CCENT and CCNA

[shadow_man]

Hi,

I'm FINALLY making time to do my Cisco studies (promised myself I'd do this as my first IT cert years ago and ended up doing a bunch of other certs first).

I've got an old Cisco ASA 5505 lying around at home.

Would this be sufficient to study for the CCENT (physical hardware wise or would I need to use simulators)?

What would I need to add to this for CCNA purposes e.g. switches / equipment wise?

Thanks,
J

 

[stroebs]

Best is to get your hands on Cisco Packet Tracer. If you study Cisco through a Cisco Networking Academy, they'll give you a Netacad logon and you'll be able to download Cisco Packet Tracer and get all the labs online from them.

While Cisco Packet Tracer works quite well, I've noticed that with some of the technologies employed in the CCNA certification for practicals such as EIGRP don't always work 100%, but they're always working bugs out of course

 

[koeksGHT]

Best is to get your hands on Cisco Packet Tracer. If you study Cisco through a Cisco Networking Academy, they'll give you a Netacad logon and you'll be able to download Cisco Packet Tracer and get all the labs online from them.

While Cisco Packet Tracer works quite well, I've noticed that with some of the technologies employed in the CCNA certification for practicals such as EIGRP don't always work 100%, but they're always working bugs out of course

This, use software, no need for actual hardware these days

 

[Grep]

GNS3 + CBT Nuggets + examcollection.com and you are all set. Passed CCENT the other day, busy with ICND2 as we speak.

 

[shadow_man]

GNS3 + CBT Nuggets + examcollection.com and you are all set. Passed CCENT the other day, busy with ICND2 as we speak.

Thanks. I've got the CBT nuggets series and exam collection tests, I'll look at GNs3.

How long did ICND1 take? What kind of hours did you need to put in?

 

[syntax]

I dont think the ASA is going to help you much with your CCNA studies.

As has been mentioned, gns3 and packettracer will get you what you need

Oh, and yay on examcollection, just what we need, more brain dumped CCNA candidates who wonder why their certification gets them next to nothing.

 

[sburrell]

GNS3 + dynamips + a cisco IOS such as a layer3 switch will do you nicely. Packet tracer does not extend beyond rip and eigrp, you will need some background on ISIS and BGP to meet the needs of the exams.

I say a layer 3 switch, as you will be able to them as both a router and a switch, while only having your pc emulate one of the IOS's at a time, as they are extremely CPU intensive.

Just remember the current Nuggets were designed around the old exam structure, the new CCNA and CCNP exam structures came into affect two months ago.

 

[shadow_man]

I dont think the ASA is going to help you much with your CCNA studies.

As has been mentioned, gns3 and packettracer will get you what you need

Oh, and yay on examcollection, just what we need, more brain dumped CCNA candidates who wonder why their certification gets them next to nothing.

A) Not intending to brain dump, but to use as a means to practice test exams
B) Not deluded enough to think that braindumps qualify you to be a Cisco techies, that ****s hard and I have no wish to be a network tech. This is just more of an all rounder cert for me.

 

[staunchy20]

GNS3 + dynamips + a cisco IOS such as a layer3 switch will do you nicely. Packet tracer does not extend beyond rip and eigrp, you will need some background on ISIS and BGP to meet the needs of the exams.

Just remember the current Nuggets were designed around the old exam structure, the new CCNA and CCNP exam structures came into affect two months ago.

CBT Nuggets have released updated video's for the updated CCENT and CCNA exams back in July/August already...

I'm busy with INCD2 using W. Odom Official Cert Guide, Todd Lammle's ICND1/ICND2/CCNAX book along with GNS3. To earn a CCNA cert you must read and understand what you read and also most important a lot of labbing.

Cisco ASA won't help much with CCNA R&S studies as it is only based on routing & switching, for CCNA Sec you can you use the ASA as it introduce you to IPSec and SSL VPN, firewalling etc.

I got my CCENT based on the updated exams in September and started with ICND2 in Novemeber but after 1st 3 chapters of the ICND2 book I went back to ICND1 and reread the whole book to refresh my mind on some of the small things I forgot. I am set to write ICND2 on 24th January and I can tell you ICND2 is tougher than ICND1.

 

[Grep]

How long did ICND1 take? What kind of hours did you need to put in?

I put in all together about 300 to 400 hours to know the material well, its pointless just studying dumps and have no idea what you are learning. Just take your time and don't rush anything.

 

[Grep]

Oh, and yay on examcollection, just what we need, more brain dumped CCNA candidates who wonder why their certification gets them next to nothing.

You are 100% correct on that statement but I can't afford to lose R1500 everytime to get just under one or two wrong. The exams are extremely difficult and Cisco have made it that way to ensure its not just another MCSE gimmick. I feel if you have put in all the hours and have been dedicated a helping hand can't hurt.

 

[shadow_man]

I put in all together about 300 to 400 hours to know the material well, its pointless just studying dumps and have no idea what you are learning. Just take your time and don't rush anything.

Thanks. I'm not in a rush. I just wanted to know how much time to budget etc.

As you say CISCO don't make it easy for a reason and i'm aiming to know the material really well, before I even look at a dump.

 

[syntax]

You are 100% correct on that statement but I can't afford to lose R1500 everytime to get just under one or two wrong. The exams are extremely difficult and Cisco have made it that way to ensure its not just another MCSE gimmick. I feel if you have put in all the hours and have been dedicated a helping hand can't hurt.

Its not a helping hand, its cheating. If you cant pass the exam without dumping, then you shouldnt have the certification surely.

