Switch.

DevilWAH

Just ran through all the test questions on the CISCO site,

now have a list of 20 areas I need to brush up on, I really hope there are not to many questions like

to enable dot1x on a switch do you enter

1 #dot1x enable
2 #dot1x on
2 #dot1x system-auth-control

in my mind this is what the ? and tab key are for

Learning the processes and the general config is easy, its being expected to know the exact commands that will get me.

And I just ran out of paper in my note book (my wife decided to cover the last page with a note telling me how great I am ) so that's it for tonight...

dynamik

I just noticed you have a degree in Zoology. That's fantastic

Good luck with your exam!

DevilWAH

dynamik wrote: »

I just noticed you have a degree in Zoology. That's fantastic

Good luck with your exam!

Yer, unfortunaly I don't get to put it to much use now, although I do work in a scientific lab, so am supporting scientists. Which at least means I have an idea what they are on about. If only they would pay me more this job would be fantastic...

Cyanic

DevilWAH wrote: »

Learning the processes and the general config is easy, its being expected to know the exact commands that will get me.

I agree, some of the commands are not even consistent among hardware and IOS versions.

CiskHo

I took the 642-813 (SWITCH) exam yesterday. I failed, BAD. I am rather upset at how much needed info was left out of the "Official Cert Guide". The cert guide says the exam should be more about show and debug commands and less about configuring devices. BS. Several topics were covered in the exam that were not even mentioned in the Cert Guide. Now I'm at a loss as to where to even find that missing info.

I think the only advice I can give without violating the NDA is this:
There are 50 "questions" on the exam but they give you a whopping 2 hours. Why do you think that is? I damn near ran out of time and still failed. Grrrr!

ConstantlyLearning

CiskHo wrote: »

I took the 642-813 (SWITCH) exam yesterday. I failed, BAD. I am rather upset at how much needed info was left out of the "Official Cert Guide". The cert guide says the exam should be more about show and debug commands and less about configuring devices. BS. Several topics were covered in the exam that were not even mentioned in the Cert Guide. Now I'm at a loss as to where to even find that missing info.

I think the only advice I can give without violating the NDA is this:
There are 50 "questions" on the exam but they give you a whopping 2 hours. Why do you think that is? I damn near ran out of time and still failed. Grrrr!

Did you just use the cert guide?

Most people on here would suggest multiple sources for preparation.

authorised self-study guide, chris bryant trainsignal, cbt nuggets, cisco docs, official cert guide

ConstantlyLearning

DevilWAH wrote: »

Just ran through all the test questions on the CISCO site,

now have a list of 20 areas I need to brush up on, I really hope there are not to many questions like

to enable dot1x on a switch do you enter

1 #dot1x enable
2 #dot1x on
2 #dot1x system-auth-control

I would have guess 1. but good ol' ? and tab showed me!

mikej412

CiskHo wrote: »

Several topics were covered in the exam that were not even mentioned in the Cert Guide. Now I'm at a loss as to where to even find that missing info.

Were those topics mentioned in the exam blueprint?

Until the Cisco Press SWITCH Authorized Self-Study Guide is released you'd have to look at the exam blueprint and fill in any gaps using the Cisco Documentation and White Papers.

DevilWAH

ConstantlyLearning wrote: »

Did you just use the cert guide?

Most people on here would suggest multiple sources for preparation.

authorised self-study guide, chris bryant trainsignal, cbt nuggets, cisco docs, official cert guide

See this is the problem theres really only the cert guide out at the moment. Now I worried casue I got this exam soon!!!

I going back to the exam blue prints I think to go over them. My list is now down to 15 points i need to cover. I think some hard days of study ahead!

CiskHo

ConstantlyLearning wrote: »

Did you just use the cert guide?

Most people on here would suggest multiple sources for preparation.

authorised self-study guide, chris bryant trainsignal, cbt nuggets, cisco docs, official cert guide

Just used the cert guide. Trainsignal doesn't have SWITCH material yet, just BCMSN videos. I watched a couple but didn't want to fill my head with a bunch of material that might not be on the newer exam. There is no self-study guide yet or I would have used that for sure. I prefer those over the official cert guides.

mikej412 wrote: »

Were those topics mentioned in the exam blueprint?

