CCNP… almost there!

Almost there!!

It’s been a while since my debut post so I reckon my blog is due a wee update now. The CCNP is going well so far, I’ve passed BSCI, BCMSN and ONT. I’m working my way through the ISCW coursework at present and it’s going well. My CCSP has helped a bit so far with all the VPN stuff that’s included so I’m hoping the exam will be a bit easier for this one. Out of the three exams passed, I’d have to say BSCI was the hardest, BCMSN was the easiest but that was mainly due to the fact that I enjoyed learning what I deem to be the fundamentals of networking. ONT was pretty boring to be honest and it was a struggle reading the book as it was so dry and I wasn’t all that interested in Quality of Service to be honest. So fingers crossed for me people, three down and one to go!!

I’ve ended up mainly using Cisco Press books and Jeremy Cioara’s CBT Nuggets as the Cisco Network Academy wasn’t up to much, in my opinion. The slides they provide online didn’t go into enough detail to pass the exam but instead left links to lots of Cisco technology papers at the bottom which there was far too many to read in one lifetime.

The best and most time efficient way I’ve found for studying is to watch the CBT Nuggets ( Jeremy Cioara is a legend! ) and then read the Cisco Press book afterwards while working through the NIL labs. One without the other would be less than half effective I believe. The CBT Nuggets give an excellent visual aid and help you to understand what sentences can’t explain but you really need to read the Cisco Press books to get all the details you need for the exam.

Ian