How Many CCNA's Does It Take to Screw In A Lightbulb?

Slowhand

Just one, apparently. Cisco must've really lowered their standards. They'll give out the CCNA to just about anybody these days, even me.

Scored myself a 910, with one sim and surprisingly few subnetting questions.

The only **** involved in this process was the one I nearly left on the chair after that eternity of waiting for the results-screen to load. I finally found myself staring back at the word CONGRATULATIONS after I hit the "End Exam" button, and opened my eyes.

Let's see here. . .
Planning and Design: 100%
Implementation and Operation: 75%
Troubleshooting: 94%
Technology: 76%

All in all, I'm happy with the score. I'm guessing that the Technology and Implemenation & Operation scores are lower than the others is that I used mostly labs, and only one physical router, for my studies. Speaking of which, here's what I used to study:

~ Todd Lammle's CCNA Study Guide (4th Edition, Cybex)
~ CCNA Flashcards (Cisco Press)
~ TestOut
~ CBT Nuggets
~ Transcender
~ Dynamips & Dynagen
~ One 2621 Router and a tempermental rollover cable
~ This site: the TechNotes, the posts, all the help from the users. It all motivated and helped.
~ Cisco's UniverCD, in particular, the Technology Handbook and the Troubleshooting Handbook

Now, I'm going on to finish up my MCSE. First thing's first, I have to hit up the 70-284 and 70-285 exams, since my work requires Exchange 2003 experience. I might also look into getting certified on SonicWall devices (CSSA), since we use those here at the new job as well. Then, I'm going for 70-293, 70-298, 70-299, and finishing the path off with 70-294. (I'm going to be busy for a while.) After that? Well, we'll see what Microsoft has in store for us on the MCITP: Enterprise Administrator path, and I hear Cisco has a little thing called CCNP. . .

r_durant

Congrats on your pass and good luck with your other certs...don't be a stranger to the Cisco side...

shednik

Nice slowhand...glad to hear you passed

mobri09

Congrats! good stuff

ITdude

Congrats and see you back after your visit to the dark side.

Netstudent

Nice Work!

mikej412

Congratulations!

Even though you'll be working on the MCSE, you'll still hang out here in the Cisco Forums, right?

Slowhand

Thanks, everybody. I did forget one thing that I used to study, which helped out immensely with nailing down STP: Cisco LAN Switching, which was donated to the cause by a very generous party. (You know who you are.)

mikej412 wrote:

Even though you'll be working on the MCSE, you'll still hang out here in the Cisco Forums, right?

Are you kidding? I already began peeking at the BSCI CBT Nuggets this afternoon, and FedEx should be delivering Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition) tomorrow.

Technomancer

Just wanted to congratulate you on finally getting it right. As your friend and colleague it has been quite the show watching you obsess over this cert. Now I get to watch you obsess over other certs and I am sure the change in tempo will be a breath of fresh air. . . or whatever you call that miasma emitting from your room. Congrats again on the CCNA.

Now get back to work!!!

BeaverC32

The only **** involved in this process was the one I nearly left on the chair

Hahahaha, I actually laughed out loud on that one!

Congrats!

mikej412

Technomancer wrote:

CertDesp.jpg

You should send that to the company that makes those cheesey motivational posters -- because that's the one that I would personally pay money for

Slowhand

Gee, thanks, Tech. You been hitting up Despair.com again? I'll have you know that the. . . err. . . "aroma" that comes from my room is undeniable proof of my dedication to my work and studies. Locking myself in there for days on end, not showering or shaving, is because I study a lot. . . yeah, that's it.

snadam

BeaverC32 wrote:

The only **** involved in this process was the one I nearly left on the chair

Hahahaha, I actually laughed out loud on that one!

Congrats!

as did I!!!

congrats slowhand!

mobri09

That's funny because I also tried to hammer down on STP....good thing I did because I got hit with a handful of questions.

