- CCNP ENCOR Study 💻 🖥️ 💾
Introduction and Purpose 👋 ✌️ top
Please be aware this is NOT the best study method in the world! Far from it. Everyone learns in different ways and this is just what has worked for me on my journey. I hope you enjoy and maybe grab even one thing from this document that may assist you in your certification journey. Please note, I don't make any money in the links provided. I paid for all the books/software with my own money.
Some small background for the reader. I've been working in networking for about 9 years. I obtained the old CCNP R/S a few years ago. I wanted to take on the challenge of the new exams after "Certpocalypse" with the added blueprint points. I also wanted to freshen up my own knowledge as I don't use everything in the blueprint in my day to day role.
Study Resources and Tips 🎆 top
Official Certification Guide 📘 👍 top
CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core ENCOR 350-401 Official Cert Guide
In any certification tackled, I always start with the source. Cisco Press books can be up and down and the CCNP ENCOR book is no exception. I would recommend checking out the errata on the Cisco Press site and making all necessary corrections.
I'm a weirdo and read the book front to back. Call me old school! I think the OCGs tend to give you a fairly strong base towards passing the exam but I don't believe this alone will allow you to pass the exam.
I usually plan a set target on what I would like to accomplish that day or week with the book. If its a heavy topic like STP which spans multiple chapters, I may give myself a week to fully digest the material. Making sure to read all of the chapters and answer the questions at the start of every chapter. I will pay more attention around the question topics missed during the chapter introductory DIKTA questions. I am not a big fan of notes as I don't believe that helps me retain knowledge very well. More on that later.
Lab, Lab, Lab 👨💻 👩💻 💻 ⌨️ 🖱️ top
You do not have to lab to pass this exam.... BUT you will be doing yourself a disservice by not labbing. I will bet many of us learn by doing and I am no different. At the end of the day we are not only learning to pass an exam but to become great engineers. Getting on the keys, building topologies, and thinking about design is all part of the path.
I dont want to push a particular labbing setup. Whether you decide to build a physical lab or something virtual, it all has pros and cons... or what the fancy engineers would say "tradeoffs". A lot of great Cisco gear can be purchased online for relatively low cost. Ill link a few virtual options below.
Ill give you an example on how I would lab. Lets say we're reading through the OCG and they give us this great topology on VTP!
The rest of the book would walk the reader through VTP server vs client vs transparent modes. Reading is just part of the battle. Labbing as I read the book greatly helps me retain the information and really get the commands down! If you do not have a reference topology to start from just build it! Mess around with the lab and break it.. then fix it! Even better! Below is just a snippet from when I created the lab virtually.
Anki Flashcards 🎇👍 👍 👍 🎇 top
Remember before how I said I'm not the biggest fan on taking notes for retaining information? Well I am a fan of making flash cards! The current deck I have for ENCOR is just under 1000 cards. Don't let that number scare you. Everyone learns differently and you may need way less cards than that or more in some cases. Anki, the free program I use, utilizes learning principles called spaced repetition and active recall, both proven to help folks learn a new topic. Basically, space out the learning on a subject in timed intervals and test the mind to recall the information. Check out these videos by Ali Abdaal for more information ➡️ Active Recall and Spaced Repetition ⬅️
The time required to make and practice flash cards is so small in the grand scheme of things but the returns are incredible. In my day to day, even with 900+ flashcards. At most I will be assigned around 70 per day and my daily average sits at 60. The total time it could take me to run through these flashcards is maybe 20 mins. These flashcards will take some imagination to really make things stick. Let me give you a few examples and maybe they can be a guide for you on how creative you can be.
Lets pretend I just hit the Add button above. This is probably how a lot of my cards started and they are perfectly fine for quick info based scenarios.
Here is the view when prompted with the card.
Here is what the review will look like. Now if you got it wrong hit the red button. If its okay hit the green one for later review. If it was so quick in your mind, hit the big blue button!
Ill add some more examples under the anki_examples folder.
Anki Add-ons 🔥 🔥 🔥 🗺️ 🧠 top
Really small segment on add ons. Anki supports add-ons for the desktop version to extend its functionality.
