Feel overwhelmed with the Cisco study material, needing advice

So, this is the 3rd time I'm trying to study for this cert. I currently have the following resources:

-Odom's Cisco book
-Lammle's Cisco book
-TrainSignal Training DVDs
-CCNA Lab Manual
-Various Cisco Websites and Forums
-Cisco Packet Tracer

I feel overwhelmed by all of the information and was wondering if anyone had any advice on a way to come at all of this material. I feel like I'm not making any headway on this cert, however my goal was for the following:

-CCENT by late July
-CCNA by Sept

Not sure if this is doable, because I don't have any Cisco/networking experience.

thanks

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Comments

hiddenknight821

JockVSJock wrote: »

So, this is the 3rd time I'm trying to study for this cert. I currently have the following resources:

-Odom's Cisco book
-Lammle's Cisco book
-TrainSignal Training DVDs
-CCNA Lab Manual
-Various Cisco Websites and Forums
-Cisco Packet Tracer

I feel overwhelmed by all of the information and was wondering if anyone had any advice on a way to come at all of this material. I feel like I'm not making any headway on this cert, however my goal was for the following:

-CCENT by late July
-CCNA by Sept

Not sure if this is doable, because I don't have any Cisco/networking experience.

thanks

With all that resources you have and I see that you have Network+ under your belt, I am having a hard time believing that you have a hard time studying for those. I think what you need to do is to get yourself highly motivated and focus on one book at a time. I never tried Lammle's books. I only use Odom, but I'm sure Lammale's books are good place to start since I heard it is less dry than Odom's book. Just start reading it before you go straight to the labbing. By the time you get to the example labs in the book, try to follow it step by step until you achieve each task in Packet Tracer. Do that throughout the entire book then you should see where you are. You may need to skim again or go to the next book to "reread" the concept that you probably have difficulty understanding. This is the best advice I can give you, but if this is not helpful, then you probably need to sign up for an instructor-led Cisco course to get you started.

If you ever get stuck, then just tell us here where you are stuck at, and we will help you get past that obstacle.

earweed

Hey JockVSJock!
With all those materials you should be well on your way to being ready. One thing that has helped me out is getting a phusical lab up and running. A lot of the stuuf Cisco that I though was really complicated when I was just using Packet Tracer isn't really that hard.
I could have taken my CCECNT several weeks ago but finances were just not up to par so I put it off. I'm already studying for the ICND2 and will probably just take the combined test.

SteveO86

Tackle some stuff chapter by chapter. Looking at everything as a whole can be very overwhelming. Breaking it up into smaller portions makes it much more manageable. Maybe go through the CCNA by the exam objectives or by technology (ACL's, NAT/Port, EIGRP, one topic every few days.)

Also remembering your goals for pursuing the CCNA to motivate yourself. Staying motivated and keeping your eye on the prize is extremely important, after if your not motivated to do something why are you going to do it?

viper75

SteveO86 wrote: »

Tackle some stuff chapter by chapter. Looking at everything as a whole can be very overwhelming. Breaking it up into smaller portions makes it much more manageable. Maybe go through the CCNA by the exam objectives or by technology (ACL's, NAT/Port, EIGRP, one topic every few days.)

Also remembering your goals for pursuing the CCNA to motivate yourself. Staying motivated and keeping your eye on the prize is extremely important, after if your not motivated to do something why are you going to do it?

+1

I hope this helps and helps you to stay motivated. But the feeling you get when you see, "Passed" on the exam is one of the BEST feelings you will EVER feel! I can't explain it to you. You just have to go through it to know how GREAT it feels. One of the best feelings in my life so far.

Hope that helps you!

Good Luck!

MrRyte

JockVSJock wrote: »

I feel overwhelmed by all of the information and was wondering if anyone had any advice on a way to come at all of this material. I feel like I'm not making any headway on this cert, however my goal was for the following:

-CCENT by late July
-CCNA by Sept

Not sure if this is doable, because I don't have any Cisco/networking experience.

thanks

If that's how you feel, then I say play it safe and delay the exams. If you don't feel confident in your level of knowledge then why waste your $$$$?

gramacorp

If your new to cisco the CBT nugget videos are a great place to start. I would give them a try.

pham0329

I like to watch the video training (trainsignal/cbtnuggets) first, then read the book second. I've found that watching the video gives me a good understanding of the material, and the book helps cement the knowledge/fill any gaps.

