliable.

jlambert

Update...

One week to go til test. Scoring 84% or better on Transcender and here.

jlambert

Update...

23hrs left til sitting exam... 1 chapter left in my book. Scoring 100% on here and 92% on college class final (50questions answered in 2mins). 83% on Exam Cram 2 Book practice test.

Special_k21

Time is getting thin! How is studying going? I have not even scheduled my net+ yet but plan to in the future (only on chapter 5 in my book).

jlambert

finished the last chapter in my Exam Cram 2 book last night. Just took the online Exam Cram test and got 87%. 1hr to go now

Special_k21

Best of Luck! I know how stressful it can be. I will be in your shoes not too far from now. Let us all know how it goes (with study hints of course!)

KingK

Good luck, let us know how it went and how you did!

jlambert

Woo! Passed with 873.

There were a few questions that seemed to come outta nowhere but other than that everything went great. The computers there are actually really nice and seem pretty new. They were even in table top style desks with the monitor mounted inside and faced upwards

spiffy

Study Materials:
Exam Cram 2 Network+
Primo TechNotes PDF

KingK

cheers!

Was there anything that you wished you had studied more on? What questions "came out of nowhere?"

I supposse you had lots of troubleshooting and token ring like everyone else?

I decided Im scheduling mine next month.

Special_k21

Congrats!!

So what type of questions "come out of nowhere?"

jlambert

Basically this...

"1.6 Identify proper procedures for installing and configuring SCSI devices. Content may include the following:

# Address/Termination conflicts
# Cabling
# Types (example: regular, wide, ultra-wide)
# Internal vs external
# Expansion slots, EISA, ISA, PCI
# Jumper block settings (binary equivalents)"

Can anyone recommend the next thing to go for?

KingK

Can anyone recommend the next thing to go for?

What side of the business are you interested in?

I would suggest CCNA. I know thats what Im shooting for next.

jlambert

I like designing and setting up networks most of all.

bellboy

there's always ccna, or mcse with design exams for electives.

Webmaster

If you want to do real network design for a living, the CCNA->CCDA->CCDP path would be appropriate. But designing networks is something one typically does after many years of experience building and troubleshooting networks. An MCSE cert may be useful or required even for many network design jobs.

jlambert

Should I get A+ in the process? Or would something like this work? Net+>MCP>MCSA>MCSE>CCNA>CCNP>CCIE

Webmaster

I really can't think of any reason for spending time and money on A+ if you want to make a carreer in network design. You'd need to know what a computer in a network does, not how it works internally or anything about the hardware components besides the NIC.

Net+>MCP>MCSA>MCSE>CCNA>CCNP>CCIE

Nice path.. but:
- CCIE is not entirely intended for network design, although it is helpful... a lot.
- IMHO, CCIE is not something one should talk about 'taking' or 'getting', untill the moment comes you actually prepare for it... you should aim for a carreer in networking before you even think about CCIE. Which you can reach by getting your CCNP and / or CCDP. After that, when you get a real networking job in large modern environments, you can prepare more easily because you get hands-on experience... years of it. Than you will be able to buy equipment for a home lab worth $10,000 at least. And pay the 2.6 times $1250 for the lab part of the exam, after you wait for months and months to get a spot at a test center not anywhere close (unless you're lucky, there are about a dozen world wide). Like I said, just my humble opinion...

Also, why would you take MCSA if you are going for MCSE? and if you want to do network design I really suggest CCDP or at least CCDA.

Net+>MCP>MCSE>CCNA>CCDA>CCNP>CCDP>>>>>>>CCIE

In your case I would suggest the 221 exam as the elective for the MCSE track. In between CCNP/CCDP and CCIE you might want to throw in some secureity certifications (PIX, IDS) from Cisco.

At a certain point in your network design carreer you need to forget about configuring routers, servers, other devices and software, and just focus on things such as the features, functions, capabilities, advantages and disadvantages, invulnerabilities (trying to increase my English vocabulary here

), implications, cost, measuring, reporting, network diagrams and last but not least: subnetting

The CCDA and the CCDP exams will get you in the right 'mood' for that, so I gues what I'm saying is that they are essential for network design.

cheeblie

I find it rather funny how everyone seems to think that CCIE is anything like any other certification. There's a reason why there are fewer than 10,000 CCIEs in the world. In my understanding of the exam, you probably need at least 5 years of network design in order to even consider the test. This does not include a job as a network administrator. While I have CCIE on a list of certifications that I want, I realize that I probably won't even take it until I'm in my late 20s (I'm 19 now). CCIE is on the back burner and will remain there for some time for me. I would suggest you forget about CCIE, and just go for CCNP and CCDP. When the times comes for CCIE, you'll know.

Cheeblie

KingK

http://www.cnn.com/1999/TECH/computing/12/22/sim.exams.idg/index.html

Interesting tip at the bottom of the above article for future CCIE test takers.

I know fully well that CCIE is on the backburner. Its the only Cisco cert that you get for life and I know tis one of the hardest cert to get much like the RHCE.

KingK

heres another article.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/06/07/top.certifications.idg/index.html

KingK

This one is kinda genereal and the CCIE isnt actually on it, but gives you an overview of some certificatiosn and the difficulty level and hwo many people have them.

http://certcities.com/editorial/features/story.asp?EditorialsID=37

Webmaster

KingK wrote:

I know fully well that CCIE is on the backburner. Its the only Cisco cert that you get for life and I know tis one of the hardest cert to get much like the RHCE.

Actually, you do need to recertify, by taking the written exam every 2 years...

And I don't think RHCE is even comparable with CCIE...

cheeblie

Yeah, I don't think RHCE is nearly as hard nor worth as much. CCIE is still the premiere certification for the IT industry, and I don't see that changing within the next 10 years.

Cheeblie

jlambert

I thought CISSP was the primo.