SWITCH – Epic Fail
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UPDATE: It seems that the idea of seeing topics on the exam that aren’t are the test go beyond just me. I’m getting in touch with as many people related to the SWITCH book as I can to let them know that this is a serious problem. I’m sure I’ll have a post or two on the outcome of that effort.
Aaron Conaway
I like to lean my head to the left, hit it with the palm of my right hand, and document what knowledge falls out. More Posts - WebsitePage 2 of 2 | Previous page
invalidCCIE:
May 6th, 2010 at 22:50
you’ve forgot about such obvious exam topics as catalyst 6500 supervisor redundancy, sso and nsf, ip sla, qos marking best practices, and others you do not really expect in ‘switching’ exam.
but do not give up! the test is still passable!
review topics you’ve scored worst, and do second attempt.
Terry Gwazdosky:
May 7th, 2010 at 06:39
These tests always seem to me to be 1/2 knowledge and 1/2 trivia contest. I’d much rather there were more sims or maybe some sort of a practical element similar to CCIE.
I also hate that the screen shots they use in the tests are very blurry and hard to read.
Rofi Neron:
May 7th, 2010 at 12:11
boy, its never boring around you…
I think this is part of the price you pay for taking a new exam. they didn’t get enough feedback and the web doesn’t have enough info from past testers like yourself.
remember: in Aaron we trust!!!
Tim Whisnant:
May 7th, 2010 at 15:02
So, if we can’t turn to Cisco Press for knowledge on test material, where do we turn to? Will the guessing games continue for other Cisco certs? This is getting ridiculous.
I truly hope that the Cisco Press material and the tests one day align.
Iain:
May 14th, 2010 at 13:08
Does anyone out there have access to the rough cuts version of the soon to be released SWITCH Self-Study Guide? If so, I’d really like to hear some opinions on it.
http://amzn.to/atoZKr
Right now I’m hoping it will be the silver bullet that covers the dead spots in the Official Certification Guide (Hucaby).
George:
May 16th, 2010 at 02:34
I feel yourn pain. The problem is that authors of the official cert guides don’t see the test questions. They are contracted to write about objectives. We are at the mercy of the authors and the folks who put the exams together ..
John:
June 11th, 2010 at 12:43
I just failed with a 685 today. It was tough and I also thought the CP book left a lot to be desired. I was slow on the SIMS and thought some of the wording on the SIMS were confusing. I had one that said use both links to pass traffic. I think they meant use EtherChannel but they didn’t flat out say it. I had another one that said make sure all subnets are available, does that mean they need to participate in EIGRP or is it good enough that my MLS knows they are directly connected.
Aaron Conaway:
June 11th, 2010 at 14:34
George is right that the authors don’t see the answers, but they do see the objectives, and the book utterly fails to meet those. As Terry said, the tests are 1/2 knowledge and 1/2 trivia, and that’s especially true for the sims where they can’t say “make an EtherChannel” to tip you off so they said “make both pass traffic.” Running MST with alternative root ports for different VLANs would do that, too, eh?
SWITCH Plans – CCNP Passes! | Echo .. Reply Packets!!!!!:
August 1st, 2010 at 16:30
[...] material. I’ve got the CP SWITCH Foundation (use this, not the official cert guide – see why among the many posts online) book in ebook format, but I’ve realized I’m not the best [...]
David:
August 2nd, 2010 at 15:02
{Laughs} There’s very little I can add to your assessment. Comically simple, kindergarten spelling, grammatical, and unfinished sentence errors. Answers to the planning questions amounted to educated guesswork since there were often at least two answers per question which I half agreed with and half disagreed with. I feel cheated out of $200 and wish I scheduled BCMSN one week before this, before it expired.
Missed it by 14 points. Taking it again in a week.
