The IT Certification Megathread: Straight Outta CompTIA

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The IT Certification Megathread: Straight Outta CompTIA

Cenodoxus: Mar 29, 2012; while [[ true ]] ; do
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Good God.

Can we all just agree that good social skills are a plus in the workforce, employers are free to hire whoever they feel is the best fit for their team, and actual nepotism is a lovely thing that needs to go away?

Good, now back to certs.

Would a small lab built for the old ICND1/2 transfer very well to the new ICND1/2? I've got three Cisco 2611XMs with WIC-1Ts to do PPP, and one of them has an NM-4T for FR switching. I've also got two 2950s to dick around with Spanning Tree, VTP, et al. Should this setup cover all my bases for the new CCNA as well?

# ¿ May 16, 2013 17:00

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 11:01

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Mugaaz posted:

Why is everyone such a fan of video learning from CBT/INE? I agree that its the least boring method, but the videos just never go deep enough to pass any test. I feel like they are a complete waste of time, because I will still have to read the book in depth to actually pass the test. If I have to read the book in depth.... why bother watching 20 hours of video? I feel like video is great if you want to learn new subjects to understand them, or learn how to perform certain tasks, but its completely inadequate to get you up to the level to pass the harder tests. A very knowledgeable guy showing you how to set the hostname on a router is no help at all when you get questions like "Whats the maximum number of characters for a hostname?".

Someone blurting information at you over your lunch break doesn't replace reading the official book, nor should it. I'm convinced that a happy, peppy CCIE will never be able to teach you in 30 minutes of video what a less-enthusiastic CCIE could teach you in a chapter or two of the official cert guide. BUT, when you put the two together, it's an invaluable combination.

After I slogged through 500 pages of a Wendell Odom snoozefest, being able to fire up the CBTNuggets videos and listen to Jeremy Cioara bounce off the walls with excitement for a half-hour per chapter helped to reiterate and reinforce the concepts from the cert guide. I'm a big fan of his humor and enthusiasm, and it gives a lot of people the push they need to lock the concepts into place from the mess of puzzle pieces that is the cert guide.

# ¿ May 23, 2013 15:52

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CatsOnTheInternet posted:

Hospitals and health care employers go absolutely apeshit over Citrix certs for some reason.

Three words: Remote-hosted EHR.

Hospitals are outsourcing their systems by the hundreds, and Citrix is just about the only mature platform there is for that kind of stuff. Well, VMware too, but in my experience View is bloated crap and has nowhere near the market penetration of Citrix.

On a different note, I got tired of making excuses for myself ("just a few more review sessions" and "work is too hectic right now"), so I said gently caress it and registered for the new ICND1. I've been taking the Pearson practice tests from the new Official Cert Guide, but I've got this paranoid feeling that the practice tests are missing something and that I'll get blindsided during the actual exam. Nothing a few more review sessions can't fix.

# ¿ May 24, 2013 04:02

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metavisual posted:

I'm putting together a modest CCNA lab, and I specced out the following, does this make sense?

Do I need anything else? Cables, etc?

Looks good. That'll get you a good bit of hands-on experience with the hardware, which even though isn't strictly required for CCNA, is a great plus. Balance that kit with GNS3 for more advanced topologies and you're all set.

Are you planning on going above and beyond the CCNA? If so, you may want to price a 3550 or two in place of the 2950. You'll get everything you can find in the 2950s, plus a router for inter-VLAN routing and other fun things like that. Router-on-a-Stick is ancient and you'll never see it in a well-designed production environment.

It's a bit of an investment compared to the 2950, but if your CCNA is just a stepping stone it's entirely worth it.

# ¿ May 28, 2013 15:43

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CrazyLittle posted:

If you want to get fancy look for a 1721 with 64-128DRAM 32Flash (VPN card optional). Then you can run 12.4 IOS which has "do"... but that can lead to bad habits.

