I just passed Networking Essentials with the new Adaptive Format.   First things first. I have read some brain dumps that said that when you respond to the questionnaire at the beginning, you can influence the test questions you will receive. Some people even suggested that if you are not familiar with a particular topic, simply answer "None" when the questionnaire asks you if you have any experience with it, and you will not be asked any questions on it. This is not true! I answered "None" to any Unix related questions, and I had 4 Unix questions!

Second. Here is the best brain dump for this test. XXX. Look it up in the Networking Essentials section. It is dated 11.18.98. XXX took the time to write down every question and every potential answer. I couldn't believe it, my test was a virtual copy of every question this guy had! Thanks to XXX for taking the time to write down all the questions. I would advise each of you to print it out, and figure out the answer to each question. Don't rely on the answers provided with other braindumps unless the author reports a really high score or else you will make the same mistakes the author made. Another good one was Squid also dated 11.18.98, although don't rely on his answers (he advises the same thing). He passed with a pretty respectable score, but since he didn't get 1000, you dont' know which questions have the correct answers. However, many of the questions are the same ones that I and XXX had.

Here is one question that I and XXX both had on our tests, and I STILL DON'T know the answer.  My logic was that reducing the packet size would increase the network traffic, therefore the requirement is not fulfilled. However, if you increase the TCP window size by a factor of 4, do you effectively reduce the number of ACK packets enough to make up for the smaller packets AND an additional 50%? I couldn't see that happening, so I chose D. However, I am not at all sure, so don't take my word for it.

I had not a single OSI model question and I shudder to think of all the time I spent studying it. At least knowledge is always a good thing.  

Here is the question I would like answered, and some others that I remember:

Network monitoring shows that network utilization has grown from 30 percent to 70 percent of maximum capacity in the past year. You will add 24 client computers and 1 server within 3 months. You want to reduce network utilization.

Required result:

You must reduce network utilization by 50 percent.

Optional desired results:

You want to allow for continued network growth.

You want to maintain the new network utilization levels even after the planned additions to the network are implemented.

You want to minimize costs for the project.

Proposed solution:

Change the maximum packet size on all of the computers from 1,514 bytes to 576 bytes. Replace all Category 3 UTP cable with Category 5 UTP cable. Increase TCP window size from 4,096 bytes to 16,384 bytes. Which results does the proposed solution produce?

A. The proposed solution produces the required result and produces all of the optional desired results.

B. The proposed solution produces the required result and produces only 2 of the optional desired results.

C. The proposed solution produces the required result but does not produce any of the optional desired results.

D. The proposed solution does not produce the required result.

Here is another question that I have often seen answered incorrectly in other brain dumps.

What upper level protocol is used for NetBios file services?

a]nwlink

b]tcp

d]decNet

e]ipx

f]spx

g]netBeui

h]smb

i]ncp

The answer is SMB, which I think is far too specific a question to be asking on this test, but everyone seems to get the question. I have been administering an NT network for years, and have only come across the protocol in technical journals, never in practice. SMB is a file sharing protocol designed to allow systems to transparently access files that reside on remote systems. It resides at the application layer so is the only one that qualifies as upper layer.

 I had the usual "Frame type was wrong IPX/SPX" question, the "transceiver was wrong" question, and the "Choose IPX/SPX question on the Windows95 networks".  In each of these questions, the question was exactly as described by XXX.  

Good luck.................BW
 rooster