CCNA advice

[stash]

I'm seriously considering going for the CCNA certification. I've got a ton of experience on the MS/Windows side (AD, Exchange, security, etc), but I want to expand my knowledge and networking has always been interesting to me.

I've been doing some research, and I was looking at the self-study resources here: http://www.ciscopress.com/markets/detail.asp?st=44711&redir=1&rl=1

So the books (the prep and cert libraries) look decent, but is the network simulator enough for this exam? I've read some reviews here and elsewhere that say it isn't very good, but I did see a few comments from Spidey saying it was enough for the CCNA.

If I decide to get real hardware off of Ebay, what is suggested? I see recommendations for router and switch models, but I'm confused about memory options, interface options, etc.

Thanks guys. :thumbsup:

 

[TC10284]

Hey Stash.

I just passed the CCNA exam on Aug. 11. My background is similar to yours. I had experience in networking but not in Cisco before I took the CCNA 1-4 program at my local community college (just finished it during Spring of this year). I made an A in each of the four, eight week semesters. I purchased the TestKing CCNA package that was around $70. It has around 800 some questions. TestKing REALLY helped on the test. Some of the questions were word for word. Becareful of wrong answers though. Some of them are wrong (some I remember were source and destination MAC addresses). I studied TestKing for about a month and scheduled the real exam half way through studying so I could give myself a deadline.

In our CCNA classes, we used 2500 (2501 and 2514) and 2600 (2620 and 2621) routers with Catalyst 1900 and 2950 switches (mostly the 2950's) for the equipment. At home, I purchased 2500 (2514's and 2501's) routers for doing work here and personal "messing". Purchasing the routers helped with school work, but I only used them once to prepare for the real exam. All of my routers have two Serial ports and one to two AUIs. I got them for around $30 each plus shipping. As far as memory options, as long as it can run IOS 12.0 or so, you should be set. I think the least amount of memory I have in one of my 2500's is 2 MB and 4 MB Flash (but I'm not positive without doing an sh ver on each).

Out of all of it I can say this....the CCNA 1-4 classes REALLY helped with router and switch hands on experience. I realize you can learn these things on your own though. Its just I was in the Networking program and they offered the classes so I went ahead and took it. I could have learned at home if I needed to.
Testking was a BIG help with the actual questions. As I said, some were word for word. On the real exam, I had three router simulations that I had to do. The hands on experience during the CCNA classes helped me to get through the router sims. TestKing did not.

Hope this helps you some.

 

[ScottMac]

The SIM is OK, within the context of the course material they present.

It is not a be-all end-all Lab replacement, those kinds of SIMs cost tens of thousands of dollars.

If you follow their course materials, the SIM works pretty well. If you're doing things that are fairly close to the type of material they present, it's pretty decent. If you you want to do more advanced things that are not really included in the course material, chances are you're going to have some glitches / problems / non-functional stuff pop up.

For the price, it's really not too bad.

Real hardware is best, if you have the budget. 2500 series are ok for most CCNA-level stuff, but with the new changes to CCNP, you'll really need (at least) 2600s, preferably one or more 2621 (for the 100 meg ports, in order to do 802.1q).

For the cost, you might do well do get at least one ISR (841, 18xx, 28xx ...). The new CCNP will now test for IOS firewall, VPN, Wireless, and IPT.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[stash]

Thanks for the advice so far...

For the cost, you might do well do get at least one ISR (841, 18xx, 28xx ...).

Sorry, not sure what you mean here. ISR == Integrated Services Router? What do the numbers mean?

If I'm getting hardware for the CCNA, are two routers and one switch enough? And what would I need to add to that setup (if anything) for CCNP (if I decide to do that)?

 

[ramirez]

Read these two books cover to cover and understand EVERYTHING in them.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078214...f=pd_bbs_1/104-2148654-6865560?ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158720...pd_sim_b_4/104-2148654-6865560?ie=UTF8

Buy some routers and switches from here or ebay. Sims can never take the place for working on real equipment:

http://www.ciscokits.com/products.htm

Take every practice test you can get your hands on (legit and braindumps). Do some searching online and you can find free Testkings and pass4sures. (hint Sadikhov)

I did all this and after 4 months of study I passed with a 975. Good luck!

 

[jlazzaro]

its also a good idea to be able to subnet in your head. i practiced it, but it would have saved me a lot of time on the exam if I didnt have to work out all the numbers.

 

[stash]

I definitely want to avoid using braindumps.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: jlazzaro
its also a good idea to be able to subnet in your head. i practiced it, but it would have saved me a lot of time on the exam if I didnt have to work out all the numbers.

better then that, you can take scratch paper into the test, and then sit there and write out subnets shortcuts on the paper prior to the test time starting. This is good even if you can do it in your head, unless you have been doing it for years, and can do it faster then most folks can break out the subnet calculators.

 

[spyordie007]

Good thread to run into since I am also trying to study for my CCNA.

I scheduled the 640-801 exam for the 31st of this month early July (thinking that would give me plenty of time to study) however I'm down to a week and a half now and aside from a little reading here and there havent done a lot of studying (I havent even taken a practice exam yet, yelp!). The only book I have is Exam Cram's which seems to be okay so far; one advantage I do have is that we have a large lab at work so I can play around with the Cisco gear in there.

I've got some decent experience subnetting, routing and VLANing; but I've heard from a couple of sources that they are also concerned with things like ISDN setup which I'm sure I'll have a harder time with.

