CCDA Advise and questions

Hey Guys,

Thanks in advance for answering my questions!

I am about to start studying for my CCDA and am very excited as I am very interested in design. I am almost done with my switching exam for Juniper and then will be starting.

I am asking for advice on study materials. I have the 640-863 Cert exam guide from Cisco Press. I have a lab that I used for my CCNA. About 8 or 9 routers and 4 switches, a Terminal server Module and a 5505 ASA Firewall. Please let me know if I need to add anything and if there are any places that I could get labs to replicate or even labs your guys have used.

Also if you could describe your experience for studying for this exam and tell me a little about the exam as well. Not asking for answers but asking if it is similar to the CCNA Exam where you have sims and labs to configure.

Thanks again

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miller811

I completed the CCDA exam about 19 months ago. My study track was CCNA, CCNP, CCDA. So for me, the DA exam was a review of the recently completed NP courses. For the exam you will be learning/ need to know QoS, VOIP, configurations for voice, the structure of voice packets, how to calculate sizes. etc...wireless, switching concepts, HSRP, routing protocols.... so like I said all of the concepts that were learned on the OLD CCNP track. I think the exam recommends that you have switching exam experience.

There are no sims or labs on the exam from what I recall...
I am currently back on the design bandwagon and currently preparing for the ARCH exam.

I just checked the Cisco Website and it looks like there maybe a refresh for the exam coming

CCDA DESGN Exam Refresh v2.1: Candidates who have exams scheduled on November 8, 2010 or later should prepare using the CCDA DESGN v2.1 Exam Topics (blueprints). Candidates with exams scheduled prior to November 7, 2010 should continue using the existing CCDA DESGN v2.0 Exam Topics (blueprints). Please view the Study/Learn tab for more information on how to study and prepare for the exam.

So I also looked at the ARCH exam blueprint and they states it will be changing on the same date, so looks like I better get moving on my studies.

Good luck to you.

GT-Rob

it is a very unpractical exam. Meaning there will not be a lot of, or any, commands, outputs, etc to really know, for the most part a lab is not needed.

Now you of course need to learn the technologies still so a hands on with them will help, but the design exams are really centered around the theory and design (ironic!) of them.

From what I remember of the exam, there was a lot of QoS, routing protocols - specifically in regards to aggregation, some wireless topics - more concerning the products then AP placement design, and I am pretty sure VoIP call calculations came up. Again, its been about 1.5 years I think, and some of this may be CCDP material.

In the end, trust the blueprint. If says configure blah blah blah, then you need to lab it. If it says explain/describe blah blah blah, then you don't so much.

Ryuksapple84

Thanks GT-ROB and Miller811. That really helps but now I am confused as to which book I should use to study because I will be taking this after Novermber.

Any ideas?

Forsaken_GA

I don't think you're going to have a choice but to study from the current edition of the Teare book, as new training material often comes out after the exam. The recent CCNP refresh was one of the few times I've seen material available at the same time as the new exam, and frankly, the Design track isn't all that prestigious with Cisco until you get to CCDE level, so I'd be surprised if there was new material available along with the exam.

If I were you, I'd pick up the current Teare book, try to find a way to avoid sleeping through it (it's hard, trust me), and take the current exam.

Otherwise you'll have to compare the two blueprints to see what's changed, and study the differences.

All in all, the CCDA is not a difficult exam, so I wouldn't sweat it to terribly much

Ryuksapple84

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

I don't think you're going to have a choice but to study from the current edition of the Teare book, as new training material often comes out after the exam. The recent CCNP refresh was one of the few times I've seen material available at the same time as the new exam, and frankly, the Design track isn't all that prestigious with Cisco until you get to CCDE level, so I'd be surprised if there was new material available along with the exam.

Really?

man that sucks... I just wanted to get this cert out of the way while I am waiting for my company to purchase the new CCNP video package. I really want to learn and understand design.

Well, thanks for the advice and let me know if you guys see any other material out there that you think would be helpful.

hypnotoad

There are 3 basic things for the CCDA:
- The Diane Teare Book
- The Bruno/Jordon Book
- The CBT Nuggets

The Teare book is probably more in-depth. The CBT Nuggets were designed for 861 and amended for 863, but they are ok. I think Jeremy does them.

If you really want to understand design, the books have case studies/exercises - I guess it's a good idea to do those instead of labbing with routers.

down77

hypnotoad wrote: »

There are 3 basic things for the CCDA:
- The Diane Teare Book
- The Bruno/Jordon Book
- The CBT Nuggets

The Teare book is probably more in-depth. The CBT Nuggets were designed for 861 and amended for 863, but they are ok. I think Jeremy does them.

If you really want to understand design, the books have case studies/exercises - I guess it's a good idea to do those instead of labbing with routers.

Michael Shannon actually did the CCDA and CCDA update. I have the Bruno/Jordan book (read up to chapter 9) and just picked up Teare book from Borders (major shock face when they had it in stock this morning locally).

As many have already identified, Diane Teare goes more indepth with the explanations for each requirement and IMO does a great job in the presentation of topics. The Bruno/Jordan book is definitely more exam prep and less explanation. The CBT Nugget series is ok for a high level overview but I feel the best tool so far has been the Self Study book from Teare.

It's a shame INE didn't record their late august CCDA seminar to sell online. I'd rather not pay the $2500-3k for 5 day bootcamp that I can't rewind/rewatch/etc.

Ryuksapple84

Thanks a lot, I will look into the books. I have the Bruno book and was just thinking about reading through that and then finding some online tests (no brain ****). You guys know of any? For the CCNA I used the ones that came with the videos.

down77

The only one I know of is the PEC CCDA pre-exam which requires an active Cisco PEC login. Something tells me that since this exam is a Describe and Design rather than the Implement and Troubleshoot, there may not be a lot of ethical practice exams available. I will say that the Self Study guide does have a case study review at the end of each chapter which builds on the design concepts to strengthen the comprehension of the material.

Ryuksapple84

this makes me not want to go after the CCDA but just read up on MPLS and then go for my CCNP...

Not encouraging

down77

Don't let it discourage you one bit! Ask yourself if you have a good comprehension of the design concepts and if you are familiar with analyzing requirements in order to present a solution. If you want some practice, take your current work environment and do a mock analysis and review. Not only will you directly apply the information on the exam but you would be surprised at how much more some things may make sense.

Remember in the end its just an exam. You may even be surprised how much easier the design of MPLS, Dynamic Routing protocols, converged switched networks, etc. will be on the CCNP/CCIP after mastering the design content.

Ryuksapple84

down77 wrote: »

Don't let it discourage you one bit! Ask yourself if you have a good comprehension of the design concepts and if you are familiar with analyzing requirements in order to present a solution. If you want some practice, take your current work environment and do a mock analysis and review. Not only will you directly apply the information on the exam but you would be surprised at how much more some things may make sense.

Remember in the end its just an exam. You may even be surprised how much easier the design of MPLS, Dynamic Routing protocols, converged switched networks, etc. will be on the CCNP/CCIP after mastering the design content.

Thanks for saying that Downs, that is encouraging. I will then go ahead and go for the CCDA then my CCNP.