CCDP over the horizon

I finished the CCNA Security this morning so now I'm going to wrap up the CCDP. I have the CCDA so I meet the prerequisite and I took the BSCI/BCMSN composite for the CCNP so I have those tests out of the way. All I have left is the ARCH. Hopefully there's more material out for it now..

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NSSA

The ARCH exam feels so out of place to me. I wish Cisco would replace it, or maybe merge it with CCDA somehow. Anyways, the reference sheets are worth a look for this one IMO:

http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=158705499X

ITdude

It is a bit of an odd duck but an interesting one. I am revisiting it myself afer a few slight detours for other exams, etc.

Paul Boz

NSSA wrote: »

The ARCH exam feels so out of place to me. I wish Cisco would replace it, or maybe merge it with CCDA somehow. Anyways, the reference sheets are worth a look for this one IMO:

http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=158705499X

I bought these about six months ago and have read over them. I heard that there was going to be a book put out around the end of the year but I guess that was baseless.

dynamik

This book?

Paul Boz

Shazam! The Ciscopress website still lists the old book. Thanks.

Paul Boz

Review of the day's study:

To reacquaint myself with the exam I spent a few hours reading over the descriptions and material at cisco.com. I also read the first three chapters of the quick reference sheets. I relocated my copy of the student guides and will start on the corresponding chapters tomorrow. I'm noticing that this stuff is seriously rehashed material from the CCNP and CCDA so far.

mikej412

Cisco Press website doesn't list it on the CCDP page yet, but Designing Cisco Network Service Architectures (ARCH) (Authorized Self-Study Guide), 2nd Edition shows on the "New Titles" page (under Products) as published December 24, 2008 -- and as available.

CCIEWANNABE

good luck with your studies. I have read the first two chapters of the student guide and have to say that i like it so far. thats the way cisco gets you hooked on their certs, you finish the ccnp and the ccdp is just two tests away. might as well get'em all while the gov't is paying for me to take the tests!!

Paul Boz

CCIEWANNABE wrote: »

thats the way cisco gets you hooked on their certs, you finish the ccnp and the ccdp is just two tests away. might as well get'em all while the gov't is paying for me to take the tests!!

In that same boat, if you take QoS right after the ONT it's like taking the same test over again. There is a lot of cross studying. That means that only the BGP/MPLS composite is left. The CCNP lets you knock out two other professional level certs pretty easily.

ITdude

Paul Boz wrote: »

Review of the day's study:

I relocated my copy of the student guides and will start on the corresponding chapters tomorrow. I'm noticing that this stuff is seriously rehashed material from the CCNP and CCDA so far.

Not for long though........

Well, maybe no SO different but definitely from a different perspective.

Paul Boz

I'm about 300 pages through the student guide vol 1. I've read the quick reference sheets twice now. My L3 switches came in the mail the other day so I've been doing some labs to get IOS back into my fingers. I'm going to try to knock out 200 pages of the student guide tonight and ideally finish the volume 1 by Saturday. A lot of this stuff is review. For example, there are vast tracts of information about technologies such as switchport security and STP features, fine tuning IGPs, etc. These things are all covered by the BSCI and BCMSN. This material feels a lot "lighter" than I thought it would be.

ITdude

Paul Boz wrote: »

I'm about 300 pages through the student guide vol 1. I've read the quick reference sheets twice now. My L3 switches came in the mail the other day so I've been doing some labs to get IOS back into my fingers. I'm going to try to knock out 200 pages of the student guide tonight and ideally finish the volume 1 by Saturday. A lot of this stuff is review. For example, there are vast tracts of information about technologies such as switchport security and STP features, fine tuning IGPs, etc. These things are all covered by the BSCI and BCMSN. This material feels a lot "lighter" than I thought it would be.

Yea, it is not rocket science but basically the same stuff from more of a satellite view, although it does go on some tangents later on in the guide/s. It definitely helps me see the bigger picture though.

How do you like the quick reference sheets and do they track okay with the guides?

Paul Boz

The quick reference sheets by Cisco Press are my favorite product by far. they are cheap and full of knowledge. They parallel well enough. I don't have a cisco login to mess with the power calc which is sort of disappointing. I messed with it in the past but it would really benefit me now... Does anyone know of a similar tool that's online somewhere?