I love do. do will be my downfall some day. But it's not just a 12.4 thing:

code:

c2621(config)#do show version
Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS (tm) C2600 Software (C2600-IK9O3S3-M), Version 12.3(26), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc2)
...... snip .....
System image file is "flash:c2600-ik9o3s3-mz.123-26.bin"
...... snip .....

c2621(config)#do show run
Building configuration...

Current configuration : 2556 bytes
!
! Last configuration change at 19:59:57 CDT Wed May 29 2013 by xxxxxxxxx
! NVRAM config last updated at 16:17:29 CDT Mon May 27 2013 by xxxxxxxxx
!
version 12.3
---- Snip. Woop woop woop woop. ----
c2621(config)#

I seem to recall it existing in earlier versions of 12.3 so metavisual might be in luck. Either that, or the 26xx images have it and other models don't.

God drat, I love 2600s. :allears:

e: Oh God, I just realized you can do "do wr". Never again will I Ctrl-Z out, wr, and conf t right back in.

Speaking of which, does anyone still use wr anymore? I heard it's going away. Say it ain't so!

Cenodoxus fucked around with this message at 05:16 on May 30, 2013

# ¿ May 30, 2013 05:09

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Oddhair posted:

Can you or anyone else shed a little light on lab suggestions? I took some notes previously in the thread, but they're a little sparse:

The 2948G is a CatOS device. CatOS is basically EOL, although you might see it in huge switches like the 6500 that can still run it in hybrid mode (CatOS + IOS). It won't hurt to play around with, but it won't be as helpful as having an IOS switch if you decide to pursue Cisco certs.

The 3548XL is an IOS switch, but it's old and only does layer 2 switching - the XL is a misnomer, it's actually a step backwards compared to the 3550, which does full layer 3 routing.

IOS 15 isn't a big deal - it's 12.4 with new restrictive licensing features, and almost everyone I've talked to said it's silly to make it a determining factor in lab design. I'd steer clear of it anyway until Cisco comes up with an IOS student license, which will happen approximately never now that they're selling virtual lab access.

As far as interfaces, the only two you really need to worry about for CCNA are serial and ethernet. They're the most common by a long shot and are the easiest to work with in the lab. In a lab with two routers, you can get by with one serial interface (WIC-1T) each for a simple point-to-point. This gives you some hands-on experience with the ports, connectors, and cables. Anything beyond that can be covered pretty well in GNS3.

Here's my small-time lab recommendation:

2 Cisco 2611XM series routers (The XM line gets you IOS 12.4, non-XMs don't.)
2 Catalyst 2950s
2 WIC-1T serial cards
1 DB60 to DB60 DCE/DTE serial cable
1 Prolific-based USB to DB9 Serial adapter
1-4 rollover console cables (One is fine, but I'm a lazy gently caress and hate moving one cable between a bunch of devices)
For more advanced router topologies like NBMA (Frame Relay), use GNS3.

If you want to go above and beyond to the CCNP, or just want a more "practical" lab, swap out the 2950s for 3550s. Layer 3 switches are covered on the CCNP and all the cool kids are doing it in the enterprise to route between VLANs.

# ¿ May 30, 2013 22:16

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psydude posted:

Welp, got my rear end handed to me by a few sims, particularly one on redistribution and one on EIGRP that I spent like 20 minutes a piece on. I think the EIGRP one was bugged, though, but whatever.

Ouch, sorry to hear that.

Did you open a cert support case? I doubt you'd get a full voucher out of it, but they might at least confirm or deny the bug.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2013 00:14

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Sat the new ICND1 100-101 today. Not bad. One of the sims' command outputs was inconsistent compared to the rest of the outputs - a glaring error that was obviously not by design - so I got tripped up for a few minutes trying to figure out what the gently caress was going on. Hopefully they do a review cycle soon and catch it.

It was fairly easy for someone who suffered through Odom's new book (admittedly better than the last edition) and supplemented it with CBTNuggets. If you're starting from scratch, I recommend doing the new one. Plus, you're not being rushed to make the September deadline - but then again, some people work best under pressure, so who knows.

