CCNA Exam Cerification Library

jscimeca715

I purchased the topic mentioned book and noticed that it came in two seperate books...one for ICND1 and ICND2. Since it is broken up that way do you suggest taking them seperately or the total CCNA exam? I have a very minute amount of Cisco experience, as in classroom experience. I plan on building a lab and stuff like that but I wanted to get your opinion on how I should approach taking the actual test.

hodgey87

hi,

ive purchased the certification aswell, im currently doing the ccna academy also. I personally am going to be doing the 2 exam route as i dont have alot of knowledge of this subject either.

As for a lab i would recommend it for your studies however there are many simulators that you can use for the exam

if you need anymore help contact me

cisco_trooper

save yourself some money and do one exam.

pooker

Depends I am taking the icnd one tomorrow and have the same library you do, but the reason I am taking one is because it allows me to focus my time more. Between volunteer/trying to get experience, school 8-3, which is programming classes etc its hard for me to devote all of my time to the ccna so I would rather be safe than sorry. I also had the cisco acadamey classes

dynamik

Be sure to check the introduction of the books as well. They have a reading plan that hops between both books if you're going the one exam route.

hodgey87

yeh i agree pooker i currently at university finding time can be very hard especially with all the work and part time job on the side.

Glynixx

cisco_trooper wrote:

save yourself some money and do one exam.

I agree with Cisco_trooper but I think it really depends how much experience you have with the concepts AND the product. If you are new, I think that the best bet might be to take the two exam route.

Hope this helps!

CiscoCerts

I believe that if you're new to cisco there should be no question go for the two exam route. There is so much material for the CCNA, that's why its now in two books. It wasn't always that way. I had my CCNA in 2003 and haven't used any of the cisco configurations since then. I decided to go the two exam route myself after looking at all of the added/new material. Build on success with two exams or inundate yourself with loads to remember for one test is the way I see it. Saving $125 isn't worth that to me. Also I want a chance to be tested on all my ICND 1 knowledge and make sure that's perfectly up to par before moving on. If you go for the CCNA most of the questions will be ICND 2 material, it says that right off the bat in the books you have.

If you do decide to go the 2 exam route you'll also have another certification, the CCENT.

jscimeca715

Thanks for the good input, I'm leaning towards taking two exams. I've read through the objectives for both and noticed that a lot of the stuff on the first one looks like it builds on some stuff I learned in Network+ so that might be helpful. Plus if I was to study both books Odom recommends that I read one book and then switch to the second so that seems kind of confusing. Money isn't a big issue to me, I just want to pass. Thanks again!

aragoen_celtdra

I have the same set of books. I also chose to do the 2 exam route and I'm glad that I did. With the amount of material you have to know to pass the test, it makes sense to break it down into two - especially when you mentioned that you have a limited amount of knowledge of Cisco materials.

My personal opinion is that you should take the one exam route only if you're re-certifying or if you've devoted at the very least, 8 months to a year of CCNA study. But with the two test route, you're giving yourself the amount of time needed to concentrate on a smaller amount of information and continue drilling yourself with that information until you can commmit them to your long term memory. And when you move on to the next section, you would have had a stronger foundation to build on a more advanced stuff.

But if you still prefer the one way route, make sure you follow the suggestion on page number xliv (that's roman numeral 44 ) on the ICND1 book. It gives you a nice reading plan that you can follow to prepare for the 802 exam.

nel

I too have these set of books!

i also work FT and uni PT and have decided to go the 2 route exam. even if i wasnt at uni i would be tempted to go this way because there is a ton of info in there for someone who is new to it all. personally i would only go the 1 exam way if i had alot of experiance with the details in icnd2 but sadly i dont!

So basically do what ever you feel best to you - there is no "right" path otherwise there would only be the one choice ! ! !