IBM Certification Exams

Michael Foxon’s Question:

I’m already studying for the 642-552 Securing Cisco Network Devices exam but have just realised that it will be discontinued as of 17th November 08. Cisco has released a new exam 640-453 IINS which seems to be the same as 642-552. If I pass the 642-552 exam before 17th Nov will I obtain a CCNA Security?

List of helpful answers:

I just passed the SND-exam last week, so I am also curious to know if it will be converted to a CCNA security. I sent an email to my local trainingpartner. If I hear back from them, I will post the info here. — Anders Frederiksen

No, you won’t. IINS is based on SND, but had additional contents and the exam is different. AS far as I know, there is no upgrade from SND to CCNA Voice. However, if you’re pusuing SSSP, either route will do: SND or CCNA Voice. — Sergio Porter

To Sergio Porter: SSSP and CCNA:Voice….It should be CCSP and CCNA:Security — Hussain Arsalan Ali

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Anweesy3’s Question:

I am a current CCNA pursuing the CCNP. I have the ONT and ISCW left to take. This new CCNA Security cert seems very valuable since I want to pursue security. I was wondering since the CCNA Security and ISCW have very similar topics, can I bypass purchasing the exam guide for the IINS 640-553 and use my study materials for the ISCW instead? What are your opinions?

List of helpful answers:

It is better to continue with the CCNP track, as you said ONT and ISCW left to take. You can go through the syllabus which is given in this site itself and compare with the ISCW. It is better to wait for CCNA security as it is a fresh paper recently released. Even i am preparing, but planning to take this exam after one month. We can get more views, and details about the paper.

I am using SND and SNRS for my prepartion. Just go for the link and I hope this will clear it..

http://www.cbtnuggets.com/webapp/product?id=445

My advice is to take for CCNP and meanwhile material will be available.. and then go for the security.

—— Naresh

Just so you are aware, Cisco Press has two product out for the CCNA Security Exam. They are:

CCNA Security Official Exam Certification Guide (print book with CD test engine)
CCNA Security Quick Reference (digital review product)

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While scouting for the top 8 hot jobs, we combed through tons of data offline as well online. Making a small list for just 10 hot jobs has taken some important considerations like the following ones:

1. Longevity of relevance of the job

2. Salary and growth potential

3. Universality of the field

While most job seekers looked for higher positions and salaries, others considered permanence of their job was their priority. It is noteworthy that the definition of job security has changed substantially in the last decade and it is all about continuing in the same job but under different employers. Ready? Here we go!

8 Hot Jobs And The Certifications You Need To Get Them
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The top hot jobs were all of a high profile nature and most of them were in the field of computers.

1. CISCO CERTIFIED NETWORK EXPERT: This hits the top for the second successive year. Candidates consider themselves lucky to pass this test even on their second attempt where the percentage success rate is just 15. This hits the top because of its ever-increasing popularity, salary potential and vast potential.

2. MICROSOFT CERTIFIED SYSTEMS ENGINEER: The MCSE certification has stayed on top for many years now. The job involves working with operating systems and security issues. The popularity is also because it doesn’t require additional certification to get through to your dream job. Job profile: Systems Engineer and Systems Analyst.

3. TEACHER: Why do you think this found its way to Top-3 slot? Close to 1.3 million teachers need to be recruited in the next 5-6 years. Teachers in the K-12 bracket: 724,000 and post secondary teachers: 603,000. We had to give this position its due. All states offer various educator preparation programs for aspirants through their respective boards of education.

4. REGISTERED NURSES: Registered nurses are going to be in top demand in the next 5-6 years due to the government’s spending on healthcare programs. This had to happen sooner than later after the recent well-publicized nursing shortage. Certification: The boards of nursing in every state administers the certification exam, National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Minimum qualification to appear for this exam is graduation from approved nursing schools. Average salary, $53,000

5. COMPUTER SOFTWARE ENGINEER: CNN reports that 307,000 computer software engineers will be required in the next 3-4 years. This is one interesting job with lots of code writing or fixing for making the computers of the world work. Certification: University graduates with computer science as a major, with physics and math can jumpstart their careers. Some top certifications are MCSE, Sun Certified Java Programmer, MySQL and Red Hat Certified Engineer.

6. INVESTMENT AND FINANCIAL ADVISOR: Tops the salary charts for both federal as well as private employers. Based on the risk profile and risk-benefit analysis, they advise their clients on personal and business financial matters. Salary ranges from $28,500 to $145,600. Certification: College graduation along with a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification can enhance prospects.70-284
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7. CISCO CERTIFIED INTERNETWORK EXPERT (CCIE): If difficulty, prestige and recognitions are any thing to go by, here it is. CCIE is not among the most sought after certification but it is very difficult. This simply is the most feared exam of all. Certification: By CISCO

8. RED HAT CERTIFIED ENGINEER (RHCE): Increase of interest in open source code has shot up the popularity of this job. This is hailed as the MCSE of Linux certifications.

