took out ICND 2...CCNA Obtained!

snadamsnadam Member Posts: 2,234 ■■■■□□□□□□
Took ICND 2 today and passed! I made the mistake of thinking I had more time than what Cisco was willing to give me, but I just finished up the last question with about 5 minutes to spare. As for the test, its what I expected (minus the time thing). I was worried going in because I didn't feel nearly as prepared for this one compared to the last one. But once I got in a groove, I felt I was in a good spot.

Overall advice; Read, lab, subnet (just like ICND 1). I was able to supplement my studies with on the job experience which was helpful (same for ICND1). I'd say for this one LAB alot. If you have a question on a certain topic or behavior, post up here and lab up at the same time. I labbed up some situations that I was having a hard time comprehending a few times and it helped tremendously.



Resources used (I'm literally copying/pasting this from my ICND 1 experience as the material was pretty much the same):


-Train Signal (Chris Bryant)
-Odom's ICND 2 Book (This book will fill any gaps in knowledge, very detailed)
-Lammele's CCNA book (left over from previous studies, good supplement if Odom makes you sleepy)
-Boson ex-sim (THIS was very helpful, gives you a good idea of cisco test format and presentation)
-CCNA in 60 Days (This is probably the most important piece for me, because it gave me structure and direction. On the topics in this book I felt were light, I supplemented with trainsignal, other books, etc. This guide hasn't let me down)**
-My lab (3 1760 routers, 3 2950 switches)


**UPDATE - you can pass the CCNA with the "CCNA in 60 days book" AS LONG AS YOU STUDY EVERY DAY (like he says). Its really a challenge (considering that life gets in the way...like alot), but doable. HOWEVER, some of the topics the book covered from day 31-60 (IMO) were rather light and need supplemental material (e.g Odom).


OH MY! I am absolutely glad that's over and done with. 60 days straight for both ICND 1 and 2. Now that this is out of the way, I am going to take the rest of the year off of certs, at least that's the plan. I have my first born due any day now, and a whole new chapter of life ahead of me. This accomplishes year 1 of my 5 year plan, so I am extremely satisfied with my progress.

As for cert path I am at the point where I either focus on CCNP, or go do CCNA:Sec, then CCNP. I have no idea what I should do yet, but I haven't really assessed everything. I will have to sit down and do so soon.


As always, thanks to the members at TE for indirectly answering questions I had or sharing their own experiences!


Got my victory Bourbon in hand (Blanton's). drunken_smilie.gif Cant have too much though, I'm on "baby-watch 2013".
**** ARE FOR CHUMPS! Don't be a chump! Validate your material with certguard.com search engine

:study: Current 2015 Goals: JNCIP-SEC JNCIS-ENT CCNA-Security

Comments

  • coffeeluvrcoffeeluvr Member Posts: 734 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Congratulations on the pass!!!
    "Something feels funny, I must be thinking too hard. - Pooh"
  • dsgmdsgm Member Posts: 228 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats working on my ICND2 as well looking to schedule the exam for the 2nd week in august, then i think im going voice or ccnp or vice versa.
  • BigD5XBigD5X Member Posts: 11 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Congrats !! My wife is preparing to take ICND1 this month and hopefully knock out ICND2 before the deadline.
    Myself currently preparing for CCNP.
  • DeezyFFDeezyFF Member Posts: 62 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats man. Good luck with your next certs.
    WGU BS-IT Security: Complete
    ​:cheers:
  • gadav478gadav478 Member Posts: 374 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats! Good that you have a 5 year plan too.
    Goals for 2015: CCNP
  • Jacob25Jacob25 Member Posts: 11 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Congratulations on the pass and the future plans!
  • pamccabepamccabe Member Posts: 315 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congratulations! Sounds like you some great things in store for you in the not so distant future. Enjoy it!
  • Dakinggamer87Dakinggamer87 Member Posts: 4,016 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Congrats on pass!! icon_thumright.gif
    *Associate's of Applied Sciences degree in Information Technology-Network Systems Administration
    *Bachelor's of Science: Information Technology - Security, Master's of Science: Information Technology - Management
    Matthew 6:33 - "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."

