My CCNP Journey

Danielh22185

Well its been a while since I have posted an update but my efforts in study have not faltered in any way. I've been going at it harder than even just haven't set aside much time to update my progress.

Recent Accomplishments:

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I finished reading CCNP Simplified which would make my 3rd 800-1000 page book concerning NP Route prep.

Current Focus:

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I have been doing A LOT of labbing recently. This is my primary focus now till the 31st. I am currently focusing on just labbing scenarios from the simplified book, however as a quick refresher plan to blast through the SLM once more to re-solidify topics I haven't touched on in a while.

This has been a long Journey so far however I am confident I will be hitting a milestone here soon.

I will continue to post updates as my exam date closes in. I am still holding on to January 31st as the official date.

Iristheangel

How are you enjoying CCNP Simplified?

Danielh22185

Iristheangel wrote: »

How are you enjoying CCNP Simplified?

VERY MUCH SO! I wish I would have discovered it way before spending time with the Cisco Press books. Granted FLG was good but still not on the same level as Simplified. It defiantly does a fantastic job separating all the discussion topics with theory and a supporting topology example. I've marked off each example I can use to lab with. It's defiantly been a great learning tool! I regard it hands down my best learning resource by far so far!

Iristheangel

Yeah, after I discovered the series, I ended up buying the whole CCNP set just to have a desk reference even though I had already finished my CCNP Switch. I think it goes above and beyond CCNP-level and at least starts you down the CCIE-road in concepts. I don't think FLG or OCG even mentioned EEM applets, OER, etc, much less explained them.

When I decide to go for the CCIE, I'll probably go back and restudy those books just to brush up on anything I may have forgotten before diving into the more CCIE-centric books.

DevilWAH

I did look at this (CCNP simplified), but got to the EIGRP section and the metric formula is wrong, at least in the kindel version

is states it as

[ K1 * bandwidth + (K2 * bandwidth) / (256 load) + K3 * delay] * [ K5 / (relibility + K4 ) ]

which with default K values reduces to

[10^7 / least bandwith on path) + (sum of all delays) ] * 256

Seems they forgot the * 256 in the original calculation.

What does get me aside from this about the metric is that K5 / (reliability + k4) for default K values = 0 / (reliability+0). now 0 divided by any thing is 0. So the last statement in the metric basically says multiply every thing you have by 0. Which would make the whole metric 0!! Most text books seem to skip over this fact, but it seems the reason it does not fall apart is this.

"An important and unintuitive fact is that if is set to zero, the term is not used (i.e. taken as 1)."

there is nothing complicated about the EIGRP metric i relies, just every book teaches you a different one and none seem to bother working through the maths when substituting the K values. May be there are not that many maths students that have gone on to write CISCO study books

Danielh22185

DevilWAH wrote: »

I did look at this (CCNP simplified), but got to the EIGRP section and the metric formula is wrong, at least in the kindel version

is states it as

[ K1 * bandwidth + (K2 * bandwidth) / (256 load) + K3 * delay] * [ K5 / (relibility + K4 ) ]

which with default K values reduces to

[10^7 / least bandwith on path) + (sum of all delays) ] * 256

Seems they forgot the * 256 in the original calculation.

What does get me aside from this about the metric is that K5 / (reliability + k4) for default K values = 0 / (reliability+0). now 0 divided by any thing is 0. So the last statement in the metric basically says multiply every thing you have by 0. Which would make the whole metric 0!! Most text books seem to skip over this fact, but it seems the reason it does not fall apart is this.

"An important and unintuitive fact is that if is set to zero, the term is not used (i.e. taken as 1)."

there is nothing complicated about the EIGRP metric i relies, just every book teaches you a different one and none seem to bother working through the maths when substituting the K values. May be there are not that many maths students that have gone on to write CISCO study books

I've actually picked up on many mistakes / typos in the book. However that to mean doesn't discredit the book as most of it really is just typos. I still believe it to be a great resource. The book has been a huge asset to me labbing scenarios via the chapter examples / lab book at the back.

Danielh22185

Test date approaches!

I hate this feeling. I feel confident of all topics within Route however the thing that drives me nuts is the fact of how vast the exam is. I feel like once I focus on content firmly I feel like the other stuff is fizzling away as a spend more time away from it. This last week has been a good week of BGP labbing. However in final prep I think my gears need to switch.

I think the key is for me to focus on the entire blue print of the exam in general this last week I have before the exam as apposed to delving deep into one specific topics.