I guess it could be argued that cisco make the exam harder because of people dumping and there is probably a bit of truth in that, but still, no matter how you sugar coat it, using any kind of dump is cheating.

However, I think if you are going to read through a dump paper, then it could be used as a learning tool as well. If you dont just learn questions, but instead research the answers, understand what they are asking etc then at least you are learning something. However, if you went through the course ware properly in the first place, you wouldnt need to do it.

Lastly, I used the exams, from CCNA all the way through, as preparation for my LAB. If you really really go through the materials properly, you will see it covers 90% of the blueprint, with just a few extra topics that need to be covered. It then makes the Lab seem a little less insurmountable. I think the reason most people give up on their CCIE's is purely because they havent done their other certifications properly. So when they see the blueprint and the workload, it seems so huge a task, that they just give up.

Whether or not anyone here is going to pursue their qualification that far I dont know, but its something to think about.

 

[syntax]

Thanks. I'm not in a rush. I just wanted to know how much time to budget etc.

As you say CISCO don't make it easy for a reason and i'm aiming to know the material really well, before I even look at a dump.

It would be completely dependent on your current knowledge. Whilst the CCNA is a cisco exam, it contains only a small amount or proprietary items, so if you come from a decent network background you will need far less time for the exam.

When the new guys at work ask me how long it will take, if they are quite green, I tell them to take about 6 months of studying before attempting the exam, and budget on failing it once.

 

[shadow_man]

It would be completely dependent on your current knowledge. Whilst the CCNA is a cisco exam, it contains only a small amount or proprietary items, so if you come from a decent network background you will need far less time for the exam.

When the new guys at work ask me how long it will take, if they are quite green, I tell them to take about 6 months of studying before attempting the exam, and budget on failing it once.

Thanks. I come from a swiss army knife sys admin type background, but my networking skills are limited and need brushing up - hence making the time to try and do my CCNA.

Out of interest what Cisco cert do you hold?

 

[syntax]

Thanks. I come from a swiss army knife sys admin type background, but my networking skills are limited and need brushing up - hence making the time to try and do my CCNA.

Out of interest what Cisco cert do you hold?

The CCNA is so broad and includes a stack of stuff. Im kinda glad they splitting it into voice, security SP etc. Being technical sometimes drags the cert out, I found as I read, I got side tracked and ended up going beyond what the course material wanted. Not a bad thing, but it does take longer

From cisco I have quite a few

CCIE Securiy
CCNA Routing and Switching
CCNA Security
Cisco Borderless Networks Security Support Specialist
Cisco IronPort Certified Security Associate - Web
Cisco IronPort Certified Security Professional - Web
CCNP Security
CCNP


Currently studying for my CCIE R&S and my CCDP.

From there I think I am going to be done with Cisco certs and continue my JNCIE SP cert

 

[shadow_man]

The CCNA is so broad and includes a stack of stuff. Im kinda glad they splitting it into voice, security SP etc. Being technical sometimes drags the cert out, I found as I read, I got side tracked and ended up going beyond what the course material wanted. Not a bad thing, but it does take longer

From cisco I have quite a few

CCIE Securiy
CCNA Routing and Switching
CCNA Security
Cisco Borderless Networks Security Support Specialist
Cisco IronPort Certified Security Associate - Web
Cisco IronPort Certified Security Professional - Web
CCNP Security
CCNP


Currently studying for my CCIE R&S and my CCDP.

From there I think I am going to be done with Cisco certs and continue my JNCIE SP cert

Haha you must be ancient

Jokes aside, that's a pretty impressive list.

On the to do this list year is another Linux cert, a VMWare cert and a Cisco cert.

 

[koeksGHT]

hrmmm, CCNP here we go hopefully

Your CCNA Routing and Switching Cisco Certification will expire on 04/01/2014. (MM/DD/YY)

The demand for trained and qualified professionals continues to grow making your Cisco Certification more important than ever. Now is the time to recertify or move ahead to the next level of certification. If your certification expires, you will be required to repeat the entire certification exam process in order to regain your certification. Renewal requires certification holders to register and pass the appropriate certification exam(s) before the expiration date to meet the recertification requirements.

There are several recertification options. For information regarding recertification requirements visit the Cisco recertification website at www.cisco.com/go/recertification. For information on Cisco Certification exams such as how to register for an exam, visit www.cisco.com/go/certifications/exam. Please plan your recertification exam attempts in a timely manner to avoid decertification. Visit our Exam Policies website at www.cisco.com/go/exampolicy for more information about our exam retake policy and other pertinent exam information for recertification. For commonly asked questions about the Cisco Certification program, visit Certification Online Support at http://www.cisco.com/go/certsupport.

Best regards,

The Learning@Cisco Team

 

[syntax]

Haha you must be ancient

Jokes aside, that's a pretty impressive list.

On the to do this list year is another Linux cert, a VMWare cert and a Cisco cert.

I feel ancient if that counts?
Good luck with the certs and studying!

hrmmm, CCNP here we go hopefully

That is a good motivation to smash out the next few exams, I must actually look at the CCNA dump, because I remember the exam being horrific and something i never want to repeat again (it was a while ago though)

 

[eCliPSe]

Never want my certs to expire! Worked my tail off for them.

Think I will do my CISSP after my CCIE lab. Then R&S and DC.

CCeNT,CCNA,CCNA Voice,CCNA Design, CCNA Security, CCDP, CCNP, CCNP Security, CCIE SEC( Written Only Taking lab in May).