CCNA Study Group

rembot00

know what the show commands relating to them..try doing experimental labs (on sims or real gear) wherein you would set up a serial link on 2 routers..make them working fine, then purposely bring them down. how to bring them down? and how to bring them back up? (think Layer 1, Layer 2 concepts) compare the results of the show commands of a perfectly working link vs the result of the faulty one.HTH

wgroom

Sorry to hear of your loss Magic, keep your chin up and push on. I still strive to make my father and grandparents proud, and they have been gone for 4 - 16 years. They may be gone but they are never forgotten.

Greg9891, I used Lammle's CCNA book, and I have a lab at home to work with. Reading, going over your notes, and hands on seems to work well for me.

I have been very lax in my studies, however I have been playing intermittently. Finally have 5 separate networks all talking seamlessly, and loading CME 8.6 on one of the 2821s as I write this. I had hoped to have the CCNA Voice under my belt by the end of March, but I failed that deadline miserably. I am now shooting for the middle of May, before motorcycle season hits full stride.

wgroom

1 - Why are you going for this or any certification?

I am now at an age, with my MBA, where certifications can only boost my value to my employer. I am planning 2 certifications this year, then beginning my CCNP studies. This is an effort to move back into management.

2 - How many hours a day (or week) do you study?

Aiming for 15 hours per week of solid study time

3 - How do you go about studying? Do you watch videos first or read?

I am currently reading the 640-461 OCG, and watching the INE CCNA Voice videos, no rhyme nor reason as to which I use on any given day.

4 - What are your eventual goals job-wise? What positions would you like to obtain and why?

My goal in the next 3-4 years is to become a better engineer, then move into management This is what I have educated myself for, and my end goal.

bub9001

This is great, having a study blog. I started my CCNA back in April of last year (2013). But had to stop and focus on MCSA for my current position. Now that I have that out of the way I am going to start kicking my CCNA into high gear. I already have watched the CBT nuggets IPv4 subnetting by Keith Barker, and feel like I have a better handle on subnetting now. Of course that will be helpful and all after I get all the protocols and such down as well.

I am very pumped and will be looking a buying equipment for my CCNA/CCNP lab soon.

Anyone on the same track as me, or just starting. I would be willing to e-mail and help motivate as well.

Agent47

Thank you for your answers wgroom! Totally understand what you mean, sometimes you have to put it down to come back to it. As long as you keep trying, that's what matters. Things happen but you'll get back on track!

Welcome Bub9001!
You're off to a great start! Feel free to PM me whenever. Hopefully others will chime in too. I am reviewing ICND1 right now to refresh my memory to prepare for ICND2. Aside from the videos you've watched, and lab you plan to build what other materials are you using to study at the moment?

Nice to see so many of you keeping up with the group and answering the questions! Keep up the good work and be sure to come back with some updates!!

wgroom

Getting back into the swing of things, have two voice routers, finally purchased a server, loaded ESXi 5.5 on it, and am building servers. This is the part that I really enjoy, bringing the servers to life. Have 4 seperate physical networks at the house, soon to be 5. Routing information between the networks, getting ready to setup EIGRP on 4 routers. Soon will be configuring CME 8.6 on a Cisco 2821, and begin playing with dial tone. At the same time, will be bringing CUCM 8.6 up on another network, then hopefully tying the two together in harmonious tones!

greg9891

hey Agent 47 i'm looking for some practice exams for the ccent icnd1 exam. I have watched the cbt nuggets videos by Jeremy Cioara. I am currently using packet tracker and am looking for some simulation exams to see where i really stand on configuring skills. I plan to take my exam at the end of april so any help would be great.
what books did u use?
what was the ccent exam llike?

Agent47

greg9891 wrote: »

hey Agent 47 i'm looking for some practice exams for the ccent icnd1 exam. I have watched the cbt nuggets videos by Jeremy Cioara. I am currently using packet tracker and am looking for some simulation exams to see where i really stand on configuring skills. I plan to take my exam at the end of april so any help would be great.
what books did u use?
what was the ccent exam llike?

Hi Gregg,
A book, a set of videos, simulator to lab and practice questions should be sufficient. Only 4 sources, you don't want to get overwhelmed.

I used (at the time it was the 640 exam):
Cisco CCNA Official Guide by Wendell Odom
Train Signal Chris Bryant Videos (before they got bought out. don't really know about pluralsight)
Network Simulator by Wendell Odom
Kaplan Self Test (practice tests for Cisco, i liked this)

I also had access to testout labsim (which I thought was nice because of the built in labbing) but that was through school and cRAZy expensive if you buy it on your own now.

