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Post your study tips and methods here
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flares2
Member Posts: 79 ■■□□□□□□□□
Hey guys, been a while since my last post. I was all ready to take the exam last fall, but this whole war thing got in the way. Either way I'm coming home soon, so I'm starting the extreme study habit again.
Anyway, I agree with markzab. We all know that you have to cut through all the storyline in questions on exams and pick out just the significant parts to solve the problem, but I notice the books are that way too. Like in markzab's case you have to cut through the 600 pages of jargon to pull out the 57 pages of facts for the test.
Markzab, do you happen to have you word doc posted somewhere, or is it possible that you can share it with the rest of us.Techexams.net - Job security for one more day. -
Optionsmalweth
Member Posts: 42 ■■□□□□□□□□
I agree... I don't think the actual output is as important as the process in getting that output. The learning happens while you write it down and understand the concepts.
Learning rule #1, You can't learn if you don't understand.128 64 32 16 | 8 4 2 1 128 192 224 240 | 248 252 254 255 25 26 27 28 | 29 30 31 32
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Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
What the real help was...
1. Reading it while I was deciding what to copy and paste to the word doc.
2. Reading it again while I was formating it in the word doc (bullets, bold, etc.)
3. Reading it again to make sure I didn't miss anything.
4. Then really using it to cram over and over and over again.
Basically it makes it so you go over the material so many times that it just becomes natural to you. You know you've read it enough when you're finishing the sentence in your head before you're even at the end.
But in regards to your request flares2. A few weeks back when i had just finished chapter one (46 pages down to just 7) I had sent Mike a PM asking if I could help the boards and create a topic with a new chapter of my notes for each post. Turns out it wouldn't be a good idea for A) exactly what Darby mentioned, and
the magic word...COPYRIGHT. 
I'm pretty sure Todd Lammle wouldn't appreciate me making short notice of his book.
"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky -
Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
Here is a small taste of how my notes come out looking when I'm done formatting them. These are just the first 2 pages of notes off the first chapter. I don't think just showing this little bit will do any harm and maybe it'll give you guys an idea of how you might make your notes for your studies...
CCNA Study Notes: Chapter 1 – Internetworking.
Possible causes of LAN traffic congestion are:
• Too many hosts in a broadcast domain
• Broadcast storms
• Multicasting
• Low bandwidth
• Adding hubs for connectivity to the network
• A large amount of ARP or IPX traffic
Four router functions in your network can be listed as:
• Packet switching
• Packet filtering
• Internetwork communication
• Path selection
Switches create separate collision domains, but a single broadcast domain. Routers provide a separate broadcast domain for each interface.
In the late 1970s, the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model was created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
A reference model is a conceptual blueprint of how communications should take place. It addresses all the processes required for effective communication and divides these processes into logical groupings called layers. When a communication system is designed in this manner, it’s known as layered architecture.
Advantages of using the OSI layered model include, but are not limited to, the following:
• It divides the network communication process into smaller and simpler components, thus aiding component development, design, and troubleshooting.
• It allows multiple-vendor development through standardization of network components.
• It encourages industry standardization by defining what functions occur at each layer of the model.
• It allows various types of network hardware and software to communicate.
• It prevents changes in one layer from affecting other layers, so it does not hamper development.
Application(7):
• Provides a user interface
(File, Print, Message, Database, and Application services)
(WWW, e-mail gateways, EDI, special interest bulletin boards, Google, etc.)
Presentation(6):
• Presents data
• Handles processing such as encryption
(Data Encryption, compression, and translation services)
(PICT, TIFF, JPEG, MIDI, MPEG, Quicktime, RTF)
Session(5):
• Keeps different applications’ data separate
(Dialog control)
(NFS, SQL, RPC, X Window, ASP, DNA SCP)
Transport(4):
• Provides reliable or unreliable delivery
• Performs error correction before retransmit
(End-to-End connection)
(TCP, UDP, Flow control)
Network(3):
• Provides logical addressing, which routers use for path determination
(Routing)
Data Link(2):
• Combines packets into bytes and bytes into frames
• Provides access to media using MAC address
• Performs error detection not correction
(Framing)
(LLC, MAC)
Physical(1):
• Moves bits between devices
• Specifies voltage, wire speed, and pin-out of cables
(Physical Topology)
Network devices that operate at all seven layers of the OSI model include
• Network management stations (NMS)
• Web and application servers
• Gateways (not default gateways)
• Network hosts
The steps in the connection-oriented sessions (The three-way handshake):
• The first “connection agreement” segment is a request for synchronization.