Panzer919

I say go topic by topic and develop an outline to help you understand the material since it is coming from multiple resources. You can use something like evernote to store them. That way if you feel like doing it you can just pull up the note and continue where you left off.

onesaint

JockVSJock wrote: »

I feel like I'm not making any headway on this cert, however my goal was for the following:

-CCENT by late July
-CCNA by Sept

thanks

I would start by taking a few ICND I practice exams and see how you do. July is fast approaching and if your not ready, there is no reason to spend your money. Plus investing a bit more time to ensure you know the material will make the tests and future interviews easier.

As for the material, I would focus on one source at a time or one protocol/ theory. Cisco's network academy breaks up the studing into the ICND I and II models. This spreads the protocols out and has them popping up in different chapters based on application (e.g., SMB, Ent., etc.). The videos on the other hand often cover the theories and protocols in their entirety per segment (e.g., EIGRP for WAN, SMB, & Ent all in one chapter). So, based on the way you want to study, you should follow that path, otherwise things can get confusing with so many sources and so much information.

Seeing as you are pursuing the 2 test route, I might stick with that study method. This means matching random video chapters to the ICND I topic your covering.

HTH

vinbuck

Best advice I can give you is to master two topics before you branch out to the rest.

1) Subnetting - this is the foundation for everything Layer 3. If you haven't mastered the mechanics as well as the "why" part of subnetting, you'll be wasting time on other layer 3 topics because you won't have the whole picture.

2) Understanding the difference between Layer 2 and Layer 3 and how they work together. All the layers are important, but in the real world, network engineers spend most of their time talking about and working on layers 2 and 3.

Once you have mastered these topics, you'll be well on your way to deciphering the rest to the CCNA exam objectives. Don't be afraid to go outside of the "approved" CCNA texts to find the answers. RFCs, Cisco docs, Forum posts, blogs are all great sources and can sometimes help to present an idea in a different way until that "aha" light goes off.

gramacorp

Yea i agree with guardsman; once you understand the OSI model and IP the rest will be more easy to understand.

Turgon

JockVSJock wrote: »

So, this is the 3rd time I'm trying to study for this cert. I currently have the following resources:

-Odom's Cisco book
-Lammle's Cisco book
-TrainSignal Training DVDs
-CCNA Lab Manual
-Various Cisco Websites and Forums
-Cisco Packet Tracer

I feel overwhelmed by all of the information and was wondering if anyone had any advice on a way to come at all of this material. I feel like I'm not making any headway on this cert, however my goal was for the following:

-CCENT by late July
-CCNA by Sept

Not sure if this is doable, because I don't have any Cisco/networking experience.

thanks

It's been over 12 years since I took my CCNA but my advice is the same. The CCNA is a very passable exam if you approach it in the correct way. You have good materials at your disposal. I would say hammer the reading each day for a month straight so your study footprint get's bigger. Don't get hung up on the quality of the learning at this point, just get through a book or two. After that, try some practice tests each day and start focussing in on a particular topic for a couple of days before moving along. At this point I would try some hands on exercises, either emulated or simulated or real gear if you can get it. Press on for a couple of months in this manner. Then return to the practice tests again. Boson do some good ones so use those daily for six weeks straight and then take your test. Four months all in at one hour a day.

Chalk up 120 study hours and I think you are good to go. Put up an hour counter in your signature or start a study thread to stay motivated, I find that works for me. One hour a day is fine, if you cram and overcook your study preparations there is a chance you will burn up never to return. Once you really feel the urge to do more studying you will do so, free time permitting of course.

viper75

MississippiGuardsman wrote: »

Best advice I can give you is to master two topics before you branch out to the rest.

1) Subnetting - this is the foundation for everything Layer 3. If you haven't mastered the mechanics as well as the "why" part of subnetting, you'll be wasting time on other layer 3 topics because you won't have the whole picture.