    Certs/Business Licenses In Progress: AWS Solutions Architect, Series 6, Series 63
  • WilyOneWilyOne Member Posts: 131
  • N2ITN2IT Inactive Imported Users Posts: 7,483 ■■■■■■■■■■
    You guys are machines. Nice work!
  • theodoxatheodoxa Member Posts: 1,340 ■■■■□□□□□□
    How much time did they give you? I'm taking mine Wednesday.
    R&S: CCENT CCNA CCNP CCIE [ ]
    Security: CCNA [ ]
    Virtualization: VCA-DCV [ ]
  • snadamsnadam Member Posts: 2,234 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Originally i thought i had 90 minutes but i was given 75. complete oversight on my part...it says 75 right on the damn page at Cisco's website 640-816 ICND2 - IT Certification and Career Paths - Cisco Systems
    **** ARE FOR CHUMPS! Don't be a chump! Validate your material with certguard.com search engine

    :study: Current 2015 Goals: JNCIP-SEC JNCIS-ENT CCNA-Security
  • theodoxatheodoxa Member Posts: 1,340 ■■■■□□□□□□
    snadam wrote: »
    Originally i thought i had 90 minutes but i was given 75. complete oversight on my part...it says 75 right on the damn page at Cisco's website 640-816 ICND2 - IT Certification and Career Paths - Cisco Systems

    Ouch! That's a bit tight. I averaged 1 minute/question on ICND1, but on the Boson tests I was averaging 1:20 per for ICND2. That would leave me with about 8 minutes of wiggle room [based on 50 questions.]
    R&S: CCENT CCNA CCNP CCIE [ ]
    Security: CCNA [ ]
    Virtualization: VCA-DCV [ ]
  • SGITSGIT Member Posts: 52 ■□□□□□□□□□
    snadam wrote: »
    Originally i thought i had 90 minutes but i was given 75. complete oversight on my part...it says 75 right on the damn page at Cisco's website 640-816 ICND2 - IT Certification and Career Paths - Cisco Systems

    For some reason I was thinking 90 minutes also. Wasn't the ICND1 90 minutes?
  • networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    Congrats!
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
  • TechGuy215TechGuy215 Member Posts: 404 ■■■■□□□□□□
    W2G!!! icon_thumright.gif I plan on knocking the ICND2 out in mid-august.
    * Currently pursuing: PhD: Information Security and Information Assurance
    * Certifications: CISSP, CEH, CHFI, CCNA:Sec, CCNA:R&S, CWNA, ITILv3, VCA-DCV, LPIC-1, A+, Network+, Security+, Linux+, Project+, and many more...
    * Degrees: MSc: Cybersecurity and Information Assurance; BSc: Information Technology - Security; AAS: IT Network Systems Administration
  • theodoxatheodoxa Member Posts: 1,340 ■■■■□□□□□□
    SGIT wrote: »
    For some reason I was thinking 90 minutes also. Wasn't the ICND1 90 minutes?

    Just checked and ICND1 was 90 minutes. That makes no sense - shouldn't it be the other way around (75 for ICND1 and 90 for ICND2) given the difficulty of the material. That would probably explain why on ICND1 (Practice and Real) I always finished with plenty of time to spare, but was very tight [time-wise] on the ICND2 practice tests. Hopefully, it will be closer to 40 questions than 50.
    R&S: CCENT CCNA CCNP CCIE [ ]
    Security: CCNA [ ]
    Virtualization: VCA-DCV [ ]
  • IsmaeljrpIsmaeljrp Member Posts: 480 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Yep, just 75 for ICND 2. Shoot, I'm lucky I live in Puerto Rico and I get an extra 30 minutes, they figure english isn't your primary language ( which in my case it actually is )
  • FloOzFloOz Member Posts: 1,614 ■■■■□□□□□□
  • theodoxatheodoxa Member Posts: 1,340 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Ismaeljrp wrote: »
    Yep, just 75 for ICND 2. Shoot, I'm lucky I live in Puerto Rico and I get an extra 30 minutes, they figure english isn't your primary language ( which in my case it actually is )

    30 extra minutes. Do you have to be a resident or could I just take an exam on my next Vacation a la Isla del Encanto.
    R&S: CCENT CCNA CCNP CCIE [ ]
    Security: CCNA [ ]
    Virtualization: VCA-DCV [ ]
  • IsmaeljrpIsmaeljrp Member Posts: 480 ■■■□□□□□□□
    theodoxa wrote: »
    30 extra minutes. Do you have to be a resident or could I just take an exam on my next Vacation a la Isla del Encanto.

    Haha :D , I'm not sure on that one. But yeah, when I took the ICND 1, I had 55 minutes left over. That's actually a good question though.
  • snadamsnadam Member Posts: 2,234 ■■■■□□□□□□
    thanks all for the well wishes and good luck on your future endeavors guys!
    **** ARE FOR CHUMPS! Don't be a chump! Validate your material with certguard.com search engine

    :study: Current 2015 Goals: JNCIP-SEC JNCIS-ENT CCNA-Security
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