So what is next for exam prep? Because you are not done. I have covered live what I wanted
to cover live. Because a lot of this stuff that we've covered live could possibly be
major, major contributing factors to your exam success. Like OSPF, and BGP, and VLANs,
and Trunks, and Spanning Sheet Protocol, like the fundamentals of networking. And in going
through some of the things we've done this week, like ACLs, they're going to come up
all the time. Whether they are the right or wrong answer doesn't matter. You're going
to see a lot of them potentially. And then today, I want to make sure you truly get through,
no problem, like COP, Network Access Control, MACSEC, TRUSTSEC, LISP, BXVAN, SD-AXIS, SD-WAN,
right? I want to make sure you don't mess those ones up. And so I cover all these live. But some
of the other things that we didn't cover live, let's just take a peek at them that I want you
to be aware of for the exam. Stateful switchover and non-stop forwarding. What do those mean?
That's it. What do they mean? I talked about it for about 12 minutes. Make sure you watch that.
VSX and Stackwise, what are those? What do they mean? Again, 25 minutes of that, but maybe a
question. Maybe a question. Maybe a question on device architecture here, which is about your
control plane, your data plane. So you're already familiar with it just a bit, but that's what's
covered in there. TCAM, CAM, all that stuff. Again, one or two questions potentially. Virtual
servers and switches, one or two questions. And then down here, NTP, SPAN, RSPAN, ERSPAN,
Flexible. These are just little services, features that are actually not little in the real world,
but what you need to know for the exam is just a small amount of information. So these are here
for exam prep, purely for exam prep, but you're going to get potentially a Syslog message,
a question, SNMP, IPSLA, Flexible. So you have to go through these. Even down here,
Debugs, Conditional Debugs, Ping and Trace. Don't skip that. There might be a little nugget of
information in there that gives you success on the exam. So don't skip that. Don't skip QoS either.
EEM, DNA Center, Data Formats. Now, this is where things are going to get frustrating for some of
you. Data Formats, like what? JSON, XML. I'm not joking. Ouch, yeah. Data Modeling, like Yang
Data Modeling. Why? Why are we even talking about these? Because these are the new way of networking.
That's right. I said JSON and XML. I said Yang Data Modeling. Why? DNA Center. That is really
the way we want to use DNA Center. Now, with DNA Center, can I still use things like SNMP?
Can I still use things like BTP? Yeah, I can. Can I still use other types of services? Sure.
But in reality, using JSON Formatting or XML Formatting, using the Yang Data Models,
and using, instead of something like SNMP, using Netconf or Resconf. These are things that are
going to be tested on the exam. So, knowing what Netconf or Resconf is, knowing HTTP verbs,
that is not a joke, might come up on the certification exam. Like, get request versus
post versus put versus, right, knowing how to read a URL. I cover that stuff in here.
I cover that stuff in here. So, I am going through exam relevant details here, folks,
meaning that if I say it, you might want to know it for the exam.
So, I would like you to think of this. Expect at least two questions from each of these videos on
the exam. At least two. Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve. Twelve questions right there. Boom.
That is a big deal. Make sure you know them. But again, it is not about detailed knowledge. It is
about things like, oh, I don't know, let me see what I can ask you here that is not going to get
me in trouble. Okay. Like a JSON web token. What is a JSON web token? Okay. It is for securing
JSON communications. Right. And it has got three different parts to it. So, if you know that is
what it is for, you know it has got three different parts, well, that is a benefit for you on the exam
in case it shows up. Right. Why might we use Chef, Puppet, Ansible, SaltStack, and Terraform?
And what are features of them? It is only a nine-minute video, but you could get two questions
on the exam about that. And in wireless, we didn't do wireless because I find like with CCNA
and Encore, they throw wireless in here, but they just splatter wireless questions at you on this
exam. And it is like if we truly were to prepare for wireless, like truly, we would have to spend
another, what, two weeks and potentially 30 hours learning about wireless to really understand
wireless, which makes this course, what, a month long? So, what we have done instead
is we have decided what is important for you now. Not to learn about wireless to be a wireless
expert. It is to learn about wireless to pass the exam. So, we have videos here again for wireless.
