CCENT Study Plan

Discussion in 'General Cisco Certifications' started by mcrilly, Jun 6, 2011.

  1. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    Hi Guys,

    I have my CCENT exam next Tuesday, the 14th June, and I just wanted your opinions on a few things.

    Firstly, I have a copy of the CBT Nuggets CCNA series which was, according to the narrator/tutor, recorded in September 2007. Am I correct in saying that the CCENT/CCNA exam(s) have not changed since the 2007 re-fresh (if there was one) and as such, this material is still applicable? Also I have a Cisco press book (ISBN: 1-58720-182-8) which I am using as well. Is the book a valid resource as it stands?

    Secondly, my study plan. Because I currently work in IT and have practically installed, setup and presently maintain a large number of our Cisco kit (3550s, 3600s, etc), I have felt confident enough to power through 15 of the 30 CBT Nuggets videos in the aforementioned series today, since 9AM. I am going through another 6-7 videos tomorrow.

    My plan was this: attack a set of videos, such as Videos 16-20, then pick up my CCENT/ICND1 book and read the "Key Topics" of each chapter that relates to the videos just watched. I was going to get this done by Friday, then on Monday and Tuesday morning (my exam is at 12:00) I was going to look over my notes, read the "Key Topics" of all the chapters and perhaps watch a few videos on my more complex subjects, like sub-netting.

    Does that seem like a decent way going about it? I do real confident around IOS and I am comfortable with a lot of the Ethernet standards, WAN technologies, protocols etc, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I want to give my self a good chance first time around.

    All opinions welcome and appreciated.
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP
  2. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    Thanks for the input guys. Big help.
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP
  3. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Not sure why this wasn’t picked up. Don’t think many people are studying Cisco certs at the moment so perhaps no one was able to help?

    Best of luck for the exam mate! :biggrin
     
    Certifications: MSc MCSE MCSA:M MCSA:S MCITP:EA MCTS(x5) MS-900 AZ-900 Security+ Network+ A+
    WIP: Microsoft Certs
  4. omkarnet

    omkarnet New Member

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    for ccent

    ur subnetting skills should perfect

    work on
    cdp commands
    wan commands
    static routes
    rip protocol

    ip forwarding i.e mac address and ip address
     
  5. GW

    GW Byte Poster

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    You will want to get your hands on a Cisco router and switch or at least a good simulator and really practice the commands and do a lot of labs because on the exams will be Cisco simulations that you will have to configure what is required so a lot of practice will help you out there.

    GW
     
    Certifications: MCP x4, CompTia x3
    WIP: Cisco CCNA
  6. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    Thanks for the useful but belated responses. I took my exam on the 14th of June and passed with 89%. Not a score I'm happy with, but I can work on that as I now study for my ICND2.

    I do have hardware to work on, luckily. I have two 2900XLs, two 2500s and a single 2600; old kit running 12.1, but it's OK for these low-level certifications. My friend has also been kind enough to lend me his 851W which offers the opportunity to study wireless technologies and a better, more recent version of IOS.

    I have never managed to get a virtual lab setup as I've always had troubles using Cisco IOS images (of which I have access to 30GBs worth) with 3GNS or whatever it's called. I think I shall stick to the real thing.

    Thanks again for the input, and sorry for the snotty "bump" post.

    Why aren't many people studying Cisco certifications? Is that something I should be worried about, or is it simply not the season for such studies/certifications?
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP
  7. melhiore

    melhiore Bit Poster

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    Cisco is very specific type of certification. It is perfect if you're involved in NETWORKING and I do NOT mean home network. It is good for those who are working within Data Centres, ISPs, enterprise. Cisco is relatively expensive so it is not popular in SOHO networks.

    Look at this from different perspective - Cisco is for those called "chosen" ;)
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, CCNA Security, CompTIA N+,S+, CWTS/CWNA
  8. danielno8

    danielno8 Gigabyte Poster

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    Whoops seems this one was missed. I'm sure you will get a refund for the money you paid for the service on this site...
     
    Certifications: CCENT, CCNA
    WIP: CCNP
  9. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    I'm not sure I understand the "chosen" part. I understand that Cisco are mainly small business and beyond (because I manage a Cisco network at work), but I don't understand the use of the title "chosen"?

