CCNA Vs MCP 70-270

Hello All

All it is, I'm stuck and don't know what to go for, I have recently passed my N+ about 2 weeks ago. But just can't decide which cert to do next "CCNA or MCP 70-270".

please could you tell me how many exams are needed for CCNA and pass mark, & also do you have to retake the CCNA every year?

best regards

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Comments

Spur

Hi!

You only need to take one exam for the CCNA. It is valid for three years.

pr3d4t0r

What happens if ccna expires ?

It consider to be invalid ?

And, lets say that,ok is invalid, what are the consequences ?

Kaminsky

They send the boys round .....

Not really but you need to resit certain exams which in turn re-validate all certs you have. Best to look on the cisco site for how it all works.

You don't need to resit every cert you have every 3 years although, MS would probably make you

Pash

redla wrote:

Hello All

All it is, I'm stuck and don't know what to go for, I have recently passed my N+ about 2 weeks ago. But just can't decide which cert to do next "CCNA or MCP 70-270".

please could you tell me how many exams are needed for CCNA and pass mark, & also do you have to retake the CCNA every year?

best regards

Gratz on the N+ pass mate.

The cisco track and ms track are two very different paths in IT my friend. However if you plan to work towards both a CCNA and a MCSE you will be dancing.

And + the 270 requires 2 weeks of revision, the CCNA can be 2/3 months of SOLID revision and hands on with lab equip or simulations. Of course this time varies based on experience, and you do have a N+ so the earlier subjects will fly into your head from the intro section.

Personally I have done all the mcse courses (exchange elective) and I plan to do the remaining 6 exams next year hopefully, however for me cisco is much more fun, simply becuase I love learning about the basic internetworking of corperate environments, however ms knowledge is also very valuable in the IT industry and people look at that all the time.

Btw you have two options to get a ccna:-

Single exam: 640-801

Double exams: 640-821 & 640-811

Which track to take is down to you I guess, have a read on the cisco website about the exam objectives etc. I highly reccommend the cisco press books and boson netsim (unless you can get some good deals on a decent lab setup).

Good luck chief.

hedhrts

pr3d4t0r wrote:

What happens if ccna expires ?

It consider to be invalid ?

And, lets say that,ok is invalid, what are the consequences ?

Relax, you've got 3 years to worry about it.

I doubt that I'll recertify. I just did it for my own peace of mind. I just found out that managers in my workplace that get certified get a salary bonus on a yearly basis. I'm not a manager and I don't. Doesn't that inspire one to want to learn.

pr3d4t0r

hedhrts wrote:

pr3d4t0r wrote:

What happens if ccna expires ?

It consider to be invalid ?

And, lets say that,ok is invalid, what are the consequences ?

Relax, you've got 3 years to worry about it. I doubt that I'll recertify. I just did it for my own peace of mind. I just found out that managers in my workplace that get certified get a salary bonus on a yearly basis. I'm not a manager and I don't. Doesn't that inspire one to want to learn.

mgeorge

Personally I Found the 270 easier then the CCNA lol... I guess it was just my experince with XP all those years while i was locked in the IT Closet lol...

You do have to recertify after 3 years with CCNA, but if you get your CCNA, you can wait 2 years or so and try to pass one of the CCNP exams, and it automatically recertifies your CCNA ^_^ Cool stuff eh? lol...

Spur

270 is _way_ easier than CCNA imo.. Studied hard for 5 months for the CCNA and passed with 900. The 270 I passed with 1000 after about 3 months of studying on and off.. Maybe a little luck with the score, but the stuff in this exam is very basic and easy to learn. But this of course is also depending on previous knowledge..

redla

Hello All

Thanks for all your comments, i think am going to have a go at the 70 - 270 and take it from there, got the ms press book today and will get sybex tomorrow hopefully.

best regards

Spur

Good luck!

Kaminsky

The big difference I can see in these exams is money and job opportunities.

The ms exam is the entry level to pc support work (with very high competition from students of the tv ad "earn 50k a year ads by training in computing") whilst the ccna is the entry level to networking.

I have been working in the it support industry for almost 15 years now and I have to be honest with you and say you are far better off with networking and it will earn you a lot more money in the long run. (unless you are already a millionaire and are only studying for something to do)

CCNA is so much more theoretical and in depth practical that after almost 15 years starting on helpdesk, pc support manager, Novel/ms server manager for an organisation of 8000 staff 5500+ actual users, I am studying ccna for more earning potential.

I've seen as low as £6 / hour (gbp) for a pc support job with 70-270 minimum. You get more than that at McDonalds AND you get a free lunch!

Sorry Redla, I don't mean to put a downer on your studies but if you are going to go for it you may as well go for it properly from the start. Your horizons will be much broader for it in the long run!

If it works out that ccna is way too much theory, start with the network+. security+, etc. Shoot for the big time! Why not?

Pash

Kaminsky wrote:

The big difference I can see in these exams is money and job opportunities.