Right now, I am reviewing ICND 1 to refresh my memory so I can take the ICND2. So this time around, I am using:

CBT Nuggets
CCNA Study Guide by Lammle (I find his book to be an easier read)
Network Simulator by Wendell Odom and Shawn Wilkins (I like how the labs are specific and have questions throughout. I prefer this method.)
Transcender practice exam (got this through having a subscription, I have yet to see what its like)

As for free sources, Studyblue is pretty cool, you can also try Quizlet, this site also has free practice exams too (check out the top left menu). It's can be a bit hard to find decent questions on a reputable site.

The CCENT for me was pretty interesting but it really isn't that bad. The book had end of chapter practice questions and I also did the practice exam from kaplan which helped a ton. Any charts or notes that I needed to write out from memory (i.e. subnetting) was done during the reading part (disclaimers and such) before hitting next to begin the exam. Saved time and was what worked for me.

Remember that Cisco exams are 1 shot meaning you only have the chance to answer a question once. When you hit next you can't go back to it. You can mark it to review I believe. You also definitely need to be up on subnetting (which I find really fun) and the many other topics. This is all about your comfort level, how you like to study, and what you are using. Some things will work for you others may not.

Hope this helps some.

Staunchy

Sup guys been a while since I have posted in this section...

Congrats to all the guys that have recently passed their ICND1/2 exam.

Sorry to hear Magic my condolences to you and your family. Best of luck continue studying for ICND2, when are you going to write?

I have started studying for CCNP route and hoping to take the exam towards beginning/mid of June. GNS3 have finally released version 1.0 alpha...

jeffgibbs

Jon_Cisco wrote: »

Questions for you all (you can give short answers):

1 - Why are you going for this or any certification?

I am working on a career change. I am going for a associates in Computer Science and hope to work in networking in the future.
My current profession is in the printing industry which is projected to have declining employment for the foreseeable future.

2 - How many hours a day (or week) do you study?

My goals are probably 3 hours a day. The real number is probably 1 to 2 hours.

3 - How do you go about studying? Do you watch videos first or read?

I prefer to read. However I have learned in the last year that it is easier to first watch a video first.

4 - What are your eventual goals job-wise? What positions would you like to obtain and why?

I don't have enough experience to have an end goal in mind. I will try to break into networking and see how my career progresses.
I hope to continue to CCNP but after that it's impossible to know for sure.

1. I study for these certifications so that I can validate my study efforts and hopefully be seen in a more professional light by employers and peers. Understand that everyone values certs differently so some people will be more impressed than others.
2. When I am am in study mode I try to do at least two hours, but on occasion it can be more or less.
3. I do like to watch a video first then go over it in more depth in a text. I also like to carry study material on my smartphone and Kindle so I can study at odd times when I have a spare moment. This helps quite a bit actually.
4. Some day when I grow up.... I want to be I dunno how far up the chain I will go. Never thought about it.

Magic Johnson

Eek, just applied for a VOIP/Data Engineer post (that doesn't require 45 years experience, CCIE etc), seems to be exactly what I'm looking for and they seem keen.

wgroom

Good luck Magic, let us know how it goes for you!

--chris--

I am still working towards the CCENT by June 1. To that end, I just covered Odoms intro chapter to switching and started the next chapter on CLI with switches.

I do have access to GNS3 V1.0, but I cant find any L2IOU's that work right now...so aside from that do I need to pick up a switch to learn this for the CCENT or does it not go that in depth? I see people say you dont need any hands on CLI experience to pass the CCENT, but then I see in Odoms (ICND1) book there are at least a dozen commands that he designates as important to know for the exam.

edit: Spent an hour reading on my lunch, have a new questions!

Is the "Service password-encryption" command retroactive? IE passwords already stored encrypted on the device will be encrypted once that command is entered?

gbdavidx

is this still going on?

--chris--

I finally fully grasp "router on a stick"!!!! Odom's book is amazing. I covered the whole chapter a few times in Lammies book and it never sank in. I covered Odom's chapter once and its locked in!

Could be that Lammies book opened up the idea to me, and Odoms book nailed it home...but there were some little helpers and clues along the way in that chapter that made understanding it a lot easier.

jeffgibbs

Seeing the post about finally getting Router on a Stick made me think... I understand router on a stick but for the life of me I have never thought that router on a stick was a good description...surely there could be a better description for the process... Can anyone explain where the stick comes into play .... or am i making too much of this?

