CCNA Datacenter first test next week. Whos got some tips to share

wintermute000 · September 18, 2016, 07:17:05 AM

I'm sorry you got burned, and yeah that exam is notorious for its poor quality / not-in-the-blueprint curveballs / WTF are you asking questions re: 10baseT and hubs for a DC exam in 201x.

Don't get discouraged! I'm sure you'll nail it next time. Don't be surprised if the exams change shortly, the CCIE DC has already gone v2 so the CCNP DC must be soon.

You can get DC kit rack time off INE, though you have to reserve it quite long in advance from all accounts esp after IPxpert folded.

Langly · September 20, 2016, 10:16:04 AM

Quote from: wintermute000 on September 18, 2016, 07:17:05 AM
I'm sorry you got burned, and yeah that exam is notorious for its poor quality / not-in-the-blueprint curveballs / WTF are you asking questions re: 10baseT and hubs for a DC exam in 201x.

Don't get discouraged! I'm sure you'll nail it next time. Don't be surprised if the exams change shortly, the CCIE DC has already gone v2 so the CCNP DC must be soon.

You can get DC kit rack time off INE, though you have to reserve it quite long in advance from all accounts esp after IPxpert folded.

Fun part is I got a 94% on the section in regards to switching and nexus items

. I can configure and work on the boxes all day. It was the Cisco questions of crap and out of blueprint curveballs that got me. Thanks for the words of encouragement and heads up for the INE labs. Ill have to see about getting into those, I am buying a VIRL subscription since I can write it off for education expense.

Its so frustrating when you prepare and study and think you know things really well only to fail. I can't even fathom what some of y'all went through with CCIE or CCNP related items if any of y'all had a fail on those tests. I'm taking a break for a bit and then I'll get back to studying and pass this test. Need to take some time to recoup mentally and give some attention to my family.

icecream-guy · September 20, 2016, 10:56:57 AM

Quote from: Langly on September 20, 2016, 10:16:04 AM
Quote from: wintermute000 on September 18, 2016, 07:17:05 AM
I'm sorry you got burned, and yeah that exam is notorious for its poor quality / not-in-the-blueprint curveballs / WTF are you asking questions re: 10baseT and hubs for a DC exam in 201x.

Don't get discouraged! I'm sure you'll nail it next time. Don't be surprised if the exams change shortly, the CCIE DC has already gone v2 so the CCNP DC must be soon.

You can get DC kit rack time off INE, though you have to reserve it quite long in advance from all accounts esp after IPxpert folded.

Fun part is I got a 94% on the section in regards to switching and nexus items . I can configure and work on the boxes all day. It was the Cisco questions of crap and out of blueprint curveballs that got me. Thanks for the words of encouragement and heads up for the INE labs. Ill have to see about getting into those, I am buying a VIRL subscription since I can write it off for education expense.

Its so frustrating when you prepare and study and think you know things really well only to fail. I can't even fathom what some of y'all went through with CCIE or CCNP related items if any of y'all had a fail on those tests. I'm taking a break for a bit and then I'll get back to studying and pass this test. Need to take some time to recoup mentally and give some attention to my family.

ya gotta keep plugging away at it, at least like an hour a day to keep things in mind, otherwise you'll take a break, and start to lose knowledge,

Many of us have had that attitude to take break, then something happens, then something else comes up, then it's like 6 months or a year later when ya finally get back to study, and ya end up starting over again. really sucks.

NetworkGroover · September 20, 2016, 04:46:51 PM

Ok - maybe it's now time for my advice.

Don't waste your time/money/effort with the DC track. What Cisco says the DC should look like has been a) wrong and b) changed many times. You may garner some good info studying for it... but I certainly wouldn't focus on it. Get your CCNP R&S if you don't have it already - that pays off in spades.

That's my opinion anyway.

deanwebb · September 20, 2016, 05:51:11 PM

The P after the CCN can really help in moving a career into a midlevel to senior role. I second the push to get the P in R&S.

wintermute000 · September 20, 2016, 07:37:30 PM

I agree with aspiringnetworker, however, I don't know your situation, you might be dealing with UCS and Nexus all day every day.