• The second and third segments acknowledge the request and establish connection parameters—the rules—between hosts. The receiver’s sequencing is also requested to be synchronized here, as well, so that a bidirectional connection is formed.
• The final segment is also an acknowledgment. It notifies the destination host that the connection agreement has been accepted and that the actual connection has been established. Data transfer can now begin.
A service is considered connection-oriented if it has the following characteristics:
• A virtual circuit is set up (e.g., a three-way handshake).
• It uses sequencing.
• It uses acknowledgments.
• It uses flow control.
The types of flow control are buffering, windowing, and congestion avoidance.
Windows are used to control the amount of outstanding, unacknowledged data segments. If a TCP session is set up with a window size of 2 bytes, and during the transfer stage of the session the window size changes from 2 bytes to 3 bytes, the sending host must then transmit 3 bytes before waiting for an acknowledgment instead of the 2 bytes originally set up in the virtual circuit.
Those 2 pages right there covered everything I needed from pages 1-16. Now you can see what I mean by author talk being a bit much. "You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky -
Optionskafifi13
Member Posts: 259
Mark these are great. I see what you mean. I usually write these things out and keep them in a notebook. I'll be honest it gets tough as i start to get hand cramps. I may give this a shot. The only problem is i can't draw out the Diagrams but i guess i could do without and just try to visualize.
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iproute
Member Posts: 269
In the author's defense, part of his job is to help drill in the knowledge. He often says the same thing presented differently as well to help with this. Most people have a hard time remembering something or completely absorbing the concept the first time they see it.markzab wrote:Here is a small taste of how my notes come out looking when I'm done formatting them. These are just the first 2 pages of notes off the first chapter. I don't think just showing this little bit will do any harm and maybe it'll give you guys an idea of how you might make your notes for your studies...
CCNA Study Notes: Chapter 1 – Internetworking.
Possible causes of LAN traffic congestion are:
• Too many hosts in a broadcast domain
• Broadcast storms
• Multicasting
• Low bandwidth
• Adding hubs for connectivity to the network
• A large amount of ARP or IPX traffic
Four router functions in your network can be listed as:
• Packet switching
• Packet filtering
• Internetwork communication
• Path selection
Switches create separate collision domains, but a single broadcast domain. Routers provide a separate broadcast domain for each interface.
In the late 1970s, the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model was created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
A reference model is a conceptual blueprint of how communications should take place. It addresses all the processes required for effective communication and divides these processes into logical groupings called layers. When a communication system is designed in this manner, it’s known as layered architecture.
Advantages of using the OSI layered model include, but are not limited to, the following:
• It divides the network communication process into smaller and simpler components, thus aiding component development, design, and troubleshooting.
• It allows multiple-vendor development through standardization of network components.
• It encourages industry standardization by defining what functions occur at each layer of the model.
• It allows various types of network hardware and software to communicate.
• It prevents changes in one layer from affecting other layers, so it does not hamper development.
Application(7):
• Provides a user interface
(File, Print, Message, Database, and Application services)
(WWW, e-mail gateways, EDI, special interest bulletin boards, Google, etc.)
