Passed 640-553 - My 2 Cents

After spending months and months working toward my CCNA I finally passed. Security had been my weakest area so I decided to study up on the CCNA Security material.

I had read the Official Exam Study Guide (Wallace/Watkins) and watched several of the TrainSignal videos from their Security DVD. I did not run any labs at all and spent maybe 20 minutes navigating through the SDM tabs. I spent maybe a month or so on this. I ended up spending more time messing with SDM than anything else (partly because its a POS and partly because the one PC that I had it working on kept crashing, my guess due to a java issue). I was extremely frustrated that I was unable to play with SDM for the past few days before the exam and thought I would fail the test but I went on and took it just to see which topics I needed to focus on more.

I took the 640-553 IINS exam this past Saturday. Somehow I passed with around an 850. This exam was extremely easy to me compared to the ICND1 and ICND2 exams so I wouldn't let issues with those hold you up from taking the Security test. Best of luck to you all prepping for this exam!

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dmb2002man

CiskHo wrote: »

After spending months and months working toward my CCNA I finally passed. Security had been my weakest area so I decided to study up on the CCNA Security material.

I had read the Official Exam Study Guide (Wallace/Watkins) and watched several of the TrainSignal videos from their Security DVD. I did not run any labs at all and spent maybe 20 minutes navigating through the SDM tabs. I spent maybe a month or so on this. I ended up spending more time messing with SDM than anything else (partly because its a POS and partly because the one PC that I had it working on kept crashing, my guess due to a java issue). I was extremely frustrated that I was unable to play with SDM for the past few days before the exam and thought I would fail the test but I went on and took it just to see which topics I needed to focus on more.

I took the 640-553 IINS exam this past Saturday. Somehow I passed with around an 850. This exam was extremely easy to me compared to the ICND1 and ICND2 exams so I wouldn't let issues with those hold you up from taking the Security test. Best of luck to you all prepping for this exam!

congrats man. i also am spending alot of time with sdm and my computer too and just scheduled my exam for this thursday. I have read the book twice now and watched the cbt nuggets videos and setup sdm and gn3 with site to site vpn, firewall setup, ips, etc.

mikem2te

Congratulations. What are you planning next?

I just worked out what you meant by "POS". Agreed.

CiskHo

mikem2te wrote: »

Congratulations. What are you planning next?

Thanks! I'm planning to go the new 3 test route for CCNP. I am about halfway through the new CCNP Switch book (Official Cert Guide). Actually on page 149 now and so far I haven't seen anything not previously covered by the CCNA books. Smooth sailing thus far

As of now I'll be planning that exam for mid April at the latest.

I wanted to do the CCNA Wireless (already have the book) but I guess I will save that one for "fun" after I get through the CCNP.

mikem2te wrote: »

I just worked out what you meant by "POS". Agreed.

Definitely didn't mean Packet Over Sonet or Point Of Service!

mikem2te

CiskHo wrote: »

Thanks! I'm planning to go the new 3 test route for CCNP. I am about halfway through the new CCNP Switch book (Official Cert Guide). Actually on page 149 now and so far I haven't seen anything not previously covered by the CCNA books. Smooth sailing thus far As of now I'll be planning that exam for mid April at the latest.

I wanted to do the CCNA Wireless (already have the book) but I guess I will save that one for "fun" after I get through the CCNP.

Definitely didn't mean Packet Over Sonet or Point Of Service!

From what I have seen there is some overlap on topics on the CCNP Switch and CCNA Security so that'll make the Switch a bit easier to get along with.

I'm starting with CCNP Route and one thing I have noticed though, the CCNP Route Cert Guide is a bit light weight compared to the BSCI Self Study Guide. If the Switch book is the same it would make sense to get hold of the old BSMSN self study guide, until they release the Switch Self Study guide that is.

dmb2002man

so what books do you recommend for the new ccnp routing exam as i was looking into ordering the new cisco press ccnp routing book after i complete my ccna security exam on thursday. So you think the new ccnp switching would be easier to start with after passing ccna security because of the overlapping material.

mikem2te

dmb2002man wrote: »

so what books do you recommend for the new ccnp routing exam as i was looking into ordering the new cisco press ccnp routing book after i complete my ccna security exam on thursday. So you think the new ccnp switching would be easier to start with after passing ccna security because of the overlapping material.

From what I can gather, unlike the CCNA stuff where we can get away with reading just the "Official Certification Guide" books, for the CCNP both the "Authorised Self-Study Guide" and the "Official Certification Guide" books are recommended (and probably others as well such as Lab Guides, Command references etc).

Problem at the moment, last time I looked only the the "Official Certification Guide" books have been released for the new track. So as most of the topics are the same between the old BSCI & Route and BCMSN & Switch, I have ordered the new Route "official cert guide...." and the old BSCI "Authorised Self Study...." books.

Regarding Switch or Route first, if the older CCNP is anything to go by, Route will be more difficult than Switch. Also people who have studied CCNA:S probably will have an advantage over someone who hasn't due to some overlap (port security, private vlans, vlan access list etc). So my gut feeling is Switch would probably be easier and quicker than Route - thats why I'm going for Route first.

CiskHo

mikem2te wrote: »

If the Switch book is the same it would make sense to get hold of the old BSMSN self study guide, until they release the Switch Self Study guide that is.

The new one is much smaller than the old one. I'm guessing that is because it is much less focused on things like IP tele, Wireless, etc. I believe it is supposed to be focused more on switching and less on the odds and ends. Thankfully, I have the old CCNP library as well. I plan to take this SWITCH exam immediately after reading this one book. Will refer to the old library afterwards if I fail. I'm on page 311 of 408 so looks like I will be testing soon

BTW, I miss the days of being able to run labs at home using cheap 2600s and 2950s I bought off ebay. Looks like many of the commands listed for SWITCH require a 4500R or a 6500 with dual SUP720s!! (referring to High Availability).

I also have zero gear for IP Tele although that looks fairly painless so far.

rwwest7

CiskHo wrote: »

BTW, I miss the days of being able to run labs at home using cheap 2600s and 2950s I bought off ebay. Looks like many of the commands listed for SWITCH require a 4500R or a 6500 with dual SUP720s!! (referring to High Availability). I also have zero gear for IP Tele although that looks fairly painless so far.

Please don't tell me this 3550 I just bought was a waste??

IT_FAN

Welcome to the Almuni... Proud member myself!!

mikej412

CiskHo wrote: »

Looks like many of the commands listed for SWITCH require a 4500R or a 6500 with dual SUP720s!! (referring to High Availability).

I think people can get away with memorizing the redundancy command and setting the mode. Maybe toss in the show command. If they're motivated they may want to be able to recognized the other 2 or 3 commands/options mentioned.

Otherwise the majority of the high availability commands for HSRP, VRRP, and GLBP are the ones you're going to want to spend time in the lab learning. You can practice these commands on routers if you don't have 3550s.

CiskHo

rwwest7 wrote: »

Please don't tell me this 3550 I just bought was a waste??

No its not a waste. The 3550 will do most everything needed for the switching labs. And I agree with Mike that High Avail coule be studied by just memorizing a few commands and understanding when and where to use them.