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Based on your DIKTA score and your confidence level, you can decide whether to skip the “Foundation Topics” section. Regardless, everyone should at least read the “Foundation Summary” section and answer all the questions at the end of the chapter. If you get a good score on the DIKTA quiz and then miss a lot of the open-ended questions at the end of the chapter, you might still consider reading the “Foundations Topics” section of that chapter.

After you have completed Chapters 1 through 12, you can move on to your final preparation. Several activities help you with your final preparation:

■Read Chapter 13. It contains some exam-taking tips and exercises that reinforce materials from all parts of the book.

■Answer the chapter-ending questions again. These questions are generally harder than those on the CD because they are open-ended.

■Review the “Foundation Summary” sections of each chapter.

■Prepare for hands-on questions on the exam. You should definitely perform all simluated questions using the exam engine on the CD. Also, you may want to either read or perform the scenarios in chapter 13, the scenarios in CD-only appendix B, and the labs in CD-only appendix C. Appendix C in this book (not the CD-only appendix C), titled, “Using the Simulation Software for Hands-on Exercises”, both summarizes all the hands-on exercises included with the book that can be performed on the simulator.

■Practice subnetting. If needed, use the subnetting appendix on the CD. You get 25 more subnetting questions, with answers worked out, most using difficult subnet masks.

■Using the exam engine on the CD, select “Questions from the Book” instead of “Questions only on the CD.” By doing so, you are quizzed from the CD, but with questions that appear in the DIKTA quizzes. Use practice mode, and drill on these questions until you can answer them automatically.

■Finally, using the CD, deselect Book Questions, and select New Questions. Then use exam mode and take a couple of simulated exams. This should be the final step in preparation.

For any questions you miss, read the relavant sections of the book for a refresher.

At this point, you should be well-prepared for the ICND exam!

How to Use These Books to Prepare for the CCNA Exam

If you are using this book to study for the ICND exam, just follow the plan outlined in the last few pages. However, to use this book to study for the CCNA exam, you really should use both this book and the CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide. (By the way, if you haven’t bought this book yet, and you want both, you can generally get the pair cheaper by buying a set, called the CCNA Certification Library.) These two books were designed to be used together to help those who want to get their CCNA certification by taking a single exam.

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Notice that the names of four of the six parts in the CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide match the names of all five parts in the CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide. Essentially, when you complete a part in the first book, if there is a like-named part in the second book, you read that part next. After finishing that part in the CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide, you move back to the CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide. Figure I-2 outlines the process.

Figure I-2 Reading Plan When Studying for the CCNA Exam

Moving back and forth between books helps you focus on one general topic at a time. Each time you transition to the ICND book, you read a lot of additional material about that topic, plus a few things that seem like review. (Those review items are included for those who are using the ICND book for their ICND exam preparation.) As a result, you complete the coverage of each major topic before moving on to the next.

There is one point in this reading plan for the CCNA exam for which you should consider a couple of options. Cisco includes one major topic, IP addressing and subnetting, on both the INTRO and ICND exams. So that topic is covered in both books for those who are studying for the INTRO and ICND exams. Chapter 12 in the CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide covers subnetting, and Chapter 4 in the CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide does as well. If you are studying for the CCNA exam, you should keep in mind that the “Foundation Topics” of the ICND book’s Chapter 4—the core part of the chapter—is a subset of the INTRO book’s Chapter 12. So there’s no need to read this material twice!

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For More Information

If you have any comments about this book, you can submit them via the www.ciscopress.com website. Just go to the website, select Contact Us, and enter your message.

Cisco occasionally might make changes that affect the CCNA certification. You should always check www.cisco.com for the latest details. Also, you can look to www.ciscopress.com/158720083x, where we will publish any information pertinent to how you might use this book differently in light of Cisco’s future changes. For instance, if Cisco decides to remove a major topic from the exam, this change might get posted on the website. Cisco Press would make an effort to list that information as well.

The CCNA certification is arguably the most important Cisco certification. It certainly is the most popular. It’s required for several other certifications, and it’s the first step in distinguishing yourself as someone who has proven knowledge of Cisco.

This book is designed to help you attain CCNA certification. It is the CCNA INTRO certification book from the only Cisco-authorized publisher. We at Cisco Press believe that this book can help you achieve CCNA certification, but the real work is up to you! I trust that your time will be well spent.

Cisco Published ICND Exam Topics*

Covered in This Part:

1 Design or modify a simple LAN using Cisco products

4 Design a simple internetwork using Cisco products

10Configure a switch with VLANS and inter-switch communication

11Implement a LAN

12Customize a switch configuration to meet specified network requirements

15Utilize the OSI model as a guide for systematic network troubleshooting

16Perform LAN and VLAN troubleshooting

19Troubleshoot a device as part of a working network

22Describe the Spanning Tree process

23Evaluate the characteristics of LAN environments

* Always re-check www.cisco.com for the latest posted exam topics