Presentation(6):
• Presents data
• Handles processing such as encryption
(Data Encryption, compression, and translation services)
(PICT, TIFF, JPEG, MIDI, MPEG, Quicktime, RTF)
Session(5):
• Keeps different applications’ data separate
(Dialog control)
(NFS, SQL, RPC, X Window, ASP, DNA SCP)
Transport(4):
• Provides reliable or unreliable delivery
• Performs error correction before retransmit
(End-to-End connection)
(TCP, UDP, Flow control)
Network(3):
• Provides logical addressing, which routers use for path determination
(Routing)
Data Link(2):
• Combines packets into bytes and bytes into frames
• Provides access to media using MAC address
• Performs error detection not correction
(Framing)
(LLC, MAC)
Physical(1):
• Moves bits between devices
• Specifies voltage, wire speed, and pin-out of cables
(Physical Topology)
Network devices that operate at all seven layers of the OSI model include
• Network management stations (NMS)
• Web and application servers
• Gateways (not default gateways)
• Network hosts
The steps in the connection-oriented sessions (The three-way handshake):
• The first “connection agreement” segment is a request for synchronization.
• The second and third segments acknowledge the request and establish connection parameters—the rules—between hosts. The receiver’s sequencing is also requested to be synchronized here, as well, so that a bidirectional connection is formed.
• The final segment is also an acknowledgment. It notifies the destination host that the connection agreement has been accepted and that the actual connection has been established. Data transfer can now begin.
A service is considered connection-oriented if it has the following characteristics:
• A virtual circuit is set up (e.g., a three-way handshake).
• It uses sequencing.
• It uses acknowledgments.
• It uses flow control.
The types of flow control are buffering, windowing, and congestion avoidance.
Windows are used to control the amount of outstanding, unacknowledged data segments. If a TCP session is set up with a window size of 2 bytes, and during the transfer stage of the session the window size changes from 2 bytes to 3 bytes, the sending host must then transmit 3 bytes before waiting for an acknowledgment instead of the 2 bytes originally set up in the virtual circuit.
Those 2 pages right there covered everything I needed from pages 1-16. Now you can see what I mean by author talk being a bit much.CCNP Progress
ROUTE [X] :: SWITCH [X] :: TSHOOT [X] -
Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
iproute wrote:In the author's defense, part of his job is to help drill in the knowledge. He often says the same thing presented differently as well to help with this. Most people have a hard time remembering something or completely absorbing the concept the first time they see it.
Don't get it twisted, I agree with you 100%. If you go back and look at my 3 step process you'll see that I encourage reading the book all the way through without stoping to take notes or do labs at least 1 time. Without a good author with good "author talk" skills this wouldnt be that easy. I'm just saying to get notes out you need to take away his ideas and just place the facts.
And guys, another reason why this iis something that everyone has to do on their own:
The Sybex book in is 570 or so pages long (not including pre and post stuff). I turned that into 57 pages or 10% of the book. I can't sit here and say that 90% of the book was just the authors ideas. I'm sure there were things that I left out that to other people would be important, but to me I felt I already had memorised, maybe from the past or whatever.
This is really tailored to each individual and must be done by you and not someone else."You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky -
Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
kafifi13 wrote:Mark these are great. I see what you mean. I usually write these things out and keep them in a notebook. I'll be honest it gets tough as i start to get hand cramps. I may give this a shot. The only problem is i can't draw out the Diagrams but i guess i could do without and just try to visualize.
I was thinking the same thing about the diagrams once I hit the later chapters. I did my notes differently though. Anywhere that i saw commands and diagrams I kept out. I considered that author talk because I didnt want to memorize his diagrams or addressing schemes because I was scared I might just get to feel comfortable with the old 192.168's and not think to study the rest. As for the commands and what they do...well...
That's where the post in this thread about flash cards comes in. Brilliant idea whoever noted it. I bought a 200 pack of 3x5's and am in the process of transfering the entire command line appendix in the back of the book onto these flash cards.
EDIT: Once I know EVERY command by heart I'm going to go and take the CLG:INTGOM exam. "You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky -
Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky
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OptionsStotic
Member Posts: 248
Btw, I'm studying for my CCNA right now. I took the Cisco Networking Academy a few years ago in High School. I'm now in my last year of college and after taking a CCNA geared class and a CCSP geared class, I felt it was time to finally knock it out.