NO! And that is why I am a bit upset about it. I have not seen anything in the blueprint or in the cert guide saying traffic shaping/prioritization for teleprescence video would be covered by the exam. Maybe I missed it... I thought it may have been one of the "experimental questions" they warn you about before starting the test (will not affect score if you get it wrong) BUT I had more than one question on that topic and still only had 50 questions asked. I now feel like there will be material that I have no way to study for... May have to put the SWITCH on hold until more material is released. Might just go back to CCNA:Wireless in the meantime

EDIT: I stand corrected. Found this in the blueprint:
"Prepare infrastructure to support advanced services

• Implement a Wireless Extension of a Layer 2 solution
• Implement a VoIP support solution
• Implement video support solution"

But why isn't there anything mentioned about video in the Official Cert Guide?? The only traffic shaping topics seem to be in the IP Telephony chapter and nothing about VOIP vs Video vs Call Clocking. WTF

mikej412

CiskHo wrote: »

But why isn't there anything mentioned about video in the Official Cert Guide??

Probably because the authors of the books don't have access to the exam questions or the Official Courseware and have to make their best guess based on the exam blueprint they've been given -- and have a deadline to hit and the guidelines for the type of book they are writing.

The Self-Study Guides go into greater detail on the "foundation material" and should take longer to write, so that's probably why they're not available yet.

Most people here would always suggest using multiple sources of material for study -- both the Authorized Self-Study and Exam Certification Guide when they are both available. And another good "rule of thumb" is once you hit the Cisco Professional level (and it doesn't matter if both Cisco Press books are available) you should be smart enough to figure out when you need to hit the Cisco Documentation and White Papers on the Cisco web site. Both the exam blueprints AND the Cisco Press Quick Reference Sheets can give you an idea of topics you may need to do some additional research on for the exam.

The only thing that comes close to a "single source" of study for a Cisco Exam is the Official Class Courseware you get when you're lucky enough to have an employer that will pay for you (or a lucky coworker) to attend the Official Training Class.

DevilWAH

I think Mike has the right point.

This is the CCNP routing and switching. It quilifies you as a "Cisco Certified network Professional". It's not really meant to test if you know the "book", but if you are at the level of someone working as a professional network engineer. I think CISCO like to be a bit vague about the topics and the level you need to study them to.

But from what you say I think I may put my exam back by a week. I still need to get a few of the specific commands straight.

Out of interested did you do any of the boson exam questions that came with the cert guide? and if so how did you do in them?

DevilWAH

mikej412 wrote: »

Cisco Press Quick Reference Sheets

Good point these where no available when I got the guide. Just get them now

DevilWAH

I a bit concerned now..

the quick ref sheets, seem to think the access layer should have redundant power supplies (OK maybe i could go with that) but it also says "redundant supervise engines"!!!!

Some how I feel a miss type

CiskHo

DevilWAH wrote: »

Out of interested did you do any of the boson exam questions that came with the cert guide? and if so how did you do in them?

I got a 1000 out of 1000 on the Boson practice exam before I went in for the real test. Ended up with a 600 or so on the real exam

DevilWAH

I found there was a fair bit in the boson exams that is not covered in the Exam guide as well. As well as some of the questions being plain wrong, or at least miss leading. I notice there are questions about switch macros and I don't remember seeing them in the book either ??

I going through the reference sheets at the moment and there plenty on there that's not in the book.

I think I going to give it another week on top of what I have planed to make sure I have time to look over the other topics.

I have yet to fail an exam and don't want to make this the first one

At the moment I am building up one massive lab to run once I get to the end of the reading that will included configuring every thing apart from VoIP and Wireless.

And I spending all next week at work working on 802.1x so that should help..

CiskHo

I laid my hands on a copy of the "CCNP Switch Quick Reference Guide" yesterday. I highly recommend it. It also includes a page on Video over IP which the book lacked. LOTS of concise info throughout it and it seems to cover most of what the Off. Cert. Guide did not cover. I'm sure it left a couple minor things out but it does help fill many of the gaps.