Scheduled the CCDA

Hey all. Scheduled the CCDA for Feb 4, at 11am. We'll see how it goes. I'm currently 1/2 done with the CCDA exam cert guide. I can't say I've learned a lot so far, as I feel it's got a LOT of overlap between the CCNA and my previous experience (some design). That being said, I'm finding the CCDA book to be an easy read, but some sections are definitely boring. I already feel pretty confident, but I still have a lot of reading left. Tonight I'll be making flash cards and taking reviewing the last few chapters I've read. I'm hoping to finish the book in a little over a week, and spend a week or so reviewing everything.

The overall goal is to test (and pass) the CCDA Feb 4th, and move onto the CCDP in late Feb. We'll see how it goes!

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ColbyG

Good luck. I'm working on the DP now too, so I'm reading ARCH and hoping it will carry me through the DA as well. From what I've been told, having the CCNP knowledge should make the DA pretty easy.

Let us know how it goes!

Mrock4

Thanks man. Yeah, I almost bought the ARCH book for both, but I figured I wouldn't buy the BSCI/BCMSN books to prep for the CCNA, so I wouldn't in this track either. I want to make sure I know all of the stuff well, and am afraid I'd miss something and be in over my head on the CCDP if I skipped this book you know.

That being said, yeah, CCNA/CCNP material prepares you well for the CCDX stuff so far it seems.

ColbyG

I wish I'd gotten BSCI and BCMSN (or Doyle's books) for CCNA, lol. I like getting the bigger picture.

Mrock4

ColbyNA wrote: »

I wish I'd gotten BSCI and BCMSN (or Doyle's books) for CCNA, lol. I like getting the bigger picture.

I do too, but I want a strong foundation before I move onto complex topics.

Mrock4

About 2/3 through the CCDA book now. Think the only thing I saw in the last few hundred pages that I really needed to pick up was the IIN/SONA stuff. Other then that I think I should be good to go. If I could read faster I'd take the test sooner, I think. Oh well, I'll use the time to review the wireless design considerations, since I've got no experience in that department.

GT-Rob

The ccda book is a lot of filler I found. They like to repeat things 100 times. Good luck!

Selfmade

GT-Rob wrote: »

The ccda book is a lot of filler I found. They like to repeat things 100 times. Good luck!

that's not neccessariliy a bad thing cause it will be on the exam

Mrock4

Ok, I give up. This CCDA material is miserable. I enjoyed it for like a week..I can't wait until the exam. C'mon Feb 4th!

chrisone

Mrock4 wrote: »

Ok, I give up. This CCDA material is miserable. I enjoyed it for like a week..I can't wait until the exam. C'mon Feb 4th!

is the material that bad to absorb? not necessarily complex but perhaps hard to absorb.

veritas_libertas

Mrock4 wrote: »

Ok, I give up. This CCDA material is miserable. I enjoyed it for like a week..I can't wait until the exam. C'mon Feb 4th!

Sounds like my last week of preparation for the Security+...

Mrock4

chrisone wrote: »

is the material that bad to absorb? not necessarily complex but perhaps hard to absorb.

Well, I enjoyed the beginning, which went over a lot of theory and best practices (based on cisco's recommendations, at least), and I felt like it was a nice complement to my "config based" certs (CCNA, CCNP), but then about 1/3 through the book, I felt like it just kept repeating. I have a feeling I would enjoy the CCDP, which I presume is more in depth regarding design, and not so much "filler" as others have suggested. I suppose another annoyance is just that I am used to books going in depth, whereas just based on the nature of the material- the CCDA book will give you an extremely high level view of how things work (think 30,000 ft).

Basically, if I could do it again, I would have ordered both books, browsed through the CCDA, taken it 2 weeks later, then spent more time on the CCDP. I'm not even sure if the CCDP will follow after this, based on my personal goals, but we'll see. I want to take the CCIE written before my twins are born (July), so if I can squeeze the CCDP in before then, great. If not, IE takes precedence.