It's going to be a long stressful week!

bharvey92

Hi Daniel

Enjoyed reading your post my friend, I myself am studying through the CCNP Route with INE and CBT nuggets, any advice you could give regarding studying for the route?

Good luck for your exam!

Iristheangel

Good luck on your exam!

I'm glad you picked up the Simplified series. Little stupid errors aside, I found the it was a lot more digestible than the Cisco books.

I've got my fingers crossed for you

DevilWAH

Danielh22185 wrote: »

Test date approaches!

I hate this feeling. I feel confident of all topics within Route however the thing that drives me nuts is the fact of how vast the exam is. I feel like once I focus on content firmly I feel like the other stuff is fizzling away as a spend more time away from it. This last week has been a good week of BGP labbing. However in final prep I think my gears need to switch.

I think the key is for me to focus on the entire blue print of the exam in general this last week I have before the exam as apposed to delving deep into one specific topics.

It's going to be a long stressful week!

This is what I have been going though. things like knowing the correct command syntax's and neighbour relations ship states, packet types for each protocol, important addresses.

its things like the different ways to summarise and configure. for this protocol is it under the router process or the interface... I know it will be dropping the odd points on these kinds of questions that is the difference between pass and fail.

Danielh22185

bharvey92 wrote: »

Hi Daniel

Enjoyed reading your post my friend, I myself am studying through the CCNP Route with INE and CBT nuggets, any advice you could give regarding studying for the route?

Good luck for your exam!

Sounds like you are off to a decent start. I defiantly would suggest for someone just starting out to go through all the CBT nugget material first to get an understanding of the material to come. Jeremy does a great job. INE is great stuff but very dry and Brian goes into large detail which might be hard to follow at first. I would suggest possibly jumping into INE after you have your first book rear.

From there I would delve into a book. I personally would not waste time with the "Offical Certification Guide" as it has errors, is missing information, and is extremely dry. I would more gravitate towards the "Foundation Learning Guide" and "Simplified" series. Take it one topic at a time. I personally felt it was most effected for me to read the content then lab it right after, instead of moving into a new topic. Labbing will be a huge part of solidifying your knowledge of the subjects. I used GNS3 for my labs and it did everything I needed it to do.

I found it was also import to hand write notes. Route is HUGE and there are many detailed topics. I feel actually writing notes helped me retain some of the concepts I learned on a theory perspective.

I hope that helps focus some of your study efforts.

Danielh22185

Iristheangel wrote: »

Good luck on your exam!

I'm glad you picked up the Simplified series. Little stupid errors aside, I found the it was a lot more digestible than the Cisco books.

I've got my fingers crossed for you

Thanks! I am really hoping to get a win here so I can move on. This one has been a long time coming but I rewarding too. I have learned a lot!

bharvey92

Thanks for the advice! Appreciate it very much! I have both, so I shall definitely go through CBT firstly!

I do agree I am finding the OCG very dry and kinda boring but persevering just so I get an understanding of all the topics, I shall definitely take note of your advice and put it towards my studies!

Thanks!

Danielh22185

Quick little update:

I had to abruptly cancel my exam for Saturday. My wife is pregnant and got super sick Friday / Saturday and I was worried sick that I was going to have to put her in the ER. Luckily she bounced back and is doing well now. So I will be taking my exam this Saturday.

I am excited, nervous, stressed, and ready all at the same time!

I hope my next post will be one reporting a pass!

* Crosses Fingers!*

Danielh22185

Well... Route is my official enemy.

I don't really fully know what happened with this recent re-take. I felt REALLY good up through 2/3 of the exam. I even got the same config question that bit me hard last go round and nailed it. Time management was good as well. I got a new config question though I was drawing a blank on and couldn't figure it out in time and another one I got maybe half the points on (I'm sure this probably hurt me the most, but its hard to say because we don't know the true format in how Cisco grades their tests)

This is really disappointing and frustrating. I thought I had it all down. I never generally have ever been a great test taker, I usually get filled with anxiety and end up forgetting things I know. Oddly though I didn't feel much of that this time. I was very confident but didn't make the pass.

One thing I noticed too is 'write memory' and 'copy run st' is not available most times in the config questions and I was wondering a bit if I might have been missing an alternative best practice way to save my configs after implementing them or if that simply just is not required and will not affect my score.

Re-test is in 2 weeks. This will actually be on my birth day. I can't think of a better bday present!

