Failed ICND again

[comptek]

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to throw my failure in also. I took the
exam a month ago. I gave myself a gap of 1 month from when I failed the icnd the first time. What happened the 1st time was I was given a sim the 2nd question in and it was about a small network that consisted of 3 routers (both ends had a switch and pc) middle had a database server attached, an I was to troubleshoot what the problem was. They did not say what the symptom was (users cannot access database etc). Anyways I failed the it so the 2nd time around I figured that I new enough and just needed a brush up. I lightly went over sybex and (don’t hate me) but I also got my hands on a testking (I guess I got what I deserved) because when going through it I found lots of errors. Honestly I was hoping I would come across the sim that I got on the exam, only because I did not know what to do. Anyways fastforeward to last month and I went in feeling confident. Took my time wrote down notes on the plastic that they gave me and began the test. Well guess what question 2 was? Again the exact same question. 3 routers both ends had switches pcs, the middlehad a server. I read and re-read the question and it only said to find the problem and fix it. Honestly I still did not know how to tackle it. I remember not knowing the ip of the router on one end so I had to do cdp and found it but still after that I was able to ping from one end to the other end. I checked route tables routing protocols, switch configs, interfaces. I sh*t you not but I spent 20 minutes on this question before moving on.

I know that I should of just went on but I don’t know what they wanted to know, and I know that the sims weigh a lot more than the questions, but again being able to ping everything on both sides I was getting frustrated and thus that frustration translated to not trying anymore on the exam. I remember with 5 minutes left I was only on question 25, so I just glanced at the question and glanced at the answer's. I did not care. I failed and all I can say is because I was not prepared. Testking is crap don’t buy it don’t use it. Like I said I only used it because I was hoping that I would find a sim similar to the one I had (so that i can see what they are looking for) but did not. Right now with a baby on way in about 2 weeks I don’t know if I want to contiue to try and get the ccna. Maybe just study and get the knowledge but who knows. Has anyone that has taken the ICND know about the sim that I am talking about or similar. I don’t want the answer just what were they trying to ask. I have a home lab that consists of 2x2501's and 1 1924. I used ccna virtual lab platinum, ccna test out. Besides my home lab the sims all pointed out what they wanted or what the problem was. I am thinking about taking the test again and this time going over the testout software and sybex book together ( I think it is overkill though) because I have the intro done but I don’t know I may come across the sim that I had or techinques to handle the sim that I may have overlooked. I don’t know. Can someone throw this dog a bone (with just a little meat on it) please.

Thanks


Comptek
A+, Network+

 

[rmcp2k]

i took the composite exam about 2 months ago, i don't recall the exact sim, but it might be similar to yours. what you would do is do a show run, find the IP of address f the interface that is directly connected to the other router. i believe its a serial connection between the two. since it is a point to point connection it has to be a /30 network. So just pick the next IP address of it and telnet in. Once you telnet in the other router, do a show run and you should see the problem.


there will be 3 sim covering RIP, EIGRP and TELNET(the one you're struggling with)

know how to troubleshoot RIP and EIGRP. on the sim, it will most like that the network is not configure or that its wrong. very simple to fix it.

also know your ACL, and subnetting

 

[comptek]

rcmp2k

Thanks for the reply. We may have had the same sim. If you can remember were you not able to connect to the other router /network? Because in my case I was able too. My only problem was that I was not given the IP address of the far end router. I had to find it via cdp from the middle router. Once I found the ip I was able to telnet to it without changing anything. An from there I was able to ping all networks on the sim. So I was not sure where to even start. It may have been a routing protocol issue but not sure because I was able to ping all devices from both sides. My other gripe that I forgot to put on the original post was that once you start the sim and need to go back to look at the network layout i found that I would lose my telnet an or console session. Thus losing more time. If anyone one else has some info or words of encouragement I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Comptek
A+, Network+

 

[helpdeskdan]

I'll offer some suggestions, but first I have to advise caution about your posts. Cisco strictly forbids posting test questions, that includes the sims. Don't go into any more detail than you have or it could mean trouble for you and for tek-tips.

