Hey guys,
I've been lurking the forums for the last two weeks. Thanks for all the tips and advice.
I needed to take the CCNA for my next gig and only had a few months. So, I studied for two weeks and passed!!
I've seen a lot of posts saying how CCNA is very hard. I learned that it is only has hard as you make it out to be! I studied Todd Lammle's book, studying 1-3 chapters a day. Then I spent a week learning more specific concepts and doing labs. GNS3 was super useful. I didn't have the time or resources to acquire my own hardware.
Here are a couple things I did to make sure I retained all the information.
- I took lots of notes. Even though Todd's book was very good, I didn't want to have to read it again every time I needed to brush up on a detail. writing concise notes helped a lot.
- I wrote up a note sheet of the common steps for CLI configurations and troubleshooting. When I was first doing the sims and labs, I kept this next to me for reference. It helped a lot.
- For things like memorizing ip addresses and port numbers, I just made a few flashcards and reviewed them every few days after lunch or before sleeping.
- Basically, I lived and breathed CCNA for 2 weeks. It definitely helps drill the information into your head.
If I were to do it again, I would try to manage my time better. I spend a little too much time on one of the earlier questions and that ended up making me feel a little rushed for the rest of the exam.
Also, the dry erase marker that was given to me crapped out half way through. Make sure to test it out before starting the exam.
Cheers