I tried the videos, but I felt I learned more when I read. But the catch 22 is is that I'm usually too tired to lay down and read a book so I enjoyed the videos. What I settled on doing is watching the videos on a particular topic to gain foundation and then using books to solidify the knowledge. I use LearnKey videos and Cisco Press books. -
OptionsJNeko
Member Posts: 32 ■■□□□□□□□□
Cool idea with the notes Mark! I just wanted to say I still prefer reading the author's words and thoughts on things because I feel it perhaps helps me adopt a more analytical train of thought useful for describing processes. Additionally, I have found it helps me understand the terminology quicker, as well as using it more naturally.
BTW Mark, I just stared at your new avatar for like 2 minutes...man that is awesome, lol. I played ice hockey for like 6 years, though in GA lol, great sport all the same.A common type of network bridge, in which the host stations are unaware of their existence in the network. -
Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
JNeko wrote:Cool idea with the notes Mark! I just wanted to say I still prefer reading the author's words and thoughts on things because I feel it perhaps helps me adopt a more analytical train of thought useful for describing processes. Additionally, I have found it helps me understand the terminology quicker, as well as using it more naturally.
BTW Mark, I just stared at your new avatar for like 2 minutes...man that is awesome, lol. I played ice hockey for like 6 years, though in GA lol, great sport all the same.
Read my original post about my methods. I also read the book and in fact it should be mandatory. In regards to the notes though they are taken by me after I read the book the whole way through the first time. I wouldnt see a point in reading the entire book 2 times because a lot of it is just "author talk".
Yeah, that is a crazy goal. I asked a couple guys in a hockey forum if they knew who it was and some said it might be Malkin or Steen. Nobody knows for sure."You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky -
Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
kafifi13 wrote:Mark i thought that might have been you scoring the goal.
I wish. If I could rewind time I would go back to when I was 3 and beg my father to take me to hockey lessons. I live and breath hockey. It's the only sport that really exists to me.
Here's a treat. Make sure your sound it on...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8668486982679575521&q=ovechkin&hl=en"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky -
Optionskafifi13
Member Posts: 259
He's a beast. You should move to the northeast here in Boston. You'd love the college hockey. Bruins suck right now so no one is into it. College Hockey is great. I go to the Bean Pot every year.
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Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
My profile shows FL but I was born and raised in Philly. Go Flyers! "You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky
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OptionsJdotQ
Member Posts: 230
Excellent idea -- how would you go about doing this? I'd love to put some of the audio's on my ipodsexion8 wrote:I have most of the CBT Nuggets videos and I've extracted the audio portions and listen to them too when I drive. You figure... I drive about 70 miles a day (2-from work) so it gives me time to keep things fresh. -
OptionsAquabat [banned]
Inactive Imported Users Posts: 299
another note, set a goal, and make it reasonable. Schedule your test BEFORE you start studying. Don't say " o, i'm studying for it, i'm gonna take it in a year or so"i herd u leik mudkips lol
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OptionsJNeko
Member Posts: 32 ■■□□□□□□□□
markzab wrote:Read my original post about my methods. I also read the book and in fact it should be mandatory. In regards to the notes though they are taken by me after I read the book the whole way through the first time. I wouldnt see a point in reading the entire book 2 times because a lot of it is just "author talk".
I know you did Mark, I was really just making a general statement as to why I can see the reading the author talk still has some use, that's all. I do not at all disagree with you or anyone's study methods, agree 110%, to each his own. BTW, I live in China currently, and when doing some research regarding Chinese and CCNA, many people here have read the book SEVEN times, lol, welcome to the wonderful world of rote learning my friends.A common type of network bridge, in which the host stations are unaware of their existence in the network. -
Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
7 times? Wow, if there's ever a place to use the word overkill, it's right here.
"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky -
OptionsDW [banned]
Inactive Imported Users Posts: 240
I would differ on the "7 times" is overkill.
And so would MIT and the US Navy Nuclear Power Program.
They actually taught me that if I wanted to retain something, peak efficiency is reached at the 7th time of reviewing a given topic.
Deming studied the Japanese as I recall to learn the key to their efficiency and tried to bring it the U.S.
I was a student under those methodologies.