Technoracer

jeffgibbs wrote: »

Seeing the post about finally getting Router on a Stick made me think... I understand router on a stick but for the life of me I have never thought that router on a stick was a good description...surely there could be a better description for the process... Can anyone explain where the stick comes into play .... or am i making too much of this?

I think it's called "Router on a Stick" because the trunk is attached on one port, on the router, and it looks like a lolipop on a network diagram.

Cerebro

--chris-- wrote: »

Is the "Service password-encryption" command retroactive? IE passwords already stored encrypted on the device will be encrypted once that command is entered?

Did you find an answer to this?

My understanding is that the service password-encryption is weaker than enable secret, but stronger than enable password. So enable secret wont be changed.

wgroom

AD 2008, check. DNS, check. CUCM 8.6 Publisher, check. CUCME 8.5, CUCM Subscriber, Unity Connection 8.5, tonight. The lab is shaping up for a 5 week run to the CCNA Voice.

--chris--

Technoracer wrote: »

I think it's called "Router on a Stick" because the trunk is attached on one port, on the router, and it looks like a lolipop on a network diagram.

This ^^^ Simply because of how it looks on a diagram. The straight line connecting the router & switch on paper is what brings the "stick" into play.

--chris--

Cerebro wrote: »

Did you find an answer to this?

My understanding is that the service password-encryption is weaker than enable secret, but stronger than enable password. So enable secret wont be changed.

Thanks for the clarification. What I was wondering about (more or less trying to confirm because I think I have it right) was if a password is created with the non-encrypted command (which escapes me right now) but then later you enabled service password-encryption it would go back and encrypt that password?

MrPuzzlez

On a Steek! It's actually a really cool concept for noobs, but unless you have gigabit ethernet, it's somewhat a bottleneck...

Technoracer

I'm taking another shot at ICND2 tomorrow morning... Going to sqeeze in about eight hours of last minute cramming today, and get a good night rest. I should pass it this time, as last time I spent too much time answering the questions, and got stuck with about 6 questions, including 2 sims, with five minutes left. That forced me to guess almost all the questions: Not a good idea for a Cisco test. I will pace myself this time, and walk in more prepared. Will focus on Labs and finishing reading my Exam Cram 200-120 book.

Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson wrote: »

Eek, just applied for a VOIP/Data Engineer post (that doesn't require 45 years experience, CCIE etc), seems to be exactly what I'm looking for and they seem keen.

Had an interview today with the Network Manager and Installation manager (online as the office is 3 hrs away) and it went very well not your usual 'what are your weaknesses?' gubbins but technical questions, got a phone call about 30 mins later and I've got to travel there next week for a face to face with the Provisioning Director (to prove I'm not a bit rapey or anything I reckon) and that'll be that.

So it is a field engineer role, working from home and travelling to sites installing routers/switches/VOIP solutions, and support for various clients. They actually are an ISP as well with several POPs so they even said if I do well I could be involved with the running of that! And there is scope for CCNP if I want. Sounded very promising.

jeffgibbs

Sounds like a good position. Good luck in the face to face interview. Try to not look rapey... LOL.

Magic Johnson

jeffgibbs wrote: »

Sounds like a good position. Good luck in the face to face interview. Try to not look rapey... LOL.

Yeah it sounds alright, it is a foot in the door as most if not all the network roles I saw previous to this one required at least a CCNP and 5 years' experience. Same pay as where I am now.

Staunchy

Magic Johnson wrote: »

Yeah it sounds alright, it is a foot in the door as most if not all the network roles I saw previous to this one required at least a CCNP and 5 years' experience. Same pay as where I am now.

Money isn't everything, you should be doing what you enjoy as you spend 80% of your time at work and also getting your foot into networking.

I am currently in a senior server and desktop engineer role but finally got a gig as a network and security engineer with the same salary as now but I will be doing what I enjoy. Can't wait to be done with servers and desktops.

Magic Johnson

Staunchy wrote: »

Money isn't everything, you should be doing what you enjoy as you spend 80% of your time at work and also getting your foot into networking.

I am currently in a senior server and desktop engineer role but finally got a gig as a network and security engineer with the same salary as now but I will be doing what I enjoy. Can't wait to be done with servers and desktops.

ZING.

wgroom

Sounds promising Magic, best of luck.

So in the next few days I will be integrating Unity Connection to the CUCM cluster, and all will be well in my world! The test is coming fast.

AB.Calculus

Sounds great to see everyone benefiting from this, including me!

I have the ICND1 exam book for the 19th of April. So far, I went through the Odom book twice, still labbing on the Network Simulator purchased frim Cisco Press and will need to watch the Udemy by Chris Bryant.

I hope to see you all at the top!