CCNA part 1 Exam

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I am currently attending a cisco academy and have just got my last exam to take next wednesday (passed the pratical last night), I was wondering could anyone who has taken the exam point me to any good web material to revise for the exam. I am working from the cisco book "Network Fundamentals"

 

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You are taking the exam for the class or for the CCNA (ICND1)? If you are taking the class final, you should just review all the "chapter" exams that you have taken online since the questions follow that format and material. Pretty much if you did alright on those, you'll do fine on the final.

If you are talking about ICND1, you won't be prepared for that until you finish the CCNA2 course. I finished CCNA2 a few months ago, and upon reviewing for ICND1 I found that there was a lot more focus on routing protocols in class than may be on that test, however there seems to be a lot more focus on switch configuration, which was really glossed over in the class. I don't think the test will be too rough though, especially if you really understand the material in the class.

If you plan on continuing with the Cisco Academy, be prepared to have lengthy labs in class 2... some of the later assignments took a good number of hours and from what I saw in the weekend open lab, people in classes 3 and 4 were working on multiple labs that were taking 8 hours a piece. It's fun stuff though.

Good Luck!

 

edie209,

Are you talking about the Cisco Networking Academy computerized Final Exam for the CCNA Explorations - Network Fundamentals course?

 

Didn't Finkenstein just ask that?

 

BosonMichael,

It is currently still possible to intentionally enroll in the Cisco Networking Academy under the "CCNA 3.1" curriculum which was designed for the 640-801 CCNA exam series, which Cisco Networking Academy students are still eligible to take until July 2009, despite the 640-801 CCNA exam being retired back on Nov 2007. The individual courses within the "CCNA 3.1" curriculum are: 1) CCNA1 2) CCNA2 3) CCNA3) and 4) CCNA4. The new Cisco Networking Academy curriculum leading towards the 640-802 CCNA exam series are known by the new names of "CCNA Explorations" and "CCNA Discovery." Within the CCNA Explorations curriculum the individual courses within are called: 1) Network Fundamentals 2) Routing Protocols and Concepts 3) LAN Switching and Wireless 4) Accessing the WAN. Within the CCNA Discovery curriculum the individual courses within are called: 1) Networking for Home and Small Businesses 2) Working at a Small-to-Medium Business or ISP 3) Introducing Routing and Switching in the Enterprise and 4) Designing and Supporting Computer Networks.

Finkenstein said...

Since Finkenstein wasn't specific to which curriculum and which course in the curriculum, that's why I asked my question. Also, he was unclear and confusing with the "...CCNA (ICND1)..." part because the "CCNA 3.1" curriculum leads to the CCNA by the 640-801 CCNA exam generation, and the CCNA Explorations curriculum and the CCNA Discovery curriculum leads to the CCNA by the 640-802 CCNA exam generation so the mixture of the 640-801 CCNA exam generation (which includes INTRO and ICND but NOT ICND1) or 640-802 CCNA exam generation (which includes ICND1) was confusing.

Then when Finkenstein said...

The "CCNA2" is a course within the "CCNA 3.1" curriculum which leads to the 640-801 CCNA exam generation. The "ICND1" is the 640-822 ICND1 exam which is part of the 640-802 CCNA exam generation, not the 640-801 CCNA exam generation. So excuse me if I asked a more specific and targeted question than Finkenstein did.

 

Yes, but look at the times on the posts, Michael... still weird stuff going on, eh?

Edit: Ignore this feeble, angst ridden, stupid old man... my eyesight is obviously going, along with the rest of my body...

 

Actually, from the original post, it would appear that he is in the newest curriculum. He states that he is using the "Network Fundamentals" book which is a part of the new version of the class which takes into acount the ICND1/ICND2 option. The earlier versions the academy used the book "Networking Basics" as their CCNA1 course. In addition, while the course names have changed, they are still often referred to as CCNA1, CCNA2, CCNA3, CCNA4 at least by class codes for many schools, and instructors still. These are not the official names, as you have stated, however this version of the academy only started this year, so I'm sure it will be adjusted as time goes on and the new program becomes more "comfortable".