TBickle

I'm sorry to hear you failed. It's just another learning experience, I'm sure you will nail it next time.

I passed it...but barely, and will say, it is ONE HARD TEST. I wanted to mention in my post about the wri mem and copy run start but wasn't sure if it is against Cisco's NDA, so didn't mention it. I noticed the same thing during my test, and believe it may be the reason I scored so low. See, the first two sims, I had tried "copy run start" and was prompted that the command is unavailable, so I gave up trying it on the next couple of sims. Then, on the last sim, I tried it again out of habit and the simulator took it. As soon as it did, my face flushed with worry about the other sims that I hadn't tried it on. It's pretty crappy for Cisco to go on and fool users like that. Either enable the command across the board or don't.

As for the anxiety thing, I totally understand. I was sweating profusely, and couldn't keep it together until 15 or so questions in. Kevin Wallace (Tshoot author) suggests yawing or smiling during these anxious times to signal to the brain that it is okay. Unfortunately for me, I didn't hear about this tactic until after the exam when I was watching his Tshoot Videos.

Good luck. Maybe schedule Tshoot immediately afterwards. Others have said that you should since the material is still fresh. Me? I'm not taking any chances and I plan on waiting a week or two JUST to review some Switch material. It's been almost 5 months since I sat for that exam.

DevilWAH

Sorry to here that.

One thing you do no need to save your configs so don't worry about that.

Danielh22185

TBickle wrote: »

I'm sorry to hear you failed. It's just another learning experience, I'm sure you will nail it next time.

I passed it...but barely, and will say, it is ONE HARD TEST. I wanted to mention in my post about the wri mem and copy run start but wasn't sure if it is against Cisco's NDA, so didn't mention it. I noticed the same thing during my test, and believe it may be the reason I scored so low. See, the first two sims, I had tried "copy run start" and was prompted that the command is unavailable, so I gave up trying it on the next couple of sims. Then, on the last sim, I tried it again out of habit and the simulator took it. As soon as it did, my face flushed with worry about the other sims that I hadn't tried it on. It's pretty crappy for Cisco to go on and fool users like that. Either enable the command across the board or don't.

As for the anxiety thing, I totally understand. I was sweating profusely, and couldn't keep it together until 15 or so questions in. Kevin Wallace (Tshoot author) suggests yawing or smiling during these anxious times to signal to the brain that it is okay. Unfortunately for me, I didn't hear about this tactic until after the exam when I was watching his Tshoot Videos.

Good luck. Maybe schedule Tshoot immediately afterwards. Others have said that you should since the material is still fresh. Me? I'm not taking any chances and I plan on waiting a week or two JUST to review some Switch material. It's been almost 5 months since I sat for that exam.

Thanks for the input. Interesting idea to try during the test to calm yourself down.


I know I have some areas I am weak on. I probably need another review of IPv6 and Branch Office Connectivity items. I didn't expect to see as much as I did regarding Branch Office Connectivity as the Blue Print suggests to only be covered by 5% of the test.

johnwest43

Danielh22185 wrote: »

I know I have some areas I am weak on. I probably need another review of IPv6 and Branch Office Connectivity items. I didn't expect to see as much as I did regarding Branch Office Connectivity items as I did considering the public Cisco weight chart shows to only be covered by 5% of the test.

I don't think this brakes the NDA but if it does, Moderators please remove ASAP. IMHO these exams are what I call "adaptive" in that they will hammer you on particular subject if you get a question on that subject wrong.

Study up on the areas where you scored less than 80% and next time you should knock it out!

fredrikjj

johnwest43 wrote: »

I don't think this brakes the NDA but if it does, Moderators please remove ASAP. IMHO these exams are what I call "adaptive" in that they will hammer you on particular subject if you get a question on that subject wrong.

Study up on the areas where you scored less than 80% and next time you should knock it out!

No they are not. PS. Maybe I shouldn't have expressed myself that categorically. In my experience (and I've bombed certain sections on exams), they do not work that way.

elderkai

Sorry to hear about the fail, but you'll definitely conquer it!

Have you heard of The Online CCNP Guide ? They have some really good flashcards. I bought their flashcard+exam guide bundle, but so far I like the cards more for review than the guides. Mostly because Simplified is so good.

johnwest43

Good to hear a differnet point of view fredrickjj. My reason for thinking that way is that on all the Cisco tests I have taken it seems that when i get a question that i had to guess at, ( narrowed it down to 2) the next question was usally on the same topic. Maybe its just dumb luck!

