Route - Week 1

CCNP
Alright, so I attempted BSCI around this time last year. I did a 4 month community college class, read the certification guide and built up a nice lab and ran everything in the lab guides. Supplemented with a 3rd party book took a Transcender test and failed miserably. I mean so bad that I felt like I wasted my life. I wasted another month trying to learn from Transcender, took another pre-test from my instructor and failed. I was pretty dang angry at myself.

Well, it’s been over a year and the new version of the exam is out. I have been doing networking things here and there. Reviewed my CCNA. Earned my CCNA: Voice. Essentially gained more experience points to go up a level. So I back to win it this time around. I suppose I am going for my CCNP, but I’ll be more honest. I just want to destroy BSCI’s ugly child Route. It’s personal 

I purchased/have the following resources
1) CCNP ROUTE 642-902 Official Certification Guide (Exam Certification Guide)
2) CCNP ROUTE 642-902 Cert Kit: Video, Flash Card, and Quick Reference Preparation Package (Cert Kits) 3) BSCI Study guide
4) Network Warrior
5) BSCI Lab book
6) GNS3, 5 real routers and a 3550
7) CBTNuggets BSCI

I would really love to be able to just destroy this exam. But from my experience with BSCI I would hope that I can pass by years end. Any recommendations on materials or takes on studying?

Week 1 log
Exam Certification Guide – Read chapters 1 and 2. I generated 70 Flashcard which I already mastered. And managed to run about 2 hours’ worth of labs to “figuring things out”. I already memorized the memorization tables.

CBTNuggets – watched video 1 and video 2. Covered some random trivia and reinforced what I already knew about EIGRP. Mainly review. I kept thinking about thing from a design point of view as I watched them. So I am hoping that will help on the exam. Replicated everything he did in GNS3 as he did it. Even adding my own twists later.

Video Mentor Videos – I am angry! I misread the amazon page when I bought this, thinking it included some cool flashcards. It does not. I figured oh well, at least it’s some cheap CBT’s! But guess what these videos appears VERY dated. It would seem they were written for the OLD BSCI 642-801and have not been updated. I am pretty angry about this purchase. I feel something labeled as Cisco press should be higher quality than that.
Anyhow, I took what it presented seriously and replicated his environment and labs. Still thinking this product should probably leave my learning list. But ill give it a chance. I went through videos 1, 2 and 3. Some good stuff on RIP I have to admit.

Reference Guide – reinforced what I had (re-)learned pretty well. Nothing new here. Again, not too happy with the cert kit. Maybe it will be helpful review during days coming up to the exam.

Network Warrior – Just general reading actually. I think I just did chapter 1-2 and the EIGRP section.

Lab time –
got my GNS3 working, setup my physical router, got some cables and memory ordered. Emulated the CBTNuggets, Video mentor and spent some time making up my own stuff on things that I saw from the text book. Hopefully this weekend I’ll work through the BSCI lab book through section 2.3 which was my goal.

Input welcome…

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Comments

notgoing2fail

Hey Dan,

I think a lot of us can feel your pain. You seem to have the right resources. The new CCNP track exams are really new and even the official cert. guide is extremely close to the old CCNP tracks.

I can vouch that SWITCH and BCMSN are very very close, so it's not so much the topics are outdated but just that there doesn't seem to be much change.

I think IS-IS however is dropped from the new ROUTE, which is probably a good thing, for me anyways. .:D

All I can say is hang out here, the more you do that and ask questions the better you will be.

Are you starting the ROUTE exam immediately? I hope to finish up my SWITCH exam soon ( i know I've been saying that for awhile ), then take a little break, a couple days and then hit ROUTE.....

Daniel333

Yeah, looks like ISIS is gone, yet they still included it and RIP in the Cert kit. And I am pretty confident these videos are at least 10years old. The guy is using a CRT monitor...

I did give it a start already. Just over a week in. I am giving myself until years end to complete it. I can't afford to actually fail these exams, it's a big enough hit to take them in the first place.

See ya when you get to Route! I am sure you'll shoot right past me

notgoing2fail

Daniel333 wrote: »

Yeah, looks like ISIS is gone, yet they still included it and RIP in the Cert kit. And I am pretty confident these videos are at least 10years old. The guy is using a CRT monitor...

