Failed the CCDA last week. My score = 737. Passing score = 755. I passed the CCNA well but have had trouble with this one. I was never really sure what to study (I am not attending the DCN course). I have used the following books:
-DCN (Cisco Press)
-Top Down Network Design (Cisco Press)
-CCDA Exam Notes (Sybex)
-CCDA Study Guide (Sybex)

Of these, I will recommend as the best reference "Top Down Network Design" and consider as the least useful, "CCDA Exam Notes (Sybex)"

This exam is difficult. Or, rather, difficult to study for. The exam consisted of roughly 50-60% case study questions. The others were facts, like those found on the CCNA. The mixture of "soft" case study questions and "hard" fact-type questions made the exam an especially annoying one to take.

The case studies were distributed in approximately the first half of the exam. The fact-type questions were of two varieties: "amazingly easy to answer" or "somewhat difficult". The "CCDA Study Guide (Sybex)" should help for these types of questions. The "DCN" or "Top Down" should be used for case studies. Use the CCDA Exam Notes for nothing at all.

Found an alarmingly large number of questions on the following topics:
-Token Ring
-FDDI
-Routed and routing protocols (scenario)
-Switching
-Switching (yes, twice because there were plenty of these!)

Here is the official breakdown of Exam sections: (you may want to cross-reference these with Cisco's 640-441 Objectives or your own study notes)
-Identify Customer Needs
-Design The Network Prototype
-Build a Prototype Network
-Internetworking Basics
-LAN Protocols
-WAN Technologies
-Bridging & Switching
-Routed Protocols
-Routing Protocols
-Network Management

I am retaking the test Monday, 4 PM. Wish me luck. I will post afterward with more hints.

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dear friend,

u will pass second time,if u read well and
understand all the concepts in dcn book.

do all the case studies questions in the dcn book.


cheers!

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Wow! That's one question away from passing. Probably you just got unlucky. Thanks for giving us some tips.

Good Luck!

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Yes, 1 question. And I know which one it was!! (Kidding.) Anyhow, I was a bit angry at myself for getting so close but, then again, I thought I was going to do a lot better than I did and I hate barely squeaking by exams. It makes you feel like you only know the absolute minimum. I hope to go for my CCIE someday, and this was no way to start out. Anyhow, the last week I have been ramping up for my 640-503 and doing a lot of CCDA review. I overlooked quite a bit of what Cisco considers important knowledge for the exam the first time but now I have reinforced knowledge in many areas.

Most importantly, though, is that I have learned A LOT more than I knew before my first attempt. That IS the important thing, right?

Oh, BTW, one thing I forgot in my earlier post. HINT: Expect to see questions on X.25 and ATM as they relate to the (existing network) case studies.

Good Luck

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How close is this ccda exam to that of ccna exam? How many questions and duration of the exam? If we have already passed ccna, how much time does it take to prepare for ccda?
thanks

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This is a good question. The CCDA is a strange exam, in the Cisco hierarchy of tests. It used to be that the CCDA required the CCNA as a prerequisite. This changed at some point. Why? I would highly recommend the CCNA first. In fact, if you look at the DCN, Chapter 1 (or thereabouts) basically CCNA in a nutshell. Very brief, but it is pretty much all there.

Now, that said, I would say that the CCDA exam somewhat resembles the CCNA exam. Roughly 20-30% of the questions in the exam could appear on the CCNA and nobody would notice. Of course, ther focus of the exam is design, so the bulk of the questions are not of the type encountered on the CCNA. Also, you will not really be expected to do any kind of serious IP subnetting, or be expected to know much IOS syntax. A little of both, but not enough to worry about. (I recall that I was given 1 IP VLSM and 3 basic IOS questions). So what does that leave from the CCNA? A lot. Mostly high-level theory. Know your WAN, bridging, switching, routing, protocols...etc. If you haven't taken the CCNA, please do that first.

Now to probably best answer your question: the test is 50-60% case studies. That is not like CCNA at all. For a more concrete answer, read the end-of-chapter questions in both the CCNA Exam Certification Guide (Cisco Press) and in the Designing Cisco Networks (Cisco Press). You'll soon get the picture.

Lawrence

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Lawrence, What part of the exam did you struggle with?

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Hard to say, really. According to my test breakdown, it went like this:

84%-Identify Customer Needs
54%-Design The Network Prototype
75%-Build a Prototype Network
75%-Internetworking Basics
66%-LAN Protocols
20%-WAN Technologies
50%-Bridging & Switching
100%-Routed Protocols
0%-Routing Protocols
100%-Network Management

All I could say after getting my score was "Huh?" On my CCNA I scored 100% on Routing Protocols and 85% on Network Managemment. And what was up witht he WAN technologies?!

In any case I could not tell how the questions mapped to the objectives for the most part. I wasn't sure until I pressed the button how I would do. During the exam, I felt like the case studies hurt me most of all but it looks like I may have done okay on those. Who knows?

Back to the books. Retest is 4 PM MST MON 05 NOV.

Good Luck, will post w/ hints immediately after test.

Lawrence

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Send your email address to gordonolson@yahoo.com

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PASSED!

I will set up a new thread later TU07NOV w/ hints.

Lawrence

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