Observations from taking the CCENT exam - Part II

Once again before I begin Part II, I just want to remind everyone that I cannot be too specific about the contents of the exam. Recall that you have to sign a non-disclosure agreement that prohibits you from compromising the secure nature of the exam.

That being said, here are some of my stray thoughts and observations on the exam content, etc:

• First, I was very surprised at the number of questions involving IPv4 addressing (including subnetting) since the new academy curriculum seems to downplay it compared to the old curriculum.  Also, the new curriculum includes a lot of IPv6 which wasn't really reflected too much on the exam.  However, please be aware that IPv4 and IPv6 are lumped together under the IP addressing (IPv4 / IPv6) category on the exam objectives, so there's no guarantee that the next person who sits for the exam won't get more IPv6 questions.
• On the topic of IPv4, I tried out my new cheat-sheet and it was beneficial on every addressing and subnetting question that was on my exam.  As I stated in Part I, you should have plenty of time to recreate the suggested tables on the cheat-sheet, as long as you view the question tutorial before your exam.  However, be forewarned that you must be able to recreate the tables from memory, and you must be able to apply the tables to a given question.  I will post a tutorial on this within the next week.
• Another area that seemed to be covered heavier than others on the exam was switching, and how the switch forwards frames.  Layer 2 switching falls under several category objectives, so I am not surprised it received a lot of attention on the exam.
• Other than that, both NAT and ACLs were represented but nothing all that difficult.  Device security seemed to be important (no surprise there), and OSPF was also well represented.
• The most difficult part of the exam, of course, are the sims, simlets, and testlets (see my exam tutorial for more information). Not because the content is all that difficult, but because you have to move quickly while being careful about your answers.  Remember, these questions carry the most weight. I must admit, there was one simlet that slowed me down considerably and made me nervous.  I'm pretty sure I blew the question, only because I was tired and eager to move on.  You need to practice these types of questions, something that I didn't do too much of.  Most of it boils down to reading comprehension, speed, and general networking knowledge.
• All in all, I had four or five questions that fell under sims, simlets, and testlets.  I had three drag-n-drops, and the rest were all single answer, multiple-choice (25-30), and multiple answer, multiple-choice (10-15). I had 50 questions, total.  By the way, 804 out of 1000 is passing (I think I reported that 840 was passing).  My score was 920, but I know I could have done better had I studied more. Yes, even the teacher needs to study!

That's it for now!  I would be happy to answer any questions you may have, but remember my answers can only be general, not specific.  I will be addressing some critical areas of the exam in future posts, so stop back.  Finally, I hope this helps!

-Jim Stranz (rev 6/14/2014)