The most dull area of the ccna for me is...

mattipler

I'm almost ready for putting myself in for the CCNA... feel quite confident with all of the curriculum. But there is just one area that won't stick in my head no matter how much I read it... I find it so dull my brain aches. Configuration Registry settings and there uses and what, when, how to apply them!!! I'll read it all and then a week or so later it's gone!!! THEY JUST WON'T STICK! I think it's because I find the whole topic so mind numbingly boring. It's driving me f'ing mad!

mikearama

I'm with ya, Matt... I also found it tough to recall.

Here's what helped me: try to remember the boot sequences, not by number, but by function.

So first, a device should boot "basic"... similar to the bios on a pc. In router/switch world, that's ROM (actually, ROMMON).

Next, a bit further... say, to the DOS prompt, in pc terms. For us, that's ROM RxBoot. Now you can issue commands required to connect to a tftp and get an IOS.

Third, right to the operating system... ie, normal boot. Checks nvram for 'boot' command pointing to a valid IOS.

Lastly, unique to us... password recovery.

Numerically, in order: 2100; 2101; 2102; 2142.

Everyone remembers the 2142... it's for such a unique purpose. But 2100 - 2102... problematic. But thinking in terms of what they accomplish makes it make sense.

And (again, trying to be vague *nudge/wink*), an "exam prep" type question would be something along the lines of:

You are the admin of a network, and one of your routers will not boot using the startup-config loaded into NVRam... rather, it boots into Setup Mode every time. Why? Cause the config reg is set to 2142.

HTH,
Mike (of Canada)

Cucumber

These numbers are problematic for me too.

A few years ago when attending a job intervew I was given a router and I was asked to recover the password, I was able to do that CTRL+BREAK thing to jump into rommon mode,
(by the way I got asked what was the key combination to do this on Windows95, I think it is not CTRL+BREAK but other key is needed), anyway I didnt remember the "magic number" to boot the router using the full IOS without reading the configuration file (0x2142) , I thought I would remember it forever after that time, but I kept on forgetting it.

Nowadays, all I do in order to remember it is just recalling the 21 number, and then just having in mind I have to multiply this number by 2 to get the other 2 digits, 21x2=42, I know, its silly but that is how it comes to me.

For the other numbers I think Mikerama has an excelent way to remember them.

markzab

I hate having to know all the cabling specifics and their parameters. And now with the wireless stuff too that's extra monotonous. I made flas cards on top of my notes for that stuff. Almost have it all down.

I'm talking about knowing what 10base2, 10base5, 10baseT, etc all break down to. Baseband, meters, wiring, mbps per, etc...hate it.

kafifi13

for me it's anything ISDN.

Delirious

markzab wrote:

I hate having to know all the cabling specifics and their parameters. And now with the wireless stuff too that's extra monotonous. I made flas cards on top of my notes for that stuff. Almost have it all down.

I'm talking about knowing what 10base2, 10base5, 10baseT, etc all break down to. Baseband, meters, wiring, mbps per, etc...hate it.

yah i hate that tooo

markzab

Delirious wrote:

markzab wrote:

I hate having to know all the cabling specifics and their parameters. And now with the wireless stuff too that's extra monotonous. I made flas cards on top of my notes for that stuff. Almost have it all down.

I'm talking about knowing what 10base2, 10base5, 10baseT, etc all break down to. Baseband, meters, wiring, mbps per, etc...hate it.

yah i hate that tooo

The worst part about it is that it's something you have to memorise because those are like the gimme questions on the test. Those and all the port numbers, AD's, etc.

If even one of those causes you to fail it would suck big time and the only way to know is not to get them wrong.

KGhaleon

Ports numbers and such were fun and simple, but I have always hated the cable and ISDN portion. ISDN is unfamiliar to me and I still don't completely understand it. They have the BICSI certification...they should keep the cabling stuff over there.

KG

aquilla

For me it's anything to with ISDN. I used to have an ISDN here so I understand the two + one channel setup, but reading the books it still turns my brain to mush.

If you need a quick tip remembering ADs, I remember them by vowels and how they appear in the alphabet (e.g. A,E,I,O,U). In this case it would be E(IGRP), I(GRP), O(SPF), R(IP) with their distances starting at 90 (EIGRP), 100 (IGRP), 110 (OSPF), 120 (RIP).

Netstudent

I never could understand why they would make IGRP more trustworthy than OSPF.
But it is what it is......

Stotic

Because its Cisco's protocol and Cisco's equipment.

mattipler

Cheers Mikearama... short of tattooing it back-to-front on my forehead I was close to losing hope of ever learning it.

rakem

ISDN for me as well... luckily its not that heavily tested in CCNA

mgeorge

From an instructors point of view, the general communities weakness seems to be identifying IOS versions and featuresets. Which ios can support what features. Probably most of questions i see is "oh my router cant do this or that" well??? what ios do you use? I actually test most of my students on this topic because its essential to the field. Hence the main reason why i wrote my guide