CCNA Thread

veritas_libertas

Spent yesterday, and will spend today diving more deeply into EIGRP and OSPF. There are a lot of terms and concepts to become comfortable with.

Edit: Got a lot further than I thought I would, and am currently reading Lammle's chapter on VLANs. I must say that he has cleared up all the confusion that the Cisco Press book left me with.

veritas_libertas

I just found a very useful posting on the Cisco Learning Network: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/thread/15662

veritas_libertas

Trying to wrap my head around ACLs today. The Wildcards are confusing me.

veritas_libertas

ICND2 is definitely more difficult for me than ICND1 was. There is a lot to memorize and learn. For me the following are giving me the most headaches:

• STP
• OSPF
• EIGRP
• Frame-Relay (Just plain confusing.)

What I'm struggling with the most is learning to keep it simple. I want a deeper knowledge of the protocols/technology than what is required for the CCNA. Instead of pulling out white papers, I need to simply learn the books inside-out and then hit the labs. If I really hit the books/labs hard I should be able to take the exam in early July. I really want to get the CCNA out of the way before the end of the year and hopefully sooner than later.

sangstar

I'm sitting ICND2 in 2 weeks, have used Cisco Press (Odom's book) and am on the last few CBT nuggets.
I was impressed with Odom's book, especially after the bad reviews it got.

Side by side I have a lab on Packet tracer to practice what I am learning.

I work in IT, so as practice, I am rebuilding some customer networks, using all of the ICND2 concepts I have learnt.

ChickenNuggetz

veritas_libertas wrote: »

ICND2 is definitely more difficult for me than ICND1 was. There is a lot to memorize and learn. For me the following are giving me the most headaches:

• STP
• OSPF
• EIGRP
• Frame-Relay (Just plain confusing.)

What I'm struggling with the most is learning to keep it simple. I want a deeper knowledge of the protocols/technology than what is required for the CCNA. Instead of pulling out white papers, I need to simply learn the books inside-out and then hit the labs. If I really hit the books/labs hard I should be able to take the exam in early July. I really want to get the CCNA out of the way before the end of the year and hopefully sooner than later.

I'm with ya buddy, ICND2 is definitely a step-up in difficulty! I found labbing, labbing, and more labbing really helps to make the commands and concepts stick in my head. Good luck and keep on keepin' on!

veritas_libertas

I feel like I have a good overall understanding of the technologies on ICND2. Now it's time to buckle down and memorize flash cards and work on labs.

mguy

Been studying for this since March. I need to schedule soon.

I blasted through Odom's book. Then took the chapters apart. By the time I went to the first topic, I had forgotten it! Thank God for notes, but seriously, ICND2 is a beast of a topic. I'm spending more time labbing with my software simulator (Boson). I just create routers and situations and practice one aspect then try to add another aspect.

The test is just the following really:

Routing Protocols + VLSM
STP and its variants
VLAN trunking + switch management
ACLs
NAT
Frame Relay (wtf is a dlci)

yup. I'm going to schedule soon.

VisionITTech

I took several Cisco classes and finished the Cisco Network Academy in the past about (7) years ago...about to start my studies back to actually complete my CCNA.

I just purchased tis book:

Amazon.com: CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide, includes CD-ROM: Exam 640-802 (9780470901076): Todd Lammle: Books

veritas_libertas

Ugh, advice when pursuing ICND2. Don't let your subnetting skills lapse while studying, it's way to easy to forget.

MAC_Addy

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Ugh, advice when pursuing ICND2. Don't let your subnetting skills lapse while studying, it's way to easy to forget.

Very much so! Though it's not really mentioned on the Cisco website, there's a lot of subnetting on this one, too.

veritas_libertas

MAC_Addy wrote: »

Very much so! Though it's not really mentioned on the Cisco website, there's a lot of subnetting on this one, too.

Yes, and binary which I really didn't need to use on the CCENT. Binary conversion is the only way I know to figure out how to summarize a list of routes. If anyone knows of a better way, please do tell me

Ltat42a

Check out this method -
Subnetting Made Easy And Other Cisco Tidbits: Route Summarization

shnelson

640-802 scheduled for 6/13, hoping all of my homework thus far will pay off.

I will be attending Cisco live and have scheduled sessions that support the CCNA track (ICND1/2/CCNA labs, mastering subnetting, router operations etc). Will be finishing up and reviewing Todd Lammles CCNA book on the flight out and have more practice tests than I can shake a stick at

Will definitely be having a few cold ones pass or fail on wednesday, after all they're bringing Weezer in for us that night!

kaynejenkins

Passed ICND2 today by the skin of my teeth after studying for 4 months. Going into the exam was very confident after getting 960 on ICND1 with less studying.

