Exam Question - VTP

[jesseeu]

Hello all,

I will be attending a CCNA bootcamp in a few weeks and I've been studying the Sybex CCNA book. I've been going through the Labs in the VLAN chapter on a 2950 from work.
When I went through the steps as shown in the Sybex book for setting the VTP mode, domain and password, I kept getting the "unrecognized command" message. I tried erasing the startup-config and starting from scratch, but it still wouldn't work. Finally I googled it online and found that the Sybex way of doing it is different than the Cisco press way. Instead of configuring it from 2950A(config)# vtp mode ..., I had to do it from 2950# vlan database. Like this:


2950# vlan database
2950(vlan)# vtp mode server
2950(vlan)# vtp domain test

Now I think I can remember both ways, but my biggest question is which method will be on the test? Something tells me it will be the Cisco press way, but that doesn't help my confidence in studying the Sybex book.

Also, will the labs in the exam let you do a command? and will it tell you if it is an unrecognized command? or will it just mark your answer wrong if it's not typed in exactly correct.


Thanks
Jesse

 

[ROUTERKID1]

I would get the Cisco press books, I used the Exam cram book and it tanked me my first attempt.

 

[CiscoGuy33]

jesseeu,

First did you go to

http://www.sybex.com

and correct all the misprints and errors for your book from the erata page? For the Sybex 4th edition CCNA book there are about 40 different corrections listed.

How many of us buy a tech book and then do not go to the publishers website and look for the corrections or the erata pages. All books "go out" with mistakes, always check the website for more information from the author, corrections etc.

I used the Sybex book to pass both the 607 CCNA and recertified on the 801 CCNA this past July. I also have taught CCNA students in the Cisco Network Academy for 7 years and yes it is not perfect, but I still think it is one of the best for getting ready for the CCNA exam.

I also used different Cisco Press books along with the Sybex book. I have always found that the Cisco Press books go into much greater detail then you will ever need to just pass an exam and the Sybex book gives you just what you need to pass the exam but nothing more.

Using the 2 as well as other sources of info ( I "google" everything) as well of lots of hands on lab work will not only get you ready for the exam, but it will also give you the background to work in this area and not be a "paper" CCNA.

I hope this helps!

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Talking about erata, just to be fair I went to

http://www.ciscopress.com

for the Cisco Press book -

CCNA Certification Library (CCNA Self-Study, exam #640-801)
they have 4-5 page Word files of corrections for each book in the set.

This does not mean that anything is wrong with Sybex or Cisco Press - always check the publishers website for the corrections before you blow your mind trying to understand incorrect information.

Most publishers have not only the erata but also fixes for the CDs that come with the book and sometimes extra stuff that was not ready when the book went to press.

Once again - I hope this helps!!

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[jesseeu]

I looked through the Sybex erata (

http://www.sybex.com/erratatracking.nsf/weberrataform?OpenForm&ISBN=4391),

but found no mention of an error on setting up VTP. I'll make sure to do it the Cisco Press way. Just thought it was kind of odd that it was wrong in the book and the routersim.

Will the labs on the exam let you do a "?" for a command list? I think memorizing all of the correct commands and correct sequences is going to be near impossible for me. But if I can do a "?" to find the right commands (like in the real world), I think I'll do OK.

Thanks for your responses.
Jesse

 

[CiscoGuy33]

jesseeu,
The answer is yes and no - yes "?" does give you some info and no because "?" is not as complete as on a real router.

From my experience on the 2 CCNA exams (4 sims) they all were very basic configs and I found I did not need to use "?", I did try ? to see what was there, you really do not have that much time to be searching for answers.

Read the posts here and you will get a jest of the sims you will see and then make sure you have a good understanding of how to do that type of config!

Almost everyone I know has gotten an ACL question on the 801 exam, I have read here about an OSPF config, a RIP config, NAT config, password setting, interface setups and basic trouble shooting.

The key is the sim has to be something fairly straight forward that you can do in about 5 min. If I remember correctly I think they even tell you not to spend more then 5 or 10 min on the sim.

If you have done the hands on labs a few times in the different books and you do the sims you read about here you should have no trouble.

REMEMBER - lots of the regular questions on the exam have to do with command syntax !!! You need to know the commands!

I hope this helps!



E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[maturus]

My two sims was an OSPF sim where the areas were wrong and a NAT question where the routing was set up but the NAT pool and what not was not established yet. Just thought I'd give you a heads up.

 

[jesseeu]

So there are only two sims on the Exam?

 

[Cluebird]

There are more than two sims on the exam. Cisco considers the sims as any drag-and-drop type questions, multiple selection questions, configuration problems, etc. As far as entering configurations there are usually only a couple.

Entering configuration commands from global configuration and vlan database are valid at the moment. However, Cisco is moving toward global configuration only and claims it will eventually remove vlan database from code.