NG2F's road to CCNP (the new track)

alan2308

notgoing2fail wrote: »

Are you serious? That is sooooo not cool!!!! Sounds like they can't make up their minds....

Some of it comes from their switches originating with different companies that they bought out over the years. Other things, like the 3550/3560 thing Nuul pointed out, I have no idea.

notgoing2fail

alan2308 wrote: »

Some of it comes from their switches originating with different companies that they bought out over the years. Other things, like the 3550/3560 thing Nuul pointed out, I have no idea.

Cisco has been going on an acquisition spree lately. I cringe everytime they buy someone else out because I know down the road, somehow, someway, commands will get confused....

Nuul wrote: »

It's quite annoying. The 3550 and 3560 are this way - one uses wrr the other srr. With the 3560 (IIRC) you can change what queue is the priority queue while it's in the silicon with the 3550. This is the big reason the CCIE training vendors recommend you get at least one 3560 for your lab. The 3550s are just too different on QoS and your exam will use 3560s.

Thank you, good information. I have see the "wrr" you speak of when playing with the auto qos command....

Although I have two 3550's, I'm beginning to feel the really are not as useful as I thought they could be....

notgoing2fail

Burnout starting to settle in a bit. After 3 months of endless studying, 10-12 hours a day no weekends off, I'm going to have to schedule this SWITCH exam pretty soon and maybe take a couple days breather. I've been wanting to watch Avatar, I haven't seen it yet.


It's always good to step away for a bit and come back fresh....like a nice cold shower.....

burbankmarc

notgoing2fail wrote: »

Burnout starting to settle in a bit. After 3 months of endless studying, 10-12 hours a day no weekends off, I'm going to have to schedule this SWITCH exam pretty soon and maybe take a couple days breather. I've been wanting to watch Avatar, I haven't seen it yet.


It's always good to step away for a bit and come back fresh....like a nice cold shower.....

I'd say finish your SWITCH and take a 2 week breather, stay off the forums, and out of the books and relax.

I did that between my BSCI and BCMSN but instead of 2 weeks it was like...4 months.

Turgon

notgoing2fail wrote: »

Burnout starting to settle in a bit. After 3 months of endless studying, 10-12 hours a day no weekends off, I'm going to have to schedule this SWITCH exam pretty soon and maybe take a couple days breather. I've been wanting to watch Avatar, I haven't seen it yet.


It's always good to step away for a bit and come back fresh....like a nice cold shower.....

10 - 12 hours a day and no weekends off? Are you not holding a job down simultaneously? Even so beware of over cooking the studies. Learn what you can steadily and roll with the rest. Some things take time to incubate anyway! Beware of burnout, it can be very hard to return to studies if that happens.

notgoing2fail

burbankmarc wrote: »

I'd say finish your SWITCH and take a 2 week breather, stay off the forums, and out of the books and relax.

I did that between my BSCI and BCMSN but instead of 2 weeks it was like...4 months.

Yes, I'm pushing myself to cram as much info as I can to take the exam. My SWITCH foundation book hasn't even come in yet, but I've been reading a lot of Cisco online docs on parts that I had questions about like PPDIOO, etherchannel, HSRP.

I absolutely need a breather and I think it sounds like a good idea to step away from everything, including the forums. Just get away, get some air and sunshine....

Turgon wrote: »

10 - 12 hours a day and no weekends off? Are you not holding a job down simultaneously? Even so beware of over cooking the studies. Learn what you can steadily and roll with the rest. Some things take time to incubate anyway! Beware of burnout, it can be very hard to return to studies if that happens.

I have been studying non-stop since March. Literally 10-12 hours a day. Anyone that wants to check my account here, can see that I'm literally posting all throughout the day and night as well as various blogs, so it can be verified.

I'm not holding a job currently which is allowing me to put in all these hours. Conservatively that's about 70 hours or so a week, 280 hours or so a month.

As long as I'm not working, I'm studying. There's no excuse not to. I do take breaks here and there, maybe watch a little TV, but honestly, not really that much. I'm so hungry for Cisco knowledge it's become a little OCD.

But it's not healthy either to be in a Cisco cave, so I'm praying, absolutely praying that I pass this new SWITCH exam so I can take a 1-2 week breather and then get back on the saddle.

