The CCNP Recertification Exam was gruelling, and that's no April Fool's joke. But I survived it! ;-)
Exam number: 640-851 (the current one) Number of questions: 112 Time: 2 hours Passing Score 732 My score: 834 Is anyone else taking it soon? Here's some advice: Do study. Take each question one at a time. There's plenty of time. Despite some of the gruelling questions, there are some give-aways too. Read carefully. Don't guess unless you absolutely have to. BREATHE! ;-) There's a variety of question types, including one right answer, multiple right answers (they tell you how many), drag-and-drop, type in the command, select a command from a list, and that new simulator thingie that Cisco uses. One reason the test is so hard is that it covers so many topics, in quite a lot of depth. After a while, your brain gets fried and you forget, is it OSPF that considers a high priority a good thing (for DR election) or it STP that considers a high priority a good thing (for root bridge election?) (It's OSPF). And with OSPF, does a 0 in a mask mean "must match" like in access lists or does it mean "don't care" like in static routes (and OSPF range commands?!) (0 means must match in OSPF network statements.) Those things may seem obvious, but by about question 72, you start to get confused, if you're like me. You just have to relax and realize that you DO know this stuff. Don't let your brain get into a Mobius strip like mine almost did. The good news is that the questions from the different qualifying tests are not merged. It's very clear when you move between the following tests: Routing: It's based on BSCI actually, not Routing, and is quite hard. Know your BGP, OSPF, and IS-IS. I used Doyle and papers at CertificationZone. You won't be able to just use books that you read when you passed 3 years ago. Support: This didn't seem to have changed. So you could use the Cisco Press CIT book, but there is a new resource available too. (Troubleshooting Campus Networks. :-) Remote Access: This didn't seem to have changed. The Cisco Press book edited by Catherine Pacquet is still an excellent resource. Yes, you may encounter BCRAN questions from last millennium's technologies and products. Switching: This had changed. So know the topics listed for the latest version. I'm not sure what you should study. I guess the official BCMSN book? I studied with Cisco LAN Switching, by Clark and Hamilton, which is excellent, but I still couldn't answer a lot of the questions. I suspect you need a lesser book so you know all Cisco's latest misconceptions about LAN technologies. ;-) For the switching exam, know your stuff because some of the questions are unanswerable by anyone with a logical brain. You'll get things like: Which 3 statements are true? IEEE 802.3 FDDI SONET Gigabit Ethernet Notice, the answers aren't statements! ARGH. Finally a word about CertificationZone. I have written troubleshooting guides for them but am no longer compensated by them, so I hope you won't think this is biased. Their papers were extremely helpful. Also they have practice exams for BSCI, Support, BCRAN, and Switching. The practice exams are very helpful, with one exception: SWITCHING! (The bane of my existence.) Their switching exam covers too many topics that aren't on the current exam. Well, that's all for now. I'm just happy to be certifiable for another 3 years. _______________________________ Priscilla Oppenheimer www.troubleshootingnetworks.com www.priscilla.com Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=66644&t=66644 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