Kyle:
August 7th, 2010 at 02:39
I tool it this morning and don’t really know why I failed except for some simple mistakes. I would recommend searching for labs and sims from this and the 642-812 exam. They are the same. My test Inc eigrp on mls and using specific wildcard masks ie. 0.0.0.31. Also a radius port security lab vlan filter.. Lots of spelling mistakes and just dumb paper pusher questions that I’m so sick of. I think the labs are the bulk of the test. I don’t hink the questions r weighted very high. I have no idea how I’m going to pass this test I gave it everythig and ended up short a second time. 705. I took the 812 and got a 791 needed a 805. I just got a copy of the cisco press book but think I might need a current book on ccdp stuff bc the test focused slot on non tech
BBFailed....:
August 15th, 2010 at 00:54
Sigh….took my exam for the second time today………This is killing me….The first time i got 746….and this time…..756…….WTF! I do believe the labs weight a lot more than the individual questions itself. I had almost the exact same questions as my first attempt but still, those planning and design questions are just……i dunno how to describe them anymore. I knew those questions was my weak points in the first attempt and i tried my best to find the answers in my CCNP SWITCH book but still…..there was nothing much related. The labs was ok, although one of the lab seems to have some sort of mistake when the CLI for the two switches don’t really agree with the topology. Oh well, I’ve tried my best but i really want to know exactly which session in the book talked about preparation for design?
Aaron Conaway:
August 15th, 2010 at 01:08
The worst part, BB, is that there is no section for the PPDIOO stuff. I’ve exchanged emails with the Executive Editor of Cisco Press about it. While he did admit there were issues with some missing materials, he was not aware of the PPDIOO shortcomings. I was lucky and passed the BSCI, so I got around all the planning crap. Perhaps focusing on CCO’s PPDIOO material may be the way to go.
Tough luck on the attempts. At this rate, you only need to take it 4 more times to pass it. Keep your head up; luck is yours next time.
mserkan:
August 21st, 2010 at 14:04
Hi, I’m in Turkey now and if I buy the CCNP Switch Foundation book on amazon.com, I have to wait 2 weeks for shipping and the book isn’t sold in Turkey. So, I decided to use CCNP Network Academy Program v.5.0 for preperation.
Is it enough for the switch exam? Are there any additional chapters in the switch exam because the blueprint isn’t clear.
Thanks.
Aaron Conaway:
August 24th, 2010 at 13:15
I haven’t used the Network Academy books, mserkan. I also don’t know anyone who has, so I can’t comment on that. Sorry. :(
johnlockie:
December 16th, 2010 at 21:45
Aaron, these are encouraging words. I am taking the exam again in 4 weeks. Until then, I am planning to straight up memorize the PPDIO crap….but yes, in my studies I did not focus much on PPDIO, yet I did not see any material that gave me answers to questions such as "you are getting ready to design an implementation plan since your company is deploying VLANs, what information should you gather before doing so?" <select 3>. And 4/5 of the answers are reasonable in the real world….HAHA! But it is encouraging to hear you took this 3 times? Next month will be my third attempt.
I will say – this is why brain dumps are so terribly popular. They work, and they are an easy way to save HUNDREDS of dollars for the aspiring student. Assuming I pass on go #3 that means $600 invested….you reach a point where you are forced to decide if you have to dump something just to get your $600 back! Someone above said they felt "cheated" and I couldn't agree more.
BTW: I feel the labs are great in this test. Especially the AAA/VACL one. Very satisfying. The 5 question HSRP junk is just annoying. "Let's see if we can trick you with interface tracking values". Can you do math? I used all 2 hours…..and got a sim on question 45 too which sucked with 7 minutes to go. It was an SVI type sim so I blasted through it.
I could have done better on labs. They are weighted heavily I think. First time I got 609 going blind to the exam. This time 705. I am sure I missed a ton of multiple choice.
johnlockie:
December 16th, 2010 at 21:58
By the way, friends…..the one you talked about with 2 segments connecting two switches where they do not come out and say "use etherchannel", they did say something like industry standard. But I agree – for a minute I was wondering if they wanted me to use STP port priority to load balance the links…..so just to be sure, they do want EtherChannel here right? My sim was standards based, so really LACP.
David:
October 22nd, 2012 at 14:47
Just as a point. I did my CCDA and found that all of the information people are saying is missing from the CCNP switch study guides is in there. It almost appears as though you have to have each Associate level certification before you have a clear shot at the Professional level exams. I am studying for my switch exam now so I suppose brushing up on the PPDIOO topics is going to be required.