Now I was no dummy in high school and I learned fast and I mean blazingly fast - I went to school all over the country - more than 50 schools as a kid and rarely if ever met an equal in the manner in which I learned so quickly.
But the military changed all of that. They turned us top 1% into even more machines than we already were...
They told us "Every program in the Navy tells its students they are in the top 10% of the Best of the Best, even the Seal Teams... then they countered and told us quite simply we were those elite..., the top 1% and the Navy spent about $5k or better per week per person for 2 years to train each of us on how to learn to use our brains better t o prove it - they would not even let us consider joining the Seals while we were in our program of study, nor any other intelligence disciplines"
So... 7 times... is a charm.
I think it went like:
1. Read it
2. Hear it
3. Write it
4. Review it
5. Summarize it
6. Study it
7. Review it
Take it
And what is more they spent a day ensuring we understood that they were going to make whatever we knew about learning get out of our head and adopt their program of study and methodology.
I was stubborn, since I had a bit of that photographic memory thing going on for me...
I also dropped out of the program with a 2.49 GPA also...
They asked me if I wanted to stay in the program...
I was getting 2-4 hours a night sleep.
45 hours per week in classes and lunch.
15 hours per work in mandatory Physical Training - Yes, this means 0430 in the morning and running that 1.5 miles and everything else that accompanies it. Followed by the same in the 5pm Orlando summer heat for another 2 hours per day.
Then there were the mandatory study hours... I think I managed to somehow get the max at 35 hours per week in that freezing cold classroom.
Then there was the Saturday inspections at 6:30am or 7 am...
Up to 10 study hours could be enforced on a Saturday I think.
Remember you still had to get from point A to point B on a base on foot.
You had to take your meals - mostly in line with another 5000 people or so in your same boat <figurative>.
You had to get your clothes washed and pressed and you had mandatory inspections several times per week if nto daily. Seems like it was daily.
And if one of the 4 dirtbags in your room made a mess and did not clean it - yep you guessed it more study hours.
If you failed to make a PT or a study session - you guessed it - even more study time.
Then we also had to stand watch, raise flags, lower flags, and all manner of other small details...
But hey when it is 2am and you have to be up at 4:30am so you can be at muster for that wonderful energizing run around the lake...
Sunday was the only day even close to being off.
And people wonder why I cannot sleep to this day... 6.5 years of that.
I remember having to maintain PT standards after I broke my leg... and then busted my knee... and everything else....
Yep, I was falling apart one limb at a time.
Studying for Cisco is a breeze... -
Optionsmarkzab
Member Posts: 619
And now my point, which may have been missed...
The heat rapidly increased, and once again I looked up, shuddering as with a fit of the ague. There had been a second change in the cell -- and now the change was obviously in the form. As before, it was in vain that I, at first, endeavoured to appreciate or understand what was taking place. But not long was I left in doubt. The Inquisitorial vengeance had been hurried by my two-fold escape, and there was to be no more dallying with the King of Terrors. The room had been square. I saw that two of its iron angles were now acute -- two, consequently, obtuse. The fearful difference quickly increased with a low rumbling or moaning sound. In an instant the apartment had shifted its form into that of a lozenge. But the alteration stopped not here-I neither hoped nor desired it to stop. Keepalives are not always useful when it comes to Frame Relay. On back to back connections a normal practise is to disable keepalives. This will keep the links in an up/up state when there is no Frame switch sending LMI's. I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. "Death," I said, "any death but that of the pit!" Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me? Could I resist its glow? or, if even that, could I withstand its pressure And now, flatter and flatter grew the lozenge, with a rapidity that left me no time for contemplation. Its centre, and of course, its greatest width, came just over the yawning gulf. I shrank back -- but the closing walls pressed me resistlessly onward. At length for my seared and writhing body there was no longer an inch of foothold on the firm floor of the prison. I struggled no more, but the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long, and final scream of despair. I felt that I tottered upon the brink -- I averted my eyes...
My point was that rather than read something in it's full context 7 times, why not cut through the bullshit and read the main points instead...7 times. Author talk is useless and to read the entire above paragraph 7 times just to get the core hammered into your brain, well, that's overkill.