Or look for a job!!

zerglings

notgoing2fail wrote: »

But, my book "Cisco LAN Switching Fundamentals" has arrived!

I am planning to buy this as well. Let me know if this is any good.

notgoing2fail

zerglings wrote: »

I am planning to buy this as well. Let me know if this is any good.

So far I'd recommend it. I'm almost done with it and I've documented my thoughts per chapter.... I'm going to be posting per chapter review when I'm done....

Geetar28

notgoing2fail wrote: »

But, my book "Cisco LAN Switching Fundamentals" has arrived!

notgoing2fail wrote: »

So far I'd recommend it. I'm almost done with it and I've documented my thoughts per chapter.... I'm going to be posting per chapter review when I'm done....

I've got this one on the way too..interested in your take on it. But dude, you said it arrived two days ago...and yer almost done?? Have you taken a speed reading course??? Or maybe a 44oz Jolt??

I thought I was doing good by being on chapter 5 of Chappell's Wireshark book I got last week. Your tearing it up though!!!

Man, I know that your really wanting to tackle the Switch exam...but you know you gotta pace your studies too..it's not gonna kill you to take a day maybe even a weekend off bro. I think you know your about to hit burnout if you haven't already, and if you do it will take more than a day or two to get your head/heart back in the game.. Take care.

notgoing2fail

Geetar28 wrote: »

I've got this one on the way too..interested in your take on it. But dude, you said it arrived two days ago...and yer almost done?? Have you taken a speed reading course??? Or maybe a 44oz Jolt??

I thought I was doing good by being on chapter 5 of Chappell's Wireshark book I got last week. Your tearing it up though!!!

Man, I know that your really wanting to tackle the Switch exam...but you know you gotta pace your studies too..it's not gonna kill you to take a day maybe even a weekend off bro. I think you know your about to hit burnout if you haven't already, and if you do it will take more than a day or two to get your head/heart back in the game.. Take care.

I've got pretty good at reading lately. I guess when you practice it enough it gets easier.

I've always been kind of a slow reader in that I have to read things a couple times over to make sure I really get it. But now it's coming to me easier.

Also, it has a lot of the same rehashed topics from many other books.


One thing I warn you though is that it does talk a lot about CatOS, which is kinda nerving. I'm not entirely sure why the authors spend so much time on a soon to be dead OS.

If they really wanted to talk about CatOS, then they should have called it CatOS Fundamentals....

zerglings

notgoing2fail wrote: »

So far I'd recommend it. I'm almost done with it and I've documented my thoughts per chapter.... I'm going to be posting per chapter review when I'm done....

notgoing2fail wrote: »

One thing I warn you though is that it does talk a lot about CatOS, which is kinda nerving. I'm not entirely sure why the authors spend so much time on a soon to be dead OS.

If they really wanted to talk about CatOS, then they should have called it CatOS Fundamentals....

Okay, I'll wait for your review.

I support some sites that have quite a few switches with CatOS but we're in the process of refreshing some of these sites. But most, if not all, companies have a tight budget so I doubt that the hundred thousands of dollars budget will be approved anytime soon.

Turgon

notgoing2fail wrote: »

I've got pretty good at reading lately. I guess when you practice it enough it gets easier.

I've always been kind of a slow reader in that I have to read things a couple times over to make sure I really get it. But now it's coming to me easier.

Also, it has a lot of the same rehashed topics from many other books.


One thing I warn you though is that it does talk a lot about CatOS, which is kinda nerving. I'm not entirely sure why the authors spend so much time on a soon to be dead OS.

If they really wanted to talk about CatOS, then they should have called it CatOS Fundamentals....

Sounds like your making progress. Just be careful of overdoing the speed reading. Once you understand the state machine and protocol mechanics of a protocol to the best of your current ability then you are done with the chapter. That can take time to sink in. You will still find CatOS lurking in datacenters. I believe it's a throwback to the Catalyst acquisitions in the late nineties.

thenjduke

I been following your thread and I think it is official that I am starting the CCNP track as well. I bought the books and getting my gear together. I started to watch some of CBT Nuggets and reading the material. I am going to do a thread as well.

notgoing2fail

zerglings wrote: »

Okay, I'll wait for your review.

