Finally took the ICND2...

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... And passed

Hardest exam I've sat, a lot more difficult than the ICND1 or any other Microsoft exam I've taken. Really thought I had failed it but then the Congratulations screen popped up

I'm really glad to put the CCNA behind me...

 

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Well Done, sir!! Got to love that "Congratulations" screen.

Onwards and upwards, CCNP next !!!

 

Congratz

 

Congrats, are you going straight onto Switch or CCNA Security next?

 

Congrats!

 

Congrats nice one

 

Congrats

 

Congratulations!

 

Well done and congratulations the hard work has paid off.

 

Thanks all!

Still unsure, probably the SWITCH first as almost everything at work is L2/L3 switching with high availability and CCNA didn't cover that much of it.

After that I'm going on too the CCNA Security and some blocks of the CCNP Security (IPS & FIREWALL).

Anyway, interesting times ahead . Wondering how much time goes into studying for a CCNP exam compared to the ICND1/ICND2/CCNA exam too...

 

Simon, for the ROUTE you need at least 4/5 months of hard graft, make sure you get your hands on real cisco routers (5 x 2610's will be about right with 4 of them support WIC-1T's and one with a NM-4AS, forget simulators, none of them will cover all the commands you ever want to run.

The route take EIGRP, OSPF and IPV6 to new levels. BGP needs alot of work if you have never ever touched it before and can prove to be counter intuitive when you realise BGP needs an underlaying IGP to get it to work correctly (unless you fully mesh every thing which is a mess)

You should be CCNP within 8/10 months if you study at least 2 hours per day, then go for the CCIE, no rest....

 

Hey Joe, thanks for the hints! I'll probably dump my 2510 routers since the AUI transceivers are more expensive than the routers

What kind of gear would be needed for the SWITCH exam? I already have two 2960's but I reckon I'll need a L3 switch and more L2 switches too...
Just checked eBay and a 3550 is quite affordable...

 

a pair of 3550 SMI's 24 port switches are fine, although you will pay less for the 48 port switches. The switch IOS has to support the IP Source guard and DAI (Dynamic ARP inspection) commands

A switch that supports the dynamic routing proctols would be nice, not required for the SWITCH cert but good to have, for the dynamic routing protocols get the 3550 48 ports EMI switch

Drop me an e-mail and I will give you the specs you need

 

Firstly, congratulations on your achievement. I recently did my CCENT and I will be doing my ICND2 in a few months also.

You mention the fact that the ICND 2 is difficult. How difficult? You compared it to the ICND1, also. With that comparison in mind, what aspects of the ICND1, if applicable, were brought forward in the ICND2 and make more arduous? What are your suggestions for preparing for the exam? I have the official Cisco Press ICND2 book and a small lab at home which I am going to use, not to mention the CBT Nuggets videos too. This setup got my through my CCENT pretty easily.

Well done again and keep going. As others have suggested: it's time for the CCNP ;-)

 

What I meant was that the ICND1 exam was quite easy. Lots of basic questions which I went through pretty fast. Lots of subnetting, basic routing and switching concepts. I was in and out in about an hour.

Compared to the CCENT exam, the ICND2 questions required a lot more thought. There weren't any trick questions or anything like that, you just really have to know your stuff. Anyway, make sure you have done lots of lab work and you'll be fine.

Also in study time. For the ICND1 I was ready in about 2 months, and I've spent 5 or 6 months on the ICND2 before taking the exam.

Is it this book you have?
Amazon.com: CCNA ICND2 Official Exam Certification Guide (CCNA Exams 640-816 and 640-802) (2nd Edition) (9781587201813): Wendell Odom: Books

 

Yes I thought it rather elementary also, and was complete with about fifteen minutes to spare (I like to read questions several times and check my understanding of the question before answering).

Luckily I do have a little home laboratory. It's nothing fancy; two 2900XLs, two 2500, a 2600 and an 851W. I will make sure I get it fully setup before starting the ICND 2 book.

I gave my self one week for the ICND 1 and passed first time. This was only because I had a complete week off work before the exam, so I spent Monday to Friday, 9-to-5 studying. Flash cards and the CBT Nuggets videos help massively.

That is exactly the book I have, yes. It's rather good.

 

I just passed the ICND2 also. I thought it was easier than I was expecting, but I did put a lot of study time into it. It was the hardest exam I have taken still. I was expecting problems in areas such as NAT and access lists, but I ended up scoring higher in that area than WAN configuration, which I expected to do better in ( Switching and VLANs was the only area I got 100 % in). I did a lot of work the couple of days before on NAT, access lists and Frame relay. I ended up with 4 simulations on the exam, none of which where NAT or access lists. that was surprising. A load of troubleshooting questions in all areas. I wrote out the increments, cidr and subnet addresses, additions of 8, 16, and 32 along with some powers of 2 while it counted down on the screen to learn the testing interface. That helped me to just glance at the charts for reference instead of trying to think about that part of it on the questions. I finished with about 15 minutes left.

good luck mcrilly.
Congrats Simonvm!!! It feels good to reach that goal, doesn't it? I just about did a victory dance when I saw the Congratulations screen.

 

Yes, it does
What's your next goal after the ccna?

 

For now, just to find a job. I haven't worked for almost 2 years, since I went back to college for an associates in Networking. I was able to just go to school since I had unemployment for a while. Once I get back to work I will work on whatever Certs they require, but I do want to eventually work on the CCNP or specialize in security possibly.