Diane Teare---640-863 ?

nanga

Hi All,
I would like to start preapring for the CCDA -640-863 exam. After all the reviews I have decided to buy the book,but the book by Diane Teare is not avalible for the 863 exam...but available for 861 exam. What should I do ...pls advise me.
Regards
Sagar

malcybood

nanga wrote:

Hi All,
I would like to start preapring for the CCDA -640-863 exam. After all the reviews I have decided to buy the book,but the book by Diane Teare is not avalible for the 863 exam...but available for 861 exam. What should I do ...pls advise me.
Regards
Sagar

There are a couple of other books you can order

1. CCDA Official Exam Certification Guide, 3rd Edition
http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=1587201771&rl=1

or

2. CCDA Quick Reference Sheets: Exam 640-863 (Digital Short Cut)
http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=158705311X&rl=1

or just wait until October when Diane Teare's 2nd edition is released.

Here is some more info on the CCDA exam from ciscopress and cisco.com at the below links. I suggest you research the exam then decide what you want to do.

ciscopress - http://www.ciscopress.com/markets/detail.asp?st=44716&rl=1
cisco.com - http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le0/le4/learning_certification_type_home.html

The last alternative is to sit the 840-861 exam before the 13th July, but I wouldn't recommend this if you haven't started studying yet.

srg

I'm going for CCDA this summer and gonna buy the new Official exam certification guide by Anthony and Steve. I hope it'll be sufficent since i don't really wanna wait 'till october

What's the big difference between study guides and exam guides anyway?

nanga

Hi Malcy,
Thanks for the quick reply.
I have heard the book by Diane Teare is a good one and can get the concepts very well... I have had review for CCDA books but nobody actually suggested for Official Exam Certification Guide, 3rd Edition, by Anthony Bruno, Steve Jordan....but adivised on the one bye Diane Teare

I would be thankful if you could let me know wether its a good book. icon_rolleyes.gif

Thanks a lot for your adivise and looking forward for more

malcybood

nanga wrote:

Hi Malcy,
Thanks for the quick reply.
I have heard the book by Diane Teare is a good one and can get the concepts very well... I have had review for CCDA books but nobody actually suggested for Official Exam Certification Guide, 3rd Edition, by Anthony Bruno, Steve Jordan....but adivised on the one bye Diane Teare

I would be thankful if you could let me know wether its a good book. icon_rolleyes.gif

Thanks a lot for your adivise and looking forward for more

Hi Nanga,

Because the book for the 840-863 Official Exam Certification Guide, 3rd Edition, is not released yet I can't find any reviews on it other then the previous link I supplied.

Below is a link that gives some reviews of the 840-861 version of the book by the same author. Going on these reviews I personally would not buy this book and hold off for the D. Teare book.

Amazon CCDA Exam Certification Guide, 2nd Edition page, with customer reviews

I am studying from the Diane Teare book for the 640-861 and it has been very clear and concise so far. I am understanding the book and finding it a good read so I would maybe suggest you wait until the new book by Diane Teare is released.

Can you wait until October to begin studying? Do you have the CCNA? You could do some study for the CCNA using the technotes on this site which would get you started?

Malc

mikej412

I really liked the Diane Teare Book..... so I'd wait until the new edition came out.... But I can do that since I already have my CCDA.

The 2nd Edition Exam Certification Guide was an okay book, but didn't cover a bunch of the material on the 640-861 exam. For the 640-861 I'd say skip it. There was a revision to the CCDA where they didn't renumber the exam, so the 2nd Edition Cert Guide probably covered the material for the original 640-861 exam blueprint.

For the new 640-863..... you'd have to count on the updated 3rd edition of the CCDA Exam Certification Guide and hope it covers the majority of the topics.

I used the reference sheet PDF file that came on the Cisco Press Flash Cards for the CCDA and CCDP and I loved those. There isn't enought information to learn everything you need, but its a great review once you've read the other books. It's a good assumption that if a topic is mentioned in the reference sheet, you should know it for the exam -- or at least it was for the old exam and old reference sheets.

I'd still probably get and read the Teare book old edition -- just because its such a good book. Hopefully the 3rd Edition Cert Guide will agree with the material in the old Teare book -- but where they have different viewpoints, I'd go with the Cert Guide (which is the opposite of what I suggested for the 640-861 exam).

