Current studying for CCNA and What extra subject would be good to study along with it

Hello,
I am one of the newbie at this network world. And i have joined a CCNA class and i am kind of enjoying the course. At the moment i have some free time and i wanted to utilize and take another course that may go well with CCNA. Though i know getting knowledge in something requires passion and hard work and not just passing and getting certification. But it becomes easier to get good jobs with cert.
So i was looking for some advice. Somebody suggested to learn linux and learn red hat linux. I have visited the red hat site and saw their certifications but i am quite confused and it seems the certificates are targeted towards professionals who have some experience with server management.

Anyways, my target is knowing more about security, cloud and to be honest network in general as it fascinates me.

So, what do you guys suggest i should do besides doing CCNA at the moment?

PS. I do have decent knowledge about computers. And also have some beginners knowledge on how network works.

Looking forward to the response.

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Comments

capwap

CCNA Security wouldn't be a bad choice for simultaneous studying.

Ztech

Will i understand the concepts? In many places i have read they suggest that its better to take ccna security after doing some work and getting some hands on experience.

fuz1on

How about network security design/defense? NGFW? PAN, Dell, HP, Juniper...

thatguy67

Wireshark

Ztech

What about Linux? I mean i was interested in Linux? Also what are the prerequisite for getting any Red Hat certification. I dont have much idea about it but many people were saying its good.

fuz1on

Linux is always good! No pre-reqs for RHCSA but starting out with it can be tough. Look into Linux+ and the 3-in-1 as well.

AJAlabs

I would recommend looking into the CompTIA Network+ N10-006 course.
Get the official study guide and the CBT Nuggets. It's a great foundation to the world of networking.

linuxabuser

I wouldn't add anything else on. Instead, I'd dive deeper into networking.

Mooseboost

What I would do is study beyond what you are required to know for the CCNA - especially if you intend to move further down that track. Try to understand more than just basic concepts. As far as what certifications to get along with the CCNA - that all depends on what you want. You mentioned security, so maybe something like Security+ from CompTia. I wouldn't spread myself out too thin though. The CCNA contains a good bit of information for something who is new to networking and it can be easy to get burned out or loose focus.

RealUnited

CCNP, CCNA Security

mzx380

Props to you. I'm in the middle of studying for CCNA but don't think I would be able to study for something else at the same time so I won't be confused.

OctalDump

mzx380 wrote: »

Props to you. I'm in the middle of studying for CCNA but don't think I would be able to study for something else at the same time so I won't be confused.

I see this a lot, and it always seems a little strange. At high school, college etc, you do more than one subject at a time and somehow don't get confused.

I think it could be an issue if you are studying for similar certifications from two different vendors who use terminology differently, but in the main, I think it would be ok. If you study for two certifications from one vendor, likely they will be complementary. If you study two very different certifications, it would be like doing English and Science with little conflict, and some very general overlap.

For OP, the obvious choices are to do another Cisco CCNA in a different stream, although that means getting to CCENT first. Alternatively, doing something different like an MCP or Linux+ or Security+ could work nicely, too. The other suggestion for Wireshark seems like a good choice, too. It goes deeper into a related area of networking, but also serves as a good base for Net Sec.

bpenn

OctalDump wrote: »

I see this a lot, and it always seems a little strange. At high school, college etc, you do more than one subject at a time and somehow don't get confused.

I think it could be an issue if you are studying for similar certifications from two different vendors who use terminology differently, but in the main, I think it would be ok. If you study for two certifications from one vendor, likely they will be complementary. If you study two very different certifications, it would be like doing English and Science with little conflict, and some very general overlap.

For OP, the obvious choices are to do another Cisco CCNA in a different stream, although that means getting to CCENT first. Alternatively, doing something different like an MCP or Linux+ or Security+ could work nicely, too. The other suggestion for Wireshark seems like a good choice, too. It goes deeper into a related area of networking, but also serves as a good base for Net Sec.

Personally, I feel balancing two different subjects actually gives me some relief from focusing too hard on a particular subject. I have been learning Java for school but actually found I was learning more when I started diving into an IT management class. Maybe thats just me but I like learning different things at the same time.

As for OP question, are you getting lots of lab time in with the class? Is there a topic you are having difficuly understanding? I second the CCNA Security topics. It will help you with access control, .1X authentication, and other topics that may also be covered on the CCNA exam.

Tom789

These shiny certs do indeed look nice and there are so many of them, but in my opinion its better to tackle one topic at a time. Stick to CCNA, though Wireshark was a good suggestion.

gncsmith

Are there any books for the new CCNA Security track?