Time to start hammering out ICND2.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2013 17:53

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Tasty Wheat posted:

Always though that subnetting was the worst

I've always heard subnetting to be the worst. I suspect it's because every trainer has their own little method for it, and ~~most~~ all of them are god-awful. :colbert:

Right now I'm bashing my head against the STP chapters in Odom's 200-101 book. Not because it's hard and I don't get it, mind you, but because it's so incredibly tedious and I know I'll just gently caress myself over come test time if I jump past them.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2013 04:03

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KetTarma posted:

I decided to see if my local community college has any interesting IT related courses since my courseload is going to be lax fairly soon and....

18 credit hours for a CCNA class spread over 3 semesters? What?
code:
First Semester
CPT 102 Basic Computer Concepts 3
IST 201 Cisco Internetworking Concepts 3
IST 220 Data Communications 3
Total 9
Second Semester
IST 202 Cisco Router Configuration 3
IST 203 Advanced Cisco Router 
Configuration 3
Total 6
Third Semester
IST 204 Cisco Troubleshooting 3
Total 3

"Basic Computer Concepts"?

At first glance it's kind of odd, but when you really think about it, it's not that surprising that it would take them three semesters to go from "How do I computer" to "why yes, I'd love to troubleshoot the issues you're having in your small- to medium-sized network" - especially if it's :frogsiren:

THE NEW CCNA :frogsiren:

My local community college makes an entire Associate's Degree program out of the CCNA/P curriculum.

# ¿ Jun 14, 2013 06:00

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Island Nation posted:

Just took a CCENT (640-822) exam and failed with 788. Looks like I'll have to take it again while going thru my CCNA Academy course and if I can find another weekend date. I want to say my lack of lab know. doomed me but I really don't know.

Are there any good websites besides CCENT Questions for studying up on the exam or it it just reading Odom's and/or Lammle's books that should get me those last few points?

If you feel like your lack of lab practice dragged you down, spend some quality time hammering away with the Free CCNA Workbook and GNS3.

Either that, or when you start your CCNA Academy course, jump at the first opportunity to download PacketTracer and ride that particular horse for all it's worth.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2013 08:30

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VR Cowboy posted:

I practiced the poo poo out of the practice exams that came with Odom's book until I was totally comfortable with all of the questions. I found that it helped for the sim questions that I got when I wrote it.

I also went through the practice questions in the books, but I found that after a while I wasn't really "answering the question", but just "saying what the answer is" due to repetition. Not a big deal for the trivia questions, but I got lazy when it came time to "solve for x".

The Pearson practice tests that they bundle with some of the books are pretty great and come with a good variety of questions, but even still, with enough reps I started running into the same ones over and over again.

Some enterprising goon could make a fortune writing a test engine that randomly generates the numbers and corresponding answers - or maybe someone already has and I just haven't heard of it. That would have been enough to keep me on my toes past the eighth or ninth practice round.

QuiteEasilyDone posted:

YOCATCO

I read this as YOTACO. If I ever open a taco stand, I know what I'll name it.

Tab8715 posted:

How long does it reasonably take one to get CCNA-Certified?

Depends on your resources, schedule, and most importantly, motivation. Some (few) people can knock it out in a month, others take three to six, and others still are studying for the CCNA in perpetuity.

Cenodoxus fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Jul 9, 2013

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 00:07

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QPZIL posted:

Wait what? How did we get 110.64.0.0? I thought the first 18 bits were unchangeable, why are we changing the second octet?

Author/technical editor done hosed up.

You're correct, A and B are logically the only IPs that can belong to the 110.68.4.0/18 subnet.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 22:18

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Canadian Maniac posted:

$150 each, the standalone CCNA is 290ish, I think, trying to verify on their site but it's not loading for me presently.

This is correct. $150 each separate, $290 for the one-shot test.