    I'm sure you will be equally satisfied with your refund from Specsavers (because you're obviously having problems reading people's apologies).
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP
  10. GW

    GW Byte Poster

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    Sorry about the delayed response from me, I've been busy with some personal life issues so I didn't catch your post in time but congrats on passing the exam. You may not be happy with the grade but a pass is a pass and a lot of people fail the exam the first time taking it. But the ICND exam is going to be harder than the one you took so think back to the areas of the exam that you had problems with and brush up on those areas till you have them mastered.

    Cisco certifications are worth studying for, this forum doesn't seem to be that busy lately but it comes and goes, I'm on another Cisco studies related site (commercial paid site so I don' know if I can say the link on this forum) and their message board is very slow lately as well so it could just be the season for slowness.

    The kit you have is gooed enough for the CCNA cert, for the CCNP or the CCNA Security exams you'll probably want to save up for better gear or rent some rack time. Th GNS simulator software is good in ways to practice with if you can get it working properly, I use it myself under Ubuntu on my laptop so in my downtime at work I can practice but at home I have physical gear which I use so I get to practice with cabling the gear into the proper topologies that I want to play with as well as experience the various problems that you can get with real gear.

    I tried remote to my gear at home but when I get the bulk of the gear turned on I get a phone call from my wife complaining about the noise and the heat ;) But the part about the "chosen" part I think is that not everyone can work with Cisco, not everyone is happy working command line so they don't get enjoyment out of it and those who love to "rock the command line" are considered "chosen" and tend to get better pay.

    But also that can just be considered ego, I've worked around many CCIE's in my time and a lot of them tend to have an attitude and look down on those who work with Microsoft products and basically have an "Elitist" attitude in general. But then there are those CCIE's who are more humble and enjoy spreading their knowledge to others and treating people as equals and those are the ones that got me interested in Cisco again.

    Well, I went off in a tangent there. Anyways, keep practicing subnetting and getting to the point that you can do it rapidly in your head as that is going to be a skill your going to need for the next test and all of the others (and at work).

    GW
     
    Certifications: MCP x4, CompTia x3
    WIP: Cisco CCNA
  11. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    No need to apologise - you don't owe me your time or efforts. I'm grateful for any input I can get.

    I am planning to go over the ICND 1 book again, but only briefly, so that I can solidify my understanding of its contents before moving onto the ICND 2; I think that should get me in shape for the next book.

    They're certainly worth studying for if you intend to work chiefly as a Cisco engineer as I do; they're mandatory, in fact.

    I'm lucky in that the company I work for allows me to pick and choose from an almost interminable degree of Cisco kit (we basically repair and maintain, at component level, networking hardware for all vendors), amongst other vendors. We also have a decent Nortel lab to play around in. We're also considering putting some of this stock to use and building a lab-time rack, which I will be the administrator and maintainer of. Hopefully that project should be quite pedagogic.

    I'm also a GNU/Linux administrator, so the CLI certainly isn't going to give me any troubles (and it doesn't, in fact).

    How on Earth do you get to the point that you can do subnetting rapidly, let alone in "your head?" I honestly have no trouble doing the subnetting problems and tasks using both the binary and decimal methods, but I honestly cannot understand how you get to a point that using these methods becomes quick and second-nature. Perhaps you will suggest practice, practice and a side order of practice, but I still do not see how these methods will become so ingrained, cognitively, that I will be doing subnetting problems in my sleep!

    I'm hoping you have some tricks up your sleeve, because all I can think of doing is remembering the various subnet masks (128, 192, 224, 240, 248, 252, etc) and the numbers of bits they relate too. Even then, with something like, for example, a Class B network, the number of subnets would be hard to calculate, not to mention the powers of two that I would need to remember to calculate the host per subnet, etc.

    Help!
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP
  12. DryPlate

    DryPlate Nibble Poster

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    Sounds like you're with a great company right now to help your experience and training.

    Subnet is a funny thing.. the best thing when you practice is to do "word problems". Assume the role of an administrator, say you've been given a particular IP and CIDR by your ISP, and you need to create a certain number of networks or you need to make sure you can host a particular number of nodes. Take a break from practice from time to time to makes sure it's sinking in. You can study and think you know it, but if you try it again after a three day break you may forget things. Real world practice will help you as well.