Definitely print out both exam blueprints so that you can compare them as you read the old Teare book. As you read, check the blueprints -- if it seems to match the old blueprint but not the new one -- it may not be important for the new exam.

I say use the new blueprint and the new CCDA Reference Sheet PDF as the main guide to what's important for the exam. Keep scanning the PDF file so you are familiar with what's on it.... so that when you hit the material in the books you pay special attention.

We won't be able to say for sure until someone tries the exam and reports back on how good (or bad) the new 3rd Edition Certification Guide is.

malcybood wrote:

Amazon CCDA Exam Certification Guide, 2nd Edition page, with customer reviews

Long URLs mess up the margins in FireFox.... and it was easier to edit the long url in your post then start up IE.

There should have been a 3rd Edition rewrite to match the modified 640-861 exam a long time ago.... but there wasn't. That's why most of the reviews are bad. The book didn't match the 640-861 when they changed the exam focus and blueprint, but not the exam number.

The old Sybex CCDA book had great authors and was a good read -- but was also totally worthless for the most recent 640-861 blueprint.

malcybood

mikej412 wrote:

malcybood wrote:

Amazon CCDA Exam Certification Guide, 2nd Edition page, with customer reviews

Long URLs mess up the margins in FireFox.... and it was easier to edit the long url in your post then start up IE.

lol no problem I now know how to create the link as you have done

nanga

I have CCNA , Security+ and currently studying for CISSP and shall be giving the CISSP exam this month ... I wanted to do CCDA cause i am kind of loosing touch with Cisco tech( just to fill in the gap..i know its off track to my profile...) , since i dont have a experince....well...cant wait till oct for the book to be relased....need some alternatives...can ya guys suggest me something...am looking for something in security management,audit....and not as a implementation engg......thanks againg for replying with ur valuable advise

tech-airman

nanga wrote:

I have CCNA , Security+ and currently studying for CISSP and shall be giving the CISSP exam this month ... I wanted to do CCDA cause i am kind of loosing touch with Cisco tech( just to fill in the gap..i know its off track to my profile...) , since i dont have a experince....well...cant wait till oct for the book to be relased....need some alternatives...can ya guys suggest me something...am looking for something in security management,audit....and not as a implementation engg......thanks againg for replying with ur valuable advise

nanga,

I was previously certified as a CCDA until my certification expired in 2006. I am also a Cisco Press purist.

I am concerned when you say "i dont have a experince" at the same time as "cant wait till oct for the book to be relased." If time is a greater issue then go take the "DESGN" course through a Cisco Learning Partner. That is the current official training for the 640-863 DESGN exam. However, a Cisco Learning Partner course is relatively more expensive than a Cisco Press self-study route.

So if you have a budget constraint that would be exceeded by taking the DESGN course through a Cisco Learning Partner, then you're going to have to wait until October.

If you're concerned about "loosing touch with Cisco tech" then start the recertification process for your CCNA by studying and preparing for the 640-811 ICND exam or any Cisco exam with a 642- prefix.

If you're interested in "security management" then there's the Cisco Certified Security Professional track that you can follow.

Going back to the goal of CCDA, one thing that helped me get a head start in Cisco Designing was the knowledge and skills gained becoming a MCSE which is a "designing" cert for Microsoft systems. Maybe that's something you could do between now and October if you've got an economic constraint.

Paul Boz

I got the new 863 self study guide by Bruno and Jordan for some side reading and it's pretty solid.

supercooldude

Paul Boz wrote:

I got the new 863 self study guide by Bruno and Jordan for some side reading and it's pretty solid.

How does it fit to the exam blueprint?

tech-airman

supercooldude wrote:

Paul Boz wrote:

I got the new 863 self study guide by Bruno and Jordan for some side reading and it's pretty solid.

How does it fit to the exam blueprint?

supercooldude,

Although I do not have the CCDA Official Exam Certification Guide (Exam 640-863), 3rd Edition, generally from my experience the Cisco Press Exam Certification Guides have a section at the beginning where the exam blueprint is broken down in relation to relevant parts of the Exam Certification Guide. Why not visit your local bookstore to find out for yourself?

ITdude

The Cisco Official Courseware is also available for the 863 and is quite good! However, you would most likely have to attend a course to be able to get one.

supercooldude

tech-airman wrote:

Why not visit your local bookstore to find out for yourself?

I thought about that but couldn't find one. I already had a look at the table of contents but hoped to hear from someone who already got the book