Anyone doing or done their CCNA? Just curious, how hard the tests are, any tips? Im hoping to knock it over this year.

CCNA has become pretty broad now days. I'm going to smash out the test end of this year doing a bit of study on it and some more hands on with routers before I sit the test. Get a few books to study best one for you would probably be one of those "CCNA for dummies".
There are a few online companies that give you a training package so if you can get the backing from work you can do it online in your own time and then get a discount when you sit the final exam. They even offer a few practice tests as well.

Hey mate,

I'm pretty sure freeney has done the CCNA. He did most of the microsoft courses in his own time whilst working full time with out too much trouble...

haha if he can do it then im sure i'll be right! Might hit him up see if hes got any info he can chuck up!
Cheers

I had a full copy of CCNA training packages for semester 1 to 4 with a heap of practice tests and stuff as well. Ill dig out one of my hard drives to see if its still on there.

Why not just look at the exam components?

• Describe how a network works
• Configure, verify and troubleshoot a switch with VLANs and interswitch communications
• Implement an IP addressing scheme and IP Services to meet network requirements in a medium-size Enterprise branch office network
• Configure, verify, and troubleshoot basic router operation and routing on Cisco devices
• Explain and select the appropriate administrative tasks required for a WLAN
• Implement, verify, and troubleshoot NAT and ACLs in a medium-size Enterprise branch office network
• Implement and verify WAN links

If you can do all that, it shouldn't be too hard

It's been a little while since I did mine and the curriculum was revised to include IPv6, WLAN and some security stuff but you should be right - if I can pass, you can pass right?

thanks jimmy, but not all of us phtographic memories like you mate!
What do you think is the best way to practice? setup real lab or use programs??

Blacky wrote:What do you think is the best way to practice? setup real lab or use programs??

I'm using a program called GNS3 for my study at the moment.

GNS3 is a GUI front end to a program called Dynagen which is a cli front end for a program called Dynamips which is a Cisco virtual machine. Unlike the "network simulators" from companies like Boson, Dynamips creates virtual instances of routers using a real IOS. So they are real routers in the same sense a windows virtual machine is real.

It currently supports 1700's, 2600's, 3600's, 3700's and 7200's so it's all old hardware but you don't need new stuff for the fundamentals. The down side is that it's a little unstable. I've had the best luck with 7200 series - got 9 working at the same time on one of my machines (Core 2 Duo 2.93GHz, 4GB RAM) for my BGP/MPLS labs.

You can also bind interfaces to your physical computer to integrate with other gear you may have.

The downside obviously is that you need a real IOS, but I hear you've got a bunch of 2600XM's around?

I'm sure you know guys that can hook you up if you get desperate.

Labs are good but expensive. I think i've spent over $4k on lab equipment, textbooks and exams since I started down this path. Cisco is easy to get lab stuff for, but Juniper is a real bastard.

Cisco exams have undergone a real makeover in the last 12mths and there are now multiple CCNA certifications, the original is routing and switching based, there is now a CCNA - Voice and a CCNA - security. i believe the original CCNA is a pre req for any of the others.

To achieve your CCNA you can do it via a single exam or in two exams ( intro & ICND), i found the best way to get past the exam was to buy the Cisco press CCNA exam preparation guide, which came with a lab and question CD. I also had access to some routers and switches at work, so built a small lab just to confirm a couple of things, like the NAT configs and ACL's.

CCNA is now considered a bit of a pre req for most IT support jobs and is certainly worth having if your going into IT. The larger companies are now getting stuck into MPLS and some are building their own MPLS networks as opposed to leveraging off ISP's, mainly due to the added security features. So having a CCIP is now very marketable. if anyone is in the network space and is looking for opportunities let me know.

Fdog wrote:the original is routing and switching based, there is now a CCNA - Voice and a CCNA - security

There's also a CCNA Wireless.

Fdog wrote:To achieve your CCNA you can do it via a single exam or in two exams ( intro & ICND)

The CCNA has been comprised of the ICND 1 (CCENT) and the ICND 2 since the CCNA was revised two years ago.