But on that note, check out UCS market share and Cisco DC market share trends, and then ask yourself if its worth investing the time on a cert track where 50% of it is focused on a single vendors server platform (#3 in enterprises ) in an era where whitebox everywhere / open source / hyperconverged tide is coming in.

I'm not even going to start on the N7k bugs or ACI bashing

Langly · September 22, 2016, 02:06:49 PM

Only reason I was doing DC is because I work in the storage world right now

. I do more with FC and iScsi nowadays but I miss the networking world. And really now I wish I went the CCNP route for R+S because I probably would of had a pass for at least one test.

NetworkGroover · September 22, 2016, 03:26:16 PM

Quote from: Langly on September 22, 2016, 02:06:49 PM
Only reason I was doing DC is because I work in the storage world right now . I do more with FC and iScsi nowadays but I miss the networking world. And really now I wish I went the CCNP route for R+S because I probably would of had a pass for at least one test.

Ah if you're working storage alone then maybe the R&S won't be much help for you unless you're looking to move in that direction. I just always recommended networking folks work to get the R&S first before going down any specialty path - while it does have some stuff specific to Cisco, the knowledge you gain there pretty much works across all vendors. The specialty stuff is very geared toward the vendor so I don't recommend it unless you're working the space and using the tech described in the cert.

Specifically in regards to the DC track, I'll be completely transparent with you. I work for a competitor in that space, and I wish I could say this without sounding bias (Though, I HAVE been saying this for years now), Cisco has at least for now doesn't have a clear vision on the DC - even if I worked for Cisco I wouldn't recommend the track knowing what I know. FabricPath, FCoE, VTS, ACI, NFM, who knows that else... it changes every year or two.

To be fair, maybe now more than ever, the DC is in a big state of flux and amorphic. Maybe not when it comes to the underlay, I think some vendors are leading the way there and some best practices/architectures are coming from that... but whatever rides on top... that's a huge unknown right now to see who comes out the victor. That's my opinion though and I don't spend any time after work reading blogs and keeping up on the latest trends - that's just from what I see from talking to folks on a day-to-day basis - a gut feeling more than an educated guess.

deanwebb · September 22, 2016, 05:51:06 PM

It's true... the DC acronyms change faster than the tests and cert guides can be written. Cisco still spells firewall "ASA" and wireless "Aironet" (maybe also "Meraki", though I haven't heard that one in a while), but their DC stuff has changed over the last 3 years I've been overhearing their sales guys.

Langly · September 23, 2016, 10:50:37 AM

Quote from: deanwebb on September 22, 2016, 05:51:06 PM
It's true... the DC acronyms change faster than the tests and cert guides can be written. Cisco still spells firewall "ASA" and wireless "Aironet" (maybe also "Meraki", though I haven't heard that one in a while), but their DC stuff has changed over the last 3 years I've been overhearing their sales guys.

Yeah I have to redo my CCNA R+S now since I didn't pass this DC test. I had a few other certs from other vendors I had to get done and figured I'd pass this test in two attempts at most. Joke was on me. At least its a learning experience that will better prepare me in the future. And with the CCNA R+S being revamped some more maybe It'll be better. Put my gns lab to work at home (and the pile of routers/switches I pilfered from decoming a call center)

My road map was the following for the next 5-10 years.

CCNADC-->CCNP R+S--> VCP 6 --> CCNP DC or start working towards CCIE written.

Just going to do R+S track for now until I decide to hop back over more into the network world and less storage. My passion lies in networking, its way more fun to work with and design out.

And I'm one of those guys not using Cisco per-say all the time in the datacenter

. I will install brocade or mds/nexus depending on my customers needs or environment. I'm just not a good test taker, I can ace any simlet you throw at me (which I did for these tests) but when you start giving two answers that are both right and say pick one... then I start to do poorly.

Maybe since I'll have to do the NA R+S again I can drag my wife into getting hers done finally.

Thanks again all