Layer 1 wireless to help you answer those questions on the exam. Antenna types to help
you answer those questions on the exam. Wireless AP placement to answer those questions on the exam.
That is why we have done it this way. So, you can stay focused and you don't get lost in the weeds,
folks, because the worst thing you can do is get lost in the weeds during preparation and then not
prep for the things you actually need to prep for and learn about things that are not going to help
you pass the exam. So, that is why we have broken out these videos. So, there is still a lot of
review you need to do or a lot of learning you need to do if you don't know these things.
But take them day by day, inch by inch, step by step, and you will be happy you did them.
And you may want to run through all these really fast in what I call chipmunk mode.
There is nothing wrong with that. Chipmunk mode, what is that? That is when you go to the video.
That is when you bump up, bump up the speed to a speed that is acceptable for you where you can
still actually understand what I am saying. But, man, this man can talk fast. And if you just go
through it once and you are like, oh, yeah, yeah, I get it. I know what Raymond is talking about
there. I got it. This is simple. I have got his nuggets of information. I am good to go.
But if you go through it once, you are like, yeah, I need to review some of this a little bit more.
If you made a few little notes to go back and review this part or this part,
then you have gone through this video, which was how long is this video, did we say?
Twelve minutes. So it takes you six minutes to go through this video now.
And in the end, if you feel like you have got to review certain sections of it,
then you can go back and review. If you are happy with what you have learned, then you are good.
But you can actually speed up your learning by going two times. It is up to you, right? These
are just ways that I have even learned myself in the past, going through videos a lot faster,
watching them really quickly, going, okay, yeah, I totally understand that. I do not need to review
it anymore. I am good. I took my notes I needed. Pause it when you want to pause it. That is the
power of doing that. So it is just something that I have been doing myself for a really long time.
And a lot of people that I have shared that information with, they are actually starting
to do that. And they are starting to learn a lot more in a shorter period of time. And
they are enjoying it. They are actually enjoying it. So just something to keep in mind, right?
So that is number one. You have to go through all these videos. And I know it is a lot,
but it is a massive course with a lot of information, okay? So learn the details.
Take your time. If you think you are going to go write the exam next week, it is probably not
going to be as good as you think. Your results are not going to be as good as you think it is.
Now, it might be. I do not want to discourage you from going if you really want to go.
But there is so much here that Cisco is saying, look, we expect you to almost be an expert when
you take this exam. And that is why I have spent so much time on those fundamental technologies.
Because once those fundamental technologies are learned, those next-gen technologies are learned,
and then you supplement with all those additional videos we have about all these like those side
features and things like that for management, monitoring, maintenance, and all these other
things, right? Then you have everything you need to be successful on the exam.
But when they bombard you with questions that are dumping together multiple features and services,
and you are trying to figure out, okay, what is the actual config verification or troubleshooting
I got to do? You got to be ready for that, right? And that takes time. That takes time.
A statement coming in.
Don't get thrown off in the exam. A colleague of mine who was about 15 years of experience
in networking got thrown off from all the new stuff. He got front-loaded with stuff he doesn't
have experience with or didn't expect and then froze up on the stuff he didn't know exactly.
Exactly. Yeah. So, like, for example, if you get a JSON question
and you didn't watch that video, I can't help you out anymore, right? I've given you what you
need in that video, and you didn't take the advantage part. One thing I will tell you,
though, and this is my philosophy, you are not going to be able to learn everything. You are
not going to be able to be an expert at everything. That is impossible. For example,
how many of you actually want to learn Python for this exam? Does anybody here not want to
learn Python for this exam? If you don't want to learn Python for this exam, type in I do not want
to or not, okay? So, if you're in that boat, no, I'm serious, if you're in that boat, that's,
you see this eight-minute video? That's actually what I talked to you about.