    I did well once I learned the subnet masks and how to AND and OR.
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, MCDST, Apple Certified Associate
    WIP: CompTIA Network+, MCITP: EDST 7
  13. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    It's a great place. I went in there "new" to the industry and within a month I was setting up Cisco switches, installing Linux boxes on IBM Bladecenters (Bladecenters are something I had no experience of at the time) and even configuring IBM Bladecenter switches and, after a short while, replacing them with Cisco switch modules, etc. I do consider my self lucky to be in such a well suited learner role.

    I use the decimal method. I think I can get pretty quickly at doing this now, especially on paper. I think the next stage is to move this method, which I like a lot, into the mental arithmetic stage.
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP
  14. DarbyWeaver

    DarbyWeaver Bit Poster

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    Mcrilly,

    Sorry I was not here to offer some advice earlier.

    Congratulations on the CCENT by the way! My compliments.

    On the subnetting:

    1. Find some unfortunate people who need to learn to subnet and teach them.

    - I use learntosubnet.com and boson.com's TCP/IP Cheatsheet to beat people to death with subnetting.

    2. Learn to build a really cool chart like this one and then learnt to write it out immediately before you start your ICND2 exam and you'll blaze through your exam.

    128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
    1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -> Bits (Subtract any number from any number given in the exam and count the bits - if the value is less than 0, then use a 0 versus a 1 in that placeholder.)

    I tell people to think of the relation ship and in the chart below to use the bits to find the mask or wildcard required by the question or task.

    32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 = /xx = Slash notation
    255 254 252 248 240 224 192 128 0 (Example = 255.255.255.224 is a /27 for example while 255.255.255.0 is /24)
    1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 255 (These values would serve as wildcard masks for ACLs for example.)

    We can use these in any of the 4 octets using dotted notation (x.x.x.x) for example.

    = Did you notice every column equals 256? Subtact 1 since 0-255 really equals 256 distinct values.

    2 to the 2nd power minus 2 is magical to get the number of subnets and the number of hosts immediately.

    You can use the charts above and their opposites to quickly obtain any value you may be asked during your exam.

    What's better is that you get to write down your cheatsheet before you begin the exam.

    Kewl?
     
    Certifications: CCNP CCDP CCSP CCVP CCNP-Wireless
    WIP: CCIE RS/Wireless
  15. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Just by peeps WIP - seems to be more MS certs that are on the go just now.

    Congrats on the pass mate, I need to get on with some Cisco certs now I think! :)
     
    Certifications: MSc MCSE MCSA:M MCSA:S MCITP:EA MCTS(x5) MS-900 AZ-900 Security+ Network+ A+
    WIP: Microsoft Certs
  16. danielno8

    danielno8 Gigabyte Poster

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    That's better.

    Good luck with your CCNA. I have mine booked for next week, when you taking yours?
     
    Certifications: CCENT, CCNA
    WIP: CCNP
  17. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    Luckily for me, my best friend wants to do his CCENT soon, so I can beat him to death with it :-)

    You only use 2^2-2 for the number of subnets when the zero subnet is not permitted, right?

    Some good advice there, but I already worked the chart out for my self - I did that as soon as I sat down at my first exam! It's a good idea, that's for sure.
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP
  18. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    I guess we can predict a market flooded with MS certified individuals then? My best mate won't be happy! :-)
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP
  19. funkymrmagic

    funkymrmagic New Member

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    Once you've got your chart sorted, then the rest comes pretty quickly. You just need to get it down for taking your exam - Once you've got that passed then you can do what the rest of us do and go back to using a subnet calculator!

    (wait now for the flood of people saying "I don't use a subnet calculator, I do it all in my head, and just as fast"!)
     
    Certifications: CCNA, CCDA, CCNP, CCSA R65/R70/R71, TIGER Scheme QST
    WIP: TIGER Scheme Senior Tester, CCSE R71
  20. mcrilly

    mcrilly Byte Poster

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    I found the chart very useful indeed, but a subnet calculator sounds better again :-p
     
    Certifications: CCENT
    WIP: CCNA, RHCE, & VCP

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