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Some general comments
Excellent1
Member Posts: 462 ■■■■■■■□□□
Sat this exam and passed today with an 888. Not a great score, but not terrible either, so I'll take it.
Materials used: Bryant's study guide, the official cert guide by Watkins/Wallace, the IINS book by Paquet, and the lab manual workbook. I also labbed SDM in a vm that I used a downgraded version of java so it would run for me, along with kiwi syslog server and splunk for practicing with logs/timestamps/ntp setups, etc.
Regarding the resources: If I could only have 1 resource from the list above, I would take the book by Paquet. The OCG and Bryant's information are dated with old versions of SDM that do effect questions regarding IPS and ZBF configuration. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's enough to cost you some points on the exam.
Regarding the exam: The quality of this exam is pretty poor. There are several images that are low res screenshots of SDM and are very difficult to read. I saw some comments on here about bringing your reading glasses. I can now say with certainty that I know what these comments were referring to. It was very difficult to read some of the questions. There were not a lot of these, but even 1 is too many. These exams are not cheap, so to lose some points on something because you can't read the question properly is a poor reflection on Cisco in my opinion. Also, on this exam, you have quite a few questions. Without breaking NDM (the following info is available from the last video you can freely preview at CBT Nuggets), you have around 60 questions with a score to pass somewhere in the ballpark of 800. Time management could be an issue, given you only have 90 minutes for the exam. I used well over an hour, and I'm usually a pretty quick test-taker.
Regarding the content of the exam: I can't say much, of course, but referring to the exam description, make sure you know your ZBF, make sure you understand your VPN info (ike phases, etc). Also, don't be stupid like me and drop easy points on the switching section because you have such an easy question that you leave off a simple config option because you are flying through a simulation you've ran in your lab 300,000 times. After you hit "Next" you will hate yourself. Trust me.
All in all, not an easy exam in my opinion, but not the worst I've done either. Take your time, be comfortable with the bullet points covered on the exam objectives/description and you'll be fine. Good luck to those studying for this.
Materials used: Bryant's study guide, the official cert guide by Watkins/Wallace, the IINS book by Paquet, and the lab manual workbook. I also labbed SDM in a vm that I used a downgraded version of java so it would run for me, along with kiwi syslog server and splunk for practicing with logs/timestamps/ntp setups, etc.
Regarding the resources: If I could only have 1 resource from the list above, I would take the book by Paquet. The OCG and Bryant's information are dated with old versions of SDM that do effect questions regarding IPS and ZBF configuration. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's enough to cost you some points on the exam.
Regarding the exam: The quality of this exam is pretty poor. There are several images that are low res screenshots of SDM and are very difficult to read. I saw some comments on here about bringing your reading glasses. I can now say with certainty that I know what these comments were referring to. It was very difficult to read some of the questions. There were not a lot of these, but even 1 is too many. These exams are not cheap, so to lose some points on something because you can't read the question properly is a poor reflection on Cisco in my opinion. Also, on this exam, you have quite a few questions. Without breaking NDM (the following info is available from the last video you can freely preview at CBT Nuggets), you have around 60 questions with a score to pass somewhere in the ballpark of 800. Time management could be an issue, given you only have 90 minutes for the exam. I used well over an hour, and I'm usually a pretty quick test-taker.
Regarding the content of the exam: I can't say much, of course, but referring to the exam description, make sure you know your ZBF, make sure you understand your VPN info (ike phases, etc). Also, don't be stupid like me and drop easy points on the switching section because you have such an easy question that you leave off a simple config option because you are flying through a simulation you've ran in your lab 300,000 times. After you hit "Next" you will hate yourself. Trust me.
All in all, not an easy exam in my opinion, but not the worst I've done either. Take your time, be comfortable with the bullet points covered on the exam objectives/description and you'll be fine. Good luck to those studying for this.
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alxx
Member Posts: 755
Congratulations!
Maybe repeat your post in the cisco learning network forums
or email the cisco people there to give them the feedback.
Thanks for the tips on the books, I want to do this one in the second half of this year.Goals CCNA by dec 2013, CCNP by end of 2014 -
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Ola_CISCO
Member Posts: 73 ■■□□□□□□□□
Congratulations on your new certification, which certification will you be going for next? -
OptionsExcellent1
Member Posts: 462 ■■■■■■■□□□
Congratulations on your new certification, which certification will you be going for next?
Thanks, guys. As for what's next, I've got the books for CCNP and CCNA:Voice. I want to do (and will) both at some point, but for now I only have lab equipment for CCNP. That said, my next target looks to be ROUTE. I want to keep rolling with Cisco while it's fresh in mind, AND (far more importantly), it gives me a reason to keep playing with my lab.
I need to snag another 3550 and some phones, and I'll be happy with my lab (for now). -
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spicy ahi
Member Posts: 413 ■■□□□□□□□□
Congrats on the pass! Hopefully I'll be joining you in the win column in February. Just ordered the Paquet book yesterday and am going over the OCG in the meantime. Good luck with Route!Spicy :cool: Mentor the future! Be a CyberPatriot! -
OptionsCheesyBread
Member Posts: 99 ■■□□□□□□□□
Good job mate.
Keep holding that carrot in front of my nose
