As you probably know the CCDA exam 640-863 will be replaced by the newer version 640-864. The problem is not that Cisco is changing them (this is actually a good thing) but the fact that are too less materials regarding new exam and a lot of contradictory information.
First of all the official Cisco guide: CCDA 640-864 Official Cert Guide, 4th Edition is not yet available. Ciscopress.com announce it to be available June 10, 2011. Despite the fact that you need more knowledge that this guide offer, it would be a good sense to enforce an exam after the documentation for that particular exam is available. It’s true that the CCDA 640-864 Official Cert Guide, Rough Cuts, 4th Edition exist already in electronic format (PDF) on Ciscopress.com. For those of you who are not familiar with Rough Cuts concept, here is a small explanation from Cisco Press:
The Rough Cuts service from Safari Books Online gives you exclusive access to an evolving manuscript that you can read online or download as a PDF and print. A Rough Cuts book is not fully edited or completely formatted, but you’ll get access to new versions as they are created.
Fine, but Rough Cuts, is are not the official guide. I don’t know about your preferences, but from time to time I prefer to read from a hard-copy book than from my monitor.
Now for some good news, even if these are full of contradictory information. According to https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccda/syllabus ,
it seems that the 640-863 availability has been prolonged until June 15, 2011 (was April 30, 2011):
Good news for those who plan to take the exam in near future. Bad news? Confusion!
This link: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccda/desgn sustain that nothing is changed:
Pretty confusing, isn’t it? Both are official Cisco links. In the meantime, there is a discussion about this topic on The Cisco Learning Network where few members confirmed that Cisco postponed the date for 640-863 for June 15, 2011. This would be a good thing, giving the conditions that I’ve explained above.
If there is an official statement (beside The Cisco Learning Network thread) I will add an update here.
UPDATE:
Yes, the correct EOL date for the 640-863 DESGN exam is June 15, 2011.
The correct EOL date for the 642-873 ARCH exam is June 16, 2011.
Hope this clarifies any confusion.
Regards,
Rigo
Cisco Learning Network Moderator
I’m just glad that this confusion has been solved and there is still time to take 640-863, before the official documentation for 640-864 is released.