Danielh22185

johnwest43 wrote: »

I don't think this brakes the NDA but if it does, Moderators please remove ASAP. IMHO these exams are what I call "adaptive" in that they will hammer you on particular subject if you get a question on that subject wrong.

Study up on the areas where you scored less than 80% and next time you should knock it out!

I don't believe this break any part of the NDA as this information is publicly available on Cisco's website.

Danielh22185

elderkai wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the fail, but you'll definitely conquer it!

Have you heard of The Online CCNP Guide ? They have some really good flashcards. I bought their flashcard+exam guide bundle, but so far I like the cards more for review than the guides. Mostly because Simplified is so good.

I actually am using that very thing! It is good review however as I think on it more I was not credited points at all for one config scenario and probably less than half on the other one I had trouble with. I think this is where most of my point deficit came from.

Danielh22185

Well, just thought i'd give a little update.

I spent the last week focusing heavily on the areas I beleive I made mistakes within the config scenarios and I think I now have a firm grasp on where I went wrong / what Cisco may be looking for. I beleive this will help improve my score drastically.

In final prep I really don't have much to lab as I think I've labbed about everything I can think of into the ground. I will be focusing on writting more notes to beat the theory technicalities into my head and revewing those with maybe an occasional lab.

I feel really strong and am very anxious to go in on Friday to get the pass.

Next post will be me reporting a PASS!

Danielh22185

It's been a busy week! I took my Route Test on Friday and then went to the auto show as it was in Dallas for the weekend (I'm a huge car nut) so I had to go see that and had some birthday festivities after.

Well, so I guess I better report about my recent Route experience.... (I feel like I am writing payroll checks to Cisco)

I went into the test with a LOT of confidence. I was ready to face the two scenarios that got me last time. 35 questions in I have yet to get a single config scenario! (Now I am stressing although I have over an hr left of time)

Finally, one of the ones that got me previously shows its ugly face. I can't go into the details but I had a couple game plans in my head from my previous experience on how I would treat this one differently. Unfortunately this one still gave me trouble and I only got partial points.

I previously spoke with a college (CCNP certified, very smart guy) and he said you are almost better off using as much time as possible to get as many points as possible on the simulations and if it comes down to choosing more time on the simulation and simply guessing multiple choice questions, do it. So, I was keeping that in mind and I believe that is what hurt me. I spend maybe 30 mins on that one simulation before I decided to throw in the towel.

Now I am completely flustered. I'm in fast-forward trying to catch up. I am down to about 30 mins left and have ~15 questions left and I know I have more simulations in front of me.

In the end I ended up having to skip 2 other simulations completely due to lack of time, which upon first glance I know I could get these ones no problem.

I ended up scoring a 731 having skipped 2 sims completely and probably got half points for another. I can't tell you how frustrated and disappointed I am. It hurts to know had I had more time for the simulations I skipped I probably would have not only passed but passed with a good score.

I did not manage my time as wisely as I should have and that ended up being what cost me the pass. I feel very confident now considering the score I got having skiped a large portion of the exam due to time constraints. Friday is the retest and i'll be surprised if I score anything less than 900 at this point.

On a side note my switch book came in yesterday (OCG) and WOW! This thing is tiny compared to Route! Should be a quick read and the time to prepare should be far less. I can't wait to dive in!

DevilWAH

Sorry to hear that,

I have to say I was pushed for time, (needed a pee about half way though and by 15 minutes from end was so distracting i had to take a break!! )

It was the simulations that got me, one I never figured out as I could not see how it was meant to work based on what the question said. I finished with 3 minutes to spare. normally I am out of there like 30 minutes + before the end.

Good luck on the retake.

Danielh22185

DevilWAH wrote: »

Sorry to hear that,

I have to say I was pushed for time, (needed a pee about half way though and by 15 minutes from end was so distracting i had to take a break!! )

It was the simulations that got me, one I never figured out as I could not see how it was meant to work based on what the question said. I finished with 3 minutes to spare. normally I am out of there like 30 minutes + before the end.

Good luck on the retake.

Taking these dang tests definitely involves some strategy for sure, even around planning when to pee haha!

mistabrumley89

Good luck on your exam today!

tomtom1

Sure you will pass on your next try. Keep on working towards your NP route. Reading your story makes me a bit anxious for my exam scheduled on the 14th, but I'm sure we will both prevail!

Did you succeed Friday?