Do ... OR ... Die

Well, it's currently 12PM and I have 640-802 scheduled for 1:30PM!

It's been a long road with many obsticles and hurdles to cross and needless to say, a great deal of uncertainty. Not so much about my knowledge, but about the exam I will soon face.

I ended up getting out of bed at 4:30AM (could not sleep but that in itsef is not unusual) and began typing notes from memory into an outline I created yesterday based on questions I missed on Cisco's Module Reviews and Boson's Exam Simulators (CP and ExSim-MAX).

As soon as I shave and change, I am out the door with the utmost confidence in my knowledge.

Three written study guides
LAB senarios gleaned from on-line sources
1500 to 2000+ hours hands on LAB
several years of limited hands on support in the field

Why should I not be confident!

... But MA ... I don't wanna go to School!!!!!!!!

Oh Well, Here I go!

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Comments

tomaifauchai

Good luck and tell me how much time remaining at the end when you push the "End Exam"

When i passed it, i was stressed a lot and i had about 6 seconds remaining only lol

chmorin

hermeszdata wrote: »

Well, it's currently 12PM and I have 640-802 scheduled for 1:30PM!

1500 to 2000+ hours hands on LAB
several years of limited hands on support in the field

Holy crap- You will probably do fine. What might catch you of guard is simply the test taking itself. The environment can surprise people if they are anxious and not able to calm down their mind for an exam. This is true for all tests, though.

Best of luck, with that experience I have no doubt that you should shine through the test. Even if you don't pass, you will be right on track to tackle your weak points.

I wish you skill and competence!

greenerek

Good luck

hermeszdata

tomaifauchai wrote: »

Good luck and tell me how much time remaining at the end when you push the "End Exam"

When i passed it, i was stressed a lot and i had about 6 seconds remaining only lol

On the sims, I time out with between 5 and 28 mins remaining. I have made it a point not to memorize the questions. most of the question I get wrong are a result of BOT READING THE DAMN QUESTION PROPERLY with the occassional fat finger error.

Thanks and will do! Should be back here between 3:30and 4P (local)

Test site 18minutes away (+ traffic.) should be there well before the 13:15 suggested/recommended arrival/check-in time!

chmorin

hermeszdata wrote: »

On the sims, I time out with between 5 and 28 mins remaining. I have made it a point not to memorize the questions. most of the question I get wrong are a result of BOT READING THE DAMN QUESTION PROPERLY with the occassional fat finger error.

Thanks and will do! Should be back here between 3:30and 4P (local)

Test site 18minutes away (+ traffic.) should be there well before the 13:15 suggested/recommended arrival/check-in time!

Personally I'd aim to get there 15 minutes before the suggested time. The last thing you want is unneeded stress in the form of traffic.

Greenmet29

Good luck!!!! Let us know how it goes!!

VAHokie56

give em hell

mikej412

Did someone start their celebration

and forget to let us know they passed?

hermeszdata

I arrived ~ 10 minutes early. Checked in and they had issues with the camera. Took 20 minutes to resolve that with support. Impact on me??? ZERO. If I had been any more relaxed, I would have fallen asleep!

Went into the exam room, sat down after the monitor started the application, wrote down my subnet chart, went through the tutorial, did the necessary agreement stuff and began! 83 min, 56 sec later, I finished my last question.

I slayed the exam with a 770 ... needed 825! $^#*)@&%

The above makes absolutely no sense to me, particularly when I look at the breakdown!

Describe how a network works 75%
Configure, verify, and troubleshoot a switch with VLANs ... 64%
Implement an IP addressing Scheme and IP services ... 67%
Configure, verify, and troubleshoot basic router operations and routing ... 64%
Explain and select the appropriate admin tasks required for a WLAN 100%
Describe security threats to network and methods to mitigate 100%
Implement, verify, and troubleshoot NAT and ACLs ... 25%
Implement and verify WAN links 67%

The test I drew had 50 questions and 4 simulations that effectively tested me on EVERY aspect of configuration and troubleshooting of network devices and involved multiple changes on multiple devices. Configuration and troubleshooting is my strongest area!

