CCENT/CCNA [H] study group

the guys that did the 802 how were you on time? I hear its a crunch on time, though its less sims than the 2 part tests. I havent decided if im doing the all in one or the 2 part yet. im leaning towards the 802 but i hear most people that fail is because of time which worries me because sometimes i need to read a question out twice.
 
Ruckus said:
the guys that did the 802 how were you on time? I hear its a crunch on time, though its less sims than the 2 part tests. I havent decided if im doing the all in one or the 2 part yet. im leaning towards the 802 but i hear most people that fail is because of time which worries me because sometimes i need to read a question out twice.
Click to expand...

There is loads of time imo. I had about 20 mins spare.
 
I did the CCENT/CCNA approach, breezed through ICND1 with about 30 minutes to spare. I took a few risks in ICND2 and allowed myself more time for the longer questions, this was risky since I didn't know if there would be other long questions later in the test but luckily everything worked out and I finished with about 10 minutes to spare.

On another note, I feel like I have a firm grasp on pvlan's now. I understood the concept but just had to remember the syntax, brute force memorization for the win.

Code: 
vlan 110
private-vlan community

vlan 120
private-vlan isolated

vlan 100
private-vlan primary
private-vlan assocation 110,120

int vlan 100
private-vlan mapping 110,120
ip add 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.0

int g1/0/11
switchport mode private-vlan host
switchport private-vlan host-association 100 110

int g1/0/12
switchport mode private-vlan host
switchport private-vlan host-association 100 110

int g1/0/13 
switchport mode private-vlan host
switchport private-vlan host-association 100 120

Also, here is a great resource for SWITCH candidates!

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccnp/switch?tab=3
 
Last edited:
Gave the 640-802 a shot, failed with 801pts. I felt very comfortable with time & had more than 20 mins remaining. What got me was the wording on a few questions, otherwise I enjoyed the sims.

I am happy I was this close with only three weeks of applicable study, and it was free this time around. Now that I have to put $300 on the line for the next attempt, it might change things :)
 
Took the ICND2 on Thursday, finished with 8 minutes to spare - passed with a score just shy of 900. For whatever reason, there were a *lot* of OSPF questions. I know I flubbed on the DR selection stuff.

Alas, though.. passed! Glad to officially be a CCNA and able to move on to CCNP material. Going to begin investigating SWITCH next.
 
Well just finished my CCNA 4 final, got a 86.1% on the final and a 94% for the course. Which means I get an exam voucher for 58% off! Took four college quarters to do it, but its worth it to me since I'm not the best self studier.

Now a quick question, anyone go the Academy route then take the exam? Is the real exam different than the finals besides the simulations? I guess I'm only asking because I don't feel so confident for some reason.
 
I've gone the Self-Study / OJT route for all of my recent certification although I did go through the learning academy for CCNA about 5 years ago but didn't certify afterwards.

Earlier this year I self-studied and got my CCNA. While I was preparing for it the Official Cerification Guide was the biggest help besides a few years of enterprise level experience.

So, I would reccomend that you take a spin through the OCG and then go for the cert!
 
That's what I've heard... But I feel confident. I have read through both the FLG and OCG multiple times and I am on my 3rd work through of the lab manual and some advanced labbing this weekend.
 
I'm looking at acquiring either the 2600XM, 3640s, or 3700 series routers for my lab. I'm not having a hard time researching out what routers to pick. The pricing on ebay favors the 3700s.
 
Have you considered the 18XX series, they usually go for around $175-300 but they are very low power (20W for mine under normal load) and support a large range of features. Plus you can aggregate other devices by adding an ESW or an WIC.

Plus, they are recommended in all of the offical lab manuals for CCNP.
 
640-802 passed! All I can say is to READ and UNDERSTAND every facet of the books. I had been taking the official practice tests, and getting in the high 900's. Running packet tracer labs and getting them done in about 15 min without having to look up answers on google/books.

The actual test was another matter completely, in that I do not feel that the sims or practice tests covered some of the more obscure content, that I'm sure was in the books but I skimmed over. Finished with about 5-10 minutes left. The sims were easy, it was half the questions that made me scratch my head.

CCNP R&S Next! Think I'll go ROUTE/TSHOOT/SWITCH as that's my best to worst knowledge.

That being said I think I need to upgrade my lab for CCNP level stuff.. I do not have any 18xx routers or xx60 switches.
 
Thinking of taking CCNA Security next. Anyone taken this exam? What did you use to perpare for it?

CCNA Wireless is a crappy/easy test for anyone about to take it.

Thanks
 
Just bought my voucher for 642-813 (CCNP SWITCH) today, I'll be sitting the exam on 7/28/2012 @ 12PM. About to put in some SERIOUS study time this weekend, I probably won't leave my apartment more than once or twice to get food...



TSaL said:
CCNA Wireless is a crappy/easy test for anyone about to take it.
Click to expand...

I may just go snag it, CCNP SWITCH goes fairly in depth with Wireless and CCNA:W would look good on my Resume.