Troubleshooting is tough. You have to think like a router. Using commands like show ip interface brief and show ip route, take a look at what your interfaces are and what is in the routing table. Try to imagine where the router will send the packet next. Here's a good link on the subject:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/itg_v1/tr1907.htm

If you fail the test, sit down immediately afterwards and write down everything you can remember that you couldn't answer. Keep thinking about it all day, you may remember more. Then, use that list to study for the next test. Good luck!

 

[comptek]

Dan,

Yeah I knew that going in but I thought I would try anyway. I was thinking about discussing this via e-mail but took a shot at this post. Like I said above it sucked that I got the same question both times and for the life of me I could not figure out what they wanted me to fix. On study material, the sims, in the books and virtual lab it seemed like if you were able to connect or ping you were good to go. An if they wanted you to change routing protocols they would tell you. I know that cisco tries to mimic real life and maybe this sim was something that really happend but it seemed to me very misleading and not enough time. Where I work my thing is "If it aint broke dont fix it". That was how I had to look at the question, but still got it wrong. Thanks for the input. I will tone this down I only put this out because I did not know how else to word it.

Thanks

Comptek
A+, Network+

 

[techkiwi]

Not knowing this particular exam or the simulation, but maybe you need to look at the network topology and try to pick up some clues from that.

For example: does it say something about "This network is using RIP". So once pings are working, I would look at the routing table to see if I'm learning all the routes, the running-config to see if there are any problems, etc.




Graham M. CCNP

 

[comptek]

techkiwi,
Thanks for your post. I do not remember if the topology was using rip etc, but i was able to ping all devices, from all directions. I thought that if i can ping all devices that the routing table should be good. An I think that by the 3 minute mark to this sim I started to get mad and just started to guess posible scenerios as to what the problem could be, and I kept thinking that as long as pings worked from all over than things were fine. Is there a scenerio where pings to all devices work but there is still an issue?

Thanks

Comptek
A+, Network+

 

[darkhut]

I believe there can be issues with upper layers, but that shouldn't concern the CCNA

 

[darkhut]

the only other thing I could think of would be an access list that allows icmp but not other traffic, so there should be other clues in the question

 

[CiscoGuy33]

darkhut,

When doing the sims on the CCNA with a question like you had - first you know that something is wrong and must be turned on or turned off so I do not bother "pinging" anything.

Since the question says all users can not get to the database server hanging off the middle router - chances are the trouble is on the middle router! I start with a "show run" on the middle router and look it over line by line - does it have an ACL, is an interface "shut down", got a wrong IP address, wrong subnet mask etc. Since the object of the test is to troubleshoot and then fix it go right to the "show run" and see what has or has not been done - it can never be that complex - they do not want you spending more then a few moments on the question.

If that did not help - I would try a "show ip route" is router B talking to A and C - I saw one question where Routers A and C were IGRP 100 and router C was IGRP 10 - one little missing zero was not allowing them to talk!

In six years I have taken the CCNA 2x and passed both times - never having any trouble with the sims and I always approached them like this!

Hope this helps!


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

 

[Cluebird]

You can isolate and solve CCNA router troubleshooting issues with the following commands most of the time:

show run (Look for obvious errors)
show ip interface brief (Make sure interfaces are up/up)
show cdp neighbors (CDP will verify L2 connectivity and give IP addressing information)
show ip protocols (Make sure routing protocol is running)
show ip route (Make sure router is learning routes)
If all looks good, then ping to check L1-3, then telnet to check L1-7.

You will not need obscure commands or hidden commands. The test writers aren't trying to test whether you memorize every single IOS command but rather want to see if you can identify some of the most common issues on a simple network.
Try not to over-think the sims!!

HTH

 

[kade714]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it.

Comptek... email me kade714@yahoo.com

I swear I'm not this dumb... LOL

I also tried it on my home lab - forgot I had one due to too much studying, and the addressing works with Ripv1. I'm going to try ICND a 3rd time this weekend. I'm hoping they give me a different Sim.