Study Partner for ICND1

synseq

Hey guys. I asked this question in another part of the forum but I wanted to ask here because I saw in a post somewhere about people looking for study partners. I tried the search engine and although I found some they were outdated. I can't find the one I was looking for. So here it is I need a study partner for the CCENT ICND1 exam. I've been in the IT field for many years and have loved playing around with computers and gadgets for more than 10 years but I haven't had a lot of experience with cisco devices so although I may know some of the stuff I want to start with ICND1 topics. I have Cisco's packet tracer and router simulator, GNS3, and Boson Net Simulator 7. I have several books from sybex to cisco press. So if someone is also serious about the ICND1 and wants someone to study with to ask questions, help each other out, work on labs, etc. let me know.

I figured we could both use the same book, or software(cbt nuggets for example), and the same router simulator. If you really are serious and don't have a book, license for software, etc. I may consider buying the person a copy. We can work those details out if you are interested.

Thanks.

You can reach me via IM on the following:

MSN = closeone@hotmail.com
Google Talk = synseq@gmail.com

I also have yahoo messenger but I don't use it very much but if that's all you have let me know and I'll get you my yahoo id.

Roguetadhg

What would a study partner do as it's mostly a self-study.. thing?

I tried the study partner thing. It didn't work out so well. I studied more than the other person - a lot more.

I could see it working well for troubleshooting though. You break, they fix it and vise Versa. I have yet to really understand how to self-study troubleshooting since you're the one who broke it - you know how to fix it.

Maybe even asking questions about the topic.

But otherwise. I don't know how you could do it.

Hmm.. Although I'm tempted to figure out if there's a way to have a GNS3 "chess" game. Send a person a topology you broke. They need to fix it. It could work. You'd have to have the same image, and there might be copyright problems with that - even if it's for educational purposes.

synseq

Well you have a valid point there. I've never studied with anyone online before and most of the computer stuff I've learned I studied myself. However, I thought it could be beneficial to study with someone else. You could collaborate with them, help each other out, etc. Yes I know it's sort of a grey area when it comes to that. I know if I were to give a member of this forum an IOS image so we could study that person would use it solely for that purpose. It's not like he's going to starting selling that IOS image or distribute it to millions of people at least that's what I choose to believe. With that in mind I wouldn't mind sending someone an IOS image if was going to be used for educational purposes. Lets say I was studying with someone and we both read the same chapter. Person A could quiz Person B and vise versa. If one of them was stuck on something then the other person could help explain it.

There have been times when I was studying and there was something I got stuck on so I had to go to forums or look all over the place to find a suitable answer to help me understand it. I've also been able to answer questions and help explain something to another person. Not only does teaching someone else something help reinforce the knowledge and help you remember it, it could be explained in a way that could often be easier to understand than cold hard technical information. It just depends on the person. You may be right I just thought it would be worth a shot.

Edit: By the way I like your GNS3 chess game idea. I was thinking about something sort of like that but I like your idea better.. setting up a network topology and sabotaging it and sending it to the other person to try and solve is a good idea . I think troubleshooting like that would be good experience.

drkat

Guys, I'll do a free 2 hour ICND1/2 class over Webex if enough people are interested. We could have a white board session and some packet tracer labs and discuss the stuff you're struggling in.

synseq

That sounds cool man I'd be interested in that.

Roguetadhg

I'm all for the collaboration. But this is a bit different than a formal source of learning - like school. Everyone's job isn't studying for grades, they may work full time. In the case of my partner, he was an Aussie (I think). Time-Zones notwithstanding, he was a bit further behind. I'm not sure he got through ICND1. Just dropped off the end of the earth for instant messenger. *shrugs*

But another way to look at it is this: When you're on the job. You've gotta do the research yourself. Going through pages and pages of Google for that one-lingering hope of "What the F--- is this?" isn't abnormal. If you can develop the basic skills of doing this, you'll be a step ahead. Asking forums, friends and the like online isn't going to always give you an answer. They might be busy with their own work issues.

Im not saying not having a study partner is a good thing either. One person's motivation can easily push someone else. There's a limit to that, though. Not to mention having two heads at a problem can be better than one. But again, that relies on time. The same time. Which is really hard to keep unless you find someone that can keep a schedule.

I'd say stick to the forums. Ask questions here - you have everyone. Literally. Everyone here will see your thread, and can help you. I think the likes of Forsaken, or Irish (When Irish isn't busy with interviews) and NetworkVetern (Just to name a few) could help. Not to mention there's a lot of people here studying for CCNA. Those persons that are studying for their CCNA get an added benefit to help you. Every question asked helps people understand.


When it boils down to it -
Techexams is a giant think tank with some of the brightest persons available. All walks of life, All experiences (Good and bad), different viewpoints. I think that, in itself is the magic here. Your peers work in the industry and have their ear to the heartbeat that is everything in IT. And it being vendor neutral brings a lot of different players to the party!


...My eyes are going with all the black lights!

whatthehell

drkat wrote: »

Guys, I'll do a free 2 hour ICND1/2 class over Webex if enough people are interested. We could have a white board session and some packet tracer labs and discuss the stuff you're struggling in.