The ms exam is the entry level to pc support work (with very high competition from students of the tv ad "earn 50k a year ads by training in computing") whilst the ccna is the entry level to networking.

I have been working in the it support industry for almost 15 years now and I have to be honest with you and say you are far better off with networking and it will earn you a lot more money in the long run. (unless you are already a millionaire and are only studying for something to do)

CCNA is so much more theoretical and in depth practical that after almost 15 years starting on helpdesk, pc support manager, Novel/ms server manager for an organisation of 8000 staff 5500+ actual users, I am studying ccna for more earning potential.

I've seen as low as £6 / hour (gbp) for a pc support job with 70-270 minimum. You get more than that at McDonalds AND you get a free lunch!

Sorry Redla, I don't mean to put a downer on your studies but if you are going to go for it you may as well go for it properly from the start. Your horizons will be much broader for it in the long run!

If it works out that ccna is way too much theory, start with the network+. security+, etc. Shoot for the big time! Why not?

Thats a very good point you make there Kaminsky. However, it should be said that experience is also a huge key factor in getting a job role, regardless of IT certs.

I mean I came from retail originally, spent 4 years doing that, got offered a promotion but i was so down and bored I decided to try a step into IT (I did A levels in IT subjects so I had an idea what would interest me).

So I did one of them complete learning courses in London for 2 years, and I think it will eventually pay off. However, its annoying when you see on the BBC news website that businesses are complaining that there are no certified young IT enthusiasts coming through 'the system'. And yet most of these new roles require experience of 1/2 years even for the starting jobs in most cases. You can understand its a pain.

So i think that you will make a good jump into networking straight away Kaminsky because of your experience. I just hope that the original poster understands that it will be best to pick what he finds most interesting and therefore can gain vast amounts of knowledge in quickly, which will get him ahead in IT from the begining.

Merry christmas!

[/rant] :P

MrD

In reality the only certs that matter are Cisco

Just messin...

Kaminsky

Pash wrote:

[/rant] :P

hehe

I do understand where your coming from Pash. I don't have anything against these courses at all. I'm getting quite philosophical in my old age and I personally believe the more people in I.T. in every field, the better for everyone in the long.

Take security for example. The more people understanding security the sooner we all have a more secure society. At the moment, it's like the wild west where anyone with a bit of knowledge of how certain things work, a desire to ignore the rules and the gumption to do it could cause all sorts of havoc for that society. Once more people got into law and order and started bringing in a more robust legal system and were backed up by society, eventually the wild west was tamed. (see, i said I'm getting old and philosophical)

My point was for Redla to decide what they would prefer to do in the long term of his/her career when you factor in the financial side of things rather than just certs regardless of the cert's level of difficulty.

I am personally very interested in cooking (I really am starting to get old) and I would love to work as a Chef but have you seen how much they get paid? It's criminal the amount of reward they get for the amount of effort they put in. It's the same with any job when you look at it and should be a factor to think about.

Pash

yeh thats a very fair point, i guess in a world of growth and capitalism you can't be what you wan't to be but more what you NEED to be to pay the bills. Sucks huh

emmajoyce

For Spur:
Great score. I didnt get near that. My question. You said it was easy, obviously. but did you have alot of experience with 98, 2000, and xp?? It seems to have had group policy, AD, and the like. Not really just an XP test. Alot of my questions seemed to have been leftovers from 290. Just curious anyway. thanks

pr3d4t0r

MrD wrote:

In reality the only certs that matter are Cisco

Just messin...

Serious Companies user *nix for their servers. M$ is good only for the end user, though try ubuntu linux and see the world with a different eye

Cisco certs indeed matter more than M$.

DW [banned]

Questions

Webmaster

DarbyWeaver wrote:

Look at the employment opportunities in your area.

My bet is it is easier to get a job with MS Certs than Cisco.

I agree. Especially if you don't have a lot of experience. An MCDST, MCSA, MCSE or even an MCP can get an entry-level job more easier than a CCNA with little experience. As a CCNP with no experience you may be able to get a CCNA level job, but an MCSA + CCNA with some experience will often be preferred.

And it's obviously not a bad thing to know the essentials of the most popular OS (server market, in revenue, as well), which is often networked using Cisco devices.

Cisco certs are more fun though imo and if you are determined it doesn't matter that much, as Darby said: "Do whatever works for you."

Spur

emmajoyce wrote:

For Spur:
Great score. I didnt get near that. My question. You said it was easy, obviously. but did you have alot of experience with 98, 2000, and xp?? It seems to have had group policy, AD, and the like. Not really just an XP test. Alot of my questions seemed to have been leftovers from 290. Just curious anyway. thanks

I had a lot of experience with XP before studying for the exam. Also firm experience from 98 and 2000. Group policies, RIS, IIS, AD parts etc. I didn't have that much experience with, but I got the fundamentials of this through my time in college. I also think that the Transcender practise exams helped me alot, and of course a bit of luck with the questions. A perfect score is never impossible to accomplish if you are 110% ready for the test