+1

Make sure you have your subnetting down. Like 2nd nature. You need to know subnetting for the test and real world. Just the other day one of the Junior Engineers at my job was dealing with a mid-size customer and they were having connectivity issues with a Cisco ASA firewall. No one could figure out why when they connected the ASA to the network nothing was able to get to the Internet.

My boss had asked me to help the other Engineer out with the ASA issue. The customer's ISP had given them 3 public address with a /30. Right after I saw the mask and the addresses that where given to them. I knew it was wrong. I did the math to verify my Thinking. The ISP told the customer to use the subnet ID as the 1st available IP for modem, 2nd for the ASA and 3rd for a web-server. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!! You can not use a subnet ID as the 1st available usable IP address. Subnetting 101...

I explained to the customer what the issue was and after dealing with a few below level one techs at the ISP (Don't know how they have a job) the issue was corrected and a correct IP scheme was re-assigned to the customer. I showed the Engineer what the issue was so from now on if he runs into problems like this, he will know what to do next.

Moral of story, KNOW YOUR SUBNETTING!!! Hammer it down, beat it down until you can do it in your sleep, and FAST!!!!

instant000

JockVSJock wrote: »

So, this is the 3rd time I'm trying to study for this cert. I currently have the following resources:

-Odom's Cisco book
-Lammle's Cisco book
-TrainSignal Training DVDs
-CCNA Lab Manual
-Various Cisco Websites and Forums
-Cisco Packet Tracer

I feel overwhelmed by all of the information and was wondering if anyone had any advice on a way to come at all of this material. I feel like I'm not making any headway on this cert, however my goal was for the following:

-CCENT by late July
-CCNA by Sept

Not sure if this is doable, because I don't have any Cisco/networking experience.

thanks

You have a heckuva lot of material there.

This is what you need to do.

1. Calm down. You're overwhelming yourself with materials.

2. Print out the exam objectives from Shortcut Redirect - Cisco Systems (You have to jump through several hoops to get to the objectives page, don't ask me why they did this.)
Configure/Implement -- means you need to memorize doing these configurations
Verify -- means you need to memorize the show/debug commands
Explain -- means you need to know how to use it
Describe -- means you need to know the definition
Calculate -- means you need to know subnetting, no questions asked

3. Pick one book to use as your main study text, and only one book. You can cross reference other things in the other book, but stick with just one main book.

4. Using your main book, make flash cards of every single term/configuration you can think of. I'll give you an example of a couple flash cards that I have from Chapter 10 of Todd Lammle, the main text I'm using to study for CCNA.

(10-2) Q: What command displays all access lists and their parameters configured on the router. This command does not show you which interface the list is set on.

A: sh access lists

(10-19) Q: How do you aapply the MAC access-list instant to the f0/3 interface?

A:
config t
int f0/3
mac access-group instant in

Note: You can use regular old 3x5 index cards, or you can use programs to make your flash crads. A couple free programs are "cuecard" and "mnemosyne".

5. Lab the topics as you cover them. Try to work on it a chapter at a time, mastering one topic at a time.

6. Review your flash cards EVERY SINGLE DAY. (There are flash card methods: 5 box, mnemosyne, etc. Find one that works for you.) I have no problem with going over a few hundred flash cards, if it helps me to pass the exam.

7. Once you finally get through the book, try the practice exam included with the text. If you have indeed been labbing and reviewing your flash cards, you should do really well on this. If you notice some topics you need to add to your flash cards, then add them.

8. Once you get confident, schedule the exam.

9. The week before your exam, keep up the labbing and the flash cards. Take your practice exams every single day. There is no way the test can catch you off guard.

10. Post back here when you pass.

ehnde

I see your problem: you have one giant goal. When I passed the CCNA exam it was a lifetime achievement. Other people might feel the same way.

If you were to train for a marathon, would you say "my goal is to run 26 miles in July"? It wouldn't work. What are your daily goal and weekly goals? Discipline is something you have on a minute-to-minute basis. You can be an example of efficiency one minute and a complete slob the next. We all need breaks

That's why cramming hard day after day doesn't work.

