Seinor In HighSchool Studying CCDA

Hey, I have just come off of studying CompTIA's Security+ (which was pretty damn cool IMO) to starting to going over this 930 page CCDA Authorized study guide, and I must say, it is not nearly as cool as the Security+ Materiel. This stuff thus far is as dry as an overbaked thanksgiving turkey! I am only at chapter two right now, but please someone tell me that this gets better later on in the book. I don't want something like this to turn me off from wanting to be a network engineer, but my god... this book sucks! I just hope that the CCNA is better than this.

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Bl8ckr0uter

jeremy8529 wrote: »

Hey, I have just come off of studying CompTIA's Security+ (which was pretty damn cool IMO) to starting to going over this 930 page CCDA Authorized study guide, and I must say, it is not nearly as cool as the Security+ Materiel. This stuff thus far is as dry as an overbaked thanksgiving turkey! I am only at chapter two right now, but please someone tell me that this gets better later on in the book. I don't want something like this to turn me off from wanting to be a network engineer, but my god... this book sucks! I just hope that the CCNA is better than this.

I think the general CCDA rule is to do it after the CCNA and possible the CCNP (with doing it after the CCNP the most suggested path).

Maybe you should do the CCNA (at least) first then go into CCDA.

mikej412

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccda-ccdp/47195-why-people-find-design-material-boring.html

jeremy8529

Mike, that topic that you linked me to is what actualy inspired me to make this one. knwminus, yeah, if circumstances were a bit better, that is what I actualy would be doing. I am preparing in a team of three at my school for a network design competetion, and I have my other two teamates studying the CCNA materail from sybex. We don't have enough materail for us all to have CCNA stuff, and I didn't think it would be fair or reasonable to expect them to study the CCDA first, becuase they have no IT experince other than constructing ethernet cables, and minor computer repairs. In other words, Im taking one for the team lol. Once they finish their CCNA books, we will swap out, or that is the plan atleast.

If I remmeber correctly, it was you mike that sugested I study CCDA for this competetion a few months ago, and you was fairly clear that CCNA is a big help first.

mikej412

In real life, the CCNA/CCNP are "more exciting" because you can touch actual hardware, create and change configurations, and then see the hardware do something. If you understand the concepts, it can be a rush when it works.

Design doesn't have that immediate payoff. Unless you're an artist and can appreciate the beauty of well designed network rendered creatively in Visio -- it can get tedious.

I'm not sure about the current CCDA/CCDP books, but a few people have mentioned that the first chapter or two in the CCNP books can be boring. They cover the design paradigm of the current certification cycle -- and isolated repetitive theory can get boring fast when you're studying something that requires lots of hands on work to master. But at least in the CCNP you then get to the "fun stuff" and at some point some of that 1st chapter design theory gets applied to the topic at hand -- then you wonder what all the fuss was about.

Remember, you're looking for the "big picture" concepts. The team members learning the CCNA stuff will be pondering the wonders (and agony) of subnetting. In design, you're going learn why you want to use a hierarchical addressing scheme.

In the CCNA, your team members can then go off and happily configure routers and get the satisfaction of the routers being able to communicate. From the design side, you get no tangible feedback, and then move on to figuring out how a hierarchical addressing scheme helps with network stability, scalability, and when necessary, fast convergence.

Same thing when you're deciding on which routing protocol to use. The CCNA team members get to "play" and see the stuff work. Just jumping into design you get that nice table that summarizes the key features of the routing protocols, but without the knowledge and configuration experience, you could create a bad/impossible design.

Keep reading -- and hopefully it will become interesting.

Which book are you reading? Teare 2nd edition? If you mention it, people may toss in some of the "important things" (like that routing protocol comparison table I remember from a CCDA/CCDP book) that they remember from the book and think are "big picture" items.

jeremy8529

That would be the book Mike, Tear's Second Edition.

veritas_libertas

I must be a real boring guy then! I enjoy the big picture, in fact my favorite college class was Advanced Networking where we had to design a whole network from the ground up using Visio

mikej412

Stay awake when you hit page 107. i was actually thinking of suggesting the Top-Down Network Design book by Priscilla Oppenheimer to you. That book was a good unofficial "2nd source" of study for the "old CCDA. I'm sure Diane gives the "Top-down Design" topic good coverage, so it isn't the end of the world if you can't find that book (or have time to read it too).

Diane also wrote the book Campus Network Design Fundamentals book (along with Catherine Paquet). That books is a "fun read" -- but I think it came out after I already had my CCDA and CCDP.

jeremy8529

I am really looking forward to getting to the point were I can actually design a network. I am not sure what I really want in a career just yet, but I have decided on majoring in Computer Engineering (Yes, I know CS covers much of IT better, but I want the flexibility that comes with CE) in college. Right now I am thinking about trying to get into the network security world when I get out of school, and so I'm thinking anything I can get my hands onto will be useful. For when I hit the sub netting, do you have any recommendations for some extra reading to help break it down a little bit better? Something that gives a good idea of the big picture, as the details. Thanks again!

mikej412

Subnetting is probably the first basic skill you hit in the CCNA that separates the future networkers from the wannabes.

Long term you should slog through the binary and wade through the subnetting theory muck..... (and read about subnetting in Odom's Cisco Press CCNA Certification Library)

..... but I'll usually suggest Todd Lammle's CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide: Exam 640-802, 6th Edition as a fun read AND for the subnetting chapter.

Some people have used the CBTNuggets subnetting video and raved about that....

The theory is good to know, but the "tricks" to solve the usual problems still work without the theory....

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/38772-subnetting-made-easy.html?highlight=subnetting+made+easy

CSCOnoob

I just finished CCDA exam the other day. I must say, it was boring as hell. Though, I learned a lot. I am not going to use the concept just yet but I decided to take it before I start my vacation. I didn't want to start BSCI then halfway start my vacation. That'll ruin my vacation schedule. I kinda want to have fun during my vacation. Though, I am still bringing my BSCI book if I ever feel that I want to read. I gotta say though, it'll probably just be a refresh for me since I already read the book before.

Well, good luck on your exam if you decide to take it. It'll be fine. Just read the Authorized Self Study Guide and you'll be fine with the exam.

jeremy8529

Thanks for help and encouragement guys! And Mike, that last post of your's has earned a spot in a word document on my desktop, lots of helpful information in there. I feel that i am up for this, I just hope that my teammates are as well.
Till Next Time,
Jeremy

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