9. MEDICAL SCIENTIST: Broad category that involves medical research. This career is hot because of the large amount of research activity initiated by the government and private organizations on AIDS, cancer, Parkinson’s Syndrome and many more. Certification: Doctorate: $100,000 and above.

10. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER: This job ranks high because of its high growth index in the next 2-3 years itself. Salary indicated ranges from $38,950 to $92,940. They work in laboratories in universities, governments, or research firms etc. Stringent environmental regulations are expected making the job a much preferred one. Certification: College graduation and degree in Environmental Engineering or Geology.

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All cisco candidates 646-229, 642-414, 646-203 will be retired in 2008 on cisco official websites. These cisco certification exam can validate candidates related knowledge, for mastering and proving your alilities, you’d better take these exams from pass4sure website. Now we talk about some cisco related certification information.

Cisco CCNA candidates need to be aware that the current CCNA, Intro, and ICND exams are being retired as of November 6, 2007.

This is actually great news for future CCNAs, since there is more than enough time to study for the 640-801 version of the CCNA exam, even if you haven’t started studying yet!

The current version of the exam, 640-801, is challenging enough as it is - but the new version of the exam, 640-802, is going to be even more challenging! Among the new topics covered on the 640-802 exam are Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), IP Version 6 (IPv6), router security, switch security, VPNs, and wireless routing.

Why is Cisco making these changes? Cisco no longer wants the CCNA to be seen as an “entry level” certification, and I personally think that’s a welcome change. I’ve been writing CCNA ebooks and teaching in-person and internet-based CCNA courses for years, and I’ve always refused to refer to the CCNA as “entry level”. Cisco’s new entry-level certification is the CCENT, Cisco Certified Entry Level Technician, and we’ll talk about that certification in a future article.

For now, it’s important to realize that you have plenty of time to prepare for the current 640-801 exam. By doing so, you’ll earn one of the most valuable certifications avaiable today. Cisco does a tremendous job in protecting the value of its certifications, and any time spend on earning the CCNA is time well-spent.

The 640-802 CCNA exam will be available on August 1, but again, the current 640-801 exam will be available through November 5. If you want to get CCNA certified, now is definitely the time to get the job done - so get started, book your exam date today, and get CCNA certified!

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Creating DataSet Objects NS0-201 70-643 156-215.1
DataSet objects are available in the System.Data namespace and are used as an in-memory cache of the data being used in your application. DataSet objects contain DataTable objects that can be related with DataRelation objects much like the structure of a relational database.
DataSet Objects
Datasets are objects that you use to temporarily store the data that is used in your application. There are basically two distinct kinds of DataSet objects: typed, and untyped. Untyped DataSets are the standard generic instances of the DataSet class where you manually build up the DataSet definition (schema) by creating DataTable objects (untyped DataTables) and adding them to the Tables collection in the DataSet. You can access untyped DataTable and DataColumn objects through their collection indices. Typed DataSet objects derive their schema from an .xsd file and contain explicitly typed collections (such as a specific CustomersTable object).
There are three distinct ways to create DataSet objects in Visual Studio:
Declare a new DataSet object programmatically in the code editor, which results in an empty DataSet that requires creating DataTable and optional DataRelation objects to be added to the DataSet.
Use design-time tools such as the DataSet Designer and the Data Source Configuration Wizard which assists in the creation of typed DataSet objects by stepping you through the process of selecting or creating a data connection and then allowing you to select database objects available from that connection to build up a typed DataSet and have most, if not all, of the necessary code generated for you.
Drag a DataSet object from the Toolbox onto a form and use the Table and Column
Collection editors to build up the schema of your DataSet. 642-444 70-631 MB7-515
Merging DataSet Contents
You can take the contents from one DataSet (the source dataset) and merge it with the contents of another DataSet (the target dataset) using the DataSet.Merge method.
When merging datasets, the actual data is combined depending on whether a similar record exists in the DataSet into which it will be merged. For example, if you merge two datasets that both contain a record with the same primary key, the values in the target DataSet will be overwritten with the new values in the source DataSet. You can control this behavior and restrict changes from being made in the target DataSet by passing in a true or false value to the PreserveChanges flag in the Merge method. In addition to merging the actual data, when you merge two DataSets that have tables with differing schema, you can pass an optional MissingSchemaAction parameter to the Merge method that controls the behavior of the merge when the source DataSet has objects that are not currently in the target DataSet. The following are valid values for the MissingSchemaAction parameter:
Add (default) All schema items in the source DataSet are added to the target DataSet and populated.
AddWithKey All schema items and primary key settings are added to the target DataSet.
Error An exception will be thrown when the schemas in the source and target DataSets do not match.
Ignore All schema inconsistencies between the source and target DataSets are ignored.
In the following code example, the contents of the OldSalesDataSet are merged into the contents of the SalesHistoryDataSet. The PreserveChanges parameter is set to True and any schema differences will be ignored. 642-811 642-061 70-526