Also, here is a new picture of my CCNP lab. I haven't punched anything into the patch panel yet, but I'll probably do a few links this weekend.

168841_10150914661743155_1072946311_n.jpg
 
Last edited:
Considering I have four 2950T-24's, how many routers are required for the labs? I've read 4 to 6 routers are needed, is this correct?
 
For CCNP: SWITCH you will be fine with those 4 switches, but you may want to consider a multilayer switch such as the 3550/3560.

For ROUTE I am planning on primarily using GNS3 since I can virtualize everything that I will need to complete those labs.
 
Which labs?
I think you can handle switch with 2 2950 and 1 or 2 3550.
I had 2x 2950 + 1x 3550 for practice.
 
The only thing I wasn't able to configure on my 3550's was PVLAN's. Also the 2950's don't seem to support DAI or IPSG.
 
l3thal6 said:
Just bought my voucher for 642-813 (CCNP SWITCH) today, I'll be sitting the exam on 7/28/2012 @ 12PM. About to put in some SERIOUS study time this weekend, I probably won't leave my apartment more than once or twice to get food...





I may just go snag it, CCNP SWITCH goes fairly in depth with Wireless and CCNA:W would look good on my Resume.

Also, here is a new picture of my CCNP lab. I haven't punched anything into the patch panel yet, but I'll probably do a few links this weekend.

168841_10150914661743155_1072946311_n.jpg
Click to expand...

Just because I am curious, what is going on with that patch panel at the top? Are they connected to each other in the back of it or?
 
looks like the serial cable is going from router to router. point to point...
 
EngrChris said:
I'm also curious where the serial cables are going
Click to expand...

It looks like the two routers have double serial connections to each other, judging that both ends are DCE on one router and DTE the other router.
 
250806_10150916024438155_789624587_n.jpg


The serial links interconnect the two routers and I only have 1 port on the patch panel actually patched in now. The server farm doesn't have any redundancy since my server only has one NIC.




Also, has anyone else been thinking about getting some Juniper certification also, I am starting to think that I may get my JNCIA once I finish CCNP.
 
Last edited:
:eek:

I'm going to be heading that way once I finish my CCNP, I would like to get my CCIE by the time I am 30.
 
Videos are good. However, they all start to sound like muppets to me.
They never go into very much detail, and sometimes they dont set things up properly (new terms).

You really have to persevere with the books. I find stuff makes 'more' sense every time i go back to books. There is a lot of information to take in, so not everything is absorbed. When you understand the technology, you pick up more subtle things.
eg, epiphany years later.

However, experience is where it really counts. Muscle memory setting things up, knowing where to look when trouble shooting, developing methodology for trouble shooting. You see things once, you get gut feeling when similar symptoms etc.

Still not sure if racing ahead pays off. You might get some of the bigger picture, but you will be lost picking up ccie books. Work on foundations and perfect them. Focus on smaller obstacles and keep knocking them down.
 
Questions about "serial connections"
1) are all serial connections on router equipment rs232? Does that mean the routers might have different connections for serial? (like db9, db25) or do they all stick to one?

2) I do not understand DTE vs DCE. Is this the same as crossover ethernet vs regular ethernet? How do i know when to use each one? How can i tell a DTE cable from a DCE? is it a female vs male thing?

3) PPP, HDLC, FRAME RELAY, and ATM are all layer 2 protocls only for serial right? Do any of these layer 2 protocols have addressing like ethernet layer 2 has mac addresses? Or would it never be used because serial doesn't support bus topologies?
 
1) You will see varying form factors, check out this page for a few (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps341/products_tech_note09186a00801a886f.shtml)

2) Each cable has a DTE and DCE end, the DCE end is connected to the device that provides clocking (typically a CSU/DSU) and the DTE connects to the terminal (typically YOUR router)

3)Since PPP isn't a shared medium it doesn't use l2 addresses similar to ethernet, it is point-to-point so the addressing isn't required. Frame Relay is NBMA and you can equate DLCI's to MAC addresses especially when you deploy global addressing.
 
I have started working with all the hardware I got from my network engineer as time has freed up drastically.

This is where I am after a few days.

2012-07-15%2002.30.23.jpg


I have the Netgear uplinked to my primary network on port 16 in a vlan with port 14, port 14 into the PIX 501, then the 501 back into port 15 on my Lab VLAN, with the EEEPc on the Lab VLAN as my tftp server (very clever on my part, was sitting in a closet doing literally nothing.), then both vlans into the 2960 as well.

Up for suggestions of different things to try. So far I have done all of this just researching and tinkering.The PIX 501 was a fun adventure as it required TFTP to break into it to reset it back to factory. Took me a bit to get the settings right to do this. The 2960 is pretty barren config wise, most of my ios efforts was on getting the PIX up and working and handing out DHCP.

My 2821s are on the floor still awaiting my rack and PDU and mounting accessories, and my avocent 16 port serial server before I start playing with those monsters.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top