My question to the original poster was whether he was getting ready for the electronic final for the class, or if he was going for the actual ICND1 exam. Same question as yours.

 

Yes I am,

I am enrolled in the new version of the exam that has 4 parts to it. Within each part there are section exams a pratical and final exam, which I am doing this coming wednesday.

 

Dude... it was the same question.

 

edie209,

As a graduate of CCNA4, Fundamentals of Wireless LANs, and current student of CCNP:Building Scalable Internetworks v5.0, here's what I did to prepare for each Module exams which should apply to the Computerized Final exam.

I'd first jog through each chapter then either write or word process the titles of each of the sections of a chapter. I like to call it the "Overview" section. For example, the CCNA Explorations curriculum, Network Fundamentals course, Chapter 1 would look something like this:

1. Overview
   1. Chapter Introduction
   2. Communicating in a Network-Centric World
   3. Communication - An Essential Part of Our Lives
   4. The Network as a Platform
   5. The Architecture of the Internet
   6. Trends in Networking
   7. Chapter Labs
   8. Summary

Then I would extend the above to dig into each section and list all the subsections as follows:

1. Overview
   1. Chapter Introduction
   2. Communicating in a Network-Centric World
   3. Communication - An Essential Part of Our Lives
   4. The Network as a Platform
   5. The Architecture of the Internet
   6. Trends in Networking
   7. Chapter Labs
   8. Summary
2. Chapter Introduction
   1. Communicating in a Network-Centric World
      1. Networks Supporting the Way We Live
      2. Examples of Today's Popular Communications Tools
      3. Networks Supporting the Way We Learn
      4. Networks Supporting the Way We Work
      5. Networks Supporting the Way We Play

Then go even deeper into the subsections to pick out details such as:

1. Terminology definitions
   1. e.g. Extranet - ?
2. Groupings of Terminology
   1. e.g. Types of networks: 1) intranet 2) internet 3) extranet ....
3. Interrelationships between terminology
   1. e.g. In encapsulation, the IP packet is encapsulated into an Ethernet frame.
4. Meaningful diagrams for you
   1. e.g. The OSI Model diagram
5. LISTS!
   1. e.g. Among the benefits are:
      1. Current and accurate training materials
      2. Availabilty of training to a wide audience
      3. Consistent quality of instruction
      4. Cost reduction
6. Factoids
   1. e.g.
      1. Ethernet is IEEE 802.3
      2. Ethernet's maximum distance is 100 m.
7. Anything else that you think or feel is important.

Do that for each section and for each chapter for the course, then quiz yourself by folding the pages so that only the terminology shows but the definition is hidden, only the list title is showing but the body of the list is hidden, or even try to write out the definitions or lists on a blank sheet of paper. Since the Computerized Final Exam will be closed notes and closed book, the more you have memorized and understood, the better you'll do in the Computerized Final Exam. I wish you luck.

 

r.h.lee:

Excellant study recommendation. That is a great way to really know the concepts that each chapter is teaching. A lot of people tend to gloss over the goals of each chapter to only focus on a few definitions. Your suggestion of a breakdown chapter by chapter is a good way to review and solidify what each chapter's intent is. I would also recommend that you review the electronic chapter tests that you took online as well since many of those questions are similar to what you can expect on the final. This was my finding at least.

 

Finkenstein,

How do you review the electronic chapter tests when they're only available to you when your instructor activates the chapter tests and then you take them?

 

I don't know if it is something new in the new course, but they were available to us in both of the classes that I have taken so far. They kept calling us the guinea pigs since we were the very first group to take the new classes in my area. The books actually didn't become available until after the first class or two. I'm guessing it wasn't this way when you took the courses?