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Performing Bulk Copy Operations 640-801 HP0-145 70-646
This lesson describes how to copy large amounts of data quickly, using the SqlBulkCopy object provided by the System.Data.SqlClient namespace and the BULK INSERT SQL statement in SQL Server. In addition to performing an individual bulk copy operation, you will also learn how to perform a set of bulk copy operations wrapped within a transaction.
Why Perform Bulk Copies?
Copying large amounts of data from one database table to another (or from a file to a database table) can take a lot of time and resources if you simply create an application that reads individual rows out of the original data source and then insert the individual rows into the destination data source. To accomplish the task of moving many records (or entire tables) of data, use the .NET Framework and SQL Server bulk copy features, which perform the transfer of the bulk copies more efficiently than transferring individual records.
Lab: Bulk Copying
In this lab you will bulk copy data from one table to another.
Creating Tables to Copy Data into
To demonstrate how to perform a bulk copy operation, you need tables to copy data into. A quick way to create the tables is to use Server Explorer and the Visual Database Tools to do some cutting and pasting! Use the following steps to create CustomerHistory and OrderHistory tables, which you will use to bulk copy the Customer and Order table data into. 70-291 1D0-510 MB6-508
1.In Server Explorer, expand the Tables node for the Northwind database.
2.Right-click the Customers table and select Open Table Definition.
3.Select the first row by clicking the box with the key icon.
4.Press Ctrl+A to select all the rows.
5.Press Ctrl+C to copy them to the clipboard.
6.Right-click the Tables node in Server Explorer and select Add New Table.
7.Select the empty row (not a cell but the entire row) and press Ctrl+V to paste the table definition into the row.
8.Select only the CustomerID row. Right-click the CustomerID row and select Set Primary Key.
9.Save the table and name it CustomerHistory.
10.Repeat these steps with the Orders table, set the OrderID as the primary key, and save the table with the name OrderHistory.
Lesson Summary
Bulk copying provides an efficient way to copy large amounts of data.
The SqlBulkCopy object provides a .NET Framework class to perform bulk copy operations in your application.
The SQL BULK INSERT statement provides a way to perform bulk copy operations using the resources in SQL Server.
Bulk copy operations can be performed from within a transaction.
Lesson Review 190-802 70-290 70-649
The following questions are intended to reinforce key information presented in this lesson. The questions are also available on the companion CD if you prefer to review them in electronic form.

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The ToolStrip control is a host for ToolStripMenuItem controls that can be used to create toolbar-style functionality for your forms. Toolbars provide support for item reordering, rafting, and overflow of items onto the overflow button.646-204 225-030 000-253

Many tool strip items duplicate functionality of full-size Windows Forms controls such as ToolStripLabel, ToolStripButton, ToolStripTextBox, ToolStripComboBox, and ToolStripProgressBar. Tool strip controls that do not have analogous Windows Forms controls include ToolStripSeparator, ToolStripDropDownButton, and Tool-StripSplitButton.
You can display images on the ToolStripItems control with the Image property.
The ToolStripContainer control allows you to create forms that include support for rafting toolbars.

The ToolStripManager class is a static class that exposes methods for tool strip management. You can use the ToolStripManager.Merge method to merge tool strips.
Lesson Review
You can use the following questions to test your knowledge of the information in this lesson. The questions are also available on the companion CD if you prefer to review them in electronic form.

Creating and Configuring Menus 190-803 BI0-122 640-863
Menus have always been a part of Windows Forms applications. They give the user quick and easy access to important application commands in an easy-to-understand, easy-to-browse interface. The .NET Framework version 2.0 introduced MenuStrips, which allow the rapid creation of Forms menus as well as context menus (also known as shortcut menus, which appear when the user right-clicks an object). In this lesson, you will learn how to create menus and context menus and configure them for use in your application.