I'll echo CM's sentiment, as well - take the two test route. From a financial standpoint, saving $10 won't help you if you bomb one section and have to take all $290 of it again. From a non-financial standpoint, having a breather in between gives you time to focus on reviewing your CCENT material at first, then once you've locked that in, reviewing the ICND2 material.

e: I think Cisco allows each exam partner to slightly vary their prices, but the math still works out to a $5-10 difference.

Cenodoxus fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Jul 11, 2013

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 03:00

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Judge Schnoopy posted:

I live in a semi-small university town out in the endless Illinois corn. There are a couple IT jobs open that I'm applying for, but in your (the internet's) experience is the Net+ cert enough to get me in the door? I've worked 3 years in customer service / sales / phone support, but nothing related to direct IT experience.

Should I be hoping for a starting position soon or am I more likely to suffer another winter of sales while achieving my associates degree / CCNA?

You may need to clarify what you're looking for when you say IT. What kind of jobs are you applying for?

Certs like A+ and Net+ are great for getting your foot in the door for helpdesk positions. Your prior customer service and phone experience is a big plus as well. If your resume's up to snuff, you can probably expect one or more callbacks.

System/network administration positions, not so much. A+ and Net+ are less relevant. CCNA, MCSE, and Linux+ are usually in demand. Ultimately though, past work experience tends to be the deciding factor.

Cenodoxus fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Jul 11, 2013

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 04:38

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QPZIL posted:

T-minus 3 hours until my ICND1 exam. I've prepared as much as I can and am getting constant 85-90% on the practice tests (the rest is usually just dumb mistakes since I'm doing all my studying at work and not focusing).

Come what may, I suppose. This is my first "real" IT cert exam. I have ITIL Foundations, but that one was so laughably easy.

Pace yourself - nobody gets extra credit for finishing early. Also, ask for earplugs. I don't know about you, but sometimes even the sound of the A/C turning on is enough to distract me.

Now for an anecdote from my own ICND1 experience - I was about 75% of the way through and was making great time when I started to get that sinking pessimistic feeling of "ugh, maybe I'll fail... not by a lot, but just barely. I wonder if I misread any questions or missed some 1s or 0s somewhere."

I tuned it out, trusted the last few weeks of study and practice, and was more than pleased with my final score.

Good luck!

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 17:06

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keseph posted:

It's entirely possible for the test center to just take a dump on Prometric's rules as soon as they leave the building, and you may expect to see them removed from the list of test centers in a while if it keeps up and people are honest on the post-test survey.

This brings up a good hypothetical question - if a testing center were to be investigated by Prometric/Pearson and found to be lacking in their enforcement of seemingly obvious stuff like "confiscate personal electronics" and "supervise candidates", could the vendor come back and retroactively invalidate tests taken at that particular facility?

psydude posted:

The testing centers that I've been to at Universities/Community Colleges tend to be much more by the book/professional feeling than the for-profit testing centers at technical training businesses.

I had a student job at one of my university's testing centers, and all of our centers were designed first and foremost to serve the students and keep our courses reasonably free of cheating, with the certification testing often done as an afterthought. So when you think about it, it's in the best interests of universities and colleges to run a tight ship with their testing centers - any dishonesty there translates directly into the academic success of their students and the reputation of their degree programs. Contrast this with for-profit companies who could probably give two shits less about the value of the certifications, as long as they've got people lining up to shell out thousands for their week-long boot camps.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2013 00:59

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TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:

I'm looking to jump out of support roles and into a better gig, preferably in the networking side of things. I'm looking to do the two-part CCNA.

My big problem is that I learn way better in a more structured environment than just grabbing a book and having at. Anybody know of any online programs that are really out there to teach all the poo poo you need to know for a CCNA, versus just cramming you through the test?

That depends. You can go the virtual live training route where you essentially sit through $1000+ of WebEx hell, or you can pay for a video training series to peruse at your leisure.

If you decide on the latter, I urge you to consider CBTNuggets. Jeremy Cioara is the man. He's one of the few people I've seen who can take prerecorded training videos and make them feel interactive and engaging. I'm sitting the ICND2 200-101 in 10 days and, thank the Lord, I haven't had to suffer much of Wendell Odom. (I still bought the books though, for the practice tests.)