 

Finkenstein,

Back in my day, the Module Exams were like the real Cisco exams in that you were only presented the questions for the purposes of determining if you gained the knowledge that the course writers intended or not. Once you clicked [Submit] at the end of the Module Exam, that was the last time you were able to look at the questions. Once you complete the module exam, I couldn't review the actual questions I received by the Module Exam test engine for that Module Exam after I clicked [Submit]. Maybe things have changed since then.

However, you have to understand that the purpose of Exams, just like the actual Cisco certification exams, is that they're a TESTING tool and not a LEARNING tool. The Learning tool is the curriculum, the labs, and the cute little quizzes at the end of the Chapters within each course. I'm not sure about any other Cisco Networking Academy courses but when I took the "Fundamentals of Wireless LANs" course, after you take a Module Exam, there was an option for some "Personalized Feedback." Basically, the "Personalized Feedback" told you which section and subsection of the Module that you got questions incorrect. So it's up to you to recall the exact question you got in the Module Exam, reread the material that the Personalized Feedback were your "weak areas," and reach an "Ah!" moment by putting the memorized question with the curriculum to understand why you got that question wrong. But if you were too confused by the question in the first place when it was presented to you that you never remember either parts of the question or the whole question, the "Ah!" moment may be either slow to occur or never. Either way, by reviewing the sections indicated by the Personalized Feedback, you strengthen your weaknesses at the Module level for the Computerized Final Exam for the course.

 

r.h. lee:

It sounds like Cisco may have changed things. From what we were told, the questions in the courses were just like the ones we would see on the real exams, just tailored to the area that chapter covered. At the end of the test, we did not have a personal feedback area. We only had a short questionaire with questions like "on a scale from 1-10, how committed are you to studying for this course". When we submitted our questions, we simply received a percentage, with no indication of where you went wrong. Now that I think about it, it wasn't until about half way through the first course that we were able to review questions. I know that we had a very large drop out rate, probably 25% by the end of the first class, and 50% by the end of the second. They kept telling us that they were constantly having meetings regarding us being the "test group" for the area and that things in the course may change. I have class 3 and 4 starting in late August, and I'm sure things will change for that as well.

One thing that I did think was interesting, and if you could let me know it was the same way for you... Passing the class was detrimental on you passing the actual hands on exams. So, if you aced all of the chapter tests, and labs, and extra assignments, but you couldn't apply it in a hands on lab where you worked solo, it was a simple fail for the class. So for example, when you walked up to a rack of equipment and a basket of cabling and a document, you were told to get to work and you had like an hour an a half. You had to subnet a network per requirements and configure multiple pcs to represent multiple sites, and then configure and cable an EIGRP based network. If you couldn't do that, you failed. Personally I felt it was a very easy task, but a lot of people were still confused with subnetting, even after the first class.

 

Thanks for the suggestions I am busy at the moment going over the material in the book, the online exams are locked and I can't access them again unless I want to retake them, which would regrade me too.

So I think I will take onboard your idea and use it and hopefuly by wednesday night be looking to start part two.

 

Finkenstein,

I think if you want to discuss this further, we should have a separate thread from this one.

 

Just to let you all know the advice was good I passed last night.

On to part 2 now although college is closed for the summer.

 

edie209,

Congratulations! Do you at least have access to the Cisco Netacad Curriculum for the CCNA Explorations - Routing Protocols and Concepts course? You can find out by going to http://cisco.netacad.net , login, then on the right under the section "Resources" click _Course Materials_. Then for the [* Select Curriculum|v] drop down list, select _CCNA Exploration_. Then for the [Select Course|v] drop down list, select _Routing Protocols and Concepts_. Then for the "Select Version" menu, select _4.0_. Finally, click on the [Submit] button. I hope this helps.

 

Hi thanks for that I have the official book it arrived last week (from Amazon) and I was handed a course book before I left the college last night and I do have access to the online material.

Thanks for your help so far.