Just Ordered CCNA Routing and Switching 200-125 Official Cert Guide Library... confus

By Wendell Odem. I am refreshing what I learned from the Cisco Net Acad and need to take the last class and then I'll be sitting for 200-125.

When I received the book it came with two books - the one in the title as well as ICDN1 100-105. I'm a bit confused - my goal is to study for the CCNA, having already done countless labs configuring routers, switches, APs, etc in a converged network but I also know I need to take another look at the basic OSI layer information as well. When I opened the 200-125 book, it seemed solely focusing on routing/switching/wan protocols while the ICDN1 100-105 contained all the "basic" stuff such OSI and TCP/IP stack, subnetting, basic device configuration etc.

My question is: If the 200-125 book contains "all the information you need to pass the CCNA" why doesn't it contain the basics? Not that I have an issue with using the other book, but it's a bit cumbersome lobbing around two 900+ page books. I don't really need to read everything in the ICDN1 book, but at the same time I feel like there's some things I'll miss if I don't at least give it a good read. I know this is a bit of a rant, but is there a way to refresh yourself on the basics without having to go through 900 pages of information that you don't need to read through in-depth?

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CertifiedMonkey

You have two options to earn a CCNA:

Option 1. Take two exams: The 100-105 (CCENT) and 200-105
Option 2. Take one exam: The 200-125 (Combines topics from 100-105 & 200-105 into one test)

The book that you opened was the 200-105 book.

koz24

You can pick up the Chris Bryant study guides on Amazon for Kindle. You can also take a look at How to Master CCNA by Rene Molenaar, it's a much shorter read than Odom. But to be honest, you should read Odom cover to cover.

sentimetal

koz24 wrote: »

You can pick up the Chris Bryant study guides on Amazon for Kindle. You can also take a look at How to Master CCNA by Rene Molenaar, it's a much shorter read than Odom. But to be honest, you should read Odom cover to cover.

I understand the quality of Odom's work, but having access to the Cisco NetAcad which is a very cohesive and valuable tool will help me with the less "fun" stuff, such as the OSI model. I'll definitely use Odem's books to solidify my knowledge before taking the test, but I don't see why I'd use it again for the basic show, line config, hostname, motd etc commands. The Cisco Net Acad was wonderful at making this stuff very short and to the point. Now once I get to BGP, MPLS, IPv6 I will turn to the Odem books, I will also use it to help me in areas that I display weakness in when doing practice tests and for some general glancing over. I guess I'm just used to classroom/bootcamp setting then some minor studying then taking the test. Self study is new to me. So it's hard to gauge which is better, but my past experience with the NetAcad curriculum has been very positive, so for the CCNA I'll be prioritizing that with labs + Odem for additional study, input, practice tests, and even more labs as necessary.

Just curious, what study material did you use to get your initial CCNA? I just feel at a loss doing this, as again, I'm used to a structured classroom setting.

All input is appreciated.

spiderjericho

I was able to get my CCNA based on just the network academy way back (waaaaaayyy back) in 2008.

From my exposure with the material, it is comprehensive but the Odom book is definitely geared toward passing the exam.

I ran into the issue when I progressed to CCNP. The Foundational and Network Academy books are great references. Just know they don't marry completely with exam objectives 100%.

TechGuru80

Why not just take the two exam path? Frankly if you know the ICND1 material you could knock that out and have a cert...plus have ICND2 to solely focus on. The one exam path was made for people who are renewing basically anyways.

sentimetal

Yea, the Net Academy is still very good. I finished it back in 2014 and was killing all the practice exams and felt like I could take the test at any time. Unfortunately between work and real life circumstances, I never did. I'm kicking myself in the butt for that one.

sentimetal

This is a good idea. I guess I'm just struggling with a study plan. I really like the NetAcad, so I don't want to do double the work. For ICND1 as well as 2 I am going to use the NetAcad with Odem as supplemental.

lantech

I think you're looking at the Odem books wrong. The 100-105 is focused on the ICND1 exam. The 200-105 book is focused on passing the ICND2 exam. Both books together are focused on passing the 200-125 CCNAX exam.

If you're taking the two exam route you need to study the appropriate book for that particular exam.

If you're taking the one exam route you need to study both books at the same time.

sentimetal

lantech wrote: »

I think you're looking at the Odem books wrong. The 100-105 is focused on the ICND1 exam. The 200-105 book is focused on passing the ICND2 exam. Both books together are focused on passing the 200-125 CCNAX exam.

If you're taking the two exam route you need to study the appropriate book for that particular exam.

If you're taking the one exam route you need to study both books at the same time.

Yeah that's fair. Since the revision to v3 i'll be taking ICND1 then 2. Previously when I had completed the netacad I was scoring 96%+ on composite practice exams. However, since I've worked in accounting I got a promotion and started focusing more on that. After a friend who is a CCNP and has been for years kind of rekindled my interest in networking, I guess I'm just at a loss as how to study solo for exams. I'll be using Odem's ICND1 book for sure, especially for the OSI layer stuff that I need to refresh on, but I really enjoy the online and interactive ability for the actual OSI CLI content in the netacad, so Odem becomes supplemental when it comes to the switch/Vlan/router configuration stuff.

When I completed the netacad the curriculum was definitely geared towards the composite CCNA, now they've changed it so the first two classes help prepare for ICND1 and the second two prepare for ICND2. When i took the course, the routing class (CCNT 150) had all routing protocol information in it, etc that is part of ICND2. It was actually smart of them to change.

ciscofunny

Hey sentimental! Could you upload those books for other users? I would be grateful.