Cisco Certified Network Associate

PowerHouseDan

I am going into 2nd year of a Degree in Computer Networks in Aug, and part of the course is Cisco systems where i will be either Cisco Certified Network Associate or Cisco Certified Network Professional, now i heard its a great thing to have but its hard.. Its going to be though because i managed to Skip 1st year of the course. Are there any places on the net where i can get course work etc keep myself ontop etc before i start.

Stephen

It is a good qualification to have but the exams are quite hard. You need 85% (maybe 80, i'm quite sure its 85 though) to pass.
here's a good site: http://www.thebrightsparkshome.com/CCNAExamStack.aspx

it has a notification that the site is going to close shortly, so dunno how long it'll last.

CrazySka

It will be a good nit more work, especially if you do CCNP, I just did CCNA and am waiting to do my final exam (6th July), The online material they give at the start is quite good but very info heavy and sometimes doesnt make the distinction between the facts you really need and the rest.
There s loads of books from cisco including study guides available on amazon, at the moment i haveCCNA 3 and 4 companion guide( the two hardest sections) from cisco press, comes with a free cd with a test engine and some insructional videos.
There some good third party stuff out there as well, in preperation for the test im using testking(a bank of similar questions to what cisco has, still need to know your stuff though as the final has simulations as well as question) also semsim.com have some good stuff.

http://www.wrhs.net/messages_from_staff/greenciscostudyguides_v30.htm
link above has some free study guides, pretty good in combination with the curriculum.
Theres loads of videos available out there as well, but most youd pay through the nose for(€300-€600) but if you were so inclined you could prob find them elsewhere, not that id condone that.:)
Its a good course anyway, fairly interesting and the labs can be great.

edit: One thing to consider, the CCNA and CCNP both only last for three years, after that they need to be resitted, so if you ddo it next college year youll have to resit it a year after you finish.

PowerHouseDan

I think they put in into 2 years i not to sure being honest... The college has its own Cisco lab which looks class. I managed to find a few books on it so will have a look at that... The Couse is a Degree in Networking.

dingding

Which college are you going to.

Best of luck with the course.:)

PowerHouseDan

I am going over to Wales to do it.

theone

I'm doing it next week, did most of it during college aswell only found this forum a few days ago.

ccna forum

_CreeD_

Its a great course imho, but you do need hands on aswell. Using the college lab is a great benefit vs. Sims (I used Simulators as I have no access to the hardware, passed fine but am having trouble actually getting a job with it minus the hands on). Still regardless the knowledge it adds is great and the exam is thorough and logical (If you ever do a CompTIA exam you'll see why this is important), you'll have a great sense of achievement when you pass vs. thinking do you 'really' know anything afterwards as can happen with some other vendors' exams. If you have time I would recommend doing the CCSP "SNRS" (Securing Networks with Routers and Switches) exam as soon as you can afterwards. It uses the same models of Switches and Routers so you'll already be in a good mindset for it, and at the same time provides excellent information on securing the platforms you just studied. To me it was an extension of the CCNA more than a whole new topic.

Ps. www.techexams.net is well worth a look.

Digler

I just recertified, I would recommend having a look at Testking material also look at celticrover.com.

gline

how much is the ccna test to do??