Creating Access Keys
Access keys enable you to access menu items by defining keys that, when pressed in combination with the Alt key, will execute the menu command. For example, if a File menu defines the F key as an access key, when Alt+F is pressed, the File menu will open. Menus that contain sub-menus open when the access key combination is pressed, and menus that invoke commands will invoke those commands. Note that the menu item must be visible for the access key to function. Thus, if you define an access key for an Open menu item that exists in the File sub-menu, the File menu must be opened first for the access key combination to function.
You can create an access key for a menu by preceding the letter you want to define the access key for with an ampersand (&) symbol. For example, to create an Alt+F access key combination for the File menu, you would set the FileToolStripMenuItem’s Text property to &File.
Creating Shortcut Keys
Unlike access keys, shortcut keys are a combination of keystrokes that allow direct invocation of a menu item whether the menu item is visible or not. For example, you might define the Ctrl+E key combination to be a shortcut key for the Exit menu command in the File menu. Even if the File menu is not open, Ctrl+E will cause the Exit menu command to be executed. Also, unlike access keys, you cannot create shortcut keys for top-level menus—you can create them only for items in sub-menus. 000-731 ex0-100 70-620
You can create a shortcut key at design time by setting the ShortcutKeys property in the Properties window. Clicking the ShortcutKeys property launches a visual interface than enables you to define a key combination. This interface is shown in Figure 4-5.
If you want to display the shortcut key combination next to the menu item, you can set the ShowShortcutKeys property of the ToolStripMenuItem control to True. You can also define a custom text to be shown instead of the key combination. If you want to define a custom text, you can set it in the ShortcutKeyDisplayString property.

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I figured this was going to be a short post, but the more I think about it, the longer it gets, LOL. So I am just going to throw out a couple questions I am confused about, and if you can answer ANY of them, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! Hope everyone’s work-week is going well!

I am planning for my CCVP due to work requirements. I’m extremely excited. However, I have to get my CCNA or CCNA Voice cert. first. Which do you recommend? Pro/cons? 70-445
If I go for the CCNA, I either take the CCNA exam or take the ICND1 and ICND2, correct? Recommendations?
When I look up the CCVP, it says the prerequisites are “CCNA (until June 24, 2009)”. Why is there a deadline? Is the exam being retired or changed?
More of a story, not really a question: Not even knowing there was a “CCNA Voice” certification, I bought a book yesterday from Barnes and Noble. I couldn’t understand how it was possible, but listen to this: I can either buy the CCNA Cert. Library for $95 that trains you on JUST the CCNA. OR I could buy a CCNA cert. Library for $60 that trains you on the CCNA, ICND1, and ICND2, along with a 1-hour training DVD, and 2 CD’s with the books on PDF, and 400 practice questions. Anyone see anything wrong with that picture?!? They were both made by Cisco, but the $60 one was a “Barnes and Noble Exclusive Edition”. Needless to say, I got the $60 one.70-271

Helpful answer form Timothy Walsh:

You’ll need to do it in the following order:

CCNA (Note that you can break this into two tests, ICND1 which gets you the CCENT certification followed by the ICND2 which then makes you a CCNA)
CCNA-Voice (This certification requires you to first be a CCNA, hence step 1. This is a new cert which is why the CCVP has the deadline you spoke of, basically Cisco is allowing those of us already working on the CCVP to finish it before requiring the CCNA-Voice cert.) 70-642
CCVP (Currently only requires the CCNA, but after 6/24/09 will require the CCNA-Voice cert)

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So you want to get your CCNA and you need to buy a router for your CCNA home lab? Now the question is which router should you get? I have been in your shoes and know when you are just starting out, it is tough to make sense of all the different models of Cisco Routers available. The good news is there are a lot of good options available to get a good CCNA router for a fair price. 350-018

I recommend getting a Cisco 2611 Router or a Cisco 2621 Router because they have to two Copper ports instead of one and offer the most training flexibility. If the cost isn’t much different, go for the 2621 because it offers 2 10/100 Ethernet ports and has 128MB of memory versus the 2611 that has 2 10Mb ports with 64MB of memory. Don’t forget to buy 2 routers as most of the CCNA Labs require two routers. You could also get 3 routers, but from my experience, you will rarely actually need 3 routers to practice for your CCNA. 642-373

Another issue that comes into play is the IOS. If you can get a router with 12.4 already installed, you are way ahead of the game. Remember, the only legal way you can get a copy of the IOS is to buy a Cisco Smartnet contract for your router. If worse comes to worse, look for 12.3, but do your best to avoid 12.2. While it is a solid IOS for production, the new CCNA really focuses on the newer 12.4 version and some commands may be different from what you are learning.

This recommendation is for building a CCNA Home Lab. If you plan on building a CCNP Home Lab, then you should check back later for a post about which router you should buy for CCNP. The great part is even though the routers for CCNP are more expensive, if you buy them while working on your CCNA, you can use them for both certifications. 640-816

Also, if you have the money, you may be better off buying a complete CCNA Home Lab. You can usually find a complete CCNA Lab Kit including 2 or more routers and 1 or more Cisco Switches. Just keep in mind what I said about the routers

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