Friday, November 30, 2012

Test Scheduled

Scheduled ICND1 for 12/10. I've created a study schedule that I've been following. My review of all the ICND1 topics will be completed Mid next week. At which point I get a nice relaxing Thursday followed by a long/intensive weekend. I'll be reviewing topics and doing practice tests friday night and saturday morning. Saturday afternoon will be labbing, subnetting, and troubleshooting. Sunday will be a general overview of any topics that I'm still not sure about.
I had originally scheduled the test for 12/3 but after writing out a study plan decided things would work far better with the extra week to prepare.
After I pass the test I'll dive right in to ICND2 content. I studied through Todd Lammles full CCNA book and already have a good grasp of the content. If everything goes to plan I'll be a full-blown CCNA by mid January.

From there I have some decisions to make. I'm very interested in the Security aspect of Networking so I may pursue my CCNA Security next. I know my first CCNP step will be R&S as I believe it is a good basis to have.

Keep an eye out for updates after I take the test. I'll put my impressions, challenges, and any other thoughts then!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Protocols...

I found a great site for a one-time CCNA practice test today. I say one-time because it does not dynamically generate new questions, content, or pull from a pool of questions. I scored a "Barely Pass" which ended up being an 80% (roughly). I was very pleased with this as I'm going the ICND1 + 2 route, and this was a composite test.
Most of my missed questions seemed to be on some protocol (OSPF) or topics I haven't gone in to yet (ACLs, Frame-Relay). I had done a decent amount of studying on OSPF a couple weeks ago and thought I had a decent grip on it. Apparently I need some clarification as I missed a good 4-5 questions on OSPF alone.
That being said, I'm fairly confident ICND1 is just about within striking range. It's time to nail down my commands, re-read my "CCNA Fast Pass" book by Todd Lammle, and schedule my study cram weekend and test date.

My one concern is that Halo 4 comes out on Tuesday. That's just 3 short days away. I'm going to buckle down this weekend and try to get some serious studying hours in to make up for the time I will likely miss playing Halo 4 on it's launch week and weekend. If I was living on my own this would be a HUGE distraction. Thankfully my wife is spectacular at keeping me on task and away from excessive 'binge-gaming' so I just might be able to schedule a test for mid November.