I suggest having a daily minimum reading goal of 5 pages. You can read more if you want, but you must read 5 pages 7 days a week. You could have a weekly reading goal of 70 pages.

Can you schedule 1 hour per day to do labs? 8pm - 9pm worked for me, but I would usually wind up going past 9pm just because I wanted to. How about a weekly goal of 6 lab hours.

When I was studying for my NA I would do subnetting problems while I drank my coffee in the morning. After my 3 cups of daily coffee that was it - no more subnetting for that day. 10 minutes a day 5 days a week will do the trick.

Ryco

My philosophy is pretty much the same as ehnde's.

Something that has always worked well for me is to set small goals rather than larger overall goals. Your goals are CCENT by late July and CCNA by September. Why these time periods? Does a job dictate that you must reach these? If you rush yourself you may be able to make those deadlines, but will you truly understand the material? Will you go back over material you somewhat understand but aren't 100% sure when you're running tight on that deadline?

It is a lot of material to cover, but approaching it with smaller goals makes it much more reasonable in my opinion. Rather than "CCENT by July" try, "Chapters 4 and 5 this week!", if you finish in 4 days that gives you additional time to review the material. If you feel confident you understand those chapters then move onto the next chapter early, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment and (hopefully) remain motivated.

People definitely work harder when time is running out, but they also can become careless and cut corners. Remember, the piece of paper simply shows you understand the material, so focus on just that. Pace yourself, set smaller goals, learn and understand the material, then set a date for the exam. I look forward to seeing "CCNA" under that username of yours!

TesseracT

You probably have too many study sources to really nail the exam as it's easy to do... As people have stated earlier, tackle it topic by topic but don't be afraid to cull a few of your sources as it can quickly overwhelm you. Keep to the staples and everything should start making sense

viper75

ehnde wrote: »

I see your problem: you have one giant goal. When I passed the CCNA exam it was a lifetime achievement. Other people might feel the same way.

If you were to train for a marathon, would you say "my goal is to run 26 miles in July"? It wouldn't work. What are your daily goal and weekly goals? Discipline is something you have on a minute-to-minute basis. You can be an example of efficiency one minute and a complete slob the next. We all need breaks That's why cramming hard day after day doesn't work.

I suggest having a daily minimum reading goal of 5 pages. You can read more if you want, but you must read 5 pages 7 days a week. You could have a weekly reading goal of 70 pages.

Can you schedule 1 hour per day to do labs? 8pm - 9pm worked for me, but I would usually wind up going past 9pm just because I wanted to. How about a weekly goal of 6 lab hours.

When I was studying for my NA I would do subnetting problems while I drank my coffee in the morning. After my 3 cups of daily coffee that was it - no more subnetting for that day. 10 minutes a day 5 days a week will do the trick.

I agree with him with the exception of the subnetting part. A lot of people fail because they jackup the subnetting part of the exam. I think you need to spend more than 10 minutes a day on subnetting. More like at LEAST 2 hours a day, until you can do it in your sleep, and you're 110% confident your accuracy will be 100% every single time you do a subnetting problem. Remember from my earlier post, you have to be FAST!!!!

When I sat for my CCNA I was actually happy when I was hit with a subnetting question, because I knew I was going to get it right. I must have spent hours, days, just practicing subnetting alone. And my accuracy was 100% all the time. So I knew I was going to get those questions right on the test.

Let me just say when I 1st started to study for my CCNA I HATED subnetting. That was my weakest area. When I say weakeast I meant weakest. It was like a piece of paper trying to hold up a 100 ton rock.

Like ehnde says, dedication and discipline are Key here.

I hope this helps!

Good Luck!

Qord

I think that your problem is you have too much material to work with. That might sound stupid, but it's true. You have so much there that you probably switch back and forth trying to get the most out of everything. If you plan to take it in 2 exams (which is what it looks like) then I would tell you to go to Cisco's site and look at the exam objectives and plan your studying according to that. If you decide to go the 1 exam route, I'd suggest to start with 1 (only one) book and read it cover to cover, labbing all the way. Then move on to another book, and again, labbing all the way. It's very easy to get flustered if you've got too much to study from.