That's what I talked to you about. And I say,
the exam says you need to be able to understand basic Python. Okay, well, I've taken the exam
and is it basic Python? Sure, but I'll tell you right now, it takes 16 hours of study to learn
what you need to know for this exam or more. That's basic Python. Do you want to invest your
time for two questions? What if I told you just take those 16 hours and learn everything else
properly and don't even worry about Python? Is that a valid approach? Sure, that's a valid
approach, folks. That's something you have to decide on your own. I can't tell you that, right?
Do not skip wireless. Okay, you're going to have to do the wireless vids.
But if you're like, Python's not my gig, I really don't care, then don't waste your time on Python
for the exam. Spend that time you would have spent on Python for two or three questions on
something else so you get the other stuff right. Spend the extra 16 hours going through the labs
again, right? Think about that for a second. That's your choice. That is your choice, right?
And that's what I described because to me, it's not a fair part of the exam. That's my own
opinion though, right? And am I good at Python? Absolutely not. Do I know a little bit about it?
Yes, I do. Was I able to muddle my way through it on the exam? Yes. But did I like guess?
Sort of. Why? Because even myself, I don't have time to spend on Python that much. I've got a lot
of other things to do. A lot of other things to do. But you got to pick and choose your battles.
So basically what I show you in that course is, look, if you want to learn Python, we have courses
for Python. Go take the Python courses. You're going to learn Python in those courses. But do
you really want to spend all that time doing it? That's up to you. So once you have gone through
all the material, all the videos, reviewed everything you need to, and you've picked and
choose your battles for this preparation for the exam, folks, don't forget you've got class slides
you can go back and review. You've got a syllabus. It's not really going to help you that much
because it just tells you what we're going to do in class live. But you got the exam crash.
You know what? Maybe if you go through the exam crash and learn Python in the exam crash,
that might be beneficial. You could do that if you wanted to. Wink, wink, wink, nudge, nudge,
maybe. Right now the exam crash doesn't cover everything we've covered. It covers a lot of the
things I haven't done live. Let's put it that way. And it kind of allows you to focus just a little
bit more on things. Focus a little bit more on what should I really know about this or this or
this or this or this or this or this. Right. So maybe take a look at that exam crash later on
for some of the extra information. Just go through it once, twice. You might see some tables.
Typically, if you see a table, it's like drag and drop, compare and contrast. Maybe is what
you're preparing for. Maybe there's Python section in there. There's a lot of other things. So,
you know, just take advantage of that when you can. There's some valuable information in there,
but it's not the whole exam, right? It's about specific things that I wanted to single out
that maybe will help you out. We had a little FlexConnect edition here added for websites.
It goes along with a video we had down below. So, you can check that out later if you want to.
You have your practice exams. You have your labs. Here's the thing, folks. Use the labs as a study
tool. You go in the labs. You learn. You learn. Take your time. Learn and learn and learn.
Understand what you're doing. If you don't understand why you're doing it, you have to
ask yourself, why am I doing this? What am I accomplishing by typing in this command? What am
I accomplishing by doing this? And link it back to something we talked about in class. That is
how you're going to learn more. That is how you're going to be able to apply what I taught you.
And then for the practice exam, again, use it as a study tool, not a testing tool. You go through
it slowly. Maybe you could even go through it five a day. Just five questions a day.
And read a question. Go, oh, I know that. Click the answer. And if you don't know it,
do a little bit of research about it. Maybe reach out to us and ask us about it.
But the idea is to use it as a study tool. Maybe just do five questions a day, five questions a
day, five questions a day. We randomize our questions in there. You'll eventually
go through the questions. But the idea is, the idea is what? The idea is to simply
study and learn. Study and learn. All right. So, there's all your resources. And when you're ready,
don't forget, request mentoring. Reach out to us any time you need to.
And if you want to talk to me directly, you want to email me directly, just when you click request
mentoring, say, hey, can you please forward this to Raymond, please? And then put your questions in.
And they'll forward it to me. All right. And then when you're ready to take the exam,
you can schedule your exam right on Cisco's website by going under Learn, Certifications.
