changes you make on the simulator relating to the configuration. The simulator is very much like the real one on the routers and switches except that abbreviated editing and help commands may not be available. Ensure that you do not try these abbreviated commands and waste time, it is always better to use the entire syntax of any command you may be required to use.Some concepts like the OSI model, the Access lists, the Subnetting etc, are the type of questions that may be time consuming, as they require single-minded concentration, very clear basics and some amount of calculation. The scenario type of questions needs an eye for detailed and clear analytical abilities. Be clear with the command line configuration commands and their switches and have an insight to the kind of testing the vendor may employ. That should help you have a CCNA certificate under your belt.
The various testing methods a vendor (Prometric in this case) may employ are as follows (pertaining to the CCNA exam):
Single-Response Multiple Choices
The simplest one of the lot, usually comes in between many complicated questions to relax your brains and prepare you for the worst to come, sometimes may not fetch much score. If you are not aware of the answer, do not waste time guessing it. Skip the question and move to the next. It is the most common question type used in most exams, the response choices will be adjacent to radio buttons, this indicates there can be only one correct answer to the question.
Multiple-Response Multiple Choice
Checkboxes will replace radio buttons to indicate that there can be more than one choice to the correct answer, and it may range from two up to four at times. The questions may at times, state the number of correct choices. But the tricky part is when the question states, choose all that apply. Here, even if one choice is skipped the answer may not be complete and may not fetch the desired score.
Another hint here is, more number of choices presented to the candidate to choose from, more may be the choices, when compared with usual. If there are 5 or 6 choices presented, it means there will be at least 3 correct choices out of the available choices.
Fill in the Blank
The standard fill in the blank may have a single choice answer. It may also have 3 blanks to be filled and all three in a single choice, making it a single response or may have the three blanks mentioned as three individual choices too, making it a multiple response type of a question. In other words the fill in the blanks question may be a single response or a multiple response with definitely multiple choice to choose from.
Drag-and-Drop Questions
With this type, a number of elements may be presented and you may be required to drag the element from its current placeholder to the appropriate location on the screen to arrive at the correct choice of answer. You will usually be presented with more items than required to complete the picture, to confuse the correct choice. This type of a question may appear as a graphical match the following or a logical diagram of a particular process or theory slightly out of place, which you may have to re arrange.
Simulator Questions
These types of questions simulate the administrative environment and are very similar to the real one and expect you to carry out an administrative task to complete the question task. For example, you may be presented with a hyper terminal screen and asked to remotely configure a switch or a router as you would in real environment using the relevant commands. The final result will be graded, versus the path or the process you took to arrive at the result; therefore if the question says use the easiest method to achieve the task when there is more than one way of doing it and you choose the less easier one you will not receive the expected scoring at all.
You've learned the details about the Exam, its pattern, objectives, etc. Now it's time to learn how to master the course and prepare scientifically. You can do that with the help of CCNA Exam Preparation Guide.
Well, with all this information you are well armed to take up the CCNA 640-801 exam and score well too!!! Best of Luck!!!
Useful Reference Resources
- Books
- CCNA Official Cisco Course Ware
- Cisco Press books
- Sybex Series
Discussion Forums and Groups
Even though you have access to all the resources listed above, you may want to hear about the experiences of other people. There are places for these too:
- Exam notes
- Whizlabs CCNA Certification Forum
Exam Simulators
There are many ways to prepare for certification exams, one of them being through the use of exam simulators.
Check out Whizlabs CCNA 640-801 Exam Simulator
Besides identifying your weak areas, and giving you a feel of the exam environment, Whizlabs Exam Simulator nurtures your potential to acquire domain expertise so that you not only succeed in your certification exam but succeed in your career too.
Seema Kannan is a certified professional having 10 years of experience in the IT industry, currently running her independent IT Consultancy Company in India. She is certified in Novell and Cisco Certifications and has been contributing in different areas of implementation, maintenance, and training on networks of Microsoft, Novell, and Cisco. She has gained a vast experience in the domains of corporate training, network administration, and content authoring and development. You can reach her at authors@whizlabs.com.
About Whizlabs
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