The most time consuming part of this is probably going to be setting up packet tracer so that you can actually do the "labs" in the books, unless you have access to the already set-up packet tracer exercises. If you already have these, great! If not, make sure to label them well and save them as you do them.

Either way, as you read through the material, use Cisco's website and google to your advantage. If there's something you don't quite get, chances are someone has typed it up in a way that you'll understand so don't get frustrated!!

instant000

^^^^ I like these tips.

Common trends:
1. You may have too many materials to study.
2. Set a series of smaller goals. (Learn a topic at a time. Read a few pages each day. Study a little bit of subnetting every day.)
3. Subnetting is critical. (Work on it daily.)
4. Labbing is critical. (Lab the topics as you cover them.)

I wouldn't be surprised that you probably know a majority of the material on the test, but maybe, just maybe, you fell victim to poor time management? I have a friend who failed it THREE times, and that was her reason. I'm trying to encourage her to try it one more time, but figured I needed to get it first, so she would be more encouraged to study for it. (And my methods would be a lot more trustworthy.)

The primary problems my friend had on the test (time management):
1. subnetting (not subnetting fast enough)
2. sims (not memorizing the configs)

The BEST ways to make the time management a non-issue is the following:

1. Subnet in your head. /30? mask = 255.255.255.252, block size = 4, wild card is 0.0.0.3 (making wildcards is a derivative of knowing your subnetting and blocksizes)

2. Memorize the configurations.
Example: set up ripv1:
config t
router rip
network 172.16.0.0

config t - enter global configuration mode
router rip - enable rip on the router
network 172.16.0.0 - add the classful network statement of whatever network you're adding to RIP

Hope this helps.

Turgon

Study a little every day. That's the secret.

ITdude

Turgon wrote: »

Study a little every day. That's the secret.

Exactly!:)

Turgon

viper75 wrote: »

I agree with him with the exception of the subnetting part. A lot of people fail because they jackup the subnetting part of the exam. I think you need to spend more than 10 minutes a day on subnetting. More like at LEAST 2 hours a day, until you can do it in your sleep, and you're 110% confident your accuracy will be 100% every single time you do a subnetting problem. Remember from my earlier post, you have to be FAST!!!!

When I sat for my CCNA I was actually happy when I was hit with a subnetting question, because I knew I was going to get it right. I must have spent hours, days, just practicing subnetting alone. And my accuracy was 100% all the time. So I knew I was going to get those questions right on the test.

Let me just say when I 1st started to study for my CCNA I HATED subnetting. That was my weakest area. When I say weakeast I meant weakest. It was like a piece of paper trying to hold up a 100 ton rock.

Like ehnde says, dedication and discipline are Key here.

I hope this helps!

Good Luck!

People get too hung up on subnetting. Yes there are questions on subnetting but you do not have to spend 2 hours a day on that topic. There are plenty of books and tools online to help you grasp subnetting. Use them daily and eventually you can look at requirement either binary or decimal and you instinctively know what sort of solution you are looking for. It was the same with multicasting when I studied that.

vinbuck

Turgon wrote: »

People get too hung up on subnetting. Yes there are questions on subnetting but you do not have to spend 2 hours a day on that topic. There are plenty of books and tools online to help you grasp subnetting. Use them daily and eventually you can look at requirement either binary or decimal and you instinctively know what sort of solution you are looking for. It was the same with multicasting when I studied that.

They have really made subnetting pervasive in many areas of the latest rendition of the CCNA - Not just a few questions on subnetting a given network. They will structure routing questions and sims such that you will fail if you don't have a solid grasp of the topic. I passed the CCNA back in 2003 and just retook it again in 2010 and it's a completely different animal than it was back in the early days.

For me understanding why subnetting is important in a network helped to unlock many routing concepts that had previously eluded me. I guess everyone learns differently, but nothing had more of a dramatic impact on my learning than when I really understood how subnetting worked and why it was useful.

