Perspectives on CCNP Exam Topics Related to Planning CCNA training in delhi india

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Cisco introduced the Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP) certification in

1998. Since that time, Cisco has revised the exams and related courses on several occasions.

Each major revision adjusted the scope of topics by expanding and adding some

topics while shrinking or removing other topics. At the same time, the depth of coverage

has changed over time as well, with the depth of coverage for each topic either becoming

deeper or shallower.

The version of CCNP announced by Cisco in January 2010, including the 642-902 exam

about which this book is written, narrows the breadth of topics included in CCNP compared

to the previous version of CCNP. Cisco removed several sizable topics from

CCNP—notably Quality of Service (QoS), Wireless LANs (WLANs), and many security

topics. The new CCNP squarely focuses on routing and switching, but with a deeper troubleshooting

requirement, with a new TSHOOT (642-832) exam. These changes also reflect

that CCNP now requires only three exams instead of the four exams formerly required.

However, although the smaller number of CCNP topics may make CCNP easier, two other

factors balance the CCNP so it is still a challenging, difficult, and respected certification.

First, the exams appear to require a higher level of mastery for most topics. Second, that

mastery is more than just technical knowledge; it requires the ability to plan the implementation

and verification of a network engineering project.

Many CCNP ROUTE Exam Topics list the word “plan,” collectively meaning that the

CCNP candidate must approach problems in the same manner as a network engineer in a

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4 CCNP ROUTE 642-902 Official Certification Guide

medium- to large-sized business. The skills related to these exam topics can be built as a

side-effect of doing many network engineering jobs, for instance

■

complete detailed implementation plan, including completed configurations for each

router and switch.

The ability to analyze a network design document, extrapolate that design into the

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that must be answered before a detailed implementation plan (including configurations)

can be completed.

The ability to analyze a design document and discover the missing items—questions

■

discover weaknesses and omissions in the planned configurations, and to update the

implementation plan.

The ability to perform a peer review on another engineer’s implementation plan, to

■

command options that list key pieces of information—information that directly either

confirms or denies whether each planned feature has been implemented correctly.

The ability to build a verification plan that lists the specific show commands and

■

worker, allowing that worker to implement the change and to verify the

changes worked, off-shift, when you are not on-site.

The ability to write a verification plan that can be understood and used by a lessexperienced

■

which key design features are not verified by that plan, and to discover inaccuracies

in the plan.

This chapter discusses the whole area of implementation and verification planning for the

CCNP ROUTE exam, including how you should prepare for these exam topics. By considering

the ideas in this chapter first, you should have the right perspectives to know how to

use the tools that help you add the planning skills and perspectives needed for the exam.

The ability to perform a peer review on another engineer’s verification plan, to discover

CCNP Route Exam Topics That Do Not Require the CLI

Cisco lists a set of Exam Topics for each Cisco exam. These Exam Topics follow a general

type of phrasing, typically starting with an action word that defines what action or skill

you must do for the exam. (Unfortunately, this style seldom gives much insight into the

breadth or depth of coverage of a given topic.)

For example, consider the six Exam Topics for the CCNP ROUTE exam specifically

related to EIGRP:

■

Determine network resources needed for implementing EIGRP on a network.

■

Create an EIGRP implementation plan.

■

Create an EIGRP verification plan.

■

■

■

Verify EIGRP solution was implemented properly using

Configure EIGRP routing.

Document results of EIGRP implementation and verification.show and debug commands.

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Chapter 1: Planning Tasks for the CCNP Exams 5

The two gray-highlighted exam topics focus on the commands available from the CLI,

specifically that you need to configure EIGRP, and to use both

to verify (confirm) whether EIGRP is working correctly. The unhighlighted topics in

the list require knowledge of the commands, but the tasks do not require any hands-on activities

from the CLI. Instead, when doing these tasks in real life, you would more likely be

using a word processor rather than a terminal emulator.

Besides this list of the EIGRP exam topics, the entire list of CCNP ROUTE Exam Topics

includes many more items that use words like “document” and “plan.” Of the roughly 40

CCNP ROUTE Exam Topics, approximately half of the exam topics refer to the various

types of plans and documentation. In particular, the phase “Create a ____________verification

plan” occurs six times in the CCNP ROUTE list of Exam Topics—one each for

EIGRP, OSPF, eBGP, IPv6, redistribution, and Layer 3 path control.

show and debug commands

Impressions on the Planning Exam Topics

After a first glance through the CCNP ROUTE Exam Topics, you might think that the new

CCNP certification has been changed significantly—and you therefore need to significantly

change how you prepare for CCNP. However, it turns out that by focusing on the

following aspects of your study, you should be well prepared for the CCNP exams in general

and the CCNP ROUTE exam in particular:

■

and verification commands (

As with any other Cisco career certification exam, understand the concepts, configuration,show and debug commands).

■

tasks and commands.

As with any other Cisco career certification exam, master the configuration and verification

■

the concepts, configuration, and verification tasks as if you were writing or reviewing

a network design document, a network project implementation plan, or a verification

plan.

In this list, the first two tasks are simply what most people normally do when preparing

for a Cisco exam. The third item represents the new type of preparation task, in which

you simply think about the same concepts, commands, and features, but from a planning

perspective.

At this point in this brief first chapter, you can choose whether to keep reading the topics

in order, or whether to skip to the section “How to Prepare for the Planning Topics on the

Exam” later in this chapter. Those of you who have a pretty good idea of the planning

tasks done by most IT shops can consider skipping ahead. For those of you with little or

no experience in reading network design documents, building or using network implementation

and verification plans, the next section can give you some useful perspectives before

you dive into studying the technologies in CCNP ROUTE.Unlike most other Cisco career certification exams, spend some time thinking about