I passed the Cisco 640-911 exam today on my second attempt. I failed the first attempt with an 809/1000 – passing was 818. I’ve failed other exams by razor-thin margins before, like the VCAP4-DCA and VCP5-DT exams by 2%, but this is the first time I’ve ever failed by less than 1%.

The 911 exam is the first of two exams required for the CCNA Data Center certification and is roughly analagous to the ICND1 exam for the CCNA exam. However, unlike the regular CCNA, you don’t have multiple options for taking the exam. You can take the ICND1 and ICND2, or the CCNA exam for your CCNA. There is no option for the CCNA Data Center, you must sit both the 911 and 916 exams.

I was a bit disappointed by some of the questions. Nexus is supposed to be a next-generation platform, yet I was tested on legacy tech that isn’t at all relevant to the Nexus or even any modern data center. I added some fairly blunt comments during the exam and I hope the questions that I flagged are considered for removal.

I used Todd Lammle’s CCNA Data Center study guide for this exam. If you take the time to work through the entire book, work all of the examples and practices questions, you will pass the exam. I was a bit overconfident the first time, assuming I could easily pass this exam by simply skimming the material – it brought me close, but not close enough. The second time I made sure to slowly go through the entire book, and it paid off with a pass, and I even got a 100% on some of the exam sections!