1 Exam, 2 Certifications?

I was talking to a guy the other day and he's a CCNP and was advising me on the Cisco path. He told me that if you took the 642-811 (Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks) right from the start without doing the typical CCNA exams (801, 811, or 821) you would be able to get CCNA and CCDA with just that one exam. I had never heard that before but he was adamant on that was the best route to take.

Can anyone confirm this or have any infomormation on it? This exam does fall under the requirements for CCNP and CCDP but I had never heard of being able to side step the path like that.

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Comments

wildfire

he is telling you Porky Pies!!

You need the CCNA and CCDA for CCDP, passing the switching exam will not negate the need for these two! otherwise we would all jump on the bandwagon!

Danman32

... and CCNP requires CCNA.

mikej412

RTmarc wrote:

I was talking to a guy the other day and he's a CCNP

10,000 stand-up comedians out of work..... that's probably why he became a CCNP

I'll stick with what the Cisco Certification Web Site says (unless it changes drastically, then I'll assume it was hacked):
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le37/le10/learning_certification_type_home.html

Nope.... no changes. Still 1 exam or the 2 exam option for the CCNA. And the one exam for the CCDA (and the recommendation of CCNA level knowledge, but not the CCNA).

Are you sure this guy is really a CCNP? I can think of all sorts of funny things you could ask him about how he got his certification. I hope he was just kidding or that you misunderstood him.

RTmarc

I don't think I was clear on what I was asking. He said that if you take the Routing and Switching exam it would give you CCNA and also CCDA if you passed.

I don't have any reason to doubt the guy. He was the lead network admin for a company I was interviewing with so I see no reason for him to lie about it but I could be wrong. He told me the same thing on two different occasions so I would assume if he made a mistake once he wouldn't have done so on the second occasion; that is unless he is completely wrong and doesn't realize it.

I've never heard of this being an option and thus my inquiry.

Webmaster

The requirements are very clearly listed on the Cisco site, the guy is making it up or indeed, as you said, is completely wrong and doesn't realize it. Maybe he mixed up certification and recertification, as the exams you mention can be used to recertify CCNA and CCDA/

He told me that if you took the 642-811 (Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks) right from the start

He said that if you take the Routing and Switching exam ...

now which is it? The 642-811 is not 'the Routing and Switching exam'. The 642-891 'composite' Routing and Switching exam is a combination of the BSCI and the BCMSN exam, which only applies to CCNP and CCDP. Just as the 642-811.

Either way, to become CCDA, you have to pass the CCDA exam. To become a CCNA, you have to pass the CCNA exam(s).

RTmarc

Webmaster wrote:

The requirements are very clearly listed on the Cisco site, the guy is making it up or indeed, as you said, is completely wrong and doesn't realize it. Maybe he mixed up certification and recertification, as the exams you mention can be used to recertify CCNA and CCDA/

He told me that if you took the 642-811 (Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks) right from the start

He said that if you take the Routing and Switching exam ...

now which is it? The 642-811 is not 'the Routing and Switching exam'. The 642-891 'composite' Routing and Switching exam is a combination of the BSCI and the BCMSN exam, which only applies to CCNP and CCDP. Just as the 642-811.

Either way, to become CCDA, you have to pass the CCDA exam. To become a CCNA, you have to pass the CCNA exam(s).

The one he stated was the switching exam. I was confused there for a minute. I thought he was wrong from the go but wanted to be sure. As I said before, I'd never heard of being able to do something like this; especially with the Cisco exams.

Webmaster

Well, it can get confusing quickly with all the Cisco exams and certifications, though I would expect a CCNP to know how it works. And it's not like it once was an option so if he tells you they changed it...