Any other interest for this class? I would be interested in checking this out!

santaowns

i am interested in this as long as its on a day i dont work, because i work grave shift and sleep most of the day when i work. wednesday thursday or fridays are good for me and maybe even saturday if its early enough.

Roguetadhg

ill go. Never hurts for a refresh

drkat

Welp send me a PM with your best times and I'm sure we can work something out for like a Saturday 8pm-10pm EST or something... I'll give it a few days for folks to respond.

bwillford

I would sit in on these also drkat.. No one time is better then another considering my schedule changes on a day to day basis..

Mutata

I would be interested with both the possibility of a study partner and this WebEx class. I have most of the material you mentioned already. You can PM me or send me an email.

some_generic_name@hotmail.com

orange_badger

im also interested in this even tho im about to take my icnd1 test in 3 weeks can't hurt

radix

drkat wrote: »

Guys, I'll do a free 2 hour ICND1/2 class over Webex if enough people are interested. We could have a white board session and some packet tracer labs and discuss the stuff you're struggling in.

also interested let me know what you guys decide on the time and date

thehourman

What about Google+?
It seems most TE members use Google+. G+ has hangout which I think it would be great for online group study

drkat

I'm not opposed to other platforms, I figured Webex would be easiest - I can just put up the invite on the forum and who wants to join joins.


Let me check my schedule - but as long as folks are interested I'll go ahead and do it. We can even have a bit of open discussion regarding some real world scenarios and possibly things you'll see in the field that arent exactly ON the icnd1/2 classes.. think it'd be a fun time.

santaowns

Drkat,
Sounds great maybe we could record these too. I could probably host them on my webserver if needed.

drkat

Sure sounds great!

biggene

My icnd1 exam probably wont be for a few months, but I am always up for some real world examples instead of theory.

DONQUIXOTE007

Down for it.

drkat

Ok folks I'll go ahead and get it scheduled. I'll post back with the relevant meeting information and we can have a little shindig

I guess we'll be using teamviewer as our method of choice - I just realized my work webex has branding all over it and well cant have them see me giving away free meetings.

synseq

Well if we need teamviewer then I will be sure to get it I do not want to miss out of this lecture. I am pleased my topic spawned something useful like a lecture from a fellow TE member. A huge thanks to drkat .

Patel128

That sounds like a great idea. I'm not sure if I would be able to do it because of school starting back up, but if you did record it that would be amazing.

whatthehell

Weekends sound great to me, or sometime in the evening. As many others have said, if this is recorded with audio, that would be AWESOME!

Thanks again!

junalo

Hey, guys..I am new to the forum and I have been studying for the ICND1 for a while now. This sounds like a great idea, drkat. Sign me up!!

drkat

I'll be doing the schedule this week hopefully. I'm transitioning to a new job so I'm going to take next week off so hopefully we can get something going in the evening. I'll post with the projected schedule.

synseq

I can probably do some sort of hosting if necessary. I have a pretty nice linux server. Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3430 @ 2.40GHz(4 processors), 2GB of memory, I could use some more disk space though:

synseq@technimetrics:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda2 451G 54G 375G 13% /
tmpfs 1010M 0 1010M 0% /lib/init/rw
udev 10M 664K 9.4M 7% /dev
tmpfs 1010M 0 1010M 0% /dev/shm
/dev/sda5 464M 19M 421M 5% /boot
/dev/sda6 3.7G 72M 3.5G 3% /tmp

I mainly use windows for most of the things I do but I've always been a fan of linux even the simpler versions with nothing but a command line interface .

Roguetadhg

I've tried to get Ubuntu on my computer. It's hanging up on the final installation for the last 5 restarts.

It takes so long to POST (Stop-watched 10 minutes), i just settle with using W7 for now until I can figure out what's happening. I have two power supplies (redundant) powering so that should've fixed the issue. Should have. Didn't.

The last time I was in linux, I got hanged up on getting multiple screens to work. Tried to edit files, and eventually I got it to delete the nvidia drivers :P

Woops.

synseq

What version of Ubuntu are yo trying to run? I'm running Debian 2.6 but I've used Ubuntu before and like it. Usually before I install a new distro I'll grab a live cd so I can check out the OS before I actually install it.

Roguetadhg wrote: »

I've tried to get Ubuntu on my computer. It's hanging up on the final installation for the last 5 restarts.

It takes so long to POST (Stop-watched 10 minutes), i just settle with using W7 for now until I can figure out what's happening. I have two power supplies (redundant) powering so that should've fixed the issue. Should have. Didn't.

The last time I was in linux, I got hanged up on getting multiple screens to work. Tried to edit files, and eventually I got it to delete the nvidia drivers :P

Woops.

santaowns

I have two dedicated web servers hosted in chicago, but if you want to host them also i am all for that.

Illumanati

drkat wrote: »

I'll be doing the schedule this week hopefully. I'm transitioning to a new job so I'm going to take next week off so hopefully we can get something going in the evening. I'll post with the projected schedule.

Look forward to your posting. I want to coincide this with a Cisco IV class for extra lab work and to "foster more interest in the industry" i.e ICND2 fundamentals. I am already enrolled right now and am already an asset for most CCENT topics! After the kiddos are firmly back in school, I hope to schedule ICND1 and by end of class ICND2! Count me in!