Chapter 30. Final Preparation
The first 29 chapters of this book cover the technologies, protocols, design concepts, and considerations required to be prepared to pass the 350-401 CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core ENCOR exam. While these chapters supply the detailed information, most people need more preparation than simply reading the first 29 chapters of this book. This chapter describes a set of tools and a study plan to help you complete your preparation for the exam.
This short chapter has two main sections. The first section lists exam preparation tools that you might find useful at this point in the study process. The second section provides a suggested study plan for you to follow now that you have completed all the earlier chapters in this book.
Getting Ready
Here are some important tips to keep in mind to ensure that you are ready for this rewarding exam:
Build and use a study tracker: Consider using the exam objectives shown in this chapter to build a study tracker for yourself. Such a tracker can help ensure that you have not missed anything and that you are confident for your exam. As a matter of fact, this book offers a sample Study Planner as a website supplement.
Think about your time budget for questions on the exam: When you do the math, you will see that, on average, you have one minute per question. While this does not sound like a lot of time, keep in mind that many of the questions will be very straightforward, and you will take 15 to 30 seconds on those. This leaves you extra time for other questions on the exam.
Watch the clock: Check in on the time remaining periodically as you are taking the exam. You might even find that you can slow down pretty dramatically if you have built up a nice block of extra time.
Get some earplugs: The testing center might provide earplugs but get some just in case and bring them along. There might be other test takers in the center with you, and you do not want to be distracted by their screams. I personally have no issue blocking out the sounds around me, so I never worry about this, but I know it is an issue for some.
Plan your travel time: Give yourself extra time to find the center and get checked in. Be sure to arrive early. As you test more at a particular center, you can certainly start cutting it closer time-wise.
Get rest: Most students report that getting plenty of rest the night before the exam boosts their success. All-night cram sessions are not typically successful.
Bring in valuables but get ready to lock them up: The testing center will take your phone, your smartwatch, your wallet, and other such items and will provide a secure place for them.
Take notes: You will be given note-taking implements and should not be afraid to use them. I always jot down any questions I struggle with on the exam. I then memorize them at the end of the test by reading my notes over and over again. I always make sure I have a pen and paper in the car, and I write down the issues in my car just after the exam. When I get home—with a pass or fail—I research those items!
Tools for Final Preparation
This section lists some information about the available tools and how to access the tools.
Pearson Test Prep Practice Test Software and Questions on the Website
Register this book to get access to the Pearson Test Prep practice test software (software that displays and grades a set of exam-realistic, multiple-choice questions). Using the Pearson Test Prep practice test software, you can either study by going through the questions in Study mode or take a simulated (timed) CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core exam.
The Pearson Test Prep practice test software comes with two full practice exams. These practice tests are available to you either online or as an offline Windows application. To access the practice exams that were developed with this book, please see the instructions in the card inserted in the sleeve in the back of the book. This card includes a unique access code that enables you to activate your exams in the Pearson Test Prep practice test software.
Accessing the Pearson Test Prep Software Online
The online version of this software can be used on any device with a browser and connectivity to the Internet including desktop machines, tablets, and smartphones. To start using your practice exams online, simply follow these steps:
Step 1. Go to http://www.PearsonTestPrep.com.
Step 2. Select Pearson IT Certification as your product group.
Step 3. Enter your email and password for your account. If you don’t have an account on PearsonITCertification.com or CiscoPress.com, you need to establish one by going to PearsonITCertification.com/join.
Step 4. In the My Products tab, click the Activate New Product button.
Step 5. Enter the access code printed on the insert card in the back of your book to activate your product. The product will now be listed in your My Products page.
Step 6. Click the Exams button to launch the exam settings screen and start your exam.
Accessing the Pearson Test Prep Software Offline
If you wish to study offline, you can download and install the Windows version of the Pearson Test Prep practice test software. You can find a download link for this software on the book’s companion website, or you can just enter this link in your browser:
http://www.pearsonitcertification.com/content/downloads/pcpt/engine.zip
To access the book’s companion website and the software, simply follow these steps:
Step 1. Register your book by going to PearsonITCertification.com/register and entering the ISBN 9781587145230.
Step 2. Respond to the challenge questions.
Step 3. Go to your account page and select the Registered Products tab.
Step 4. Click on the Access Bonus Content link under the product listing.
Step 5. Click the Install Pearson Test Prep Desktop Version link in the Practice Exams section of the page to download the software.
Step 6. When the software finishes downloading, unzip all the files on your computer
Step 7. Double-click the application file to start the installation, and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the registration.
Step 8. When the installation is complete, launch the application and click the Activate Exam button on the My Products tab.
Step 9. Click the Activate a Product button in the Activate Product Wizard.