In some respects, I am not surprised with the results. I mentioned in my OP that the journey toward the exam had "been a long road with many obstacles and hurdles to cross ..." but I took the chance, hoping for the best, knowing the difficulties I would face. Here's why!

13 months and 2 days ago, 4 December 2009, I was involved in a head-on auto accident where the other driver (un-insured) turned in front of me without yielding while on my way to a job site (network repair). I had planned to sit 640-802 the first week of January 2010. Because of the neck and back injuries I suffered, it was almost 8 weeks before I could get back to my studies! When I was finally able to get back to my studies, I found that no matter how hard I worked I could not remember the information. After a couple of months of struggling, scoring 650 725 in the test sims, I gave up. (As a side note, as an independent contractor, I carried Liability and Worker's Compensation Insurance and even though it was a valid, work related injury, they denied the claim for 6 months.) Once I was able to get proper care, they did extensive testing and found I had suffered "mild traumatic brain injury" that affected my ability to learn and remember new information and also impaired my ability to effectively recall older information in a cohesive manner. 6 weeks ago, my doctor prescribed a medication designed to help with the injury related memory issues I have been having and we saw an improvement. Sim scores jumped to between 830 and 970. So, I thought I was ready. Apparently not! So, back to the drawing board.
As one might imagine, this is very difficult for me. Throughout my career, I have always been able to read material once in remember the material. The last certification tests I took, before the accident, were as thorough and demanding as teh test I took today. I read the material once and took the tests, maxing them!
I don't know if I will be able to re-take the test on Tuesday, 12 January as recommended, My disability check is late again and as a result, so are some of my other bills. I plan to take the next 24 hours to de-compress and then I will form another battle plan for the next trip to the center.

jmritenour

Wow, that's a tough pill to swallow. But 770 isn't THAT far from 825. You'll get it next time - I'm 100% sure of it. And think of how great you're going to feel once you come back for round 2 and are victorious!

cisco_certs

DOnt give up . Try again! We all know how tough that test is.

Btw, the scrore in NAT is really bad. go back and try to learn more NAT and ACL. You need to learn to love NAT and ACL.

hermeszdata

mikej412 wrote: »

Did someone start their celebration and forget to let us know they passed?

Gonna start on the bottle shortly!

hermeszdata

jmritenour wrote: »

Wow, that's a tough pill to swallow. But 770 isn't THAT far from 825. You'll get it next time - I'm 100% sure of it. And think of how great you're going to feel once you come back for round 2 and are victorious!

I do not know how to give up! I will abuse my self again in the near future with this exam, rest assured. I must get these certs. I can no longer do the grunt work I did before and the business I started 12 years ago is no more! Now, at 55, I am looking for an entry level networking position that will have me spending most of my time at a keyboard with a phone stuck in my ear!

mikej412

hermeszdata wrote: »

$^#*)@&%

Relax a bit

-- then back to the books

and definitely the Lab (since you were at least a SIM short of passing).

hermeszdata

mikej412 wrote: »

Relax a bit -- then back to the books and definitely the Lab (since you were at least a SIM short of passing).

Chevis, neat, in progress! Actually, #4.

What confuses me IS the SIMs. I cannot even begin to tell how many times I have been on sites with network issues, not even having local access to CLI/User mode, that I have been able to identify the problem and even give the support personal the CLI (running-config unseen) to correct the problems.

I wonder if maybe I failed to do something the Cisco Way vs. the Right Way! This is one of the things I have yet to figure out!

Let's just say, IF, during a sim requiring the config of an ACL requiring that certain access be allowed to a specific host on a given network, and the same access be denied to other host on the same network (note: this is also the style/type of question that appears in various SIMs) will Cisco ding you (mark as wrong) if you use permit [protocol] host [source address] host [destination address] eq [protocol] verses permit [protocol] [source ip] [source mask] destination ip] [destination mask] eq [protocol]. The same could be asked concerning use of the common names of the protocol vs the port number of the protocol!