PS. Edgar Allen Poe was a living God."You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky -
OptionsThe Prize Is Lobster
Member Posts: 71 ■■□□□□□□□□
heres what I have been doing as of late, I know some of this has been summarized and some people have a similar method.
For me, reading is a part of it, but sometimes reading it for me doesnt really help things sink in.
I went and got a cheap microphone for my PC, got a freeware audio recorder, and just re-read the highlights and summarizations of each chapter aloud and record them to MP3s. Then, I upload the MP3s of each to my Ipod, and listen to each while I play video games or drive in my car. Even when your mind is focused on Xbox 360, you would be suprised how much of it really sinks in when its being played in the background.
Obviously, I wouldnt do this as your ONLY method of study, but its definetly a good supplement to lots of reading, lots of labs, and lots of review questions. -
Optionstotts
Member Posts: 117
I've got a couple of books too, I think you're limiting yourself a bit with one single source. I read a chapter, or part of a chapter (say on TCP) then I make mind maps with mnemonics. They're pretty wild... I really let my imagination go, they probably wouldn't mean a lot to anyone else, but I certainly won't forget the the stuff in them. Use mind maps, mnemonics, your imagination and plenty of colour.remyforbes777 wrote:The first thing i did was buy two different books. I usually read chapter in a book then read the corresponding chapter in the other book. I make hundreds of note cards to quiz myself on commands. I also write down facts in a notebook in an outline form. Writing things helps me to remember them better. I also highlight those important facts in the book. Once I am done reading the book i will go over all the highlights.totts from essex -
Optionskafifi13
Member Posts: 259
The Prize Is Lobster wrote:heres what I have been doing as of late, I know some of this has been summarized and some people have a similar method.
For me, reading is a part of it, but sometimes reading it for me doesnt really help things sink in.
I went and got a cheap microphone for my PC, got a freeware audio recorder, and just re-read the highlights and summarizations of each chapter aloud and record them to MP3s. Then, I upload the MP3s of each to my Ipod, and listen to each while I play video games or drive in my car. Even when your mind is focused on Xbox 360, you would be suprised how much of it really sinks in when its being played in the background.
Obviously, I wouldnt do this as your ONLY method of study, but its definetly a good supplement to lots of reading, lots of labs, and lots of review questions.
I know what you mean. i bring my notes to the gym when i work out. Seems to be the only time i can concentrate on memorizing information like Adminsitrative distances or definitions. -
OptionsThe Prize Is Lobster
Member Posts: 71 ■■□□□□□□□□
The combination of that plus exercise probably really makes it click. I always study better if I just went on a bike ride or got a decent workout.
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calaverasgrandes
Member Posts: 67 ■■□□□□□□□□
Basically I started on the Cicso press first year companion guide 2nd edition. Yeah, pretty old. Rife with errors. Later chapters refer to files on the disc which do not exist, and the chapters do not stand on their own!
Then I moved to CCNA Command Quick Reference and
31 days before your CCNA exam. Both cisco press.
These have been better because instead of a lot of silly talking down to me they are more "cut to the meat of it". I also have been supplementing the meager books I have with a lot of visits to the Cisco site, and this one.
Got a couple practice exams (preplogic and the one that cmae with the old Cisco book).
I try not to take the practice exams too often so I dont start just memorizing the questions!
Instead I prefer to wait until I am getting cheeky about how much I know. Then I take the practice tests and get knocked down a notch.
Which leads me to ask if anyone knows how accurate the style of the q's on the preplogic are? Not if they are the same questions exactly of course, but if the Q's on the exam are as hard, and as capricous in the similarity of the multiple choices?!
I also take immense amounts of notes. Not that I can or will ever read these notes, I just find that writing it down in my own words helps drill it home.
For the more cryptic info that is hard to retain, I have a big pile of coloured markers that I will make big childish diagrams illustrating OSI vs TCP models, ACl, class A, B, C etc.studying on 70-290, 70-291 and CCNA.
