Exam Profile: Cisco CCNA ICND2 640-816
Date: Dec 2, 2011
Almost everyone's Cisco certification journey starts with CCNA. Cisco provides two paths to CCNA: pass one exam (CCNA 640-802) or two exams (ICND1 640-822 and ICND2 640-816). Both options cover the same topics, and the cost is the same for both paths (assuming you pass each exam). The ICND2 640-816 exam serves one role: to complete the second part of the journey to CCNA.
The ICND2 640-816, as the second exam in the 2-exam path to CCNA, picks up where the first exam (ICND1 640-822) stops. Both exams include Ethernet LAN info, but ICND2 examines more advanced LAN switching features, like Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), Virtual LANs (VLANs), and VLAN trunking. ICND2 also goes deeper with IP subnetting, including Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM). It goes beyond the RIP routing protocol included in ICND1, to include more advanced routing protocols like EIGRP and OSPF. More generally, it requires knowledge of a much larger number of configuration and verification commands than does the ICND1 exam.
Exam Details
- Exam Number: 640-816
- Number of questions: 40-50
- Types of questions: Multiple Choice (single and multiple answer), drag-and-drop, Sim, Simlet, Testlet
- Passing scores: varies
- Time limit: 75-90 minutes
- Language: Multiple languages
- How to register: Vue testing centers
Trouble Spots
IP subnetting continues as one of the main trouble spots on the ICND2 exam, just as it is on the ICND1 exam. For ICND2, the IP subnetting questions can include the use of VLSM, which introduces the possibility of subnets with overlapped address ranges that are not easily identified. In particular, you must be skilled at:
- Interpreting the terminology surrounding subnetting
- Remembering which math process to use to find a particular answer
- Mastering the use of a particular math process to find the answer
- Applying the related IP addressing and routing concepts while also working with the math
- Working through the analysis and math very quickly on the exam
Time pressure also presents a problem with the ICND2 exam, but not as much as with ICND1. Like all Cisco exams, the ICND2 exam does not allow you to skip a question and go back later, so there's a tendency to take extra time when unsure, which presents many time management problems. The exam includes three particularly time-consuming problem types: Sims, Simlets, and Testlets. While a time goal of 1 minute per multichoice question time budget is reasonable, these other questions typically require 4-8 minutes each-but each counts as 1 question from the overall count of the number of questions. And your speed at finding the answers to subnetting questions will impact whether you feel much time pressure.
As for topics, Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) tends to give people the most problems. In real life, most people have STP enabled, and it works, and there is no need to pay much attention to it, so it requires some deeper book learning. Access Control Lists (ACLs) can post a challenge, particularly when thinking through how to match various TCP and UDP port numbers-both source and destination. Finally, OSPF (a complex IP routing protocol) can cause some issues, but most of the details of OSPF are not introduced until the next deeper certification level (CCNP, specifically the ROUTE 642-902 exam).
Finally, two question types- Sims and Simlets-require you to have practiced and become comfortable with typing commands on a Cisco router or switch CLI as if you were configuring and monitoring real equipment. As a result, most CCNA candidates need hands-on experience before tackling the ICND1, ICND2, and CCNA exams.
Preparation Hints
First, you should plan to study to learn deeply. No matter what tool you use for your primary study source, plan to do more than just read the book once and take the exam. Plan to read, review, and apply the concepts using lab exercises and question sets. Many people have passed and succeeded with ICND2, but there are so many variables impacting your changes of passing on the first attempt, that to get a passing score you will need to be well prepared.
Practice on the CLI. Buy used gear, use emulators, use the simulator, rent or borrow gear, but plan to practice the configurations and spend time understanding the router and switch commands. Certskills.com has some links to help you work through the topic of building a CCNA lab.
Practice subnetting, particularly with cases that use VLSM in the design. Practice until you can do it all, do it well, and do it fast.
As always, jump in and participate in the forums at the Cisco Learning Network (learningnetwork.cisco.com). This is a wonderful place where you can pose questions and often get multiple answers in minutes or hours. It's a hugely popular place for folks to collaborate on their path towards Cisco certification.
Recommended Study Resources
Because of the two possible paths to get your CCNA (1 exam or 2 exam), many Cisco Press products have an ICND1 product, a matching ICND2 product, and the two items are sold together for CCNA study at a lower price. In some cases, the product has an ICND1/CCENT edition, and a CCNA edition. For example, best selling CCNA ICND2 640-816 Official Cert Guide, Third Edition can be purchased:
- by itself (print and/or eBook)
- as a Premium Edition eBook with an enhanced practice test engine
- as part of the CCNA 640-802 Official Cert Library, Updated Third Edition
- as part of the CCNA 640-802 Cert Library, Simulator Edition
If you are reading this after getting through the ICND1 exam, you might save money by buying products specific to ICND2. If you are reading this before embarking on your study at all, and you plan to get your CCNA, you can save money by purchasing the bundles and libraries that include products for both ICND1 and ICND2.
The main tools are a primary study guide, lab exercises using the CLI interface, subnetting practice, and practice exams. For primary study, the aforementioned CCNA ICND2 640-816 Official Cert Guide, Third Edition provides many tools to help you prepare. Like all Cisco Press Cert Guides, besides explaining the technology, this book offers many other tools to help with exam prep, including planning review tables, notations of the most important topics in each chapter, and a CD question bank with exam software.
The CCNA 640-802 Network Simulator provides the most cost-efficient way to get the hands-on skills required for the ICND2 exam. This software product simulates the Cisco router and switch CLI: you type commands, and the software reacts as if you were doing the same thing on real gear. It comes with over 250 scripted lab exercises that also teach and reinforce the concepts.
Finally, for practice, you have a several good tools:
- CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack: practice questions and flash cards
- Cisco CCENT Mind Share Game: an educational game developed by Cisco to help reinforce key exam topics.
Finally, studies show that many people that pursue Cisco certification use two separate primary reading sources. The Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices, Part 2 (ICND2) book, also from Cisco Press, is created from the authorized Cisco course of the same name. This book gives different examples and explanations for the ICND2 topics as compared to the CCNA ICND2 Official Cert Guide.
Where to Go from Here
Completing ICND2 should complete your journey to CCNA (assuming you already passed ICND1). As a result, you have some big choices to make. You can go wide go deep with your next step in Cisco certifications.
To go wide, you would choose another Cisco technology area, and pursue a CCNA certification in that technology concentration. All you need to do is pass one additional exam for that technology. As of the writing of this paper, the CCNA concentrations are:
- Security
- Voice
- Wireless
- SP Operations (Service Provider)
You can also pursue the Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA) certification. As the name implies, this cert focuses on design. Like the CCNA concentrations, CCDA requires CCNA as a prerequisite and requires an additional exam to attain CCDA.
Finally, you can also choose to go deeper into routing and switching. Two such options currently exist: CCIP and CCNP. CCIP has a decidedly Service Provider bias, while CCNP is more Enterprise-oriented. Although both require CCNA as the only prerequisite, the much more popular option between these two is to pursue the CCNP certification.
While all these options have benefits, the decision at this point is possibly the most important choice to make regarding the first few years of pursuing Cisco certifications. This is a great point at which to seek out advice, both from people you know and great online resources, such as this blog post at NetworkWorld.