This is an issue that has caused me a bit of trepidation. as an example (and this was not on MY exam) when configuring Ethernet Interfaces for dot1q trunking RoAS on a router (various texts, including Cisco Press give disparate information concerning the Proper way to perform that configuration.) Example:

example #1

Int f0/1
ip address 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.0
no shut [I](just to make sure)[/I]
!
Int f0/1.2
enc dot1q 2
ip address 10.10.11.1 255.255.255.0
no shut

example #2

Int f0/1
no shut
int f0/1.1
enc dot1q 1 (one could even include the [I]native[/I] at the end, but this seems redundant unless one has changed the native /management vlan)
ip address 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.0
no shut
!
Int f0/1.2
enc dot1q 2
ip address 10.10.11.1 255.255.255.0
no shut

We should all know that both examples accomplish the same thing and the router will handle packets and routing the same way with both configs. But, what is the Cisco way when it comes to testing. As I mentioned, I have seen this configured both ways, in multiple study guides (and in CP guides both ways) but when I go through the SIMs, example #1 is the right answer! How can anyone reasonably expect to to pass this exam when more than one way is offered for configuration, all are correct, but there is only one acceptable answer! Interestingly, using the ACL example I gave above, regardless of how one chose to write the statement, host [ip address] ... or [ip address] [mask], when we do sh run | begin access-list it displays host [ip address]! WTF?????

This confusion is there because ALL the reference material, whether it be Cisco's configuration guides, Cisco Press Authorized Study Guides, or any other references, offer multiple options for doing the same configuration task and none provide a definitive answer/method for exam expectations.

Honestly, I am, by nature, lazy! Not in the conventional sense, but from the aspect of taking the most efficient way/path to get a task completed. this means, if I can type less and get the same thing accomplished, this is how I will do things. However, IF I need to play a game, I will do what is necessary to demonstrate I have the requisite knowledge! I simply need to know the rule so I might be able to play the game!

Is there anyone who can, or is willing to, shed light on this subject?

Signed,

"One confused Wire Monkey!"

Monkerz

The only advice I can give you is to check your config after implementing a command and test to verify it is working. If you try to accomplish router on a stick with example 1 and it doesn't test correct, then implement example 2.

Before I sat for CCNA, I was told to know multiple ways to do something because the simulator may not allow you one way to test if you know the other. You have to remember, the exam is not the actual IOS, a bunch of programmers sat down an agreed what commands to include in the sims.

hermeszdata

Monkerz wrote: »

The only advice I can give you is to check your config after implementing a command and test to verify it is working. If you try to accomplish router on a stick with example 1 and it doesn't test correct, then implement example 2.

Before I sat for CCNA, I was told to know multiple ways to do something because the simulator may not allow you one way to test if you know the other. You have to remember, the exam is not the actual IOS, a bunch of programmers sat down an agreed what commands to include in the sims.

I'm not sure you understand the question.

I did see on one of the sim questions where I could run the various veification commands but it would not allow me to enter Global Config mode. That basically told me that I did not need to be concerned with the config of that device (or devices). It also would not allow me to get a filtered sh run (sh run | begin {whatever}) output which did not bother me one way or the other. I would imagine that on other sim questions different commands might be restricted.

Now, back to the question I asked.

Assuming that the actual exam allowed one the option to configure a command structure in both ways (which in my exam they did), how does Cisco grade this? Are they looking for a specific answer, a specific coding sequence, or do they just care if ti works?

On the Sims, as i mentioned above for RoAS (even for ACLs) one could code the command in both ways mentioned and the end result, being able to communicate (or being denied access in the case of ACLs) with a remote host, but one configuration sequence would result in an incorrect answer.

This is why I am soo confused. I did confirm, using various troubleshooting/verification commands, that I had the end-to-end communications as specified in the problems. and yet I basicly blew all the "Configure, verify, and troubleshoot" objectives of the rest! Maybe I did not actually fail the Troubleshooting/Configuration Simulations. Maybe I screwed up on associated multiple guess questions. The unfortunate aspect is, given the way the results are presented, one can never know exactly where they made their mistakes.

