CCNA Blog

It seems like the question every new Cisco CCNA student has is what is the best way to prepare for the CCNA exam?  So I would like to take some time in this article to discuss my thoughts on what will help you achieve your goal in obtaining your Cisco CCNA certification.

The CCNA exam was created to illustrate that you understand and can perform the topics relating to routing.  Not that you can memorize questions and answers from brain dumps!  So where do we start?

Study Guide – Well you will need a full blown CCNA study guide.  These are about 800 pages in length so don’t expect to blow through them in a week.  It is not light reading.  Some good choices out there for study guides are the Sybex CCNA study guide for a low cost solution written in layman terms, the Bryant Advantage Study Package for a well written total package and the CiscoPress CCNA guide for a solution that is written very techie.

Real Routers and Switches – How can you really be confident and work on Cisco equipment if you never opened a Cisco router or Cisco switch? If you do get a job working with Cisco routers, will you be intimidated by the router the first time seeing it knowing you never actually worked on one? That said, there is so much to learn about these units by having the actual hardware. You can’t duplicate what happens when you have a serial cable come loose or are using the wrong type of cable(straight-thru versus cross-over) daisy chaining switches with a simulator. I don’t know about you, but I learn so much more effectively using real equipment. I also find that most CCNA students say the same. The only way to actually see routing and such work and know that you made it work is to have real Cisco routers and switches for your Cisco certification training lab. What I find is that when I mess up a lab about 10 times in a row due to a typo or trying to enter a command at the wrong level of the IOS, when I actually figure out what I was doing wrong….well, I am never going to forget that again! This is actual real hands-on experience! That translates into you actually understanding what went on and helps you obtain the troubleshooting skills so you can methodically work through issues. Again, there is no way to recreate this by just reading a book and understanding theory. So to help you pass your Cisco certification exam, I suggest you invest in some Cisco routers and switches for your lab. You will find it to be some of the best money ever spent on your education!  At www.CiscoKits.com you will find CCNA kits to fit every budget.  So head on over to CiscoKits to see their many kits and tons of free certification articles and videos.  For more information on which routers to pick for your lab, you can checkout this article CCNA Lab Suggestions.

Lab Workbook – Something I never understood on eBay is people will buy solutions which are advertised as CCNA lab kits that have no corresponding lab workbooks that match the equipment that is being offered.  What good is it to have a collection of equipment if you can’t perform labs on them?  So you need to make sure the kit comes with a lab workbook.  All the kits at CiscoKits have lab workbooks with them.    You can see a sample of the topics covered on in the lab workbook at 640-802 CCNA LAb Workbook.

Test Engine – Now there is a BIG difference between a test engine that will help you understand the CCNA concepts and what you are missing and brain dumps!  The test engines that are just the exact questions from the test are garbage!  All that proves is that you can memorize questions and answers.  If this is the route you choose to achieve your certification, you will ultimately choke on the job as you won’t really know the material to perform your job.  You need to understand why an answer is right and why one is wrong.

CRAM Sheet – This is a great addition to your CCNA exam prep material. A CRAM sheet should consolidates all the major concepts from the 800 pages of a full blown study guide to a easy to carry sheet or two for you to review all hours of the day and night!  Here is a link to a great CRAM sheet product, the CCNA 640-802 CRAM Sheet.   Here you can see all the product details and concepts covered.  This is very handy to carry around with you when you have a few free minutes to study here and there so you are not lugging around a big bulky book. You can also easily bring the CRAM sheet with you to cram to your exam. In fact, we suggest you do use it to brush up on the main concepts just before you pass your CCNA 640-802 exam!

CCNA CBT – If you can’t afford $3,000 to sit an actual class, the next best thing is a Video CBT of the CCNA course.  Historically these CBTs run about $250 each.  But a great tip is CiscoKits includes a CBT that normally is $250 with many of their lab kits for about $50!  So you can save $200 on the cost of the CBT training!  Here is a link to the CBT description CCNA CBT DVD Now just look for one of their kits that has it included as it only costs about $50 when you get it with a kit.

Ok, now that we covered the major tools you will use in your ICND1, ICND2, and CCNA self study journey, we are going to provide you some guidance on how to use them effectively. Here is a suggested study plan….

1. Read the first few chapters of the full blown CCNA study guide you purchased. These first three or four chapters are usually mostly your base theory and then around the third or forth chapter you get into basic router configuration and how to login to the router.