ICND2 was very ACLs orientated!!

I felt I knew the ICND2 material a lot better than ICND1 until the exam. It seemed to me that cisco really want to prove your understanding of the subjects by what seemed to me at the time using tricky questions and answers!! RTFQ slowly, at least twice!

ACLs was not a strong point for me and almost let me down, be prepared for them!!

Good luck those on ICND2, be prepared for a more "taxing" exam.

veritas_libertas

Had most of last week to dedicate the evenings to ICND2 labbing and chapter reviews. I feel much better about the test. Some areas I'm still a little weak in. I'm also beginning to get back into some subnetting practice, which I had forgotten to do. It's all about review, review, and well, more review.

Qord

Do you have/use the subnetting workbook?
http://kaygenz.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/ip-addressing-and-subnetting-workbook-student-version-1_5.pdf

Was my best friend for a few weeks. The tables at the end were especially helpful to me.

elderkai

You said you're not comfortable with Frame Relay. If I were you I'd do some labbing with it. Frame Relay was one of my favorites. What I did to make sure I was prepare was that while I was labbing for routing protocols and different things, I had a Frame Relay topology as the base to every lab. Practicing with multipoint, ptp, examining the differences, verifying, etc. It's confusing at first, but it starts to make sense once you put a lot of hands on with it.

veritas_libertas

@elderkai: Nice idea, I'll try that! I was just thinking today that I'm mostly comfortable with everything but Frame-Relay. What I find frustrating is that it is very briefly covered by Lammle and others almost like it's being phased out, why make a big deal out of it.

veritas_libertas

Feeling good about my studies. I'm still nervous about the exam. It's scheduled for Friday and I'll know how well I'm really doing then

Any last minute suggestions from anyone?

Deathgomper

Time management!!! Never forget about that clock.

Other than that good luck!!

4_lom

Jeremy Ciora (CBT Nuggets) does a great job of explaining subnetting (and other concepts) if you can afford the videos.

nebapneb

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Feeling good about my studies. I'm still nervous about the exam. It's scheduled for Friday and I'll know how well I'm really doing then

Any last minute suggestions from anyone?

reread your thread, take a few deep breaths and just crack on
you'll be fine

*all opinions expressed are my own and often bear no resemblence to any actuality real or imagined

veritas_libertas

I just got this nice e-mail from PearsonVue a half-hour ago:

Dear Veritas_Libertas,

Thank you for scheduling your exam with Pearson VUE. We have been informed that the New Horizons testing center will be unable to deliver your Cisco exam on 07/13/2012. Please contact Pearson VUE at [URL="tel:877-404-3926"]877-404-3926[/URL] or go online at www.pearsonvue.com, to reschedule your exam appointment as soon as possible.

I was a little stunned, and wondered how much longer I was going to have to wait in order to take the exam. Usually you end up being pushed back at least a couple of weeks if you have to reschedule. Thankfully I was able reschedule to tomorrow, an abrupt change but I think I can do it

Unfortunately it appears I will end up driving at least an hour a way whenever I want to take a Cisco exam. At least it's not Atlanta.

veritas_libertas

Ouch. I didn't pass but I was close. I was able to retain the areas that I missed on the test, so I've written them down and I will study hard. I've scheduled my next shot for next week. Close, but I figure that's the best way to do it, right?

Deathgomper

Sorry to hear it. But it sounds like you know what you have to brush up on. Cisco exams are tough, and they should be otherwise everyone would have one.

Just study up where you should and kick that exam right in the face next week!

MickQ

Sorry to hear that, Veritas. At least you know where you need to put most of the effort in.

veritas_libertas

Failed a second time. I haven't been sleeping well lately and this really hurt me. I will say that after two tests I'm a lot more knowledgeable on what I do need to know. It will probably be another month before I take another shot. My wife is due any time now and the family needs some more of my time. I'm going to keep on studying and I know I will fulfill my goal of finishing the CCNA in 2012.

mapletune

Sorry to hear that >_<! Life is sometimes tough on us, but life is the basis of everything so don't give up! =D

I'm sure that you'll nail the exam the next time, third time's the charm!

but, for now, family and life needs you! take care of your health so you can take care of everyone

best of luck & health!

MickQ

Aw man. Stick with it. At least you have something else nice to look forward to