Who the hell decided to put IOS Licensing on the new CCNA?

I'm stuck reading Cisco web pages to figure out how all this new license crap works, because I don't have access to any IOS 15-capable lab gear. My home router is an 1841 but I lack images.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2014 03:49

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DrAlexanderTobacco posted:

I took 4 minutes to complete the test and was given an hour.

Wait, what? How many questions were there?

# ¿ Jan 16, 2014 01:03

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Sat the ICND2 today. I took a minute at the beginning to jot down a binary/subnet chart and other helpful references, but ended up using none of them. About 10 questions from the end I began to accept defeat, but still passed with a 907.

My lowest section was LAN Switching with an 82%, which is definitely my weak spot. CCNP SWITCH is going to be the death of me.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2014 17:25

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geera posted:

I completed the ICND2 class last week, so I'm looking at taking the exam in the next few weeks after some studying and practice exams... I'm getting the impression it's not very difficult. Possibly easier than ICND1 was (which I passed on the first try, in the high 800's I think)? Also good to know I may not have to brain dump a subnet chart at the beginning.

I was expecting a lot better from myself coming from a 960 on the ICND1. I would rank the ICND2 as being tougher pound-for-pound, but I also didn't lab as hard as I should have so it's probably my own frustration talking.

The sooner GNS3 rolls out switching functionality, the better. I've been spoiled by having GNS3 for my routing labs, so I don't want to lay down any money on switch gear if I don't have to.

Edit: I flagged a bad question for review on the Pearson ICND2 practice test a few days ago and today Wendell Odom himself e-mailed me to follow up on it. Neat. :unsmith:

Cenodoxus fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Jan 17, 2014

# ¿ Jan 16, 2014 22:37

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Hz so good posted:

I've got a decentish lab setup (5 2621XMs with T1 WICs, Serial WICs, ISDN BUs, 2 2900XL switches, a 3550 multilayer switch, a 2500 access server), as well as GNS3, a NX-OS simulator for Wiley, copies of vSphere and Nexus 1000V from Cisco.
...
What should I be looking out for test-wise, any hardware I should seriously consider buying? Any other simulators out there, specifically for Cisco 1100 and 1200 APs?

Are you a member of the CCNA Data Center study group on the Cisco Learning Network? If not, join it.

A few Cisco employees in that group are vouching folks in to Cisco Cloud Lab. You'll get free on-demand access to a few virtual labs running NX-OS on Titanium (Cisco's in-house NX-OS emulator) and there are some vSphere/1000V labs available as well.

I decided against the CCNA Data Center for now after hearing some of the criticisms regarding cost and quality that Lammle and others have voiced in that study group, but the labs have still been a great opportunity to get my hands on the native NX-OS CLI.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2014 20:53

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psydude posted:

Someone mentioned a while back that there would be a new version of GNS3 released adding support for catalyst switches. Anyone got any updates on that? The website provided no information.

Sounds like it will be all IOU-based, with a wrapper to handle the tedious crap like connection mapping.

quote:

Q. Will you support Cisco switching?

A. Switching is going be supported in GNS3 using L2IOU images, which are special IOS images made to work on PC/Linux. These are more like generic Cisco switches with most of the same features as in real switches. So in the end you can have 90% of the same features, just a bit slower.

Q. Will switching work on Windows or Mac OS X?

A. Currently, L2IOU images work only on Linux or Solaris. On Windows and Mac OS X, the current plan is to use a virtual machine to run L2IOU but we are still looking for an alternative technical solution.

Q. Why not supporting 100% of Cisco switching features?

A. Simply because L2IOU images do not support all of the features, we suspect that some of them require the dedicate hardware found in Cisco devices in order to work, other features are simply buggy in currently available L2IOU versions. The one that are likely not to work are L3 Etherchannel, ISL trunks, DHCP snooping, Private VLAN, SPAN/RSPAN/ERSPAN, Port-security, Voice VLANs, MLS QoS and QinQ.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2014 17:25

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lifenomad posted:

Thanks for the info.

