Pitfalls of the ICND2 exam?

Node Man

Hi Everybody,
Before I begin studying for the ICND2, I thought it would be a good idea to ask if anybody has any sage advice regarding the exam. Is there any unexpected traps? Is everything spelled out clearly in the syllabus? What are the toughest areas. For example, for ICND1 subnetting stands out.


Thanks

Blackout

logical deduction is key on he test. on the icnd2 you can't really use logical deduction without having deep knowledge of the concepts. with that said make sure you can subnet quickly in your head. and make sure you are constantly labbing knowing your syntax like the back of your hand the advantage will be In your favor.
every exam is going to have "trick" questions. read and reread every question.

MrBrian

Subnetting will play a big role again. Mainly, I'd say you want to make sure you can do it as quickly as possible.. that way you're not wasting precious time and can focus on other things. That's just my 2 cents because when I passed ICND2 I barely finished with enough time.

NotHackingYou

Stick to the objectives and subnet like crazy! subnettingquestions.com - Free Subnetting Questions and Answers Randomly Generated Online

Roguetadhg

If you don't have subnetting mastered, don't bother showing up for the exam. It's one of those topics that'll be asked indirectly and directly. If you don't have it mastered and know how to go about it and develop subnetting mentally to the point where you've drawn your own shortcuts... You'll be in trouble.

Troubleshooting will be important. How do you learn troubleshooting? Labbing. Know command output that you'll be able to point out something 'odd'. Ie: Figure out why A to B doesn't work.
- How would you go about troubleshooting it?
- What commands?
- What should you expect to see with those commands when it's working correctly?

Switching got me pretty hard the first time.

iamme4eva

There are no trick questions - if you know your subjects then you'll pass.

When I took my ICND 2 I remember being surprised at how rubbish I was at understanding STP and RSTP. I thought I had it, but it started asking things about what would this port do in this situation and I got flustered.

I don't remember being asked any direct subnetting questions, but it certainly plays a big part in an indirect way. As you've nailed ICND 1 already, you should already have a handle on that though.

I agree with what Roguetadhg said though - lab lab lab. Know your show command, know what you should expect to see and learn causes the unexpected to happen. Simulate your own faults in your labs - if I pull this cable, what happens? If I change this line of config, what happens? How does that affect the show commands?

Keep your head down, study the details, understand the concepts behind "why" that happens, and you'll nail it.

YFZblu

Subnetting quickly - Preferably in your head. The devil is in the details - Do not gloss over anything. As always, do well on your sim questions and you'll have a good shot. Good luck!

Iceman25k

One thing to keep in mind is that you only have 75 minutes for ICND2 as compared to ICND1, yet the amount of questions remains the same, so the clock is not your friend.

If you have access to lab equipment, do a lot of "what if" scenarios such as, "If I change the VLAN # on this port, what happens to the network?", etc.