Passed SWITCH while on vacation

I was studying, went on vacation, took SWITCH and passed.

The day before my vaca it was presented to me to pass CCDA, UCAD, LCSAUC, and QOS by May 1...my vacation ends April 26th....

Not sure if its even humanly possible especially considering I know zilch about phone systems and do not hold a CCNA Voice or have prior PBX knowledge.

Well at least I'll bring home SWITCH as a win

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mattau

congrats, how did you find it? please share experience and any tips for us all : )

PhildoBaggins

It sucked. CBTs/FLG/OCG and they didnt really prepare you for the exam. I rocked 950+ on ROUTE and squeeked by with an 835 on SWITCH. The lab/config sections I felt were to simple/easy while some of the multiple choice were to difficult.

Know your nitty gritty from the FLG. Dont bother with (I love them but I gotta say it) the CBTs. I do not feel what was covered by my favorite internet teacher Mr. Cioara in the videos even represents half of what you need for the exam. I know everything cannot be coverered in 20 hours of video and in almost every case I have really felt the CBT vids helped out but for SWITCH I would just skip them unless you want review.

I would take the FLG chapter by chapter. Take notes, make your own practice tests and check yourself often. Know your protocols just as your studied BGP/OSPF/EIGRP/IPV6 in ROUTE. HSRP/VRRP/GLBP/ETHERCHANNEL/STP and all sub areas of port security you must know and comprehend to the same level as you hopefully got in ROUTE when you started redistributing EIGRP into OSPF, passing default routes throught eh domain to get to BGP, then using BGP and path control to drive traffic. You must know when to use LACP or PAGP, why you should use it, how it ties to Etherchannel, how etherchannel works and how to optimize it.

I had already sold off my 3550's so I went labless on this exam. However you can setup some of the technologies in GNS3, or simply purchase a couple 3550s. The amount of material on Private VLANs and some other tech in the FLG/OCG doesnt warrant the purchase of 3560s or 3750s.

I debated on picking up 4 3750s since I plan on immediately pursuing CCIE RS (work now hit me with 6 certification requirements before 2013 so this will def get pushed out)

But in the end you do not need as much of a lab as you did in ROUTE (of course I used GNS for route). There is alot more of how/why regarding protocols as opposed to route which was implementation and verification.

There, its late, i'm on vacation and i've rambled on enough

mattau

thanks alot for providing that post. It's great to hear other peoples opinion and study methods.

SharkDiver

Congratulations! Great job.
That SWITCH exam is TOUGH.

How long until you tackle the TSHOOT? I would suggest reading through the OCG in about a week or two (all review except for the first 2 or 3 chapters) and going for the exam while everything is fresh in your mind.

The CCNA Voice was pretty easy, but I have tons of experience with PBX and Key Systems.
I started CCDA and got bored to tears in 2 chapters.
The QOS and the CCNP ROUTE are both part of CCIP, so that might be a good future path.
Just throwing things out there for you.

Good Luck!

PhildoBaggins

I'm going to call the test center in about 8 hours when they open and take TSHOOT. From what I understand of the test it will not that complicated and is not on the same difficulty scale as ROUTE/SWITCH. I know the ROUTE/SWITCH material inside and out and I troubleshoot Cisco/HP/Sonicwall/Dell/Juniper daily. Cant wait to finally knock out CCNP.

Then I get to start CCDA, LCAD,LCSUAC,QOS, CCNA V, CCNP V for work by Dec 31st

Hopefully I can still have time to actually do some network inbetween the bazillion certs I have to take for our partnership

Personal goals this year are definitely going to be CCNP (tomorrow) and CCDP, then build a new virtual routing sandbox and 4 3750's for some CCIE RS study.

I would love be pass my CCIE written in the next 6-12 months so I can start down the psycho trail of CCIEdom.

SharkDiver, if your willing to relocate I have engineer jobs available right now. PM me your email address and I will have my boss reach out to you