I just wanted to take a moment and give thanks to all those of you have supported and encouraged me in my own personal quest over the last 6 months. I sat for the Cisco 640-606 Support exam today and passed, thus successfully completing my CCNP testing requirements. I have learned a lot and feel that it was worth the journey. It has been nice to have a goal over the summer (and well into the fall), and now I’m not really sure as to what my next undertaking will be, but I‘m positive it will not start for a month or two! I am really proud of this certification due to the fact that it was mostly self-study (although I did have some very good study partners!!) and was done all for myself. There was no promotion or pay raise at the end of the journey. There was no thought that it would lead to a better job, I have a good one now. I only undertook this task as a way to measure myself in the abstract, wanting to reaffirm my knowledge of Cisco “stuff” and hopefully pick up a few gems on the way. Well I picked up more than a few and realized early on that there was more to know than what I did in my daily duties and responsibilities as a network manager.
As for the exams I thought Support was the easiest to study for (basically a recap with some OS specific issues – I hate Appletalk!) and Remote Access was the most difficult (I’ve never had the chance to use ISDN so that was deep study time on something I’ve had very little hands on with). Switching was pretty straight forward (my network has four routers but over 100 switches – none which are Cisco by the way!) and routing was the wide deep monster (just so much to cover and understand). I did take the 640 series so I can not offer much assistance on the newer exams, but I believe it is not the test number that matters but the understanding of the material and the application of the technology. My biggest assets were:
1. Cisco Press Exam guides
2. A well put together lab ( I also used some online rent-a-labs for some of the ISDN stuff…this is a great idea because who can afford all the gear needed for some of the labs and the result was still the same – I could ping/telnet to the far side router!!!!)
3. A great study partner that hashed through the material and labs with me. Thanks Erik (hey this dude knows a thing or two about Cisco gear and can fly helicopters too).
4. A liberal amount of looking at the production-network gear and configurations, only testing out a few things here and there (hehehe with an evil tone).
5. and CCO
6. Lastly, a good old fashion stick-to-it-attitude.
There were many times I didn’t want to read the next chapter or skip a lab or put off any kind of preparation at all, I guess Cisco discontinuing the 640 exams helped spur me on in the right direction. So if you are in the midst of exam prep or just beginning I say drive on and good luck, the self-worth after it’s all over is great!
So time to snap the cork on a bottle of wine I have been saving since I started this trip and think about the next big adventure! Any ideas????
SF18C
CCNA, MCSE, A+, N+ & HPCC
"Tis better to die on your feet than live on your knees!"
As for the exams I thought Support was the easiest to study for (basically a recap with some OS specific issues – I hate Appletalk!) and Remote Access was the most difficult (I’ve never had the chance to use ISDN so that was deep study time on something I’ve had very little hands on with). Switching was pretty straight forward (my network has four routers but over 100 switches – none which are Cisco by the way!) and routing was the wide deep monster (just so much to cover and understand). I did take the 640 series so I can not offer much assistance on the newer exams, but I believe it is not the test number that matters but the understanding of the material and the application of the technology. My biggest assets were:
1. Cisco Press Exam guides
2. A well put together lab ( I also used some online rent-a-labs for some of the ISDN stuff…this is a great idea because who can afford all the gear needed for some of the labs and the result was still the same – I could ping/telnet to the far side router!!!!)
3. A great study partner that hashed through the material and labs with me. Thanks Erik (hey this dude knows a thing or two about Cisco gear and can fly helicopters too).
4. A liberal amount of looking at the production-network gear and configurations, only testing out a few things here and there (hehehe with an evil tone).
5. and CCO
6. Lastly, a good old fashion stick-to-it-attitude.
There were many times I didn’t want to read the next chapter or skip a lab or put off any kind of preparation at all, I guess Cisco discontinuing the 640 exams helped spur me on in the right direction. So if you are in the midst of exam prep or just beginning I say drive on and good luck, the self-worth after it’s all over is great!
So time to snap the cork on a bottle of wine I have been saving since I started this trip and think about the next big adventure! Any ideas????
SF18C
CCNA, MCSE, A+, N+ & HPCC
"Tis better to die on your feet than live on your knees!"
Anyway switching was very straightfoward I thought routing was the most fun. There was definetelly alot to swallow after the ccna to go into the routing exam with is-is, bgp ospf and eigrp but it was definitely fun. I think that is one of the big things with getting certified I have a great job and I know this cert wont really get me that much more money so I try and enjoy the trip getting there. I think I would like to try for the ccie after the support exam, but more for myself than any job. Some people would probably think that is crazy but I cam into IT long before it was 'big bucks' so Im not here for just the paycheck although it helps 