Step 10. Enter the unique access code found on the card in the sleeve in the back of your book and click the Activate button.
Step 11. Click Next, and then click the Finish button to download the exam data to your application.
Step 12. You can now start using the practice exams by selecting the product and clicking the Open Exam button to open the exam settings screen.
Note that the offline and online versions sync together, so saved exams and grade results recorded on one version will be available to you on the other as well.
Customizing Your Exams
When you are in the exam settings screen, you can choose to take exams in one of three modes:
Study Mode
Practice Exam Mode
Flash Card Mode
Study Mode enables you to fully customize your exams and review answers as you are taking the exam. This is typically the mode you use first to assess your knowledge and identify information gaps. Practice Exam Mode locks certain customization options to present a realistic exam experience. Use this mode when you are preparing to test your exam readiness.
Flash Card Mode strips out the answers and presents you with only the question stem. This mode is great for late-stage preparation, when you really want to challenge yourself to provide answers without the benefit of seeing multiple-choice options. This mode does not provide the detailed score reports that the other two modes provide, so it is not the best mode for helping you identify knowledge gaps.
In addition to these three modes, you will be able to select the source of your questions. You can choose to take exams that cover all the chapters, or you can narrow your selection to just a single chapter or the chapters that make up specific parts in the book. All chapters are selected by default. If you want to narrow your focus to individual chapters, simply deselect all the chapters and then select only those on which you wish to focus in the Objectives area.
You can also select the exam banks on which to focus. Each exam bank comes complete with a full exam of questions that cover topics in every chapter. You can have the test engine serve up exams from all banks or just from one individual bank by selecting the desired banks in the exam bank area.
There are several other customizations you can make to your exam from the exam settings screen, such as the time allowed to take the exam, the number of questions served up, whether to randomize questions and answers, whether to show the number of correct answers for multiple-answer questions, and whether to serve up only specific types of questions. You can also create custom test banks by selecting only questions that you have marked or questions on which you have added notes.
Updating Your Exams
If you are using the online version of the Pearson Test Prep practice test software, you should always have access to the latest version of the software as well as the exam data. If you are using the Windows desktop version, every time you launch the software, it will check to see if there are any updates to your exam data and automatically download any changes made since the last time you used the software. This requires that you are connected to the Internet at the time you launch the software.
Sometimes, due to a number of factors, the exam data might not fully download when you activate your exam. If you find that figures or exhibits are missing, you might need to manually update your exams.
To update a particular exam you have already activated and downloaded, simply select the Tools tab and click the Update Products button. Again, this is only an issue with the desktop Windows application.
If you wish to check for updates to the Windows desktop version of the Pearson Test Prep exam engine software, simply select the Tools tab and click the Update Application button. Doing so allows you to ensure that you are running the latest version of the software engine.
Premium Edition
In addition to the free practice exam provided on the website, you can purchase additional exams with expanded functionality directly from Pearson IT Certification. The Premium Edition of this title contains an additional two full practice exams and an eBook (in both PDF and ePub format). In addition, the Premium Edition title has remediation for each question to the specific part of the eBook that relates to that question.
Because you have purchased the print version of this title, you can purchase the Premium Edition at a deep discount. There is a coupon code in the book sleeve that contains a one-time-use code and instructions for where you can purchase the Premium Edition.
To view the Premium Edition product page, go to www.informit.com/title/9780135262030.
Chapter-Ending Review Tools
Chapters 1 through 29 each have several features in the “Exam Preparation Tasks” section at the end of the chapter. You might have already worked through these in each chapter. It can also be useful to use these tools again as you make your final preparations for the exam.
Suggested Plan for Final Review/Study
This section lists a suggested study plan from the point at which you finish reading through Chapter 29, until you take the 350-401 CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core ENCOR exam. You can ignore this plan, use it as is, or just take suggestions from it.
The plan involves two steps:
Step 1. Review key topics and “Do I Know This Already?” (DIKTA?) questions: You can use the table that lists the key topics in each chapter or just flip the pages, looking for key topics. Also, reviewing the DIKTA? questions from the beginning of the chapter can be helpful for review.
Step 2. Use the Pearson Test Prep practice test engine to practice: The Pearson Test Prep practice test engine enables you to study using a bank of unique exam-realistic questions available only with this book.
Summary
The tools and suggestions listed in this chapter have been designed with one goal in mind: to help you develop the skills required to pass the 350-401 CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core ENCOR exam. This book has been developed from the beginning to not just tell you the facts but to also help you learn how to apply the facts. No matter what your experience level leading up to when you take the exams, it is our hope that the broad range of preparation tools, and even the structure of the book, will help you pass the exam with ease. We hope you do well on the exam.