2. At that point you will want to configure your Cisco CCNA hardware lab. You will pick out some of the corresponding labs in the workbook to follow along with the study guide you purchased. That is why we wrote the lab workbook in a generic sense as there is no way we can know what study guide you will be using or what actual hardware you will have. But now you should be able to perform some of the basic CCNA labs in the lab workbook. Continue through your study guide performing the corresponding labs that are in the lab workbook.

3. One you complete the study guide, now you should go through one of the CCNA Test Engine exams such as CCNA exam A*(Important note, only do one exam!). After you complete the exam, you want to print out the entire exam so you can review the sections and concepts you got wrong. Also note what your score was for that exam.

4. Now go back to the study guide and brush up on the concepts you scored poorly on in exam number one.

5. You should now have a baseline of where you were at with the test score. We want to make sure you are scoring about an 80% before you even think about attempting the real Cisco CCNA exam at $125 a pop.

6. Here is where you will want to start to work in additional items such as the CRAM sheet and videos. These tools will present the information to you from a different perspective as everyone learns using different techniques and via different communication mechanisms. Some will benefit from the full blown study guides, some from the hands-on of the labs and workbook, some from the videos, others from the full color CRAM sheet and finally some from the test engine. You want to use all the tools at your disposal for all they are worth.

7. Once you reviewed all the material once, now go back and take CCNA exam B. Hopefully you are scoring close to 80% by now. You will then want to repeat the above process of printing out the exam, reviewing the sections or concepts you scored poorly on and again leveraging the tools at hand.

8. You should see how you can continue to repeat this methodology while learning and not memorizing the questions. If you memorize the questions, you defeat the purpose of trying to learn the actual concepts. I am quite sure if you follow this road map, you will be scoring close to 80% by the time you get to exam C. Just continue refreshing the material and in no time you will be holding your passing exam score for your CCNA certification!

Robin Lee :: Sep.08.2009 :: Articles And Tutorials :: 2 Comments »

With so many different textbooks, study guides, cram sheets, and other exam prep material out there, many CCNA candidates become fixated on only one or two study methods. While there are comprehensive, one-stop study tools available, the best prepared candidates will look to use multiple forms of media and practice to ace the 640-802 examination. Here’s a look at some of the ways you can prepare for the CCNA 640-802 exam:

1. CCNA 640-802 Simulators: Hands-on training and practice are great ways to prepare for the 640-802 Cisco CCNA exam, but Cisco routers and other equipment are expensive and usually out of budget for most candidates. Simulation products allow candidates to practice working with Cisco equipment by simulating only the components of IOS that appear on the examination. Plus, simulators are way cheaper (typically in the $30 – $60 range) and have been proven as an effective means to study for the CCNA.
2. Practice Tests: You wouldn’t jump into the deep end of the pool without making sure you can swim in the shallow end, so why risk taking the 640-802 before taking a few practice tests? Take a look at SemSim CCNA  exam simulation software or search for the many other practice tests available on the Internet and avoid the risk of cold feet on exam day.
3. Flashcards: This isn’t grade school, but it sure seems close – still, old-fashioned flashcards or similar memory tools will help you retain the key facts and details on the exam. Handwritten flashcards are great for studying on the go or with a small block of free time. Flashcards are also freely available online and can prove to be an extremely efficient way of quick study on your PC. Either way, this old-school method of study can provide great results.
4. DIY: The best study guides are often the ones you create on your own. When you write your own study guide, you can focus on the points that are unclear or difficult for you while skimming over information that you already know very well. Of course, writing your own guide is not the only way you should be preparing for the 640-802, but combined with traditional study methods, doing it yourself can be highly rewarding.
5. Cisco CCNA 640-802 Exam Objectives: The exam objectives are by no means detailed, but they are comprehensive. The nice thing about studying for the exam based on the objectives is that you know that you are covering exactly what is on the test – nothing more, and nothing less. The downside, of course, is that you will have to find the information on your own. Try this in conjunction with writing your own guide and you’ll have a winner.
6. Forums: Message boards and other online communities will often have valuable, insider tips on the exam that you really can’t find anywhere else. More importantly, they give you a chance to access and communicate with other test takers who may have valuable experience to share.
7. Back to the Basics: This means reading up on networking basics and even reviewing study materials for other, easier networking exams such as the CompTIA Network+ examination. It’s the opposite of studying exam objectives but reviewing networking fundamentals can really help you on all facets of the 640-802 as it is a networking exam. So, go ahead and review your TCP/IP, NAT, DHCP, and your other favorite networking initials.
8. Study Guides: We know how valuable study guides are, so why list them last? The truth is that while study guides can be great ways to learn all of the facts you need for the exam, they range widely in depth and comprehensiveness. In other words, one size does not fit all. We recommend that you use at least one study guide in your preparation for the CCNA 640-802, but please make sure you take a look at the other seven options above along with practice from an effective study guide.

