CCNA Security without CCNA Routing/Switching?

balcobulls

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!

hannism

As someone who has taken ICND1, ICND2 and the 640-554 (retired CCNA Security), I would say go for the CCNA:R&S before going on CCNA:Security.

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.

stryder144

Almost every post on this subject recommends getting the full CCNA R&S first. The reasoning, which seems pretty solid to me, is that you need to understand all of the underlying technologies that are tested on in the CCNA R&S before you can effectively protect them. While I don't think anyone would fault you for skipping the ICDN2 exam and heading straight to SEC, I think that skipping it would make you a potentially less capable technician. Not to mention, you may find that the knowledge you gain from studying for and attaining R&S may help you secure a job faster. Personally, I want my knowledge base to be as deep as possible, so that is why I am pursuing the CCNA R&S before the Security exam (not to mention, that is what WGU requires as part of their degree program).

koz24

The CCNA Security is a weak cert on it's own. I see you already have Security+ and CEH though. What are your plans? Are you trying to get as many security certs as possible than apply for Security Engineer or are you looking down the Network Engineer path? If it's the latter it's best to do R&S first.

volfkhat

koz24 wrote: »

The CCNA Security is a weak cert on it's own. I see you already have Security+ and CEH though. What are your plans? Are you trying to get as many security certs as possible than apply for Security Engineer or are you looking down the Network Engineer path? If it's the latter it's best to do R&S first.

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.

balcobulls

The reason I am going for this cert is I am planning on moving to another location. I only have approximately 6 months of actual IT work experience. So even with the certs behind me, it seems like once I start applying for jobs, my experience will be my largest hindrance. The more I widen my scope of knowledge proven by certs (because I surely don't have it with work experience) the better the chance for interviews. Now I could be completely off my rocker with this logic, however, those are my thoughts.

volfkhat

What do you do right now?

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.

OctalDump

I did this. However, and this is a pretty big however, I have actually done all the study for ICDN2, I just haven't got around to doing the exam

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, ) - so it might not be a huge deal for you. Certainly knowing the CCNA R+S content before doing the CCNA Sec isn't going to hurt you, and depending on where you are careerwise might be a better idea to get CCNA R+S before CCNA Sec.

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).

TallDude7

CCNA R/S still has a lot of weight in IT. a lot of people can't grasp subnetting and run from it. it will definitely increase your value in the job market.

balcobulls

OctalDump wrote: »

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, ) - so it might not be a huge deal for you. Certainly knowing the CCNA R+S content before doing the CCNA Sec isn't going to hurt you, and depending on where you are careerwise might be a better idea to get CCNA R+S before CCNA Sec.

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!

balcobulls

TallDude7 wrote: »

CCNA R/S still has a lot of weight in IT. a lot of people can't grasp subnetting and run from it. it will definitely increase your value in the job market.

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.

RealUnited

You just need CCENT to do either CCNA R&S or CCNA Security.

Archon

I passed the CCENT exam about 2.5 years ago and also sat the CCNA course. I ran out of time to sit the CCNA exam before it changed. I never really had an interest in CCNA R&S but was only studying it due to my job at the time. Since then i have moved more into security which is great with the change by Cisco allowing me to sit the CCNA Security exam without having to pass the CCNA R&S first. With my CCENT due to expire mid next year it has got me more motivated to actually pass a CCNA exam. There are more interesting courses/exams for me to take but determined to pass this finally.