Ethical Hacker Community Forums

I am looking to take the CCNA exam within the next couple of months. I thought about taking the CCENT and then the other that gets you the CCNA, but now I think I am just going to take the "bigger" test.

Anyway, I am reading through some of the information and going through some of the CBTs and they all mention the sdm as a method to configure the routers. Is the SDM actually tested? If so, is there an option to drop to the command line? I have absolutely no interest in using the SDM since all it really does is enter in commands for you. That just seems really backwards to me.

Anyway, I just wanted to get some input from someone that has taken the new test since the cisco guys at work all took the CCNA before the last test revamp. Thanks!

I don't think Cisco will ever get away from allowing access to the command line.  From what I understand, the SDM was developed only because competitors have a GUI front-end.  Plus, having a GUI front-end opens up the market to people who otherwise would have chosen something other than Cisco.

Personally, I feel the GUI front-ends that Cisco has (other than the one for their IPS) does a poor job when submitting the commands to the device.  The naming convention that the SDM uses is terrible.  I like to give access-lists meaningful names, not generic names like the SDM does.

As for the exam, I would recommend having some familiarity with it especially since what you are reading is mentioning it.  You don't want to fail the exam only because you didn't know where to go in the SDM.  Just my thoughts.

Good luck!

Nice first post

Agreed!  Have to know the CLI, because it is very essential to know.