CCDA Here I Come!

MrD

Well, just passed the R&S lab. Gonna do the DA & DP now. Just wanted to introduce myself to the Design Group

Btw, what's the best up-to-date all-in-one CCDA book out there now?

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Comments

romain

I think your IE studies will help you..

You cand definitely rely on Cisco Press books from Diane Teare.

Cheers

MrD

Cool Thanks. Just bought a few things that will get me started:

Designing for Cisco Internetwork Solutions (DESGN) (Authorized Self-Study Guide), Second Edition
CCDA Official Exam Certification Guide, Third Edition
CCDA Quick Reference Sheets: Exam 640-863

romain

Nice stuff to read before sleeping...

cheers

MrD

Yeah haha. Would preparing for the DP prepare me for the DA as well? I'd like to go straight to the DP material if it basically will cover the DA. I could then take them both back to back basically.

I'm leaning toward a yes by looking at the blueprints. Thanks.

mikej412

I read the DESGN stuff while working on the CCNA and then read the ARCH stuff while working on the CCNP.

Then I reviewed and took the DESGN and ARCH exams about a week apart. The material is complementary -- but back in the old days the 2 exams were completely different.

MrD

Awesome, thanks Mike and Romain.

I took last week off from studies (1st solid week in 18 months. I even studied on Christmas Eve). Today is my first day of Design studies!!! Wish me luck!

I will be maintaining my R&S knowledge by completing a full R&S lab each week, along with some additional miscellaneous reading.

sir_creamy_

Is it true that the DA is more theoretical in nature than the NA?

MrD

Well, 4 hours into it I would say yes, but I'll let you know what I think in a few weeks. Mike would definitely know, though.

GT-Rob

I have not done it yet, but from what I read the DA is a walk in the park if you have CCNP.

Obviously that is just an opinion, but I have already done some of the practice questions for it and I don't see it taking more than a week or 2 to study for lol.

MrD

There is no doubt in my mind that I could pass the DA in a couple of weeks, but I want to know this material so well that it becomes second nature, so I'm going to give it some time to soak in.

GT-Rob

Thats probably a good approach, especially if you want to go for the CCDE (although I have no idea how they plan to test people on that lol)

ITdude

GT-Rob wrote:

I have not done it yet, but from what I read the DA is a walk in the park if you have CCNP.

Obviously that is just an opinion, but I have already done some of the practice questions for it and I don't see it taking more than a week or 2 to study for lol.

A word to the wise, do not take the CCDA too lightly. You might be a little surprised, especially coming directly from CCNA.

GT-Rob

Well I am 1 exam away from NP, and plan to do it after, so we will see :P Not to mention my full time job is dealing with large (1000+) Cisco networks.

ITdude

Okay, then you should be okay. You know the drill by now.

It is definitely more theoretical material than what is normally seen on the NA/NP.

I Think it is kinda fun but not everyone has the same sentiments.

mikej412

ITdude wrote:

A word to the wise, do not take the CCDA too lightly

Good Advice. I blasted through the practice questions on the Cisco Press Flash Cards with a 96% and then got blindsided by which pieces of fluffy business crap they decided to stress over and over and over in the 640-861 DESGN questions I got.

And I also remember double checking to make sure I was taking the DESGN exam and not the CVOICE exam

Having the CCNP does help with the CCDA -- and that probably why they added the "BCMSN level knowledge is needed to prepare for the CCDA" to the prerequsites. But adding BSCI would also be a good idea.

The updated 640-863 exam blueprint doesn't strike terror into my heart like the old 640-861 did after I took and passed that exam -- so it may no longer be the heart breaker the old exam version was.

ITdude

mikej412 wrote:

The updated 640-863 exam blueprint doesn't strike terror into my heart like the old 640-861 did after I took and passed that exam -- so it may no longer be the heart breaker the old exam version was.

Don't let the blueprint throw you off on that one. It is still a squirrely exam!

MrD

Well, I'm 3 days into the studying and have about 100 charts to memorize thus far.

Very interesting studies. I'm really enjoying it so far. Filling in some of the gaps in my knowledge which is always a good thing.

malcybood

I've been stop-starting in studying towards the CCDA for about 8 months mainly due to distractions at work!

I initially started studying the 861 before it expired and have to say the 863 is much more interesting with more in depth material on WLAN, IPT and security. The CCDA is more theory based than the CCNA, however it is "technical" theory with much less of fluffy business stuff Mike mentioned was contained in the 861.

I'm aiming to sit the 863 within the next couple of months, pretty familiar with most of the stuff just need to brush up on the security and WLAN sections I think!

I'm using the Diane Teare book and the Cisco Press book by Anthony Bruno and Steve Jordan. Probably buy the Transcender practice questions and flash cards closer to sitting the exam too.

ITdude

I would say that is a fairly good assesment of the scope of the 863.

malcybood

MrD wrote:

Cool Thanks. Just bought a few things that will get me started:

Designing for Cisco Internetwork Solutions (DESGN) (Authorized Self-Study Guide), Second Edition
CCDA Official Exam Certification Guide, Third Edition
CCDA Quick Reference Sheets: Exam 640-863

Same resources as I'm using, I think it's a winning combination and the Quick Ref Sheets PDF is invaluable.

I'm also going to buy the transcenders test for the 640-863 as out of the above resources the only one with practice tests is the Official Certification Guide, but I think the questions on the CD are a bit light to prepare you for the exam.

Anybody else used the CCDA 640-863 Transcender practice tests?

GT-Rob

So how is it coming along D?

I don't know about you, but this has to be the most boring exam I have ever studied lol. The book is sooo dry, especially after finishing NP. And the Nuggets are like watching one of Ciscos marketing webcasts on words they made up.

It also doesn't seem to cover as deep as I thought. I imagined getting into what makes a network effiecent, and why you would choose certain devices/protocols over the other. So far I have been pretty disapointed.

I have a block of desk night shifts (read: 12hrs a night to kill) and I might just try to power through/cram it, take the test and move on.

GT-Rob

Took the test today. Was pretty much a joke as expected. Someone with CCNP should be able to study for this test in about an hour :P

mikej412

GT-Rob wrote:

Took the test today.

Congratulations!

What should CCNPs study for that one hour -- the CCDA Reference Sheets?

shednik

Congrats Rob!!

GT-Rob

pretty much. Be familiar with the SONA/Enterprise diagrams, and some general terms. Thats about all thats new from CCNP.

I used the study guide but it was a bit of a snooze, and I couldn't even make it through the CBT Nuggets (they were outdated anyway as there are none for the current exam).

MrD

Congrats man. I took it 2 days ago, and was yet again way overprepared. I used the self-study guide, the exam-cert guide, and the DA/DP nuggets from CBT. I would start preparing for the DP, but there doesn't seem to be any new material.

Think I'm gonna focus on some multicast and qos until they release new material for the DP.

dynamik

Congrats to both of you!

snadam

dynamik wrote:

Congrats to both of you!

+1 congrats!

GT-Rob

Ya there is not even a current study guide for the ARCH exam, which I find odd. I may look at it again if they come out with a book, but I am not too concerned with it.

MrD

I'm definitely gonna hit when they release some materials.