I recently passed the ICND2 exam thus completing the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification.
I chose the two exam route since I am relatively new to networking and I wanted to be able to focus on each exam's topic separately.
It took about three months of preparation for the ICND1 exam and another six months for the ICND2 exam. This is a relatively long time, but I had other material I was working on and I wanted to make sure that I passed the exams.
As my goal is to obtain a position in IT security, a base knowledge of networking is required. The CCNA is a recognized certification that will give you a base knowledge in routing ,switching, TCP/IP and UDP. Be forewarned that it covers networking from a Cisco perspective, so the emphasis is on configuring Cisco devices and not networking in general.
A solid understanding of the OSI model, TCP/IP, and UDP is required for security professionals. Good sources for this material are Wireshark Network Analysis, NMAP Network Scanning, and TCP/IP Guide. All of these titles I plan on reading myself.
Below are the following resources that I used to prepare for the exam:
From Cisco Press :
CCNA 640-802 Official Cert Library
CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack
31 Days Before Your CCNA Exam
CCNA Portable Command Guide
CCNA 640-802 Network Simulator
Cisco Packet Tracer 5.3 (do a google search to find it and various labs)
CBT Nuggets CCNA
The Official Certification library and the CCNA Flash Cards titles come with practice tests from Boson. I found these tests to be actually harder than the actual exam. This combined with the 200+ labs that came with the Network Simulator should be more than enough to pass the exams. The other titles I used as insurance.
My advise for test takers is to read the books cover to cover and go through the practice material in the Appendices on the CDs. Also learn how to subnet very quickly. You should be able to subnet in 20 seconds or less. Many of the problems on the exam require subnetting, even those that aren't specific to subnetting. Keep doing the Boson exams until you can pass them consistently. Finally, make sure you spend a significant amount of time doing labs. Whether you build a physical lab or use the simulators. There are questions that aren't simulator questions but ask you about various IOS commands. So make sure you're familiar with them.
I chose the two exam route since I am relatively new to networking and I wanted to be able to focus on each exam's topic separately.
It took about three months of preparation for the ICND1 exam and another six months for the ICND2 exam. This is a relatively long time, but I had other material I was working on and I wanted to make sure that I passed the exams.
As my goal is to obtain a position in IT security, a base knowledge of networking is required. The CCNA is a recognized certification that will give you a base knowledge in routing ,switching, TCP/IP and UDP. Be forewarned that it covers networking from a Cisco perspective, so the emphasis is on configuring Cisco devices and not networking in general.
A solid understanding of the OSI model, TCP/IP, and UDP is required for security professionals. Good sources for this material are Wireshark Network Analysis, NMAP Network Scanning, and TCP/IP Guide. All of these titles I plan on reading myself.
Below are the following resources that I used to prepare for the exam:
From Cisco Press :
CCNA 640-802 Official Cert Library
CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack
31 Days Before Your CCNA Exam
CCNA Portable Command Guide
CCNA 640-802 Network Simulator
Cisco Packet Tracer 5.3 (do a google search to find it and various labs)
CBT Nuggets CCNA
The Official Certification library and the CCNA Flash Cards titles come with practice tests from Boson. I found these tests to be actually harder than the actual exam. This combined with the 200+ labs that came with the Network Simulator should be more than enough to pass the exams. The other titles I used as insurance.
My advise for test takers is to read the books cover to cover and go through the practice material in the Appendices on the CDs. Also learn how to subnet very quickly. You should be able to subnet in 20 seconds or less. Many of the problems on the exam require subnetting, even those that aren't specific to subnetting. Keep doing the Boson exams until you can pass them consistently. Finally, make sure you spend a significant amount of time doing labs. Whether you build a physical lab or use the simulators. There are questions that aren't simulator questions but ask you about various IOS commands. So make sure you're familiar with them.