Also, I don't really want to provide electricity for, or room for, old cisco networking gear just to practice IOS commands on. I found this network simulator http://netsimk.com/ and it seems to be quite good.

Anyone else have any insight on this network simulator? I believe the Lammle books come with a free simulator as well.

GNS3.

Just make sure you have a legally-acquired IOS image handy.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2014 22:48

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skipdogg posted:

WGU related, not so much certification related, but I'm almost done with WGU. All I have left is my capstone and I can find no motivation to finish. I'm just giving no fucks right now. When I started 3 years ago I was making 42K a year doing helpdesk level IT bullshit in a call center replacing phones and keyboards and making new AD user accounts. I felt I needed that degree to get out of there and started with WGU. 3 years and 2 promotions later I've got a Sr. Sys Admin title, making a commensurate salary and working on really interesting projects that have global reach in the company. Mentally I'm saying 'What's the point?' I've come this far though, need to get it over with. Maybe I just need some random internet people to yell at me

You've just run a marathon and are questioning whether or not you should stop 100 yards from the finish. Capstones are a loving joke. You need this - if not for your current job, at least for your next one and every one after that. Run, dammit!

e: And hang that diploma on your wall like the snobs who slap the 26.2 stickers on their cars. You earned that poo poo!

Cenodoxus fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Feb 13, 2014

# ¿ Feb 13, 2014 23:02

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psydude posted:

e: I didn't even know hanging your diplomas on your wall at work was a thing until I saw that the shitbag slacker at my last job had put both his bachelor's AND master's from Strayer on his cubicle wall.

Hanging a Bachelor's at work is a bit weird. Might as well put up a photocopy of your driver's license. I meant hang it at home.

Hanging your Master's at work is much more common, though, but only if you have your own office. (I work at a place where most people with Master's degrees get to sit in a cube farm like everyone else.)

I'm not familiar with Strayer. Is that one of those colleges that advertises their IT programs on TV with people typing on holographic keyboards and staring intensely at a screensaver from The Matrix?

Cenodoxus fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Feb 14, 2014

# ¿ Feb 14, 2014 03:02

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Stanos posted:

There's just something...off about it. Like the type of person that would display a bachelor's on their office would also be the type of person to take titles way too seriously.

I disagree.

Sincerely,
Cenodoxus, BSBA CCENT CCNA MCSE RHCE CISSP O.B.E. A+ Net+ PMP PMI-ACP, Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
Senior Level 2 Executive Helpdesk Systems Integration Architect

e: Another reason I don't hang my Bachelor's at work is because it says "Bachelor of Science in Business Administration". loving business college couldn't even make it say "Management", let alone "Management Information Systems".

Cenodoxus fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Feb 14, 2014

# ¿ Feb 14, 2014 05:17

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Fag Boy Jim posted:

Oh my god, this Odom book is putting me to sleep.

FTFY.

OSPF is and will probably always be my weak spot. I hate having to use rote memorization as a study technique, but when it comes to LSAs/area types it seems that's about all you can do.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2014 00:16

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psyopmonkey posted:

Area 0 for backbone transport and site links said one of my coworkers. She also said OSPF is more of a CCNP topic; unless its changed in the last few years.

She said get to know RIP, EIGRP, FRAME RELAY/ATM, and of course STP for CCNA.

It's changed. The new CCNA pulls in some OSPF from the CCNP curriculum. RIP is gone, but it's still a good thing to know for some historical perspective on distance vector routing.

From the CCNA 200-120 Exam Topics page:

quote:

4.7 Configure and verify OSPF
4.7.a Benefit of single area
4.7.b Configure OSPv2
4.7.c Configure OSPv3
4.7.d Router ID
4.7.e Passive Interface
4.7.f Discuss multi-area OSPF
4.7.g Understand LSA types and purpose

# ¿ Feb 16, 2014 07:56

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ZergFluid posted:

Re CCNA , how comparable are Odom's practice tests (that accompany the official Cisco Press books) to the real test? Harder? Easier? Etc.

