Hands on Cisco experience before CCNA

Grynder

I am looking into taking the CCNA exam sometime soon. But I have never worked with any Cisco products. All my networking experience is in MS and Linux (usually mixed environments). Is it possible to pass the exam without this experience?
Also I have been doing some research on practice lab setups for the exam, but there does not seem to be a concencuse of what products to use. If somebody could point me to a list that shows the bare minimum equipment needed, plus some extras that are nice to have, to practice for the the CCNA certification.

Thanks

mwgood

Yes - it is possible to pass without much hands on experience.

But - the more hands on - the better off you are.

borumas

I guess if you have a great photographic memory you might get away without hands on experience, otherwise buy 3 routers or get a sim so get some hands on experience. I've been working with cisco switches and core switches for 3 years and have yet to pass the ICND exam, it's a tough test.

Daniel333

Grynder,

Well, once you start studying for you CCNA you will gain a lot of hands on exerience. Just don't skip the labs. So you will find youself having to buy a few used routers/switches on ebay. Most employeers don't look at CCNA as "this guy has Cisco experience" they look at it as "this guy is ready for an entry level network technician".

In spite of Cisco's recent efforts to create the opposite, it's still just a VERY entry level cert, that should only take someone with NO background in IP/Networking about 6 months to earn. The CCNP (or higher) is really what they are looking for.

As far as what do you need to train yourself and get the cert? Depends on if you want to go hardware or sim. I say hardware, pick yourself up a couple 2600 routers and 2950 switches. Don't worry about the cost so much, because when you are done you'll need them for your CCNP, or you can just sell them back on ebay.

Of course for books, the learning process was much smoother with the Cisco books and LearnKey vidoes. But the Sybex book did a much better job preparing me for the test itself.

Best of luck,

Grynder

Thanks everybody. I should have used 'work experience' instead of 'hands on'. I plan on getting the hardware to go through the labs.
If I understand correctly, the CCNA can be done without any actual Cisco work experience. That is the answer I was looking for.