tabor Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Has anyone taken this exam or the previous (2007) version? I'm taking it tomorrow, so I was wondering what to expect. I already have experience with some networking technologies, so much of the material I know, other specifics such as security protocols are somewhat new. I've been studying for the past 2-3 weeks now, so I really hope I pass. What was your experience on this certication? Oh, if it helps at all, I got my A+ Cert 3 weeks ago as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I am not hating at all with this but if it's that easy to get a network + studying for 3 weeks only, tell me, cause I'm in CCNA classes and have been for close to a year and am nowhere near ready for the CCNA yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I'm taking the Network+ class now, and will move directly form there into the CCENT and CCNA courses. Im going to skip taking the N+ exam until I finish the CCNA class and cert because the cisco stuff will cover a lot fo the N+ test. If you can get Cisco certified, it basically says you know the N+. I still want the cert for N+ on my resume, but I'll worry about it after I get the meat and potatoes out of the way. My class is doing the comptia N+2005 material, but not much has changed from what my instructor has told us. Do they let you take a practice exam where you are going? If so, make sure you take it a few times. We can take it as many times as we want where I go to school for this, so that is a nice bonus, as well as multiple testing platforms, so you get a pretty well rounded idea of what to expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabor Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 I definitely don't think Network+ is easy, since there is a lot of detailed information to learn compared to the A+. 3 weeks is not my only preparation as I mentioned above, I've had some prior experience in networking, plus networking course in college. I read the whole Exam Prep 2 book in a week, and use the rest of the time reviewing basically. I hope to take the CCNA after as well...but of course with proper classes. I'm doing all of this studying independently, no school or classes. So the only practice exams I have access to are the ones from the book and CD. I also took some free sample exams online, that's about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Well, reguardless I will have to give you Cheers for persuing these certs and I hope that you will do well on both of them. BTW!! if you want, I can help you out with the ccna info without you having to take the classes. Actually I will have to tell you the classes are great, especially for the first and/or second semesters, but to be honest, I am in my second semester with ccna, and I am about ready to just read the rest of the chapters for ccna 3 and 4 and just go take the test. Also, if you like, there are 2 options for the ccna, you can take it in 2 tests or 1. You save like $10 if you take just the one test. I have asked my instructor about the two test option and he seems to despise the idea. Dunno why. Has anyone taken the ccna in two tests? and if so what was your experiance with it? Would you do it again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabor Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 How long do the CCNA certs last? I believe I read from the Cisco site that it will last about 3 years, is that true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 How long do the CCNA certs last? I believe I read from the Cisco site that it will last about 3 years, is that true? My instructor said some certs require you to retest every 3 years, like Security ones and Cisco alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Cisco certs last 3 years @ a time, but renewal is cheaper than getting it new, and you only have to retake the written test, but also, especially after you take the classes, any new class material is available to you at no cost, and the previous material will always be available to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingToChatWith Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Network+ isn't easy, but it is an entry network exam. Thier passing requirements for the exam however are slightly lower (at least they were with the 2007 exam I took - 554 or better to get a passing mark) I recently got mine. Expect to see a lot of material on network troubleshooting, the osi model, and subnetting. Above all use common sense and proccess of elimination. Network+ is nice cause its one of thoses certs that doesn't expire. @digip, you should take the net+ exam first. CCNA material is the slightly more advanced networking cert I'd imagine. If you can get your CCNA you should have no trouble with net+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 If you can get your CCNA you should have no trouble with net+. Thats why I am waiting. The CCNA class starts the monday after my Net+ class ends, so I am going from one, right into the next and will wait until I finish the CCNA stuff because its going to go over a lot of the Net+ stuff anyway. This way I get a little more info on stuff without having to cram for the test, the Cisco CCENT class will be like a refresher of the entire Net+ course for the first few classes the Instructor said, so its going to help me pass by waiting a little longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I hope you do well on the networking + cert my fellow networking brother. Don't believe we have such a cert in OZ. Once you get this out the