Mrock4

Test is coming soon..I can't say the normal test anxiety I have had with the CCNP tests has hit me yet. I used Transcender's CCDA practice tests, and did very well, so I'm feeling pretty confident. I'm just reviewing the book a bit in the meantime. Good times.

ConstantlyLearning

Mrock4 wrote: »

Test is coming soon..I can't say the normal test anxiety I have had with the CCNP tests has hit me yet. I used Transcender's CCDA practice tests, and did very well, so I'm feeling pretty confident. I'm just reviewing the book a bit in the meantime. Good times.

Good luck man.

Plan on taking this by the end of the year.

mikej412

Good Luck!!

Mrock4

Well guys, I doubt I'll be posting in the morning before the exam, so I'll let ya'll know how it turns out. I'm hoping I can get my rack ordered sometime in the next few days, but maybe I'm being too optimistic. I take the test on Feb 4th @ 11:00am EST.

Forsaken_GA

Mrock4 wrote: »

Well guys, I doubt I'll be posting in the morning before the exam, so I'll let ya'll know how it turns out. I'm hoping I can get my rack ordered sometime in the next few days, but maybe I'm being too optimistic. I take the test on Feb 4th @ 11:00am EST.

You'll do fine, and probably be insulted at how simple the CCDA is.

miller811

you have got this one....

Mrock4

Passed. I did great on ALL sections except "design methodology"..kind of ironic, I thought that was the one section I really "had". Some of the questions were a little tricky related to methodology..but other then that, it was a ridiculously easy exam, IMO.

On to the R&S written

dynamik

Hopefully you kill the written as easily as you did this one, congrats!

snadam

nice job mrock!!!

btowntech

Congrats!!

mikej412

Mrock4 wrote: »

Passed.

Congratulations!!

veritas_libertas

Congratz!

Bl8ckr0uter

Congrats. Is CCDP in your future?

Mrock4

knwminus wrote: »

Congrats. Is CCDP in your future?

It is, but I'm not sure when. With my timeline for the CCIE being reasonably short (18 months'ish from start to lab), I don't know how much time there'll be for the CCDP. That being said, I hope I can sneak it in somewhere, because I think the CCDP would be much more interesting then the CCDA. I wanted the CCDA to have some kind of foundational knowledge of design, and I don't feel I really got that with the CCDA. I may have gotten a sliver at best..this is why I think the CCDP would be a lot better..but I have no idea.

Forsaken_GA

Mrock4 wrote: »

It is, but I'm not sure when. With my timeline for the CCIE being reasonably short (18 months'ish from start to lab), I don't know how much time there'll be for the CCDP. That being said, I hope I can sneak it in somewhere, because I think the CCDP would be much more interesting then the CCDA. I wanted the CCDA to have some kind of foundational knowledge of design, and I don't feel I really got that with the CCDA. I may have gotten a sliver at best..this is why I think the CCDP would be a lot better..but I have no idea.

The ARCH book is much smaller than the DESGN book. And it teaches you a good bit, but it's still pretty foundational, and it does alot of cheerleading for Cisco products (especially in the load balancer/firewall/security software arena). I sold my DESGN book after I passed the CCDA, but I kept my ARCH book, as it has a few sections I consider decent reference material.

With your timeline, I'm willing to bet you could pass ARCH with a couple weeks of study after you pass the Written

Mrock4

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

With your timeline, I'm willing to bet you could pass ARCH with a couple weeks of study after you pass the Written

Thanks for the input! I thought originally I'd be looking at 3-4 weeks for ARCH, but the CCDA flew by, so you may be right! If I did take it in 2010, it would be right after the written, as you said. I'm trying to take the written before our twins come..so after they're born I'll have about 2-3 weeks of "down" time where I'm not labbing too much. That may be a good time to hit the CCDP!