CCIEWANNABE

Paul Boz wrote: »

I'm about 300 pages through the student guide vol 1. I've read the quick reference sheets twice now. My L3 switches came in the mail the other day so I've been doing some labs to get IOS back into my fingers. I'm going to try to knock out 200 pages of the student guide tonight and ideally finish the volume 1 by Saturday. A lot of this stuff is review. For example, there are vast tracts of information about technologies such as switchport security and STP features, fine tuning IGPs, etc. These things are all covered by the BSCI and BCMSN. This material feels a lot "lighter" than I thought it would be.

yeah, a lot of repetition thats for sure. you'll see that when you come to volume 2 that chapters 8,9,10 are pretty much review as well. alot of chapter 8 talks about IPS, IDS which is review from CCNA:S. chapter 9 is a review of the ISCW and CCNA:S as it goes over VPN's. chapter 10 is review of BSCI multicasting objects. hardest chapter for me was 4 and understanding metro ethernet. i don't know where my brain was that day! good luck on the test!

ITdude

Man I need to kick myself back into gear. You guys are really zooming. I need to hit the books this weekend!:)

Yea, the power calculator is pretty neat!

It is definitely not Cisco but check this out for fun: http://www.gweep.net/~sfoskett/tech/poecalc.html

Paul Boz

CCIEWANNABE wrote: »

hardest chapter for me was 4 and understanding metro ethernet.

At my last SP job I provisioned and built out countless metro E projects. I have that covered

ITdude wrote: »

It is definitely not Cisco but check this out for fun: http://www.gweep.net/~sfoskett/tech/poecalc.html

Thank you very much, this is exactly what I was looking for.

ITdude

My pleasure!

Paul Boz

I finished the Student Guide vol 1 and now I'm on the much shorter and more "design oriented" volume 2. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this volume 2 off some time by the end of next week. I'm flying to Boston on Sunday and returning on Thursday, so I'll have plenty of travel and hotel time to get this done.

ITdude

Sounds good! I am still lagging behind you because of being sidetracked by some heavy duty tech interview studying...I know, weak excuse but I need to get back on track!

Paul Boz

As I said in my SSCP thread over in the ISC2 forum, I flew in to Boston today so I had plenty of airline-sponsored study time on my hands. I got a little burned out on the SSCP material so I finished off the last part of the E-Commerce module portion of the CCDP student guide Vol 2. I have never really had experience with large-scale server-reliant networks so the information is really interesting.

Paul Boz

I just wrapped up with my first client of the week so I'm getting out of here a few hours early. I have to drive across Boston to a different hotel because I'm visiting another client tomorrow. I think that I should have around six hours of solid study time this evening so my goal is to finish off the student guide vol 2 and possibly the lab guide. I want to take the ARCH on Tuesday. I have to go to Metairie LA (right outside of NOLA) for a Lasic consultation that AM and there's a testing center right by it so it would save me a trip to knock it out while I'm already over there. We'll see how I feel about that this weekend. I fly home on Thursday so I'll have literally that entire day to study also. Balls to the walls time for me.

malcybood

Best of luck Paul

miller811

Wow, you are flying through this stuff. I throught I was close to your pace, but not even close. Finishing up Student Guide #1. Still need to complete 2 and read the new ARCH book. I currently have this exam on my radar for completion in April.

Good luck to you on Tuesday.

Paul Boz

I study 3-4 hours a day and on travel days probably double that. I'm not a shut-in by any means but to be honest, when I get back from a long day on-site I just want to come back to the hotel and relax. My usual routine is to wake up, go visit the client until 5pm or so, come back to the hotel, eat a snack, hit the gym for an hour, shower, and study. I cram dinner in between study breaks. The CCDP is an AWESOME cert to study for while on the road because I don't need lab access.

ITdude

Yea, man you are really jamming. I am been literally slammed with a project. So, my study time has been affected. Good luck on Tuesday, let us know how it goes.

We are right behind you!

Turgon

Paul Boz wrote: »

I study 3-4 hours a day and on travel days probably double that. I'm not a shut-in by any means but to be honest, when I get back from a long day on-site I just want to come back to the hotel and relax. My usual routine is to wake up, go visit the client until 5pm or so, come back to the hotel, eat a snack, hit the gym for an hour, shower, and study. I cram dinner in between study breaks. The CCDP is an AWESOME cert to study for while on the road because I don't need lab access.

Good luck Paul, I'm sure you will do fine in your test.

apd123

Are these student guides available on CCO? I have always seen them referenced for the different certs but have never found where people obtain them.