way with go for your CCNA. A fellow class mate has already passed CCNA (he is currently on his last CCNP exam) and he managed to do CCNA in 4 months, but he is asian after all and spent every hour of every day working at it. The standard time frame is around 6 months plus depending on the hours you put in, personally I would only sit the test when you feel that you are ready. Get your hands on the ICND books at cisco press and sign your ass up to the cisco academy site, it will provide you with lots of good material. Also check out the CBT nuggets tutorials seeing as they are fucking awesome and stuff from Boson is nice as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabor Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hey guys, thanks for the input on the Network+ and Cisco certs. I just finished my exam earlier today, and passed! Passing score for the 2009 edition is 720/900. I obtained a 860/900, which I did much better on this than the A+ cert. In the end, I can say that I definitely put enough time to study for this exam, if not, more. Some of the questions were actually rather tricky if you do not pay attention. What type of address is this: 169.236.0.1? I almost selected APIPA, until I realized that this is actually a public address. APIPA are within 169.254.0.0 subnet and 255.255.0.0 subnet mask. Another tricky one if you do not understand CIDR or supernetting... What network device will you need in order for the following hosts to communicate: 10.0.0.100/25 and 10.0.0.200/25 I almost selected L2 Switch until I saw that the subnet mask divides the network with 10.0.0.0 and 10.0.0.128 subnets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 What network device will you need in order for the following hosts to communicate: 10.0.0.100/25 and 10.0.0.200/25 I almost selected L2 Switch until I saw that the subnet mask divides the network with 10.0.0.0 and 10.0.0.128 subnets. I hate subnets. Still learning how these work. So, you borrow one bit, you are left with what? 255.255.255.128 for the subnet mask, then you only have 126 possible hosts. These two networks wouldn't be in the same network, is it possible to have a range 10.0.0.200/25 and still be on the same network as 10.0.0.100? This is where I get confused, because of the subnet was 255.255.255.0 then they would be part of the same network, as with this 255.255.255.128, I just don't know the answer to the question yet. If they are on sperate network ID's, then you need a router to conenct the two or a Layer 3 switch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabor Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 I hate subnets. Still learning how these work. So, you borrow one bit, you are left with what? 255.255.255.128 for the subnet mask, then you only have 126 possible hosts. These two networks wouldn't be in the same network, is it possible to have a range 10.0.0.200/25 and still be on the same network as 10.0.0.100? This is where I get confused, because of the subnet was 255.255.255.0 then they would be part of the same network, as with this 255.255.255.128, I just don't know the answer to the question yet. If they are on sperate network ID's, then you need a router to conenct the two or a Layer 3 switch? It's actually a little hard just by looking at it. Since the addresses are classless, you need to do some bit-wise logic math. Because the supernetting defined is 25 bits, the two hosts can not be on the same subnet. If the question was 10.0.0.100/24 and 10.0.0.200/24, then they can be in the same subnet. I actually took a shortcut to solve this problem, you can find this on youtube. Basically you figure out the subnets first, then apply the individual hosts to their appropriate subnet, I hope I'm making some sense. Since the exam did not mention L 3 switch, I ignored the switches overall. But if the L3 switch can be configured to route certain traffic to another subnet, then it should work, I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingToChatWith Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I just finished my exam earlier today, and passed! Passing score for the 2009 edition is 720/900. I obtained a 860/900, which I did much better on this than the A+ cert. Thought they had raised the passing mark... Anyway, congrats tobar! Its so heart pounding as you sit there doing thier little survey just to get your score but I know exactly how great it feels when you see a passing mark on the screen for a test you've studied hard for. What cert you going after next? CCNA? I think I'm going to work on Linux+ and possibly Server+, since I've already done A+ and Sec+. Than I'm probably done with CompTIA and on to the cisco stuff with the rest of you networking guys here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingToChatWith Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 A fellow class mate has already passed CCNA (he is currently on his last CCNP exam) and he managed to do CCNA in 4 months, but he is asian after all and spent every hour of every day working at it. 4 months sounds about right if you want to cram it and hope you get a score good enough to the pass the minimum. Thats about how long I spent for my net+ and sec+. Though I passed it, I must admit I wasn't very satisfied with my score on the net+ test. Than again, I took net+ and sec+ on the same day within 3 hours, so I had been studying for two certs at once, spending about 2-3 hours a day on weekdays and maybe a little longer on weekends until I finally broke down and scheduled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabor