CCNA Security without CCNA Routing/Switching?
balcobulls
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in CCNA & CCENT
I am going to be studying for CCENT and then pursuing CCNA. Do you believe it is necessary to pass CCNA Routing and Switching before moving into CCNA security? I do have a Net+, with this knowledge can I move towards CCNA security immediately?
Thank you for your time reading and answering!
Thank you for your time reading and answering!
Comments
CCNA: Security compliments CCNA:R&S like peanut butter to grape jelly. You can skip the ICND2, but there are definitely things you will see in ICND2 that will be reinforced and broadened in CCNA: Security.
Net+ is vendor neutral, and gives you the broad strokes. The CCNA: Security is not vendor neutral, so I don't think Net+ will be enough.
Disclaimer: I've read a Net+ book, but I haven't taken the Net+ exam... So, take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Currently studying: Red Hat Certified System Administrator > Red Hat Certified System Engineer > CISSP
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I like Koz's response;
he answered your Q with a Q :]
After thinking about it... he's right.
Why are you studying for the ccna?
Imo, it is reasonable to go CCENT - CCNA:sec....
But You will have big GAPS in terms of Routing Protocol fundamentals, Spanning tree, and such.
But if you only want to learn about firewalls, Acls, etc; it's not such a crazy idea.
What do you want to do?
With so little experience... i wouldnt spend energy chasing so many certs.
Land an entry job somewhere...
after 4-6 months, "embellish" on your resume "what" you did while you were there :]
Create a narrative of the "direction" you want to go.
Thats how the scam is played!
Of course,
whatever Narrative you create.... be sure to Read the books and LEARN the fundamentals! You still need to have the "book" smarts :]
but... if you still want to chase certs....
Go with the general CCNA first; i think it has more bang-for-the-buck.
go back later for the Sec.
Others have commented that a lot of the security content in CCNA Security is also covered in CCNP R+S.
Network+ is a good complement to CCNA/CCENT. It gives you a bit more of the flavour of networking, and the generalities and theory. It's good to have for its knowledge, but once you have a CCNA, it's not really adding anything to the resume (there's an argument that it should, but practically it doesn't).
CCNA Security isn't worth much on its own. But you have other relevant certifications - CEH and Security+ (like me,
What area of IT are you working in, have work experience in, or have an idea where you want to work in?
CCNA Security in its purest form supports "secured" functions for CCNA R+S. So, it is setting security to optimal parameters and setting up things like VPN. So it would work in that purest sense for a Network admin/engineer who needs to also do security to a higher level. It can also work in a more general Network Security/Defence role, which would work well with your CEH and Sec+.
If it's job prospects (any job) that are first in your mind, then get the CCNA R+S. If it's career development, it won't matter terribly if you get them both close together. Otherwise, be guided by what you are doing (especially if you can get an employer to pay for training or give you a raise post certification) and what you want to do (don't forget about this, you don't want to get stuck doing something you don't enjoy, even if the money is nice).
Thank you very much for this post. This is what I have been pondering and I will gain up to R/S, and then let the rest of my security prove I know something about securing things. Also, right now I am just looking to land a job so I can move my family back to where we call home. They have moved around with me way too much the last few years, its their time to settle down somewhere they enjoy. So any job that pays decent I will take and then go from there.
I am currently a data security analysis, so I get to pad my security experience each day I come to work, but when it comes to Cisco, I feel I really need to step up my game. IoT seems like a really fun place to pen test/secure one day, and it seems that Cisco has a strong foothold in all things IoT.
Once again, thank you very much for this post!
That is what I always believe certs can do for you. Why study and learn all of these things and not have something to prove you know it. Some people who have enough certs to overwrite half of War and Peace show me that they know crazy amounts of things. Plus, like you said, it increases your value.