MrXpert

I've never taken the cisco exam so can't speak from any experience but what i do know is that you need to take "one match at a time". What i mean by that comes from sport...in particular tennis or cricket. They always play one match at a time and focus on the immediate goals and work their way to the top.

You so seem to have a lot of material there also. I found that a problem when i did the network+. I eventually ditched two books and focussed on one video training package (train signal) and one book to complement it(meyers)

Maybe it is best if you choose a book you feel most comfy with and stick with it. And as you read chapter by chapter watch the train signal vid that relates to that chapter. Or alternatively read the book first take notes, then watch the vids and pool your notes together. Or vice versa.

I know the cisco exams are tough but i'm sure that having two excellent resources+lab experience+test questions is more than enough to pass it. Having too much information is like going to a fancy resturant and seeing a massive list of starters and main courses. What happens here? you spend a long time deciding what you want, scouring over the lists of food and prices...seeing what is best. Then just as you are about to choose one you see another. A big distraction that is if all u want to do is select something quick eat and go home. How would you avoid this situation....i know what i'd do...choose another resturant

You can do it! good luck!

Turgon

MississippiGuardsman wrote: »

They have really made subnetting pervasive in many areas of the latest rendition of the CCNA - Not just a few questions on subnetting a given network. They will structure routing questions and sims such that you will fail if you don't have a solid grasp of the topic. I passed the CCNA back in 2003 and just retook it again in 2010 and it's a completely different animal than it was back in the early days.

For me understanding why subnetting is important in a network helped to unlock many routing concepts that had previously eluded me. I guess everyone learns differently, but nothing had more of a dramatic impact on my learning than when I really understood how subnetting worked and why it was useful.

Yes it is a very important topic, study it a little each day if necessary.

SurferdudeHB

I'd like to add..

first, you are in good hands, this forum is awesome because of the members here who are very supportive and encouraging. Eveyone is in the same boat/ voyage/ endeavor and this makes you feel that you are not alone. The hardship, headaches and loss of hair

is felt by all of us.

Second, like others have said.. take baby steps and keep your eyes on the goal.

Third, relax and try to enjoy the journey. I know it's not the funnest thing to do but try to make this enjoyable. Remember you are doing this for a good reason what ever it might be

Agent6376

See the packet...be the packet.

But seriously, think step by step how data moves from beginning to end. The CCENT was a lot of content that lays an absolutely necessary foundation for anything and everything in your future networking studies. I'm in agreement with others in the forum that suggest watching CBTs, and then reading the material. Also, viewing questions shouldn't be overlooked as an opportunity to show you what areas you need improvement on.

One thing I'll do is go through a practice test and guage my confidence in the area I'm preparing for. I'll go through each of my answers and look at the right AND WRONG answers. You ideally want to read a question and be able to disqualify at least half of the answers in a multiple choice question. You'll get a lot more from your practice tests this way.

Heero

Turgon wrote: »

People get too hung up on subnetting. Yes there are questions on subnetting but you do not have to spend 2 hours a day on that topic. There are plenty of books and tools online to help you grasp subnetting. Use them daily and eventually you can look at requirement either binary or decimal and you instinctively know what sort of solution you are looking for. It was the same with multicasting when I studied that.

It is not about speed when it comes to subnetting. It is about understanding. If you truly understand subnetting, then you can move on and learn other stuff without getting hung up on the subnetting that is done in the other stuff.

Some people here will say that you have to be able to do X amount of subnetting problems in Y amount of time. **** that. Just make sure you actually understand it and it is okay if you don't treat it like you treat mental math in 3rd grade.

Turgon

Heero wrote: »

It is not about speed when it comes to subnetting. It is about understanding. If you truly understand subnetting, then you can move on and learn other stuff without getting hung up on the subnetting that is done in the other stuff.

Some people here will say that you have to be able to do X amount of subnetting problems in Y amount of time. **** that. Just make sure you actually understand it and it is okay if you don't treat it like you treat mental math in 3rd grade.

Exactly. Do enough studying so you understand the mechanics of subnetting. There are no prizes for speed.