Passed 640-554!
Short story, I am proud to say that I passed! I have studied off and on in the beginning of the year but I did set a date to take the exam which was June 28th .As that date was getting closer I buckled down and reviewed the materials again and focused in on some areas that I knew I was weak in.
So how was the 640-554 exam, what did I use to pass the exam and what exam am I focusing on next? The 640-554 exam that I took surprised me which left me at the edge of the seat the entire testing period! 8-O There where lot of difficult questions that I would have missed if I hadn’t of re-reviewed the study materials, along with the amount of questions I had to go through to meet the 90 minute deadline, but it was worth it! After I saw my passing score on screen it definitely was a fair score that I received. I did not feel cheated or have any questions that weren’t on the exam topic list, so I was overall pleased with the results.
Now to question that is often asked, what materials did I use to pass the exam? I used the CCNA Security 640-554 Official Cert Guide authored by Keith Barker and Scott Morris which is an excellent study guide. I also used the CBT Nugget Series Cisco CCNA Security 640-554 which is also by Keith Barker to at first learn about the material, take some notes on it and then review it in the cert guide by going through the chapters, reviewing the questions that are in the beginning of the chapters, along with using the study material that was included in the book. I also had some lab gear that was helpful in either following along with the CBT videos or just building some test labs. The lab I have follows the one I posted back in September (Cisco Lab Setup)
I also recently was able to get two more 2960 Cisco Catalyst switches. :) So what is my next plan? Not sure I might look at that new CCNA Data Center exam which was announced last fall and it also looked like they may have some study material for it, at least for first exam (640-911 DCICN). I might start on the CCNP journey but either way I am still planning on posting on this blog with tutorials, ideas and other stories. I am also happy that I was able to make some changes of the layout and color of this blog, I hope you enjoy the new look and like always I hope this information is helpful and enjoy your summer!
Static Comments:
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Ryan -
Thanks, Good Luck on the CCDA, that is another exam I have been looking at as well. Ryan
Good job! Glad you are keeping the blog going. Lammle has a new study guide for CCNA data center that just came out. Kevin
yow -
yow! congrats man! I'm gunning for my CCDA also within the year, and let's hope I get to post something like this too, :)
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