CCNA Security Achievement Unlocked!

I've been studying for this exam for about a month and a half on-and-off and finally decided to sit the test. I wouldn't say that I was surprised I passed but I was surprised that I received such a high score. I'll admit that I didn't lab as much in CCP as I should have but it ended up being a non-issue since CCP is so easy to navigate through and fairly simple to "get." I used the newest 640-554 book and it had everything (and more!) of what one needs to pass the exam.

One thing I was actually disappointed in was the focus on CCP in the exam. I don't see too many professionals relying on CCP for security. ASDM is another matter but that was completely excluded from the exam and most of the book. I can't really fault the book authors because they don't choose the exam content but I would have liked to see more of it from Cisco.

Amusing sidenote: I was out late last night doing fun things that involved alcohol and a Halloween burlesque show so when I woke up for the test, I rolled out of bed in my PJS, hair a mess, and probably smelling like a used shot glass to go to the test (This is NOT the Iristheangel recommended test-prep). When I arrived, there were a few other test takers sitting in the waiting area. One of the guys asked me if I was on the TechExams forums and that he knew who I was (Yay! I'm popular on the internet).
To that random test taker: I hope you passed your test! I'm very surprised you could recognize me in my messy state! Rep to you!

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sratakhin

Congratulations! What was your score and what do you want to do next?

Iristheangel

My score was 927. I have to assist with upgrading our enterprise to Call Manager 9.0 so I've already started on CCNA:Voice since it's the most relevant in my life right now. I'm not sure whether or not I'll bother with the CCNA Wireless. I don't know much about it but I feel that wireless is one of those things that I don't need to know that much about to perform my duties as a network engineer. After Voice, I'll be going for the CCNP next year.

sratakhin

Wow, that's impressive! How difficult was CCNA:Security compared to just CCNA?
Good luck with your studies and job!

Iristheangel

There's a lot that is relevant to my job such as everything to do with ASAs, VPNs, ACLs, AAA, TACACS+, etc, but other things that were not so relevant such as the hundred or so pages going on about how to do everything through CCP. I felt like the CCNA gave me a good introduction to the basics of configuring a router and ASA for security so I can't fault it there but I was already implementing a lot of this weeks before I started studying for it so I had that advantage.

Since a lot of the exam and coursework focuses on the GUI, I'd say that the test is much easier than the core CCNA exams. It's much more specific and even if you don't remember something verbatim while you're taking the test (or in real life), the GUI is simple enough to figure it out. That's a big advantage to the CCNA exam where if you didn't know something or didn't configure something in the right order, you just got that question wrong.

ChooseLife

Congrats on another victory! Well done!

Iristheangel wrote: »

I woke up for the test, I rolled out of bed in my PJS, hair a mess, and probably smelling like a used shot glass to go to the test... One of the guys asked me if I was on the TechExams forums and that he knew who I was (Yay! I'm popular on the internet)

That's hillarious... I'm picturing you in pajamas, with messy hair, hungover, etc walking into the test center, and someone going "Hey, you must be Iristheangel!"

Have you checked if you are maybe popular on youtubes?

jdballinger

Congrats on the pass, and with a great score!

Did you do much labbing for this, or was it primarily your hands on experience at work that provided that? I'm beginning to poke around with this as well and am curious whether I should be looking into purchasing an ASA or not.

Iristheangel

@Jdballinger - Work was my labbing. Without violating NDA, ASA questions were very irrelevant on the test. It was more CCP-centric so if you have a router with an up-to-day IOS image, you'll have the only lab you'll need to pass the exam.
Now if you want to have a lab for REAL practical work environments, then go buy an ASA *and* a router. Practice establishing a VPN tunnel through the CLI and the GUI, practice enabling and configuring AAA, create various access lists and practice practice practice.

@ChooseLife - It was funny. The proctor was running a little behind and he was asking the other people what schools they were from. This forum member said that he was from WGU and I was like "Oh wow! I am going there from my MS right now! I hope you're enjoying it!" To which he replied, "Oh you're on a forum called Tech Exams, aren't you? You're pretty popular on there." LoL. Then I suddenly became self-aware of how much of a bum I looked like in that moment. Random TE member - I swear I'm not homeless!

Ivanjam

Congrats @ Iristheangel - great score!

Ha @ ChooseLife re: youtubes.

Ayvz

fantastic...nice one!!

Ivanjam

Iristheangel wrote: »

...Random TE member - I swear I'm not homeless!

@Iristheangel - let's see who else posts a pass in CCNA:S today

Iristheangel

He was there for his A+. He told me he's only posted like 6 times on here so we'll see...

GPIT

lol. At least now I know the back story. You did kinda have the "I just rolled out of bed look." At first glance I thought for a moment it was you but you looked just "off" enough to make me have doubts. Once you said you went to WGU then I knew for sure it was you. But just to be safe I still had to ask if you "post on TE." Small world. It was nice talking to you. I'm past 6 posts now!

Oh, and didn't you have to take a picture? Your morning after is now etched in time.

Ivanjam

Ha @ GPIT - congratulations on passing the A+!

Iristheangel

@GPIT - Yes! I did have to take a picture! My bedhead hungover shame will always be remembered by Cisco:

It was nice to meet you this morning. I hope you did equally as well on your test. That testing center was certainly... um... interesting! Not only could I go there to take my test but I could also buy phone cards and get my green card renewed! Huzzah!

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paul78

Great story and congratulations. That's quite an impressive score. Would you be willing to share your secret in the choice of libations for exam prep? I'm partial to gin martinis, would that work?

Iristheangel

My exam prep happened to be dealing with a ton of ASAs at work as well as using Profsim's network simulator (probably better for learning the command line than taking the test) and reading the new CCNA:Security book.

As far as my "studying" last night, the burlesque show I was at had these wonderful chocolate vodka martinis. It's kind of a blur but I'm sure I got some great studying done!

GPIT

Iristheangel wrote: »

@GPIT - Yes! I did have to take a picture! My bedhead hungover shame will always be remembered by Cisco:

It was nice to meet you this morning. I hope you did equally as well on your test. That testing center was certainly... um... interesting! Not only could I go there to take my test but I could also buy phone cards and get my green card renewed! Huzzah!

Your picture is kind of like a mug shot.

I actually was going to ask you if all testing centers were like this one. The place was not what I pictured when I thought of a testing center, but they are open 7 days and always have free slots. So, so far so good. And I did good on the exam. I'm never thrilled when I miss any questions, but I passed!

Roguetadhg

Uh. It really does look like its a mugshot, Irish.

Congratulations on the pass! I'm glad you got it done!

I can't just let you get your cert while I'm wallowing around.

broli720

Congrats. Hope to sit for this exam around Christmas time.

lurker53

Grats on the good results!

Any particular tips or general areas to apply extra focus on? Categories that you may have thought weren't that big of a deal when studying, but may have stumped you (not asking about specifics for obvious reasons).

I'm planning on taking it within 1 month for some extra credit points in my class (AAS degree requirement), and my employer provides compensation for exams that I pass. So far I've got a GNS3 lab environment built up with some VMs for CCP and AAA, and I also picked up the 640-554 cert book (about 1/4 through it). The class is alright, the lectures tend to speed through things that the teacher deems outdated, but having access to the NetAcademy lab guides feels very helpful. I'm mostly studying on my own when I work during the night.