I did give it a start already. Just over a week in. I am giving myself until years end to complete it. I can't afford to actually fail these exams, it's a big enough hit to take them in the first place.

See ya when you get to Route! I am sure you'll shoot right past me

How many hours are you planning on studying per day/week?

You see, right now I'm in the "zone". So I'm in certification mode and I fear losing it due to burnout...

CRT monitor for the new ROUTE videos? Are you serious? That's a big no no.... I don't even know what to say, I'm not going to even try to back that up. LOL....

alan2308

Daniel333 wrote: »

I suppose I am going for my CCNP, but I’ll be more honest. I just want to destroy BSCI’s ugly child Route. It’s personal

And with the proper mindset this time around you'll make it your *****.

mikej412

I'd suggest you add -- and start with -- the "Foundation" book. That's the name for the series that replaces the the old <insert exam name> Authorized Self-Study books.

Starting to review for the exam (with the Certification Guide) before covering the topics that are the foundation (including stuff that isn't tested but very useful for understanding the is tested) of the exam topics is one of the popular reasons people here had for failing the old BSCI exam.

While the old Academy BSCI courseware was probably complete enough on it's own to teach you enough to pass the exam, it was quite dense. While the CCNA Semesters could fit in 8 weeks (and you could do 2 CCNA Semesters in 1 Academic Semester) the CCNP Semesters were at least 10 weeks -- and probably should have gone the full 14-16 week Academic Semester.

mikej412

Here it is -- soon to be available June 25th

Implementing Cisco IP Routing (ROUTE) Foundation Learning Guide

And from the Cisco Press CCNP Page, the descriptions of the book series:

Portable Command Guides contain all the CCNP-level commands for the certification exam in one condensed, portable resource. The books provide tips and examples of how to apply the commands to real-world scenarios.

Foundation Learning Guides (formerly Self-Study Guides), which are based on Cisco courses for the related exams, provide essential foundation learning and thoroughly cover topics addressed in those courses. These books assume no prior knowledge of the subject matter and take a detailed approach to tutorial-based learning. Book elements within the Foundational Learning Guide Series feature real-world case studies, configuration examples, and chapter-ending review questions, making them useful on the job, in addition to exam preparation.

Certification Guides help prepare candidates for Cisco certification exams. These books assume readers have attained the necessary learning foundation and experience for a certification test and are reviewing material before exam time. They include summary information that details critical information on key exam topics and a companion CD-ROM, which contains a powerful testing engine that can be customized with practice exam questions, simulation-based questions, and adaptable performance trackers.

Which book is right for me?
Foundational Learning Guides and Certification Guides are intended to complement one another. Though they will cover similar content, they do so in a very different manner. Choosing one book over another depends where you are in the study cycle. If you are familiar with the base concepts, but need to assess your knowledge and review/practice for the exam, we recommend the Certification Guides. If you are new to a topic area and need more detailed discussions of the foundation concepts, we recommend you start with the Foundational Learning Guides.

Daniel333

notgoing2fail wrote: »

How many hours are you planning on studying per day/week?

I can't say for sure. Work and my wedding is gonna make it hard to be sure. I managed about 10 hours last week. hoping 5ish.

Oh and Mike, yes I actually do have the previous edition of that book, already read it twice in my life. But Ill order the new version too when it comes out. Forgot to mention it in my list. Thanks for reminding me.

Neiby

Daniel333, I think you're on the right track and probably have the info you need to pass the exam. The only advice I have at this point is to make sure you really understand the material that you already think you understand. Did that make sense? Think of it like this (and I replied on another forum to someone else with basically this same advice.) Everything you learn in networking is designed to solve a problem. This is true for EVERYTHING you learn. Every protocol, command, keyword or parameter exists to solve some problem. Make sure you understand what the problem is that is being solved and then you'll truly understand the solution.

My mentor always used to say, "What problem are you trying to solve?" Always ask that question when learning new material. Maybe go back over some of the stuff you already think you know and ask yourself that question. When you see a command with various keyword options, ask yourself, "What are those options there for? What problem do they exist to solve?" Ask yourself that question about all the routing protocols and the processes involved with them. The details matter, and they are they way they are for a reason.

Good luck!