Introduction

Welcome to the SECUR Exam Cram 2! Whether this is your first or your fifteenth Exam Cram 2 series book, you'll find information here that will help ensure your success as you pursue knowledge, experience, and certification. This introduction explains Cisco certification programs in general and talks about how the Exam Cram 2 series can help you prepare for the SECUR exam. Chapter 1 discusses the basics of Cisco certification exams, including a description of the testing environment and a discussion of test-taking strategies. Chapters 2 through 11 are designed to remind you of everything you'll need to know in order to take ”and pass ”the 642-501 certification exam. The two practice exams at the end of the book should give you a solid assessment of your knowledge ”and, yes, we've provided the answers and their explanations . Read the book and understand the material, and you'll stand a very good chance of passing the test. Exam Cram 2 books help you understand and appreciate the subjects and materials you need to pass Cisco certification exams. Exam Cram 2 books are aimed strictly at test preparation and review; they do not teach you everything you need to know about a topic. Instead, we present and dissect the questions and problems we've found that you're likely to encounter on a test. We've worked to bring together as much information as possible about Cisco certification exams.

Nevertheless, to completely prepare yourself for any Cisco test, we recommend that you begin by taking the Self-Assessment that is included in this book, immediately following this introduction. The Self-Assessment will help you evaluate your knowledge base against the requirements for a Cisco SECUR exam under real circumstances.

Based on what you learn from the Self-Assessment, you might decide to begin your studies with some classroom training, some practice with the Cisco IOS Firewall feature set, or some background reading. On the other hand, you might decide to pick up and read one of the many study guides available from Cisco or third-party vendors on certain topics. We also recommend that you supplement your study program with visits to http://www.examcram2.com to receive additional practice questions, get advice, and track the Cisco security program.

We also strongly recommend that you configure and play around with the Cisco IOS Firewall feature set that you'll be tested on, because nothing beats hands-on experience and familiarity when it comes to understanding the questions you're likely to encounter on a certification test. Book learning is essential, but without a doubt, hands-on experience is the best teacher of all! The readme.txt file on the CD will guide you through the various examples. The CD also contains the PrepLogic Practice Exams, Preview Edition exam-simulation software. The Preview Edition exhibits most of the full functionality of the Premium Edition but offers only enough questions for one practice exam. To get the complete set of practice questions and exam functionality, visit http://www.preplogic.com.