Review Heatmap, all of the shades of red seen in the first Anki image above. Heatmap allows you to have a big picture idea on your study history and your upcoming reviews. It allows you to see reviews performed that day, study history, daily averages and more.
Image Occlusion makes it incredibly easy to make cards from tables of information or topology based scenarios. I hear its popular with medical students when working with anatomy. This one is better with an example. Lets say I'm reading through the OCG and this awesome table comes up about routing protocol ADs.
While that image is copied in my buffer, I can create a new Anki card and hit this little button.
That will bring up the Image Occlusion add mode, I've tried to highlight the most important options. Basically cover up the answers and click Hide All, Guess One at the bottom! This will add 10 flashcards to your deck. It may look like a long process but in practice its very quick. We just created 10 cards at once vs 10 individual cards!
This is what it would look like when reviewing a card created by Image Occlusion.
For more videos on using Image Occlusion check out the creators Youtube Playlist
CBT Nuggets 💻 👨🏫 📹 👩🏫 🎞️ 🧮 top
This was my first time using CBT Nuggets. I can honestly say I am a fan. The organization of the content and the positivity of the instructors goes a long way. Not only are the lessons well organized but they include virtual labs you can launch within your browser 🤯! The OCG does not follow along with the exam blueprint but the CBT ENCOR course does. It makes for a bit of a juggling act finding the videos that match up with the OCG topics. Not blaming CBT but it is what it is. Another note on that, once I am done reading a chapter from the OCG/labbing a chapter, I will also correspond that with the CBT videos. Basically getting the instruction from reading and listening/watching.
Thats really all the praise I can give, check them out! 👍 👍 👍
Boson ExSim-Max ❓ ❔ 👍 top
Just like CBT Nuggets, Boson was a first for me on this go around. I initially used the exams as a gauge to see if I was ready for the real exam. What I found out was so much more. Not only will Boson give you the reason why a question is right, but why every other option is wrong. On top of that they include direct links in the questions to Cisco documentation in case you need to deep dive a topic even more... and make Anki flashcards. The questions really challenge you on the level of the real exam. I didn't start taking the Boson exams until I was finished with the OCG and CBT Nuggets. Honestly it may be worthwhile to take one exam before any of your studies start. This pre testing has been shown to also help learners recall information at a later time or focus in on information in an upcoming chapter (shout-out DIKTA questions from Cisco OCGs).
Check out Boson here
Honorable Mentions 🔈 🔉 🔊 📢 📣 📯 🔔 top
Here is a link of other resources I used in my studies. With any Cisco Exam, I've found the more knowledge the better. For example, reading CCNP content when going for the CCNA.
- Cisco ENCOR Doc Links
- CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Volume 1-2
- Lots of great resources from other folks that have passed on reddit
Final Exam Thoughts 🗣️ 💭 top
All in all I think this exam is great. Difficult enough to challenge folks but not an insurmountable mountain. The added topics lead learners to other portions of Networking. Looking at you wireless and automation! It took me just under four months to study for this exam. I usually have a free flowing mood when studying. Some days it may be one hour, some days multiple hours (weekends). I do always try to progress in the reading and always finish the Anki cards that are due for the day. I'm human and I know there were days that I did nothing but the 20 mins of Anki cards.
Oh yeah and the exam tips. Here is my best tip without breaking the NDA. Study EVERYTHING on the exam blueprint! If you think a topic will not be hit on a lot during the exam, you are WRONG!
Appreciation 🤗 top
I hope you find something in this write up that may help you on your certification journey. I have to close this out with some appreciation. I did not do this alone. Shout-out to my wife Amanda 👩🔬 for supporting me in all my studies and letting me lock myself in our office for those long weekend sessions. Shout-out to the networking community for always being there to answer questions and provide some inspiration for everyone on their own journey to becoming a network engineer! I would make a list but there would be waaaay to many people. You know who you are! 😉
Image Credit 🖼️ 🤗 🖼️ top
- Dragon Ball Z - Bird Studio/Shueisha
- Gain Detergent - Procter & Gamble
- Pull Down Guy.... eh? 🤷♂️
- Cisco Images- From Cisco ENCOR book linked above, get it!