How to Prepare for an Exam

Preparing for any Cisco-related test (including Exam 642-821) 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 materials can help you study and prepare:

• The exam-preparation advice, practice tests, questions of the day, and discussion groups on the http://www.examcram2.com e-learning and certification destination Web site.

In addition, you might find any or all of the following materials useful in your quest for Cisco expertise:

• Cisco training kits Cisco Press offers a training kit that specifically targets Exam 642-821. For more information, visit http://www.ciscopress.com. This training kit contains information that you will find useful in preparing for the test.

• Internet Protocol Journal This quarterly magazine is published by Cisco and covers new and emerging technologies as well as real-life scenarios and implementations stories. More information appears at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/about/ac123/ac147/about_cisco_the_internet_protocol_journal.html.

• Packet Magazine This quarterly magazine provides more of a product focus that the IPJ does. Packet provides a lot of information about new and up and coming technologies, the Cisco implementation of them, and how they can fit into your network. Subscribe to Packet at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/about/ac123/ac114/about_cisco_packet_magazine.html.

• Classroom training Cisco-authorized training partners, online partners, and third-party training companies all offer classroom training on BCRAN. These companies aim to help you prepare to pass Exam 642-821 (or other exams). Although such training runs upward of $350 per day in class, most of the individuals lucky enough to partake find this training to be worthwhile.

• Other publications There's no shortage of materials available about remote access. The "Need to Know More?" resource sections at the end of each chapter in this book give you an idea of where we think you should look for further discussion.

This set of required and recommended materials represents an unparalleled collection of sources and resources about Cisco remote access and related topics. We hope you'll find that this book belongs in this company.

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 applications development and looking for an initial preparation guide, check out http://www.quepublishing.com, where you will find a whole section dedicated to the Cisco certifications. This book reviews what you need to know before you take the test, with the fundamental purpose dedicated to reviewing the information needed on the Cisco 642-821 certification exam.

This book uses a variety of teaching and memorization techniques to analyze the exam-related topics and to provide you with ways to input, index, and retrieve everything you need to know to pass the test. Once again, it is not an introduction to application development.

What This Book Is Designed to Do

This book is designed to be read as a pointer to the areas of knowledge you will be tested on. In other words, you might want to read the book one time, just to get an insight into how comprehensive your knowledge of computers 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 topic in as few pages as possible. We think that 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.

We've drawn on material from the Cisco list of knowledge requirements, from other preparation guides, and from the exams themselves. We've also drawn from a battery of third-party test-preparation tools and technical Web sites, as well as from our own experience with the topic and the exam. Our aim is to walk you through the knowledge you 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 642-821 exam makes a basic assumption that you already have a strong background of experience with routing and switching technologies, the Cisco IOS, and related terminologies. On the other hand, because the IOS is so complex, no one can be a complete expert. We've tried to demystify the jargon, acronyms, terms, and concepts. Also, wherever we think you're likely to blur past an important concept, we've defined the assumptions and premises behind that concept.