How to Prepare for an Exam

Preparing for any Cisco- related test (including exam CSPFA 642-521) requires that you obtain and study materials designed to provide comprehensive information about the product and its capabilities that will appear on the specific exam for which you are preparing. The following list of materials can help you study and prepare:

• The Cisco Secure PIX Firewall Advanced (CSPFA) v3.1 is a five-day, instructor-led training course provided by Cisco-certified trainers . More details can be found at http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/front.x/wwtraining/CELC/index.cgi?action=CourseDesc&COURSE_ID=2617.

• The documents and material located on the Cisco Web site can help solidify complex topics! More details can be found at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/vpndevc/ps2030/index.html.

• The exam-preparation advice, practice tests, questions of the day, and discussion groups on the www.examcram2.com e-learning and certification destination Web site can be very helpful.

• Cisco Press can also provide a valuable list of books and resources for the Cisco product lines. For more details, see http://www.ciscopress.com.

What This Book Will Not Do

This book will not teach you everything you need to know about computers, or even about a given topic. Nor is this book an introduction to computer technology. If you're new to networking and looking for an initial preparation guide, check out www.quepublishing.com, where you will find a whole section dedicated to the CCSP certifications. This book will review what you need to know before you take the test, with the fundamental purpose dedicated to reviewing the information needed for the Cisco 642-521 certification exam.

This book uses a variety of teaching and memorization techniques to analyze the exam-related topics and provide you with ways to input, index, and retrieve everything you'll need to know to pass the test. Once again, it is not an introduction to Cisco PIX firewall devices or networking.

What This Book Is Designed To Do

This book is designed to be read as a pointer to the areas of knowledge on which you will be tested . In other words, you might want to read the book one time, just to get an insight into how comprehensive your knowledge of firewalls is. The book is also designed to be read shortly before you go for the actual test and to give you a distillation of the entire field of Cisco PIX firewall devices in as few pages as possible. I think you can use this book to get a sense of the underlying context of any topic in the chapters ”or to skim-read for exam alerts, bulleted points, summaries, and topic headings.

I've drawn on material from Cisco's own listing of knowledge requirements, other preparation guides, and the exams themselves . I've also drawn from a battery of third-party test-preparation tools and technical Web sites, as well as from my own experience with the PIX firewall and the exam. My aim is to walk you through the knowledge you will need ”looking over your shoulder, so to speak ”and point out those things that are important for the exam (exam alerts, practice questions, and so on).

The 642-521 exam makes a basic assumption that you already have a strong background of experience with the Cisco PIX firewall device. I've tried to demystify the jargon, acronyms, terms, and concepts. Also, wherever I think you're likely to blur past an important concept, I've defined the assumptions and premises behind that concept.