I support some sites that have quite a few switches with CatOS but we're in the process of refreshing some these sites. But most, if not all, companies have a tight budget so I doubt that the hundred thousands of dollars budget will be approved anytime soon.

It would be interesting to know how many companies are using CatOS still. I'm sure they are still out there as Turgon mentioned. But I'm also sure they must be dwindling in numbers!!

Turgon wrote: »

Sounds like your making progress. Just be careful of overdoing the speed reading. Once you understand the state machine and protocol mechanics of a protocol to the best of your current ability then you are done with the chapter. That can take time to sink in. You will still find CatOS lurking in datacenters. I believe it's a throwback to the Catalyst acquisitions in the late nineties.

So true. I'm also very eager, and I have to control that side of me. It's more of a waste of time to read fast solely for the purpose of reading fast and not absorb anything....

I kinda took a slight break this weekend and just casually surfed the boards and watched some TV. I'm thinking maybe weekends should be used for down time to avoid burnout...

thenjduke wrote: »

I been following your thread and I think it is official that I am starting the CCNP track as well. I bought the books and getting my gear together. I started to watch some of CBT Nuggets and reading the material. I am going to do a thread as well.

Excellent I'll take a look at your thread!

zerglings

notgoing2fail wrote: »

It would be interesting to know how many companies are using CatOS still. I'm sure they are still out there as Turgon mentioned. But I'm also sure they must be dwindling in numbers!!

I am pretty sure they are out there. It all boils down to the budget and priority of these projects. Most upper management will probably say if it ain't broke don't fix it. Then they can use the money for a better project, the one that actually brings $$$ to the company. Then again, legacy devices consume more power than newer devices. That said, that's potential $$$ coming in by having a newer device with all the bells and whistles.

alan2308

notgoing2fail wrote: »

It would be interesting to know how many companies are using CatOS still. I'm sure they are still out there as Turgon mentioned. But I'm also sure they must be dwindling in numbers!!

Its funny, I was just asking if CatOS is even worth learning at this point in a thread in the CCNA section. The thread was about someone grabbing a CatOS switch for $10 so it got me wondering. I think this sums up what you're asking as well:

ColbyG wrote:

Speaking from experience, don't learn it until you have to. I'd never touched it before my current position. I'd never seen it at all. I don't think it is all that common in the real world outside of large enterprises who don't update their code/gear as they should.

thenjduke

alan2308 wrote: »

Its funny, I was just asking if CatOS is even worth learning at this point in a thread in the CCNA section. The thread was about someone grabbing a CatOS switch for $10 so it got me wondering. I think this sums up what you're asking as well:

It would be interesting to see how many still use it. I have never seen it yet but we have fairly new equipment at our place.

Bl8ckr0uter

So have NG2F, do you think the Lan Switching book is good prep for SWITCH? Are you planning to use the Self Study guide or the Cert guide? Also when do you plan to sit the test?

zerglings

I agree with what ColbyG said "don't learn it until you have to" but I think it is unfair to say that businesses don't upgrade their code/gear as they should. I am sure that the managers and/or engineers are trying to convince the upper management but having it approved is the hardest part. Justifying the need to upgrade the gear if it still works is another story. The upper management would rather use the money for something else than plunking down thousands of dollars to replace legacy devices.

notgoing2fail

knwminus wrote: »

So have NG2F, do you think the Lan Switching book is good prep for SWITCH? Are you planning to use the Self Study guide or the Cert guide? Also when do you plan to sit the test?

I've most definitley been using the certified exam guide. The authorized self study is on pre-order and it comes out by the end of this week, although I'm not going to spend weeks reading it.

Along with the old BCMSN CBT Nuggets video and the BCMSN book, as well as some cisco doc's I've read online, I think I'm decently prepared.

I'm starting to feel a little burnout so it's important that I take the SWITCH exam very soon, maybe even by the end of this week? Then take a week breather from everything. And come back fresh for ROUTE.

As far as that LAN switching book goes, it does have some more meat than the exam cert. guide. I'd say 25-30% of the book unfortunately talks about CatOS as well as upgrading from CatOS to IOS for those who may be interested in how that works....

