Review of Cisco CCNA certifications

Certification: Cisco CCNA - Cisco Certified Network Associate

Cisco certifications are known as the most prestigious certifications with most demand in the networking industry. Among a list of Cisco certifications, the highly ranked one and internationally demanded one is the Cisco CCNA certification. As there are three levels of Cisco certifications; entry, associate, and professional/expert level, the CCNA certification is an associate level certification. Cisco certified network associate (CCNA) is one of the most comprehensive certifications of IT networking. This certification is designed to test the candidate of the basic knowledge about networking concepts. Thus, candidates holding CCNA credential are assumed to be perfectly trained for the basic yet most important networking concepts. The exam/certification usually covers subjects like troubleshooting, configuration, operation, and Cisco product queries.

The importance of this certification can be recognized with the growing demand of it in the IT market. Most organizations that utilize Cisco products and services have had this certification a must requirement for several positions in the Industry. For a better raise, promotion and recognition in the industry candidates are required to attain this credential. As designed for testing the candidates the ability to design, operate, troubleshoot and configure it is important, if to pursue with the IT field to have this degree.

After successfully clearing this exam, the candidates have an open path with better opportunities in the international IT market. There are several secure job roles that candidates can sign up for with raised salary and other increments. Following are the much favored list of job roles for CCNA certified professionals:

- Network specialists

- Network engineers

- Security administrators

- Network administrators

- Routing and switching specialists

CCNA training allows candidates to have knowledge and skills regarding operation, installation, troubleshooting and configuration of branch networks ranging from small enterprise to medium networking. If successful, the candidates are trusted for their skills at being able to operate on Cisco based products and resolve the product based issues. Also, to build and operate on Cisco networks.

Covering a wide range of exams, it covers various topics, each validating skills required for Cisco network solutions. Following are some of these concepts covered and that are demanded of the candidates:

- Verification of VLANs

- Installation, operation, identification and troubleshooting of Cisco routers and switches

- Verification and configuration of ACL, OSPF, NAT, dynamic routing and static routing

- Identification, operation and recognition and IP data and network protocols

- Resolving network issues

- WAN technologies and its configuration, identification and verification

- Network security

- Selection of the right network devices

- Operation and identification of IPv6 and IPv4 scheme.

There are various fields associated with the CCNA certification. Being an associate level certification, it covers a wide range of network industry solutions. The different pathways available for the certification of CCNA are:

- CCNA wireless- Validates skill of cisco wireless products and services

- CCNA voice- Validates skill for CCNA voice services

- CCNA Data Center- Validates skill for Data center and branch networking

- CCNA Security- Validates skill for network security features

- CCNA Service provider functions- Validates skill for the services provided by Cisco security providers

- Service provider

- CCNA video- Validates skill for Cisco video network services

- CCNA Switching and routing- Covers the concepts of routing and switching

This CCNA certification is an open exam. There are no formal or designed prerequisites of the exam. However, it has been recommended that the candidate should have some experience of about 1-3 years in the network industry to better understand the concepts and requirements of a CCNA certified.

Required exams: As mentioned above, there are no pre requisites and exams for the CCNA certification. If you have no previous experience in the IT industry, you will be allowed to sit in the exam with an extra written exam to fully test your skills and concepts.

Required courses: There are no required courses for this exam. However, it is recommended to have lab training or practical experience of 1-3 years in the networking field. The recommended courses also include: Interconnection cisco networking devices part 1 and part 2.

Study materials: Cisco provides all the required study materials including the course outline and the topic details to the candidates. There are different ccna training options available including video training, books, practice tests etc. They also provide the E learning services and hand on lab practice sessions to the candidates. Other than Cisco, various platforms offer different course guidelines and comprehensive studies covering different topics of CCNA certification.