I'll probably take a practice exam this week to see how I stack up, wish me luck :roll:

Erik

 

[spidey07]

Stash...

get you a 2600 router off ebay (preferabbly 2620 - has fastethernet that you can trunk to a switch), and a 3500 switch (3524xl). This gives you a router for routing commands and a IOS based switch. The router and switch together will allow you to play around with trunking and routing between vlans.

That should give you all you need for just a few hundred bucks.

In all honesty, if you can get the OSI model and subnetting down you have half the test right there.

 

[stash]

Good luck Erik

Spidey, thanks for the advice. So one router and one switch is enough for the CCNA? I see a lot of 'CCNA kits' on Ebay that come with two routers and one switch.

 

[spidey07]

well more is always better. two routers would let you play around with routing protocols.

 

[Jwaresolutions]

well you actually need 3 routers otherwise your routers will be directly connected and you wont see anything on your routing table. I suggest 3 routers and 2 switches. the 2 switches is so you can practice VTP domains and how switch information is shared as well as letting you do things like see what STP does and set up things like etherchannel

 

[azev]

I would get a 4000 series router as a frame relay switch, (2) 262x, and 2 2950 will do wonder if you ever want to go above and beyond CCNA. I've invested quite a bit of $$ on my cisco lab and it has been extremely helpfull.
With this setup you can do almost everything; trunking, etherchannel, spanning tree, all routing protocols, etc.

Good Luck man...

 

[spyordie007]

Well I took the test yesterday and failed by one bloody question. I'm really beating myself up now for not putting forth the effort to do more studying.

Fortunetly the retake period is only one week so I plan on getting back in to retake it as soon as possible, 2nd time's the charm right? :roll:

 

[TC10284]

Sorry about that man! =/

Don't beat yourself up so much though. If you did well enough to miss it by one question with little studying, just think of how you'll do after studying...

 

[JackBurton]

This is a good thread.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
Well I took the test yesterday and failed by one bloody question. I'm really beating myself up now for not putting forth the effort to do more studying.

Fortunetly the retake period is only one week so I plan on getting back in to retake it as soon as possible, 2nd time's the charm right? :roll:

I had to fail it once to pass the second time. Keep after it - sometimes its the luck of the draw with the questions you get. I have a coworker that has failed it 3 times, and he's a bright guy. The 640-801 is MUCH harder than the previous versions of the exam from what I understand. No more of this "just memorize the OSI and some subnetting and you'll be fine".

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: stash
Thanks for the advice so far...

For the cost, you might do well do get at least one ISR (841, 18xx, 28xx ...).

Sorry, not sure what you mean here. ISR == Integrated Services Router? What do the numbers mean?

If I'm getting hardware for the CCNA, are two routers and one switch enough? And what would I need to add to that setup (if anything) for CCNP (if I decide to do that)?

For the CCNA I did just fine with a 2950 and a 2501. For the BCMSN (switching portion) of the CCNP I did fine with some switches at work. I'm working on the BSCI right now and am having to go over to our local Cisco office to use their lab. There's no way I could afford four routers that support BGP on my own, and I don't use BGP at work. I think it would be extremely difficult to pass the CCNP exams with just a textbook...

 

[luigionlsd]

Taking the CCNA course right now... took the voucher test for the Intro exam (semesters 1 and 2) and passed that, so I'm gonna be taking the intro on thursday. I'd recommend buying real hardware. I take the class in vocational school (senior in HS), and we have access to lots of switches and routers (mainly 2900 switches, 2600 and 2500 routers). Don't know the exact models of the routers, but IOS 12.0+ is the way to go.

 

[MrEgo]

First off, I'd like to say that this is a really good topic!

I'm also in the same boat. I'm getting ready to study for my CCNA, but I'd REALLY love to put myself in the best possible position to pass this test. I'm looking at Ebay right now, and it's kind of overwhelming seeing all of the stuff for sale. I'm kinda stuck as to exactly what I should get, and what kind of prices I should expect?

If 3 routers and 2 switches will get me the best possible experience, then I wouldn't mind doing that. Or.. if that's just overkill for CCNA, then what would be the most reasonable thing to do? I'm going to study with testking, but I'm sure there's nothing like the real thing.

I just want to make sure I'm getting exactly what I want before I go and spend the money.. ya know? Thanks in advance, guys. This forum is always so helpful.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I read on a (respected) blog the other day that Cisco's IOS license isn't transferable, so even if you bought used hardware you would end up having to pay for a license. I'm not sure if that's worth it, but I haven't checked prices either...

 

[luigionlsd]

Passed the Intro test last week. It wasn't all that challenging, especially since it did NOT include ACLs. Scored a 916/1000, required was 825. Took the test/cert for college credit, don't know if I'll get around to finishing the full CCNA path very soon. Good luck to all of you, and I would strongly recommend real hardware instead of the simulator.

 

[jlazzaro]

bah, 2-part CCNA is for networking noobies~!

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I read on a (respected) blog the other day that Cisco's IOS license isn't transferable, so even if you bought used hardware you would end up having to pay for a license. I'm not sure if that's worth it, but I haven't checked prices either...

It varies by product, I think the base license for some of them are transferable (i.e. PIX 501). The usual 'check before you do it' disclaimer still applies...

BTW I still havent gotten around to retaking the exam, ended up getting sucked into some other projects.

Erik