Slowhand

mobri09 wrote:

That's funny because I also tried to hammer down on STP....good thing I did because I got hit with a handful of questions.

Yup, I got that question about STP. (I think anyone who's taken 640-801 knows which one I'm talking about.) Happened right towards the end. If I hadn't read up in Cisco LAN Switching, I'd have tanked it, not to mention the six or seven others on switching and STP.

sprkymrk

Congrats to you slowhand!

Slowhand

Thanks again, everyone. I breathed a little easier this morning, finally got the email from ciscotraining-notify@cisco.com with the header "Congratulations on becoming Cisco certified! Please read for important certification information". Got myself logged in, confirmed my address, and set up my password. Looks like I'm officially on Cisco's radar.

Slowhand

Well, I suppose this is an update, of sorts, to my certification-path. Since it all has to do with the aftermath of passing the CCNA, I guess I'll post it here. Looks like I'm not going the full MCSE: Messaging path, after all. I'll be completing the MCSE, possibly taking 70-299 to round out MCSE: Security. Before all that, though, I'll be taking a little foray into the world of SonicWall devices. My bosses think that I can slam-dunk the CSSA exam, having just gotten off the Cisco-train, so that'll be the next stop. After that, I'm heading back into 70-293 studies, then 70-298, (maybe 70-299,) and then on to finishing up the MCSE with 70-294. After that little journey is done, I'll be flipping a coin to see what I do first: MCITP: Enterprise Administrator upgrade-path, or CCNP.

So, with that, I've got one question for Webmaster. How's about setting up a SonicWall certification section? I'm sure I'll have plenty to report as I study, (my employer's providing the study material through a MySonicWall account). I'm sure there's got to be someone besides me out there doing CSSA or CSGM. In any case, I'll be keeping you guys updated on what the training is like, what's expected, that sort of thing. From what the uber-geeks at my work tell me, I shouldn't have too much trouble with configuring the SonicOS, with the networking foundations I've already learned in preparing for CCNA.

I do have a couple of things to report, though. I've seen more and more questions, (both out on the forums and in private messages,) on extra-curricular material to help with the exams. To add to what's already been posted in countless threads, I thought I'd give a little mini-review of two of my (now) favorite books.


Routing TCP/IP Volume I (Second Edition)
Don't let the "CCIE Professional Development" subtitle intimidate you. This book assumes that you have a basic understanding of TCP/IP and routing, and takes you from there. I've worked my way, slowly but surely, through the first couple of chapters, and I'm wishing more and more that I'd picked this book up before sitting for the exam. Chapter 1 covers the ins and outs of IPv4, and there's a lot of information on subnetting, the composition of IP packets, and tons of other things that will be very helpful in clarifying CCNA concepts. There are a lot of things outside the scope of the CCNA, of course, but knowing more is better than not knowing enough. Chapter 2 is going to be a life-saver for those of you hitting the 640-802 exam, as it covers IPv6 in a good amount of detail. If you want a read that simplifies the addressing scheme, this is definitely an excellent chapter to cover. Do yourself a favor, pick this book up. It'll help you pass the exam, prepare you for the CCNP journey, not to mention help you understand the concepts well enough to step into a production environment with confidence.


Cisco LAN Switching
My only complaint is that there hasn't been an update to this book since 1999, so you'll see a lot of material on bridges, token ring, and some other technologies you might not really be working with anymore. Beyond that, though, there is nothing out there that'll give you a better understanding of switching. Personally, I read chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 12, in preparation for my exam. As I mentioned, there will be a lot of coverage of legacy switching and bridging, but it's worth the read for the understanding of underlying concepts. Also, this is the book that finally nailed down STP for me. I'll give you a clue as to how good part II, chapters 6 and 7 are: they were reviewed and revised by Dr. Radia Perlman, herself. As with Routing TCP/IP Volume I, this book is marketed towards CCIE-hopefuls. Don't let that deter you, this book will definitely an approachable and useful tool for your CCNA studies, and beyond.