Posted March 28, 2009 Author Share Posted March 28, 2009 Thought they had raised the passing mark... Anyway, congrats tobar! Its so heart pounding as you sit there doing thier little survey just to get your score but I know exactly how great it feels when you see a passing mark on the screen for a test you've studied hard for. What cert you going after next? CCNA? I think I'm going to work on Linux+ and possibly Server+, since I've already done A+ and Sec+. Than I'm probably done with CompTIA and on to the cisco stuff with the rest of you networking guys here. It definitely is heart pounding. Wow...I never thought of taking two in one day, but I did take both A+ exams within an hour from each other. My next cert is probably CCNA and Security+. Although, there's also a CCENT, not sure if I should start with that first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Well the my class mate who crammed CCNA in for months ended up with a score of 98% which is a bloody good effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 CCENT is the into to CCNA. Its kinda a prerequisite, but if you know it and work with it, you can probably go right into the ccna course. I don't work with the equipment and have no real hands on, so I am goign N+, CCENT, then CCNA back to back. 15 weeks of class and labs and chances to take the practice test. Once I get my CCNA, I will start on my MCSE, but I don't have the money for it just yet. Im paying as I go, and this path was the cheapest I could afford right now. The MCSE is like $7,000 and will take about 6 months. I will be laid off in September, so I have to do what I can with what money I have right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 well, cheers on passing the net+! The MCSE is like $7,000 and will take about 6 months whaaa???? nah man, the MCSE is more like $875.00(unless you mean + the price of the classes) truthfully though, I would skip the classes if I were you, just go out (i dont condone piracy... unless it's educational) get a torrent of win2k3 server corp, buy the two books on it and just go to town. It's easy as hell, and you'll be board in no time. I did all the win2k3 server labs from the first book in 1 day (8 hrs to be exact) the hardest thing about it is understanding trees and forests which is the first thing you learn about. The other thing that is hard is learning vbscript which isnt hard so you know... there's really nothing to it. I am about to crack open the 2nd book (i'm still in the class for the first one and have a month and a half left) and im going to go ahead and do all those labs, go back refresh the first do the same with the second and take my mcse. Easy peasy man.. nothing to it. here's the two books I have (read the back on setting up the server BEFORE starting the labs!!!!) 70-290 MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment,Enhanced (comes w/120 day trial of server2k3/study guide for the mcse) 70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network, Enhanced Also comes with the 120day trial and study guide That's all you need! dont even really have to download or buy server, and what you want to take is specificly the 70-290 and 70-291 exams to get the mcse. Anything else for the other exams you either already know from A+ or you can probably find out fairly easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 well, cheers on passing the net+! whaaa???? nah man, the MCSE is more like $400 (unless you mean + the price of the classes) truthfully though, I would skip the classes if I were you, just go out (i dont condone piracy... unless it's educational) get a torrent of win2k3 server corp, buy the two books on it and just go to town. It's easy as hell, and you'll be board in no time. I did all the win2k3 server labs from the first book in 1 day (8 hrs to be exact) the hardest thing about it is understanding trees and forests which is the first thing you learn about. The other thing that is hard is learning vbscript which isnt hard so you know... there's really nothing to it. I am about to crack open the 2nd book (i'm still in the class for the first one and have a month and a half left) and im going to go ahead and do all those labs, go back refresh the first do the same with the second and take my mcse. Easy peasy man.. nothing to it. MCSE requires you to take 7 exams, and the course covers about 11 topics. The class is about $7grand, not the tests. 1 of the 7 gets you MCP, 4 of the 7 get you MCSA. And word is they may be changing it to update for Vista and Server 2008. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 lol Don't get me started on tree's and forrests! We had a Teacher trying to explain this stuff and he confused the crap out of the entire class. To this day I still don't completely get it other than the fact you can't smoke or sell these kinds of tree's. =P Actually I am after a good MCSE book for some reading on the side, what are you currently utilizing? Please supply name, eddition number (if applicable) and author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 re-read my previous reply. It's got it all :P sry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Whoopsy! Don't tell my missus that post just proves the point I don't listen and have a bad case of male domestic blindness. XD Thanks Hex I shall be ordering it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 nah, it wasnt that, you all read it as I was editing it. did'nt know you were both looking @ it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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