Robin Lee :: Apr.13.2009 :: Articles And Tutorials, Preparation Of CCNA :: 4 Comments »

I’ll be posting over 35 new Cisco training videos in April, and here’s one to finish up March – 10 questions on the dreaded OSI model!

CCNA Voice tutorials and practice questions start later this week, and the daily CCNA / CCNP practice exam questions will start back up on Wednesday, April 1!

When you’re done here, be sure to take advantage of over 275 free Cisco certification tutorials on the main website’s tutorial page:

CCNA And CCNP Certification Tutorials

And don’t forget my YouTube channel, with over 77,000 views so far and climbing!

Bryant Advantage CCNA And CCNP YouTube Channel

Don’t like YouTube or can’t get there? Head over to my website’s Cisco Certification Video page, where you’ll find many of the same videos in larger resolution!

CCNA And CCNP Video Tutorials

And a quick reminder – today is your last day to save $20 on my exclusive CCNA Security Study Package! Earn this important certification and save $20 at the same time – but you must act today!

The CCNA Security Study Package

And with no further ado – here’s today’s video! And you CCNP candidates will be getting a little extra help on your certifications right here as well.

Chris Bryant
CCIE #12933
http://www.thebryantadvantage.com

Robin Lee :: Mar.31.2009 :: Articles And Tutorials, CCNA Prep Kits :: No Comments »

I passed. Even though I’m working toward my CCIE Routing and Switching, I new this wouldn’t be a chump test. There’s only so much I can say about it under the NDA, but here’s my results and the steps leading up to it.

Follow up:

• Total questions:  60
• Total time available:  90 minutes
• My time to complete:  70 minutes
• Passing score:  804
• My score:  844
• Total prep time, start-to-finish:  1.5 weeks

Not a bad score, but I don’t really consider myself a “B” student, so I’m not terribly thrilled. Back when I took the normal CCNA, I scored a 977, so I hope you’ll understand my disappointment. They really did a good job of testing everything listed on the syllabus, so give it a good read.

Regarding that last line, I literally spent a week and a half on this, but it was a really good initial week. I’m a big fan of the Global Knowledge classes, from the facilities and equipment to the instructors and course material. I took their IINS class that is associated with this exam, but I’d like to specify that that sitting course alone is insufficient. There is so much material to absorb that I’d make an exception to my previous statement for anyone that goes home and studies the material every night. Personally, I went home and worked on some Perl scripts for a major project during lab time and at night when I got home. Thankfully, the course gives you five credits toward the same remote labs that you use during the course, so after the course had ended and I finished the project, I went back and redid the labs. I can’t emphasize enough how important that lab time was.

I took and passed this exam. More GUI-based stuff than I expected, but workable. Here’s a post of my experience: http://techdojo.org/?p=57&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Posted by Sensei

Robin Lee :: Jan.30.2009 :: Articles And Tutorials :: 1 Comment »

All CCNA Passed topic must be posted here. You should reply on this post to announce your pass/ ccna exam experience… Please include the following details in your posts:

• Material used
• Learning Plan
• Suggestions for members

This will help newbies to have an understanding about the CCNA exam. Do not request ccna dumps OR version here. Refer shares section. Such posts will be deleted.

For example

Title: Passes 640-802 today and just now reached home. score: 960/1000

Prepared from:
CBT nuggets 640-801, CCENT
Cisco Press books
Sybex Book
and other resources from the web (sadikhov and others) for references.

Exam help:
Testking 640-802 v9
Pass4sure v2.85
also checked out for the questions that i had confusions from the net and blogs.

about questions:
Almost all were from pass4sure except a new question ! sims were Topology LAB and ACL LAB. (with different ip addresses)

Conclusion:
1.Study from the books and also cbt to clear every concepts again and again
2.After you are sure that you have got it then start using dumps, but not with the answers (try solving them on your own)
3.To be completely sure to pass go through dupms again .
4. come out smiling from the exam centre !!!

Are you ready? Share your CCNA passed topic now!

