Taking CCNA exams seperately 1

[cyberspace]

When doing CCNA through a Cisco Academy, Is it a good idea to take the INTRO exam after Sem 2, to get it out of the way, and then the ICND exam after Sem4?

Will doing this take the load off the amount of revision/preperation needed?

'When all else fails.......read the manual'

 

[Cluebird]

It depends on your comfort with the material. Taking the INTRO gives you a good indication of your foundation for ICND. However, the INTRO exam is not as hard as the ICND based on feedback I've received. The ICND will also test INTRO concepts as part of the requisite knowledge to successfully answer questions. Many of the ICND and CCNA composite exam questions require you to apply several concepts to get a correct answer so there are more scenario-based questions to consider. If your INTRO foundation isn't strong, you'll have a hard time with ICND/CCNA.

For example, INTRO teaches the OSI and TCP/IP models so you can expect questions that require you to relate the two models or list the layers in order or map the layers between each model. ICND/CCNA assumes you know the models so may provide a diagram of devices (routers, switches, hubs, MLS) and have you identify segments, collision domains, and broadcast domains. To successfully answer the question you have to understand where each device fits in OSI or TCP/IP as well as the functionality each device adds to a network.

Just because you pass the INTRO doesn't mean you can forget everything you learned in Sems 1 and 2.

 

[cyberspace]

Thanks cluebird, I will bear that in mind!

'When all else fails.......read the manual'

 

[CiscoGuy33]

cyberspace,
I always tell my Academy students to take the INTRO test after Semester 2 even if it is just for the experience of taking a Cisco exam.

Just my thoughts - good luck on your studies!

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

 

[cyberspace]

Thanks for that.

I have decided that I am going to do just that...INTRO next month and then ICND in summer.

What are the trickiest parts going to be that I need to watch out for? I have read the rough exam criteria on the Cisco site but it does make clear that other topics may come up.

Obviously there will be subnetting, ethernet etc...

What about ACLs? And if so, will there be extended ACLs and Named ACLs aswell as Standard ones?

And IOS related questions, stuff like boot order, config register etc?

Actually I had good experience last week, the only spare router other than the one I had was "broken".....so i TFTPd the clean IOS config from the router that I had up to my PC...then set up the "broken" router for TFTP at the rommon> prompt...took me a while but it worked in the end!! Anyway thats a bit irrelevant lol.

Im probably going to do some online tests first..what would you reccommend? I hear test king and how2pass are good.

thanks

'When all else fails.......read the manual'