David Sudjiman

Finally, I’ve completed my last CCNP exam, CIT.

It was Saturday, 09 December 2006 when I started my last CCNP exam at 09.00am. Questions were very hard, specially when it came with Encryption and VPN as I didn’t have much knowledge about these. Simulation exam was very easy, just needed a bit of common sense to find out what was wrong with the configuration. I made it with 978/1000.

I used CCNP CIT Exam Certification Guide (CCNP Self-Study, 642-831), 2nd Edition. Just like my experiences taught me, Exam Certifications books are just a quick review for you to refresh your mind before the exam. It did not even contain Encryption and VPN. I finished reading it in about 6 hours. Don’t buy this book!

I mostly used CCNP Practical Studies: Troubleshooting (CCNP Self-Study), CCNP CNAP material, and some readings from Internetwork Troubleshooting Handbook. These materials, specially the Internetwork Troubleshooting Handbook, really helped me to grab better understanding regarding several error messages and anomalies shown on ‘sh int‘ commands.

I started my CCNP journey from 16 August 2006 by starting it with BSCI exam, 28 October 2006 for BCMSN, 18 November 2006 for BCRAN, and this CIT as my last one. No regrets, Been there done that.

So happy that I passed my CCNP journey, I spent whole, the rest of Saturday walking around to Chatswood, Harbour Bridge, and Outback Steak. Felt a bit different after get a ‘Big Bloke’ of Stella.

I never thought that I would take my path as a Cisco Engineer, I previously worked in M$ and Linux environment and did my CCNA CNAP with hesitation. Didn’t even dream that I would study anymore of Cisco stuffs. Well, look what happened to me now. I’ll be feeling bored and a bit unsual if I don’t read or do a Cisco stuff in a day.

Happy?, not really. Now I feel that I have to carry this burden as a CCNP. I’m thinking to re-read my Practical Studies books and redo it once more. I’m also thinking to buy Troubleshooting Campus Networks: Practical Analysis of Cisco and LAN Protocols (Hardcover) and Network Troubleshooting Tools (O’Reilly System Administration) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback). I think these books can be a great Christmas gift.