You scroll down. Oops. No. Why did it take me there? What did I click on? Certifications. Browse
all certifications. There you go. Scroll down and find your certification. So, it's under CCNP
Enterprise. Scroll down. It's called Encore. Click on that. And then there'll be an option
to schedule the Encore exam. And it'll take you to Cisco's cert website, where you're going to be
able to then sign in with your Cisco account and then schedule your exam from there. All right. So,
with that said, any questions, comments, or concerns? All right. Let's see here. Hey,
Raymond, how many minutes per question did you take on the CCNP exam?
Hmm. Well, I never actually timed it myself
on approximately minutes per question.
Let me see if I can remember. My exam was about 80 total questions for Encore version 1.1.
80 total questions. I can't remember the total time, though, for the exam.
Two hours. Two hours. I think it was two hours.
Yes. And so, with version 1.1, they lowered the number of questions you get because there's
simulations in it. And so, you need time to do the simulations as well. So, expect multiple
choice, multiple answer, simulations, and drag and drops. Right? That's why I ended up like 80
or 80-something questions as opposed to 110. When I took Encore version 1, I had 102 questions.
Think about it. There was no simulations back then. But version 1.1, they dropped the number
down. And it should still be down around the 80s. It shouldn't be up around the 100s anymore.
I got on the lower end while two colleagues of mine got on the higher end of questions. So,
here's the deal. Right? Typically, if you end up with simulations, you'll get a lower number
of questions. If you don't get a simulation, you'll get a higher number of questions. It
really depends on when you take the exam. All right. So, and it's tough to say because they,
remember, Cisco has the right to change the exam any time they want. So, I could tell you what I
got. And in two weeks, they could say, oh, sorry, two hours, 300 questions. Good luck
with eight simulations. It's their choice. It's their exam. But I could tell you that I
did not waste any time on the exam. And I had, except I slowed down for the simulations because
I wanted to really learn them and understand them to help get all of you ready for them. So,
when I was teaching some of the topics and doing some of my demonstrations,
I was actually potentially exploring some of the things I had to do, let's put it that way,
without actually me saying anything further than that. So, based on my experience with
simulations, based on my experience with even questions myself. So, I did take more time than
I personally needed on the exam to do it because I was trying to kind of register in my brain what
I could try to remember to build a proper course for all of you when it's all said and done,
right? I mean, I'm doing everything I can without breaking the non-disclosure agreement here.
Yeah. So, in the end, yes, folks, that is something to keep in mind for yourself.
Remember, it's not a race. You want to take your time, review, review, review, review. So,
that way there, you only have to take the exam once. Now, if you fail the first time,
that is not a loss because what I want you to remember is when you come out of the exam,
if you fail, sit down and write down everything you saw for yourself. Like if you're sitting in
your car or now your exam's over, write everything down for yourself. So, that way there, you have a
log of everything you saw or things that you struggled with. Things are like, oh my gosh,
I remember seeing that. I had no idea what that was, right? Well, just go back, write it down,
come back and review and you'll be like, oh yeah, Raymond did cover that. Oops, that's okay. It
happens. It happens to the best of us. It happens to me, folks. Happens to me.
So, yeah, don't race. Take your time. You want to pass on the very first time.
Really, JR, thank you for that feedback for CCNA. We're going to look into that.
We'll look into that and see what we can do about that, right? So, thank you very much for
sharing that information with me, JR. I really do appreciate that. Let me copy and paste exactly
what you said because that is feedback that is important to us because our goal is to make sure
that we cover everything that is necessary. And if you're telling me that in CCNA, wireless stuff is
maybe a little bit lacking or outdated, we'll fix that. That's important, right, folks? That's
important. All right. All right. So, folks, let me go ahead here right now. If you're here with me
live, just stick around for a moment. But I want to go ahead and officially seal up this session
and recording. And that way we can start uploading things. So, folks, if you are watching the
recorded session right now, thank you very much for making it this far. I hope you enjoyed
everything that you've learned here in Encore. And if you have any questions, comments or concerns
at any time, feel free to reach out to us. We're here behind the scenes to help you all the time.
So, don't be shy. Let us help you achieve the success that you want to achieve. So, until next
time, folks, keep on being amazing. And we will see you in a future session.