I'm not sure yet though if it's needed though for the SWITCH exam, if I had to declare something today, I'd say no you do not need this book at all for SWITCH.....

DevilWAH

CCNP Switch – Planning Topics Ponder the Network (and other things)

I don't know if you have read that but this is an example of a question on the switch exam.

As you can see a little more involved than a CCNA questions not only do you need to be able to piece together lots of different ideas to get it solved, but you need to know what ones to use as the questions will only tell you what outcome you need to produce not what different technologies to use.

Just remember you have about 2 or 3 questions like this as well as the other simulations, and multi choise questions, so you need to be able to get though a questions like this fast. I would say your looking at 10min to complete the design and config, Maybe 15min tops.

Good luck in your exam

QHalo

thenjduke wrote: »

It would be interesting to see how many still use it. I have never seen it yet but we have fairly new equipment at our place.

I believe that 3 out of the 9 sites we have are still running Hybrid code right now. The switches are 6509 so it's still fairly run of the mill stuff. It's a pain in the butt but manageable when you need to change something on them and I enjoy learning something new. We're eventually upgrading them to full IOS but the project will still take some time to complete. In reality the way we've ended up upgrading most of our cores in those offices is when the office moves to a new building.

notgoing2fail

DevilWAH wrote: »

CCNP Switch – Planning Topics Ponder the Network (and other things)

I don't know if you have read that but this is an example of a question on the switch exam.

As you can see a little more involved than a CCNA questions not only do you need to be able to piece together lots of different ideas to get it solved, but you need to know what ones to use as the questions will only tell you what outcome you need to produce not what different technologies to use.

Just remember you have about 2 or 3 questions like this as well as the other simulations, and multi choise questions, so you need to be able to get though a questions like this fast. I would say your looking at 10min to complete the design and config, Maybe 15min tops.

Good luck in your exam

Oh yes I'm on his website a lot since he started it. If you are clever, you can figure out which one is me.

I've started his lab example and I am going to post my results on my site. This way anyone can view the results if they choose to without accidentally seeing the answers by checking the comments....

You are right though, it's taken me a lot longer to figure out how to set everything up. If there are 3-4 questions like this, I might be doomed with time running out. If there are 2 mmmaybe 3, I might squeeze it out....

Cyanic

We have upgraded most of our 6500s to native IOS, but we still have a handful of hybrids out there. I hate working on them.

DevilWAH

and now you know why it was a pain my test crashed half way through a question like that. having to move pc's and then work out where i was in it after it lost some of the config. still I would say expect 2 questions with as much depth as that one plus a few more smaller sim's / seniouros as well.

notgoing2fail

DevilWAH wrote: »

and now you know why it was a pain my test crashed half way through a question like that. having to move pc's and then work out where i was in it after it lost some of the config. still I would say expect 2 questions with as much depth as that one plus a few more smaller sim's / seniouros as well.

Yeah I remember your post, that is definitley painful. And sometimes it takes being in the "zone" to figure things out in a short amount of time. Anything else is distracting, and Cisco should test their exams extensively before they get shipped out to thousands of people paying $200-$250 to take an exam....


Isn't it kinda ironic they are able to develop router/switch IOS's that run most businesses yet for the simulation they crash!!!

Cyanic

Sometimes it is not Cisco's fault. I stopped going to my closest testing center because their desktops suck and would pause (with time still being taken off) all throughout the exam. Plus they "lost" my print out on their "network" and it took them 30 minutes to figure out how to find print it.

notgoing2fail

Cyanic wrote: »

Sometimes it is not Cisco's fault. I stopped going to my closest testing center because their desktops suck and would pause (with time still being taken off) all throughout the exam. Plus they "lost" my print out on their "network" and it took them 30 minutes to figure out how to find print it.

Wow, now that is a hack testing center. The one I go to seems pretty decent. Their workstations are all Dell and look pretty new and the monitors are flat screens...

But the one I used to go to before seemed pretty hack with old workstations and a CRT monitor...

zerglings

The closest testing center to me has some old PCs as well. But I haven't encountered any of the things you guys mentioned. Knock on wood. Other testing centers around me only offer two day out of the week and it falls on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that's not gonna happen because of work. I am not going to take paid time off just to take an exam!