ICND1 (640-822) Secheduled Finally (Updated: Passed)

famosbrown

I've scheduled the 640-822 exam for Monday, October 20. I've read through the offical course books, completed all labs, and went through some of the Transcenders questions that I didn't really like, but oh well.

After reading through the objectives again, I still have a lot of work to do...especially memorizing the commands to do certain things, but more importantly, the order in which I should give them to accomplish a task. This is one of the big things I will be working on before Monday. I'll also be going through the book and strengthening my definition/differences knowledge on everything, i.e. link-state versus distance vector versus hybrid protocols, RIPv1 versus RIPv2, the thing that has already slipped my mind (the reason I need to bone up on this stuff) that shows 0 as directly connected, 1 as Static, etc., I think it is something distance, etc.

I've got some time to focus more on the Cisco after midterms for school, so I want to at least attempt this once and see where I am at. I get a free voucher if I fail the first time, so that releives the pressure...wouldn't be the first time I failed an exam though, i.e. The Beast and others.

I did run into some issues with my lab when trying to do the connect to Internet and PAT since my 2610XM's only have one Fast ethernet interface, but I went thorugh the SDM and commands without actually seeing it work. Maybe I could hook up my second router to the internet and have clients go through router 1, thorugh Serial to router 2, then out to the internet...just a thought and something I will look at either trying or upgrading hardware for really seeing the results of this particular lab and ICND2.

The post wasn't supposed to be this long, but I go into rants when I start typing and other stuff starts coming to mind.

AlexMR

Know subnetting. Know how data moves in the network. Understand the OSI layered network model. Know the equipment necessary for networks to work (media/cables, routers and switches) ... and you should be golden!

Oh, of course, you have to learn all those commands you mentioned too .

Good luck.

human151

good luck.

I found that having read the exam cram CCENT book the week before the test helped a bit. The info is presented in sort of a more focused way. By no means does it go as deep as Lammles or Odoms book but after having a good idea of how things work, reading that book simply reinforces what you already know, and it helped me remember things.


Plus, it may just make you feel more confident. and confidence is important, atleast to me.

Good Luck.

the_Grinch

I second what human151 said, ExamCram is a great resource! It is not a replacement for Odom or Lammle (I used Lammle), but boy did it really help me. It helps you to focus and then reinforce areas that you weren't solid on before. Plus it is an easy read because the chapters are short and they just kinda flow when reading them. Other then that I think you are heading in the right direction. Just keep working on the subnetting and commands. I do know that on the first exam I didn't put a command in completely on a sim, I knew there was more to it, but couldn't remember what it was.

Good luck and I have a feeling you will pass!

dynamik

This is great for learning the commands: http://www.amazon.com/CCNA-Portable-Command-Guide-Self-Study/dp/1587201933

It's not a just a reference; It also has a lot of explanation and walks you through various configurations. A solid weekend with that, and you will be ready for ICND1. Unfortunately, the ICND2 material will take much more time.

ConstantlyLearning

the_Grinch wrote:

I second what human151 said, ExamCram is a great resource! It is not a replacement for Odom or Lammle (I used Lammle), but boy did it really help me. It helps you to focus and then reinforce areas that you weren't solid on before. Plus it is an easy read because the chapters are short and they just kinda flow when reading them. Other then that I think you are heading in the right direction. Just keep working on the subnetting and commands. I do know that on the first exam I didn't put a command in completely on a sim, I knew there was more to it, but couldn't remember what it was.

Good luck and I have a feeling you will pass!

Do you have to enter the full commands?

Can you not enter say 'sh run'?

dynamik

ConstantlyLearning wrote:

Do you have to enter the full commands?

No. I believe you can use [tab] to complete them as well.

AlexMR

dynamik wrote:

ConstantlyLearning wrote:

Do you have to enter the full commands?

No. I believe you can use [tab] to complete them as well.

I remember reading the [tab] option was disabled but I think I used it. But I do remeber reading the tab was disabled for the exam.


You can definitely type abbreviations like sh run, etc.

the_Grinch

dynamik is correct, you can type the commands short hand. Also, if you get the exam cram book get the CCNA one because it has the exact same chapters as the CCENT book plus another 5 for the ICND2 stuff. Hopefully save you from the same mistake I made!

ConstantlyLearning

the_Grinch wrote:

dynamik is correct, you can type the commands short hand. Also, if you get the exam cram book get the CCNA one because it has the exact same chapters as the CCENT book plus another 5 for the ICND2 stuff. Hopefully save you from the same mistake I made!