Robin Lee :: Dec.07.2008 :: Articles And Tutorials :: 9 Comments »

Passing the CCNA communicating and earning this desirable Cisco authorisation is an essential travel in your career, but it’s not the modify of your responsibilities as a CCNA! When you impact with machine networks, you’ve got to be continually acquisition and staying up on the stylish technologies and changes in the field. Part of this domain is ownership your CCNA underway by gathering Cisco’s recertification requirements.

Cisco requires CCNAs to recertify erst every threesome years. While most CCNAs module advise on to the CCNP in that time, if you opt not to you staleness foregather destined requirements in meet to ready your CCNA valid. Cisco does this to secure that CCNAs ready their networking noesis current, which in invoke helps the CCNA authorisation valuable. And that’s meet what you want, since you worked so hornlike to acquire your authorisation in the prototypal place!

As of March 2006, there are fivesome assorted options for recertifying as a CCNA. You crapper verify and transfer some of the mass exams to restore your CCNA – the CCNA communicating itself, the ICND exam, some 642 information exam, some Cisco Qualiied Specialist communicating (except the Sales Specialist exams – those don’t count!), or some CCIE Written Qualification exam.

With every these options, there’s an choice that’s meet correct for you. Whether you meet poverty to restore your CCNA or oppose a Specialist, CCNP, or CCIE certification, you crapper easily restore your CCNA along the way. Just don’t block that ownership up with Cisco’s stylish recertification requirements is your responsibility, and that’s cushy to do – meet meet Cisco’s “Learning And Events” country on their website. Cisco module verify you what you requirement to do to ready your certification, but it’s up to you to ready up with authorisation information changes! Once your authorisation expires, it’s gone, so intend in the usage of temporary Cisco’s website to attain trusty you’re up to fellow on essential recertification requirements.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the someone of The Bryant Advantage, bag of liberated CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

For a FREE double of his stylish e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, meet the website and download your liberated copies. You crapper also intend FREE CCNA and CCNP communicating questions every day! Pass the CCNA communicating with The Bryant Advantage!

Robin Lee :: Nov.26.2008 :: Articles And Tutorials :: No Comments »

When you started studying for your CCNA certification exam, one of the very first things you learned was the major difference between the enable password and the enable secret – the enable secret is encrypted by default, where the enable password is just sitting there in clear text, waiting to be read!

When you look at the enable secret in a Cisco router configuration, it looks like it would be impossible to guess. After setting the enable secret on this router to the word security, here’s how it appears in the configuration:

enable secret 5 $1$24me$gVFxUOI4gYp0IQbhtH8Rz0

That password has been encrypted by MD5, the Message Digest 5 algorithm. The result of the MD5 algorithm being applied to the password is a 32-character hexadecimal value.

That password is hard to guess, but not terribly hard to crack. Anyone looking over your shoulder would not be able to come up with that password, but there are readily-available password cracking software devices that can crack that encryption in a matter of minutes. That’s true of any MD5-encrypted password, not just those on Cisco routers.

So what can we do about this? We can add SALT to our MD5.

The salt itself is simply a string of random characters that are added to the encryption process. Salting makes it much more difficult for a hacker to come up with the password; each bit added by the salt process literally makes it twice as difficult for the password to be compromised. A recent Wikipedia entry states that if a password was one of 200,000 words, a 32-bit salt would require 800 trillion hashes for a full-blown brute force attack.

The actual creation and application of a salt is beyond the scope of the CCNA Security exam, but once you’ve earned that valuable certification – or maybe while you’re preparing for it – do a Google search on “salt md5” and read up on this powerful security tool. In the meantime, look for more CCNA Security tutorials on the site you’re on now as well as my website!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including Cisco CCNA certification test prep articles. His exclusive Cisco CCNA study guide and Cisco CCNA training is also available! Visit his blog and sign up for Cisco Certification Central, a daily newsletter packed with CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and CCNP certification exam practice questions! A free 7-part course, “How To Pass The CCNA”, is also available, and you can attend an in-person or online CCNA boot camp with The Bryant Advantage!

http://www.thebryantadvantage.com

Robin Lee :: Nov.20.2008 :: Articles And Tutorials :: No Comments »

The Cisco CCNA Security certification is recognized throughout the networking and security industries as an indication of a candidate’s knowledge of and ability to work with Cisco technology. Achieving this certification requires passing the Implementing Cisco IOS Network Security (IINS) exam. Michael Watkins is an expert on this exam, having co-authored the CCNA Security Official Exam Certification Guide. In this interview, Michael explains his best practices for preparing for and passing the IINS exam. Michael is a full-time senior technical instructor with SkillSoft Corp., with over 13 years of network management, training and consulting experience. For more information, check out our chapter excerpt from his book, as well as a collection of questions designed to test your knowledge in this quiz.