Yes.

In my experience both the actual test questions and the practice test questions had varying degrees of difficulty, so this is a hard question to answer. I'd say Odom's practice tests are generally easier because the questions aren't as involved or interactive as a question you would see in the actual testing environment.

Pearson would do well to add some interactivity to their practice test engine, but I won't hold my breath.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2014 20:55

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Last night I decided I was going to finally take the Stanly CC VMware course, so I went to add myself to the waitlist aaaaaaaaaand...

gently caress.

Welp, there goes that idea.

My parents live in an eligible state. Is anything stopping me from using their address? Will I even get anything in the mail for this course?

# ¿ Oct 2, 2014 20:45

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BaseballPCHiker posted:

Not at all, I know several people who just used a relatives address when signing up for the course. The only negative is that you wont get the little paper certificate of completion sent to your house.

Perfect, just signed up for the waitlist. Thanks!

# ¿ Oct 2, 2014 21:22

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I'm finishing up the Stanly VCP5 course and I'm getting railed by the free VMware practice tests, which I guess is to be expected because the course feels more like an overview than a deep dive.

I'm going to pick up some books to fill in the gaps. I'm torn between the VMware Official Certification Guide and the Sybex VCP-550 Study Guide by Brian Atkinson. I already have Scott Lowe's Mastering vSphere 5.5 book, but I'm looking for something extra that's tailored toward exam studies with practice tests and whatnot.

If you had to choose between the official VMware guide and the Sybex guide, which would you choose?

Tangentially, how does VMware's publication quality compare to Cisco Press?

# ¿ Feb 17, 2015 22:16

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Sheep posted:

I got the "you can enroll now" email from Stanly last month and my first question was "will this be updated for VSphere 6?" to which they replied "No, check back in the fall".

Made that decision easy!

My Stanly class ends in 3 days.

:suicide:

Welp... I hope the What's New class is at least relatively inexpensive.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2015 17:56

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Passed ROUTE today to renew my CCNA R+S with 10 days to spare and get my foot in the door for the CCNP.

I feel like I pulled every IPv6 question under the sun. I had one sim that was definitely bugged. I also had one that had a numerical typo in the question at the worst possible spot, so it was asking something that was technically impossible given the topology, but I could tell from the answers what it was really supposed to be asking. I'm going to submit a ticket for the second one regardless because I wouldn't be surprised if they never read the comments.

I used the OCG, CBTNuggets, and GNS3 to prepare. CBTNuggets was great for a quick and fun overview of each subject, but it was less helpful now than it was for the CCNA. I also made the mistake of allocating my review time for each subject based on how many chapters it had in the book. Wrong. I enjoyed learning about BGP but I got next to nothing for actual questions.

Almost three years of taking no Cisco exams has made me forget how much they love to test on the little poo poo - you know, the stuff that goes in the first two or last two chapters of the book as an "oh, and there's also this" kind of thing. gently caress me.

Onward and upward to SWITCH. Time to look for a new publisher to get a SWITCH guide from, because I don't know if I can trust Cisco Press anymore.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2017 04:28

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 11:01

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skipdogg posted:

My local community college has a VMware training course. You can take the ICM course as a continuing education student. I took the 5.1 course waaaaay back in the day, it set me back like 200 bucks. Stanly community college offers an online course as well. There are ways to avoid the 3000 dollar class if work isn't paying for it.

I took the Stanly CC VCP course back around 2015 I believe, but unfortunately never got around to actually scheduling my exam. I'm not sure how the content has evolved over the last few years but I highly recommend it as well.

On AWS certs: Going to try to knock out Cloud Practitioner tonight and then set my sights on Solution Architect. Is that generally doable within the AWS free tier?

# ¿ Apr 30, 2021 15:23

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The IT Certification Megathread: Straight Outta CompTIA