Now back to re-grouping to get ready for my next 640-802 battle.

Monkerz

I couldn't tell you how they grade the sims. I would guess that if it works it passes...

Did you make sure copy to startup-config? I've heard that not saving the config can ding you in points.

mikej412

If you can't get into Global Config, then yes, either it's not required and Cisco is giving you a big hint -- or, like some of the people who make it past a technical phone interview and can't get past the simple hands on lab test, you forget to enter enable mode.

If you type config t and get a message that the command is not implemented, you got a hint. If you get the standard error message when you enter a command that doesn't exist in that mode, you may not be in the proper mode.

As for the 2 ways of entering something (like an ACL) -- how does a real router store the configuration? Does it store it as you typed it? Or does it store it in it's standard way? A SIM should work the same. Ultimately you're graded on if the solution you entered works.

The verification commands to confirm your configuration have been available on all the SIMs I've ever had. Using show run just confirms you typed in that command -- not that it actually works. If you assign an ACL to the wrong interface, router, or in the wrong direction, a show run won't give you any new information you can use to catch your error and fix it.

hermeszdata

mikej412 wrote: »

If you can't get into Global Config, then yes, either it's not required and Cisco is giving you a big hint -- or, like some of the people who make it past a technical phone interview and can't get past the simple hands on lab test, you forget to enter enable mode.

If you type config t and get a message that the command is not implemented, you got a hint. If you get the standard error message when you enter a command that doesn't exist in that mode, you may not be in the proper mode.

As for the 2 ways of entering something (like an ACL) -- how does a real router store the configuration? Does it store it as you typed it? Or does it store it in it's standard way? A SIM should work the same. Ultimately you're graded on if the solution you entered works.

The verification commands to confirm your configuration have been available on all the SIMs I've ever had. Using show run just confirms you typed in that command -- not that it actually works. If you assign an ACL to the wrong interface, router, or in the wrong direction, a show run won't give you any new information you can use to catch your error and fix it.

Agreed, Mike. Show Run, if available only lets you know if something is missing/mis-configured, i.e. ip address, AS numbers, missing/incorrect network statements in routing protocols. By and large, I have gotten away from using sh run as a initial step and I use:
sh ip int (br)
sh ip route (protocol)
sh cdp
and debug statements.

Depending on what the task/issue is after one or 2 show commands as mentioned above, I may go directly from there to sh run to further isolate the exact reason why the device is not functioning properly.

The only time the simulated IOS threw an error was the time I tried using sh run | begin * and it threw an error just like my 2811 does if I enter a command incorrectly.

So, I am feeling better (at least a little bit) and based on a little research I did today, I know of at least 2 questions (multiple guess) I got wrong and possibly a part of one sim. The 2 question I now know I answered incorrectly could conceivably push my router/routing score to 100% (maybe that would have been enough to push me past 825) and 1 or 2 questions in any of the other objectives should have quaranteed a pass!

Maybe I am wrong. So, back to the books! Once my disability check arrives ... Test Reschedule time!

Thanks again.

hermeszdata

for another round of self abuse!

I'm a bit disappointed in the overall results:

I included my previous percentages in parenthsis.

Describe how a network works ......................... 63% (75%)
Configure, Verify, and troubleshoot switch .......... 79% (64%)
Implement IP address Scheme and IP Services ... 100% (67%)
Configure, verify, and troubleshoot basic router ... 93% (64%)
Explain and select admin tasks ... WLAN ............ 100% (100%)
Identify/mitigate Security threats ...................... 67% (100%)
Impliment, troubleshoot, Verify NAT/ACLs ............ 25% (25%)
Implement/verify WAN links .............................. 100% (67%)

MODERATED

Fortunately, I PASSED with an 860! Now I need to bust butt before the current CVOICE exam is locked (28 February 2011)!

I am sure glad this one is now behind me!:D

impz

congrats

alan2308

Congrats!

SilverGenius

Congrats!
I am looking at trying to take the CCENT/CCNA after school is out.