Hi all, I have decided to further my knowledge in the networking arena and would like to officially start my cisco career. I have been studying for a while now and would like to take the exam pretty soon but i dont think I am ready yet so i decided to increase my study sources.

So far for studying i am using/have used:
1) CBTNuggets video series (I love Jeremy)
2) Simulation software to give myself a better feel for the OS
3) This forum by analyzing the answers to questions ppl ask, as well as the subnetting practice page here (i dont get any wrong now)
4) Practice tests which are shared between me and a friend who is doing the exam on Aug 11 and bought the exam package that includes these
5) I also have cisco network academy exploration which I have just started but the going is kinda slow
6) My brother-in-law had some books lying around and I asked him for them so he just dropped them off (CCNA Study Guid by Todd Lammie - 5th Edition, CCNA INTRO and CCNA ICND exam cert guide by Wendell Odom)

My questions are:
1) Is there something else that I should do/add to my study? Is there something I should take out altogether? (though too much info is not a bad thing)
2) The books I mentioned as u can see are the old books....are these still useful for my studies or is some vital info missing since they are the older versions?
3) The CCNA book....will using this book confuse me since it focuses on the 1 exam route rather than ICND 1 / ICND 2 separate? I do plan to do ICND 2 directly after passing ICND 1.
4) I know a guy who is selling a few switches (2950s)....would buying these help me? (if not for ccent then icnd2 perhaps?)
5) Finally, how will i know when i am ready for the exam? Will I jus know or am I jus being chicken and scared to do the exam?

Thank you very much...I look forward to your replies.

The fifth edition is the old book by todd so you may want to update that but you could still use it for most of what is covered, check the Cisco website for the latest exam objectives.
ICND 1 is pretty easy so it's a good first step if you want to see how far you've come, make sure you have subnetting completely under control before doing the exam. Be able to do it in your sleep and the exam will be a lot easier. ICND 1 concentrates on concepts so study the CBT vids and take notes.
You could buy the switches to get some hands on experience, so why not?

If you stick with the CBT and buy the Sybex study guide you should pass with flying colours, good luck.

_________________
Good Luck,

David

Great thank you so much. I am almost finished with the CBT vids and I will try to get my hands on the newer edition. Afterwards I will run through the vids a second time quickly just to make sure everything sticks in there.

Jeremy is good. Listening to him versus, say, Chris Bryant is like the difference between a good teacher and Ben Stein on lithium. A word of caution here, though it won't apply for some time.

The CBT Nuggets stuff is good through your CCNA-level stuff. However, I have to say I found them to be nearly useless once I'd hit the NP level. I remember going through the CCNP CBT Nuggets by Jeremy and, at the end, thinking "Man, I already knew 90% of this." Once I'd worked my way through other stuff, well, let's say it was more like 20%. The CCNP CBT Nuggets are way too information-light to actually help you pass the exams.

IMO of course.

Ok understood....that's really disappointing to hear because hes a good teacher. So if not the CBT for NP wat vids/training material would u recommend then?

I got my NA and NP with Chris Bryant. Maybe a little dry, but I got everything I needed

_________________
www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

Thank you all.

Ok I somehow managed to get my hands on the new edition and I off reading it (aiming for at least 1 chapter a day minimum...2/3 tho on a good day after work).

I would like to ask tho. How heavy is the exam itself as it relates to the SDM? I just finished that portion of the CBT vids on my 2nd watch and it seems like not much. Am i underestimating this part of the ccent?

When you say "SDM" I think of the ASA Gui... not sure if we're talking about the same thing... I'm not a network admin professionally, so I had to go over the material time and time again. The best way I believe to remember stuff is to think about it, i.e. questions. I found the Boson questions extremely helpful. And also the questions in the books are very good, just harder to get material from. For real world experience with the simulators, I bought the Boson NetSim for CCNA, and I thought that was helpful. But I'm working on CCNP Route, and didn't realize how good of a studying material GNS3 was. There is a great site for labs to work through for CCNA

http://ciscoiseasy.blogspot.com/

Actually I haven't done the CCNA part of that site, but I'm using the labs for the CCNP section, and it's really great. I'm not sure how much you can really simulate as far as switches are concerned with GNS3, so if you can pick up some switches for cheap, 2960s or 2950s, even 3550s, it's not a bad idea. The 3550s seem to be around $100 on ebay, I couldn't find a 2960, if you can get your hands on an EMI image (layer 3 switching) you have a very powerful testing device for later as well. And it doesn't hurt to get familiar with loading IOS images, tftp etc... I wouldn't bother getting old routers, as GNS3 does a better job for simulating them for what we need to use them for.

Just in general on my quest for more experience with Cisco I picked up an ASA and Pix firewall to use/learn on. It'll throw you for a loop for studying as the syntax is different, but I feel for what I'll need to know for my work, that firewalls are as important if not more than Routing/Switching.

Well thanks to everyone who helped me out. My exam is scheduled for sept. 1st and I am hoping for the best. It's only my ccent but I am going to ride this wave up to ccnp. I have already purchased the official ccnp guides even tho I saw a lot of mixed opinions on amazon about them. I have them coming via snail mail so I plan that when they arrive I will be a ccna n ready to continue my journey.

Jus so u know I managed to pass the exam with 912/1000. It felt a lot more difficult than I expected and I thought passing for me was touch n go. Anyway tho, thanks to all who helped me directly n indirectly.

ICND2 to be done after I get deeper in the studying

Congrats on the pass!

_________________
"See packet, be packet, you are packet. Ignore all else!" -The Networker
packetsdropped.wordpress.com

congratz

_________________
Good Luck,

David

does any of you have packet tracer labs for ccent?

I have some queries mostly concerning packet tracer:

1. How to connect TFTP server to a switch. I mean what should be the default gateway of the server.

2. Is there any way to see the RIP advertisements?

3. Are there any ready made ICND1 troubleshooting scenarios on internet.

4. Can we use SDM in packet tracer. How?

5. Can we see all the IOS in flash.

Thanks in Advance.

Please take a look through the "Useful link/Tutorials" board here on the forum
viewforum.php?f=24

I believe you should be able to find something helpful in there for your studying. Also Scottsee's subforum has some really helpful things in there as well.