ICND2 - Feeling Frazzled with Frame Relay

jbriggy

Hi everyone,

My tenative plan is/was to take my ICND2 by the end of the month. I feel comfortable with all of the subject matter except Frame Relay. Everytime I try to pick up a book, or watch a video, it only takes a matter of minutes before I go absolutely cross-eyed and lose all grasp of the english language. I dont understand why with this topic my brain just shuts down.

It's killing me because that fact I'm struggling so much with this is starting to shake my foundation a bit, and I'm beginning to doubt my abilities despite putting almost 2 months into studying for this test.

Anyone have any words of wisdom for me? Or even better, A frame relay resource that worked for them.. Because all i know is what i've got now doesnt strike the right chords.

Currently using/used:
Sybex ICND2 - Todd Lammle
Cisco Press - Wendell Odom
TrainSignal - Chris Bryant
CBT Nuggets - Jeremy Ciorara

Any and all assistance would be appreciated. Thanks all!

dynamik

Is your problem with the theory or configuration (or both)?

I would highly recommend that you get this book and work through it: http://www.amazon.com/CCNA-Portable-Command-Guide-Self-Study/dp/1587201933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224085535&sr=8-1

It has been my favorite resource for my CCNA studies.

Turgon

jbriggy wrote:

Hi everyone,

My tenative plan is/was to take my ICND2 by the end of the month. I feel comfortable with all of the subject matter except Frame Relay. Everytime I try to pick up a book, or watch a video, it only takes a matter of minutes before I go absolutely cross-eyed and lose all grasp of the english language. I dont understand why with this topic my brain just shuts down.

It's killing me because that fact I'm struggling so much with this is starting to shake my foundation a bit, and I'm beginning to doubt my abilities despite putting almost 2 months into studying for this test.

Anyone have any words of wisdom for me? Or even better, A frame relay resource that worked for them.. Because all i know is what i've got now doesnt strike the right chords.

Currently using/used:
Sybex ICND2 - Todd Lammle
Cisco Press - Wendell Odom
TrainSignal - Chris Bryant
CBT Nuggets - Jeremy Ciorara

Any and all assistance would be appreciated. Thanks all!

Get on Amazon and get a used copy of Bridges Routers and Switches by the master Bruce Caslow. Price of a Happy Meal these days and disregarded by today's candidates. Great for Frame Relay and other things..

jbriggy

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I'll definately check out both of those. And to answer your question dynamik, I have trouble understanding the theory. I can configure it just fine since that part is all just a matter of memorization, but i want to know WHY I'm supposed to do something a certain way. If i'm asked a configuration question on the exam i'm sure it wont be as cut-and-dried as "do x,y,z" so I want to make sure I have all my bases covered.

Plazma

Frame relay was tricky for me too, and when you do the CCNP you have to understand it as it is used a lot as a basis for many other things. The CBT Nuggets for the CCNA sections on frame relay really helped me grasp the concepts, also the Exam Cert Guides really had good info on it in regards to frame relay.

dynamik

The book I recommended is definitely for the configuration side of things. It probably isn't what you're looking for as far as FR theory is concerned, but I would still recommend you go through it.

kryolla

what questions do you have about frame relay.

Slowhand

I remember feeling frustrated with the Frame-Relay topics on the CCNA exam because I felt like there was something missing from the explanations. What I was confused about was that there was a lot of "don't worry about how the rest of this works, just worry about what you need for the CCNA exam" as I was reading the CCNA-prep books. I found it useful to go and look at some CCNP-level (or even CCIE-level) material, or some documentation on Frame-Relay by itself, so long as it's beyond the scope of the CCNA material. Once I got to see a little more, it all clicked and I had a much better grasp on the material.