CCDA seems easier than CCNA

hi everyone, i have started my studies for CCDA and i have bought the sybex CCDA book to begin with. I am now under the impression that with my CCNA cert it seems like CCDA is not much more work needed as there are no sims etc on the test.

I post here to ask peoples opinion on the difficulty of the exam the new 861 exam, webmaster did you find the exam easier or more difficult than CCNA?

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seth223uk

webmaster can you answer this for me? I have been on numerous websites and came across andy barkls review of the new 861 CCDA and many say that its twice as tough as CCNA even more so than CCNP etc. There are SAFE IPv6 and VoIP to worry about, i have the new sybex book and i m thinking about the cisco press new cert guide released in a few days. Will that contain the above like the SAFE etc or will i have to do the usual and fill in the gaps?

also i cannot find the current pass rate and number of questions? Any advice please!!

Webmaster

I guess I already answered this in your previous similar post... www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1772

The one is not harder than the other, it depends on the person who's taking it... CCDP is more theoretical and for some may be harder to learn because a lot of things cannot be learned from practicing in a lab. For others it might be the opposite.

This is the same for CCDA, it is different, but IMO not easier... I rather have an exam filled with sims than the case study questions you'll get in your CCDA. It is a bit like comparing MCSE with CNE... the one is not really harder than the other, nor is the one 'higher' than the other... just different

It would be pretty much impossible to pass the CCDA exam with 'just' your CCNA knowledge... especially now SAFE and VoIP is added... but surely there is overlap.

As you can see by comparing the CCNA and CCDA objectives, they are not similar at all....

www.cisco.com/warp/public/10/wwtraining/certprog/testing/current_exams/640-861.html

Most practice test, including ours, are not like the study case questions. But not the entire CCDA exam consists of case studies, you might even get a question on cable lengths... and which prots are DV and which Link-state...etc, but the CCDA is primarily aimed at 'designing' exams, 'knowing how things work' (in more detail than CCNA topics), not how to configure it (which in the end is accomplished by someone who 'simply' types in some commands...

)

Webmaster

I don't know what the current passing score is nor the nr of questions... anyone else took it recently or just knows?

seth223uk

thankyou again

im gonna give it my best shot anyway

buju

Well i took a shot at it some time last month/last two months and failed

The number of questions i got are 62 and the pass mark is 825. I dont know if it is the same for every one cos i was in another forum where someone asked a similar ques. and said he/she had 65 questions. About difficulty level, the web master is absolutely right. I scored very high in my CCNA and yet didnt make the 640-861. I guess i wasnt fully prepared. Non the less, the secret is dont leave any stone unturned and pray to ur GOD.

seth223uk

hey thanks for the tips buju, i am going to be much more prepared for this exam than CCNA. I have 2 books so far and if i feel i need the full self study cisco one the building scalable cisco networks then ill get it. Will take my time as its a new exam so i aint got to rush like i did for my 607 CCNA, if you have any more tips i would be grateful if you could throw them my way like gud resources etc there isnt much out there in comparison to the CCNA,

which study materials did you use etc ?

thanks again

buju

Hi seth, sorry i did not reply your mail since. been out of circulation. the boks i used were the old CCDA study guide by Todd Lamle, CCDA Exam cert. guide (CCDA self study) by Anthony Bruno & Jacquelin Kim. I also used some documents from the cisco site on IPv6, VoIP and SAFE Architecture. There is also an Asian site that could help(with more research effort on your part). The sites are stated below:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns110/ns170/ns171/ns128/networking_solutions_white_paper09186a008009c8b6.shtml

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/sc/rel9/soln/voip20/impl/impdesn.htm

This might still help:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/idg4/index.htm

http://www.net130.com

I wish you the best seth. Just make sure you do your homework.