trainsignal and boson

bowlersp

anybody here used the trainsignal bsci material to pass the bsci 642-901 exam? it looks like some good material, however for 200 bucks that seems kinda high. i do have two 25xx routers and a 1900 switch and was thinking about buying some more routers and switches. however i ran across the boson netsim and have to say it seems like a good deal. yeah, its 500 bucks, but to buy all the routers and switches needed to complete the ccnp it would cost alot more. anybody have any experience with boson netsim? the other plus is that my house wouldn't be flooded with routers and switches!!

Netstudent

Boson is "ok" for NA level studies but it is buggy. I would not recommend Boson for NP. The NP version is more buggy than the NA version because there are more complexities I guess.. Go with dynamips. It's takes a little getting used to, but it emulates real hardware with an Operating SYstem.

Secondly you don't want to claim to be a CCNP and never get any hands on. NP and no experience is one thing but NP and no real gear is just nuts. Real gear is worth the investment buddy. The knowledge you will gain by proving proficiency in NP level topics will pay dividends in the long run. NP is more than just a piece of paper, it's a lifetime of knowledge that can take you places.

save up some money and buy some modular routers and 2900 or 3500 switches.

Train signal is a pretty good supplemant. Especially when combined with Chris bryant's study package and cisco press authorized self study guide. Thats a good trininty of material. Still need lots of hands on though to be a CCNP.

ITdude

Netstudent wrote:

Secondly you don't want to claim to be a CCNP and never get any hands on. NP and no experience is one thing but NP and no real gear is just nuts. Real gear is worth the investment buddy. The knowledge you will gain by proving proficiency in NP level topics will pay dividends in the long run. NP is more than just a piece of paper, it's a lifetime of knowledge that can take you places.

save up some money and buy some modular routers and 2900 or 3500 switches.

I second that motion!

bowlersp

wait a sec, i get plenty of hands on training at work everyday. DISA CONUS is pretty much the major ISP for the military. trust me i get plenty of training to back up my certs i was just asking about the network sim to see if it was any good because i'd rather break something practicing than break it in production if you know what i mean. i guess i'll invest in a couple more routers.

sprkymrk

bowlersp wrote:

wait a sec, i get plenty of hands on training at work everyday. DISA CONUS is pretty much the major ISP for the military. trust me i get plenty of training to back up my certs

Yeah, but C-TNOSC gets to manage all the ASR's, and RCERT gets the IDSs.
How do you like working for DISA? I didn't know they had a presence in IL. What base are you at?

Netstudent

bowlersp wrote:

wait a sec, i get plenty of hands on training at work everyday. DISA CONUS is pretty much the major ISP for the military. trust me i get plenty of training to back up my certs i was just asking about the network sim to see if it was any good because i'd rather break something practicing than break it in production if you know what i mean. i guess i'll invest in a couple more routers.

Oh well then you should be good on dynamips, but at your level Boson wouldn't be a good purchase. My bad, I shouldn't have assumed and went off on my soap stone . At any rate, equipment is always better. good luck man.

impelse

I tried Boson, I did not get the result that I expected. Go with Dyanmips, it is better, It helped to complete my CCNA and it is working fine with 901.

bowlersp

sprkymrk wrote:

bowlersp wrote:

wait a sec, i get plenty of hands on training at work everyday. DISA CONUS is pretty much the major ISP for the military. trust me i get plenty of training to back up my certs

Yeah, but C-TNOSC gets to manage all the ASR's, and RCERT gets the IDSs.
How do you like working for DISA? I didn't know they had a presence in IL. What base are you at?

funny that you mention TNOSC, they call us when they have a circuit go down and we troubleshoot it. we deal with all the military NOSC's, such as: army=TNOSC airforce=AFNOC etc... we pretty much manage the circuits that all the DoD bases are provided. for example ft. belvoir may have circuit xyz that they use to connect to niprnet. we here at DISA CONUS GNSC (global netops support center) manage, upgrade, control and maintain that circuit and provide ft. belvoir a connection through circuit xyz to the rest of NIPRNET and the internet (through our IAP's). so we pretty much are the NIPRNET and SIPRNET (and some others ) because we are all the hops in the middle that one circuit takes to get to another.

I love working at DISA CONUS. it is the best job that i have ever had, granted i am only 26 and have not had many jobs DISA CONUS is based out of Scott AFB, IL. i like the location because it is not overcrowded, and the pay here is good compared to the Cost of Living. Very satisfied and will probably stay here the rest of my life. hah i say that but who knows how marketable i'll be when i get my CCNP.