• How important is having CCNA certification to IT professionals? Why should they pursue it?
• Have there been any recent changes to the CCNA exam, to adapt to changing technologies?
• What do you think is the best way to prepare for the CCNA exam?
• Are there any particularly tricky or difficult sections of the exam? How would you advise test takers to tackle these areas?
• From your extensive work experience with network management, what advice would you have for aspiring network managers looking to succeed with Cisco certification?
• Are there any supplementary resources that you would recommend to test takers and IT professionals looking for more information on the Cisco Security certification?

You can read the whole article on searchnetworkingchannel.com.

Robin Lee :: Nov.14.2008 :: Articles And Tutorials :: No Comments »

For the past 5 years I’ve been that lone hero in the back room.  Monitoring servers, measuring performance, and fixing errors all to keep a few computers running with high availability.  It has been an interesting road and I’ve become an expert at the Windows Server enviroment and I’m not to shabby with the Linux enviroment either.

However, there’s one major frustration I have with working in the systems environment and that is the scope of the job.  I’m constantly asked if I can write a program, create a new object oriented database, create web page graphics, configure several different brands of switches and routers, etc.  Well I’m sure you get my point; the Network Administrator position in most company’s eyes is that an around everything IT related job.

Although it’s fun to have something different everyday it doesn’t allow me to develop a very unique skill set that’s worth a lot (I want to start a side IT consulting company for a supplemental income).  Because of this I decided that my general Bachelors degree in computer science isn’t enough. I needed a certification but I wanted one that’d change my roll from that all to general network administrator.  I had a few choices, but I decided the best would be networking.  I’m not talking about getting two computers to play well together.  I’m referring to the links that you see going from businesses to ISP’s or B2B, etc.  This is a very technical field and requires a very specialized skill set.  It was exactly what I wanted, something that I could learn and then update once a year rather than once every 3 months.  This field also put me in a great place to have alternate career paths later on when I’m ready for a change.   I could easily add a few things and become a network design professional, a security professional, or a specialized project manager.

So what’s the plan now?  Well first things first, I need to get my certifications.  I’ll start off with my CCNA and probably late this year or early next year move toward my CCNP.  I’ll probably stay in that general Network Administrator’s job for another 2-3 years while I gain actual experience taking side projects at night or weekends.

Article From ehazen’s Blog

Robin Lee :: Nov.14.2008 :: Articles And Tutorials :: No Comments »

So you want to get your CCNA and you need to buy a router for your CCNA home lab? Now the question is which router should you get? I have been in your shoes and know when you are just starting out, it is tough to make sense of all the different models of Cisco Routers available. The good news is there are a lot of good options available to get a good CCNA router for a fair price.

I recommend getting a Cisco 2611 Router or a Cisco 2621 Router because they have to two Copper ports instead of one and offer the most training flexibility. If the cost isn’t much different, go for the 2621 because it offers 2 10/100 Ethernet ports and has 128MB of memory versus the 2611 that has 2 10Mb ports with 64MB of memory. Don’t forget to buy 2 routers as most of the CCNA Labs require two routers. You could also get 3 routers, but from my experience, you will rarely actually need 3 routers to practice for your CCNA.

Another issue that comes into play is the IOS. If you can get a router with 12.4 already installed, you are way ahead of the game. Remember, the only legal way you can get a copy of the IOS is to buy a Cisco Smartnet contract for your router. If worse comes to worse, look for 12.3, but do your best to avoid 12.2. While it is a solid IOS for production, the new CCNA really focuses on the newer 12.4 version and some commands may be different from what you are learning.

This recommendation is for building a CCNA Home Lab. If you plan on building a CCNP Home Lab, then you should check back later for a post about which router you should buy for CCNP. The great part is even though the routers for CCNP are more expensive, if you buy them while working on your CCNA, you can use them for both certifications.

Also, if you have the money, you may be better off buying a complete CCNA Home Lab. You can usually find a complete CCNA Lab Kit including 2 or more routers and 1 or more Cisco Switches. Just keep in mind what I said about the routers.

Article Posted By Atomm

Robin Lee :: Oct.08.2008 :: Articles And Tutorials :: 1 Comment »