Time for me to dive in!!!

mistabrumley89

Thanks, and no problem.

Today I'm 28% through my SWITCH Simplified book. I read over basic VLAN concepts, VTP domains/passwords/pruning/revisions, trunking, 802.1q, ISL, STP 802.1d/t, bridge ID, portfast, uplink fast, backbone fast, udld, loopguard, root guard, root path cost, path cost, port priorities, and some other stuff I'm sure I left out. Hopefully I will make it to around 40% by tomorrow night, but I have alot of errands I have to run tomorrow. We will see.

mistabrumley89

Didn't get any reading done yesterday. Got to 38% done today. Read over RSTP, PRST+, MST, IST, PAgP, and LACP. Couple more weeks and I will break out my switches and start my 8 hour lab sessions.

mistabrumley89

Finished SWITCH Simplified. Very good book. I would recommend it to anyone that will be taking 642-813. Started the labs tonight. The labs in the back of the book seem to be pretty in depth (just as they were in the ROUTE book). Ran into a little bit of trouble recalling how to configure Dynamic ARP Inspection, and DHCP Snooping because I never have configured anything like that on a production network. Very fun labs to work through though. Planning on scheduling my exam in about 3 weeks. I have to coordinate a date with my supervisor, but I'm on Paternity leave until the 7th so I won't be making an official date until after then.

mistabrumley89

It was nice having 3 weeks off of work for vacation/paternity leave. I was able to do all my reading/videos, and started to dive off into some heavy labbing. Scheduled my exam for July 30th at 1000 PDT. I know this thread hasn't been very detail oriented like I meant for it to be. It's just hard for me to find justifiable time to reiterate what I have already learned. Between working 60-70 hours a week, watching my 15 month daughter and my 1 month old son, and studying/labbing..... I am just completely swamped.

mistabrumley89

Ahhh, the good old pre-test jitters. I feel pretty confident, but then again I felt pretty confident for the ROUTE exam and drew a blank on the first question. I just hate feeling like a nervous wreck for an entire week before my exam. Going to continue to lab, but I'm just not sure what to specifically study other than everything.

mistabrumley89

Well it sure has been a long journey. Passed my SWITCH exam. I found it to be soooooooooooooooooo much easier than the route exam. Time for me to get ready to go to Korea. When I get back I will knock out TSHOOT and finally have my CCNP!!!!

Danielh22185

mistabrumley89 wrote: »

Well it sure has been a long journey. Passed my SWITCH exam. I found it to be soooooooooooooooooo much easier than the route exam. Time for me to get ready to go to Korea. When I get back I will knock out TSHOOT and finally have my CCNP!!!!

This is encouraging! I am about at the point myself where I feel pretty darn confident but need to do some labbing before I can set a date. Congrats on the kiddo too! My wife and I just had a child too back on May 15th so I know the struggle of trying to study with a little one. Funny you mention not realizing how much you work with switch concepts at work. I felt the same way after getting into my switch studies. Lots of concepts I already know / understand for the most part.

I am glad to hear too the test felt easier for you. I have heard this but it's good hearing it from someone who has been through both exams recently.

Get that TSHOOT out of the way!

mistabrumley89

Mannnn, it sure has been a while. Korea was a nightmare, but that's a story for another time. Putting my TSHOOT studies on hold to take my BCVRE before the voucher expires. Going to brush up for a month then take my TSHOOT exam. Almost there!!! It sure has been a long journey.

mistabrumley89

Some Things came up at work and I missed my bcvre and bcefp exams because I got a 24 hr notice we were going to another country. Slipped my mind to reschedule. Good thing they were free, but it sucks I missed out on them. TSHOOT finally scheduled for Oct 22. Time to do a little review, but I feel pretty confident.

mistabrumley89

I finally passed all of my exams. Got a 986 on the TSHOOT exam. Wish I had time to take it earlier. Transitioning into BCNP studies for a few weeks. CCDA and DP ARCH exam will follow. Thanks for everyone's support!

gorebrush

Well done!

fredrikjj

Good job!

Alex90

Congrats!

joelsfood

Congrats!

mistabrumley89

Thanks everyone. I've been flying through the few BCNP topics that weren't covered in the CCNP materiel, and hopefully will test before thanksgiving week, and off to Japan for a month. I will probably buy the CCDA OCG to read while I'm there.