Passed Nortel NCTE - Converged IP Networks

After forgetting my photo ID this morning and realising one hour before the exam, I had to reschedule from 10am for 3:30pm this afternoon which thankfully the testing centre were OK about so I drove home at lunch time (40 mile round trip) to pick up my passport and swung an hour early finish with my manager this afternoon.

After all that was sorted, I passed the 920-804 Nortel Certified Technology Expert in Converged IP Networks exam today.

NCTE homepage

http://app97.nortelnetworks.com/cgi-bin/teds/cs/maintc.jsp?level=2&category=12&subcategory=1&desId=TNTS00000B

Link to Converged IP Networks exam 920-804 objectives;

http://app97.nortelnetworks.com/cgi-bin/teds/cs/maintc.jsp?level=6&category=12&subcategory=8&subtype=&exOID=1064840

Overall Score 80%
Security in the VoIP Environment 90% (18/20)
Emergency Services in VoIP Environment 0% (0/2)
Performing a network assessment 77% (14/18 )

The exam was focussed on the objectives, pretty accurately. You need to know about different types of VPN authentication, encapsulation and encryption algorithms and when/where to deploy them (IPSec, GRE, PPTP, L2TP, L2F, DES, 3DES, AES etc) along with PAP, CHAP, MSCHAP & MSCHAP v2

NAT and NAT traversal using stun/turn servers, UPNP, issues using NAT for SIP/H.323, Full coned, dynamic, static NAT etc

Firewall topologies DMZ, screening host, layered security architectures etc and different types of firewalls including stateful, proxy/ALG's, filters

Also general design pre-sales stuff. Similar to the CCDA but on a much lower scale detail wise

Study material used was Nortel VoIP Technologies book - BE WARNED Appendix D at the back of the book's objectives do not tie in with the objectives on the website but the website objectives are correct!

In the VoIP Technologies book it states that the pass mark is 57%, you have 150 minutes and there is 65 questions, when in fact the information on the link I posted above is correct, 90 mins, 40 questions and 67% pass.

I only noticed this last night in the appendix which sent me into a bit of a stress that the objectives were different to what I had been studying but it was all good in the end.....just error in the Nortel book but the actual study content is accurate. I also used Nortel whitepapers.

Next up is the 920-220 to get my NCDS status in Jan '09. My main objective for 2009 is CCNP, the Nortel certs are just a little break from Cisco and because I support Nortel CS1000 VoIP system.

Cheers
Malc