When reading posts within this forum, each time a person would say "I was convinced at the end of the test that I failed" I would smile, assuming they were exagerating.

At the end of my CCDA test, I was *not* smilling.

I really do not know how to elaborate on this test (especially in accordance with NDA) other than to say it really tests on the intracacies of the knowledge and does not have many "general" easy questions.

Like others, I had 4 case studies. I did not count how many questions I had on them but there were quite a few. I began worrying about time and ended up finishing the last question with about 3 minutes left on the clock.

My advice on the case studies is to read them carefully, then really focus on what the question wants. For instance, one question asked about a benefit of the proposed design and the first two answer choices were negative components of the current network. It didn't make sense to put something negative about a question that asked for a benefit.

I did write down some information on each case study, but it didn't really help other than it helped me focus on the information a little more. I read through each of them countless times. As I suspected, some questions you could answer without really having to look at the case studies. But most of them you needed to read through them.

I had 4 "Tasks" that had me drag and drop technology into the correct spot. Know the difference between ISDN PRI and BRI, where to place hubs, repeater, switch, router, etc. Those were pretty easy.

I also had 4 fill in the blank questions. Not easy ones, either! One I completely guessed, one I wasn't sure on, and two I knew.

On a positive note, I didn't see any questions to "choose all that apply". It will tell you how many it wants.

For those who are studying for this one, I wouldn't take it lightly. It helps to really know and understand the material. That way you can eliminate choices you know are wrong, and increase your chances if you have to guess.

Pay special attention to the details of the topics. As Tom Wright said, its not enough to know in general what something does, because you wont get a question that easy. Know the components (LAPB) that make up various protocols.

Let me know if you have any questions! I will be sure to monitor this board for a while. Appreciate the help =)

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Congragulations !!!

I sit for the exam next monday the 29th.
Hope my news is as good as yours.

ea

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Congratulations.......

Could you please give us your email address so that we will contact you directly.........

Thanks
Tariq

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Congradulations!

I am really happy to see you passed, From your comments I think you took the "Other Exam" Mine was slightly different,

But between your comments and others, this will enable plus assist others on taking the CCDA EXAM, I feel lately there has been solid feed back, I wish folks like Boson, or other firms would be reading this forum, it will help others!


C U Later

Best

Tom

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Kvalhion,

Congrats and Thanks for the information. Right now, it looks like I'll be taking the exam some time late Feb (barring any changes) and your comments help me to focus my studying.

Tom

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*Long* =)

No problem! The feedback from the other tests really helped me prepare.

The study aids I used were:

Cisco Press Book -- I paid special attention to this one, since it had the most straight forward information without fluff. Do not ignore the chapters that go over the various steps in design. While you will probably not need to know the exact steps (I only had one question, which asked for a step in the Prototype process), the details of each step is what you want to remember. This will help you get an idea of what the test means when it refers to the "design requirements".

Looking back, I do remember a decent amount of case study questions that asked about design topology, with one of the answers being "recommend this switch" or "recommend this router". Be careful before you select that, because after reading each word of the question, that answer choice never really seemed to answer the question asked. I can not stress enough to VERY closely examine the question in the case studies. You might not even know why the answer is right, but usually only one choice will make sense.

Back to materials - I also used the Sybex Study guide. This book wasn't bad for going over the new technology that you didn't see much of in CCNA, such as OSPF, IS-IS, NLSP, EIGRP, etc, but has almost no focus on the actual design steps. I saw some details in Sybex that I did not notice in the other books when it came to explaining these technologies.

Lastly I used the CCDA Study Guide from Syngress. I recommend this book highly, as it goes beyond where the Cisco Press book stops. This book will drill down to the actual commands to configure BGP and really give you detailed information. Unfortunately I only read through this book once (700 pages or so) and did not read it in depth twice. Looking back that would have helped me a lot, since the test picked on the details of the topics, instead of being general.

For the practice tests, the Cisco Press bank of questions were excellent. Take the test in "study mode" so you can see all of the 204 questions. They will help you re-inforce your knowledge.

I also used Test B in the Boson tests. I didn't really focus on these overmuch because other people were critical on how it focused on knowing a 2501 from a 2503. I really only saw one question regarding chosing a different model, but the answer (to me) wasn't obvious. My choices were 1600, 2500, 3600, and 7000 involving a case study. I never really did know the distinct differences between them.

Sybex and Syngress also had CDs with test questions. The Sybex ones were the exact same ones you see in the book (they even say refer to a case study on the CD, without giving you the case study). Still, its helpful as a review.

Syngress had a large test bank of questions, I think over 300. Again, this will reinforce your knowledge but do not expect to see them word for word on the exam. The exam is sneaky.

Lastly, I purchased "online access" from WAN Pros for $17, which covers all Cisco tests. Didn't seem like a bad deal, but I was very disappointed in the tests. There were several (more than a few) blatantly incorrect answers to the questions. Out of the 12 25-question tests, I only did the first four.

From here I am going to on to BCRAN. Already got my books, and I am also researching prices to purchase my home lab. Keep studying dilligently! But also remember eventually you will get to the point where you know what you know, and its time to tackle the test. Good luck!!

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Kvalhion,

Congrads on passing!!!

thanks for all your information/thoughts on the test, it was very helpful

best of luck

sean34

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congrats

thats a big step...i hope to be there soon



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Congrats Kvalhion!

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Free Practice Exams.

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Congrats bro! i tried to warn people about it...lol..anyone who says it was easy is a lying bastard! But...if I can do it..anyone can! maybe one of us should write a test for boson so they get a more realistic practice test? good job!

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