Great, i've gotten so used to typing them shorthand.

Cheers for the tip about the exam cram book.
I was going to get the CCENT book after reading the earlier posts.

the_Grinch

Yeah, it really is a great book, just wish they change the name. You couldn't just read the book and pass the exam that is for sure. Should call it Exam Refresher because that is exactly what it does, refreshes you to topics that you might have missed and gives you a different explanation if you didn't grasp a topic. Good luck everyone!

ConstantlyLearning

the_Grinch wrote:

Yeah, it really is a great book, just wish they change the name. You couldn't just read the book and pass the exam that is for sure. Should call it Exam Refresher because that is exactly what it does, refreshes you to topics that you might have missed and gives you a different explanation if you didn't grasp a topic. Good luck everyone!

Reviews for the Exam Cram CCNA book are pretty bad on Amazon...

Apparently there are a tonne of mistakes and large portions of text repeated.

hmmmm

Slowhand

Good luck on the exam, I'm sure you'll be coming back with an "I PASSED!!!" update for this thread before long.

famosbrown wrote:

The post wasn't supposed to be this long, but I go into rants when I start typing and other stuff starts coming to mind.

Hey, no ranting on this forum. Nope, nobody around here rants and writes long, rambling posts. . .

gorebrush

I believe the tab worked for me!

famosbrown

Slowhand wrote:

Good luck on the exam, I'm sure you'll be coming back with an "I PASSED!!!" update for this thread before long.

famosbrown wrote:

The post wasn't supposed to be this long, but I go into rants when I start typing and other stuff starts coming to mind.

Hey, no ranting on this forum. Nope, nobody around here rants and writes long, rambling posts. . .

Thanks slowhand and thanks everyone!! Right now, I'm just trying to pick small tasks from the book and do them from memory, like securing both console and VTY passwords, creating RSA key and enabling SSH, etc. I'm going to go through the Transcender's practice exam one more time, but for the most part, I'm just going to relax.

I don't plan on picking up anymore material like ExamCram for the ICND1 since I take the exam on Monday. I've been studying for this off an on for a few months or so, and don't want to cram some stuff in my head and replacing other stuff I've placed on the brain shelf . subnetting is pretty simple to me as I've done a lot of it through MCSE track, the lab book, and subnetting.com. I will say that I have to stop sometime when subnetting when I'm dealing with a Class C and the last octet includes both network ID, host address, and broadcast. I have to stop and say hold on... dot 63 would normally be a valid host address, but with this mask, it's actually the broadcast .

All in all, the studying and playing around with equipment reminds me how much I love the diversity of I.T. and I haven't felt this way about studying/labbing since messing around with virtual machines going through my Microsoft certifications.

I'll let everyone know if I passed or not Monday afternoon!!

mikej412

Good Luck!

shednik

Best of luck to you famos I'm sure you will do fine!

famosbrown

Well...I passed!! 880


The exam was pretty fun with all of the simulation and testlets and stuff. I couldn't believe I scored so low on the subnetting portion because I thought those were the easiest ones. I do think back to a simulation that I messed up big time because I ignored the no subnet-zero thing, so I assume a majority of that score is due to that. Totally slipped my mind and I couldn't go back!! There were a few questions that had me scratching my head because they didn't make since or couldn't figure out what Cisco wanted, but for the most part, the exam was pretty straightforward. I'm glad I went through the tutorial before the exam because I would have been lost or skipped some stuff if I hadn't.

Now on the prepping for ICND2!!

mikej412

famosbrown wrote:

passed!!

Congratulations!

Remember that this was the "easy one" -- so kick up your study a couple of notches for ICND2. Good Luck!

famosbrown

mikej412 wrote:

famosbrown wrote:

passed!!

Congratulations!

Remember that this was the "easy one" -- so kick up your study a couple of notches for ICND2. Good Luck!

Thanks Mike! I agree...this was the easy one! I'm looking forward to get my hands more dirty in the CLI and seeing stuff work. I didn't see any SDM on my ICND1 exam and don't see any mention of SDM in the objectives for 640-816. Good stuff!!

shednik

Congrats famos I knew you'd do fine!!

ConstantlyLearning

well done man.

dynamik

Congrats!

mamono

Congrats!

Slowhand

Congrats on the pass! Don't worry too much about scoring low on a subject you didn't find difficult. It could be that you got one or two wrong, but there were only four or five questions that fell into that category. That's how they getcha. Good luck on ICND2, we'll be looking forward to another "I PASSED!" thread from you in the near future.