About This Book

If you're preparing for the CCNA exams for the first time, we have structured the topics in this book to build upon one another. Therefore, the topics covered in later chapters might refer to previous discussions in earlier chapters.

We suggest you read this book from front to back. You won't be wasting your time, because nothing we have written is a guess about an unknown exam. We have had to explain certain underlying information on such a regular basis that we have included those explanations here.

Once you've read the book, you can brush up on a certain area by using the index or the table of contents to go straight to the topics and questions you want to reexamine. We have tried to use the headings and subheadings to provide outline information about each given topic. After you've been certified, we think you'll find this book useful as a tightly focused reference for local and wide area networking.

Chapter Formats

Each Exam Cram 2 chapter follows a regular structure, along with graphical cues about especially important or useful material. The structure of a typical chapter is as follows:

• Opening hotlists ” Each chapter begins with lists of the terms you'll need to understand and the concepts you'll need to master before you can be fully conversant with the chapter's subject matter. We follow the hotlists with a few introductory paragraphs, setting the stage for the rest of the chapter.

• Topical coverage ” After the opening hotlists, each chapter covers the topics related to the chapter's subject.

• Alerts ” Throughout the topical coverage section, we highlight material most likely to appear on the exam by using a special Exam Alert layout that looks like this:

  

  This is what an Exam Alert looks like. An Exam Alert stresses concepts, terms, software, or activities that will most likely appear in one or more certification exam questions. For that reason, we think any information found offset in Exam Alert format is worthy of unusual attentiveness on your part.

  
  

  Even if material isn't flagged as a Exam Alert, all the content in this book is associated in some way with test-related material. What appears in the chapter content is critical knowledge.

• Notes ” This book is an overall examination of computers. As such, we'll dip into many aspects of Cisco router and switch configuration issues. Where a body of knowledge is deeper than the scope of the book, we use notes to indicate areas of concern or specialty training.

  

  Cramming for an exam will get you through a test, but it won't make you a competent IT professional. Although you can memorize just the facts you need in order to become certified, your daily work in the field will rapidly put you in water over your head if you don't know the underlying principles of Cisco networking.

  
  

• Tips ” We provide tips that will help you to build a better foundation of knowledge or to focus your attention on an important concept that will reappear later in the book. Tips provide a helpful way to remind you of the context surrounding a particular area of a topic under discussion.

  

  You should also read Chapter 1, "Cisco Certification Exams," for helpful strategies used in taking a test.

  
  

• Practice questions ” This section presents a short list of test questions related to the specific chapter topic. Each question has a following explanation of both correct and incorrect answers. The practice questions highlight the areas we found to be most important on the exam.

• Need To Know More? ” Every chapter ends with a section titled "Need To Know More?" This section provides pointers to resources that we found to be helpful in offering further details on the chapter's subject matter. If you find a resource you like in this collection, use it, but don't feel compelled to use all these resources. We use this section to recommend resources that we have used on a regular basis, so none of the recommendations will be a waste of your time or money. These resources may go out of print or be taken down (in the case of Web sites), so we've tried to reference widely accepted resources.

The bulk of the book follows this chapter structure, but there are a few other elements that we would like to point out:

• Practice Exams ” The sample tests, which appear in the back of the book, are very close approximations of the types of questions you are likely to see on the current exams.

• Answer keys ” These provide the answers to the sample tests, complete with explanations of both the correct responses and the incorrect responses.

• Glossary ” This is an extensive glossary of important terms used in this book.

• The Cram Sheet ” This appears as a tear-away sheet, inside the front cover of this Exam Cram 2 book. It is a valuable tool that represents a collection of the most difficult-to-remember facts and numbers we think you should memorize before taking the test. Remember, you can dump this information out of your head onto a piece of paper as soon as you enter the testing room. These are usually facts that we've found require brute-force memorization. You only need to remember this information long enough to write it down when you walk into the test room. Be advised that you will be asked to surrender all personal belongings before you enter the exam room itself.

  You might want to look at the Cram Sheet in your car or in the lobby of the testing center just before you walk into the testing center. The Cram Sheet is divided under headings, so you can review the appropriate parts just before each test.

• The CD ” The CD includes many helpful code samples that demonstrate all of the topics on the exam. If you work through the samples on the CD, you'll understand the techniques that you're likely to be tested on. 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 questions sufficient for only one practice exam. To get the complete set of practice questions and exam functionality, visit www.preplogic.com.

Contacting the Authors

We have tried to create a real-world tool that you can use to prepare for and pass the CCNA certification exams. We are interested in any feedback you would care to share about the book, especially if you have ideas about how we can improve it for future test-takers. We will consider everything you say carefully and will respond to all reasonable suggestions and comments. You can reach us via email at [e-mail] or [e-mail].

Let us know if you found this book to be helpful in your preparation efforts. We would also like to know how you felt about your chances of passing the exam before you read the book and then after you read the book. Of course, we would love to hear that you passed the exam ”and even if you just want to share your triumph, we would be happy to hear from you.

Thanks for choosing us as your personal trainers , and enjoy the book. We would wish you luck on the exam, but we know that if you read through all the chapters and work with the equipment or simulators, you won't need luck ”you'll pass the test on the strength of real knowledge!