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Home > Archive > alt.certification.cisco > September 2003 > Debating CCNA
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| Hello,
Little background: I have my Net+ a couple years ago and just recently got
my MCSA. I currently do not have a desire to get my MCSE (mainly because of
lack of experience to justify it, not to mention it seems like everyone and
their dog has it). I am interested in networking, and can do basic (REAL
basic) cisco pix and switch configurations (mainly just acls, static nats, &
port configurations).
I've been looking at CCNA and wondering if thats the way to go. I am
looking at two study materials:
-CCNA Certification Library (CCNA Self-Study) - Cisco press 1587200953 (Aug
2003)
-CCNA Self-Study CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack - Cisco Press
1587200791 (July 2003)
Both are for the new CCNA. Are these good materials? I know the "Library"
is specifically geared towards the 2 exam path. Any problem with that if I
decide to do the unified test?
Do you recommend anything else in addition to or instead of these materials?
Unfortunately, my employer wouldn't pay for materials or training, so
anything I get comes out of my own pocket. I have no problem self-studying
(thats how I got my other certs), but hate wasting money!
Thanks for your help!
Joe
***Replace the zero with an "o" to reply directly***
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| Joe wrote:
> I've been looking at CCNA and wondering if thats the way to go. I am
> looking at two study materials:
> -CCNA Certification Library (CCNA Self-Study) - Cisco press 1587200953 (Aug
> 2003)
I just used this (hot off the presses) to study for the unified 640-801
test. Although two separate books, it really works quite well for the
unified test IMHO... the beginning of each books lays out a "study plan"
to follow and describes which order to read the chapters from both books
in if you're following the unified path. Each book has a separate cd-rom
with practice tests and the LE version of the boson simulator though, so
there's no way to get a practice exam exactly like the 640-801 in one
sitting.
I found that the simulator engine on the practice test was *really
stupid* though -- for example, if the questions was to say, configure
the hostname of the router and configure rip on interface e0, it would
mark your answer wrong if you did this (for example):
router> en
router# conf t
router(conf)# router rip
router(conf-router)# network 192.168.1.0
router(conf-router)# exit
rotuer(conf)# hostname foo
foo(conf)# ctrl-z
foo#
instead of this:
router> en
router# conf t
router(conf)# hostname foo
foo(conf)# router rip
foo(conf-router)# network 192.168.1.0
foo(conf-router)# ctrl-z
foo#
This made the practice simulator questions relly useless. Thankfully,
the simulator on the real 640-801 test seemed to do the "right thing".
> Do you recommend anything else in addition to or instead of these
materials?
Pick up a 2500 router or two at minimum if at all possible, and start
playing with it. The simulators are just painful compared to the real
thing in my opinion.
Other than that, the set of cisco book seemed pretty complete to me.
Personally I don't think flashcard-style learning is very useful, but
that's probably because I learned networking while getting my BS degree
and now have 6 years of cisco experience, so the basics are pretty well
ingrained on me. I studied these books for about a week, taking all the
chapter-intro quizzes to fill in the holes in my experience, and passed
640-801 last week with a 951. It seemed like the books covered *way*
more detail than was on the test, which seems to be a common comment
about cisco books in general (as compared to the sybex ones).
Good luck!
-Will
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| coverIng way more detail is a good thing in this case?
"Will" <usenet@loopfree.net> wrote in message
news:vln4vrharm3j1e@corp.supernews.com...
> Joe wrote:
>
> > I've been looking at CCNA and wondering if thats the way to go. I am
> > looking at two study materials:
> > -CCNA Certification Library (CCNA Self-Study) - Cisco press 1587200953
(Aug
> > 2003)
>
> I just used this (hot off the presses) to study for the unified 640-801
> test. Although two separate books, it really works quite well for the
> unified test IMHO... the beginning of each books lays out a "study plan"
> to follow and describes which order to read the chapters from both books
> in if you're following the unified path. Each book has a separate cd-rom
> with practice tests and the LE version of the boson simulator though, so
> there's no way to get a practice exam exactly like the 640-801 in one
> sitting.
>
> I found that the simulator engine on the practice test was *really
> stupid* though -- for example, if the questions was to say, configure
> the hostname of the router and configure rip on interface e0, it would
> mark your answer wrong if you did this (for example):
>
> router> en
> router# conf t
> router(conf)# router rip
> router(conf-router)# network 192.168.1.0
> router(conf-router)# exit
> rotuer(conf)# hostname foo
> foo(conf)# ctrl-z
> foo#
>
> instead of this:
>
> router> en
> router# conf t
> router(conf)# hostname foo
> foo(conf)# router rip
> foo(conf-router)# network 192.168.1.0
> foo(conf-router)# ctrl-z
> foo#
>
>
> This made the practice simulator questions relly useless. Thankfully,
> the simulator on the real 640-801 test seemed to do the "right thing".
>
>
> > Do you recommend anything else in addition to or instead of these
> materials?
>
> Pick up a 2500 router or two at minimum if at all possible, and start
> playing with it. The simulators are just painful compared to the real
> thing in my opinion.
>
> Other than that, the set of cisco book seemed pretty complete to me.
> Personally I don't think flashcard-style learning is very useful, but
> that's probably because I learned networking while getting my BS degree
> and now have 6 years of cisco experience, so the basics are pretty well
> ingrained on me. I studied these books for about a week, taking all the
> chapter-intro quizzes to fill in the holes in my experience, and passed
> 640-801 last week with a 951. It seemed like the books covered *way*
> more detail than was on the test, which seems to be a common comment
> about cisco books in general (as compared to the sybex ones).
>
> Good luck!
>
> -Will
>
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| Bob wrote:
> coverIng way more detail is a good thing in this case?
Well I think so, because I'm in it for the enjoyment and knowledge of
networking, not for just a four-letter acronym (CCNA) to put on my
resume. It sure makes the test-taking experience more enjoyable when
you've over-trained, too. If you just want to pass the test with a
minimum score then maybe some other books are better.
-Will
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