exactly what is Juniper?

Studying for CCENT then CCNA, what is Juniper? Is there an entry level test? Is it relevant after someone has obtained CCNA?

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Slowhand

Juniper is, for all intents and purposes, Cisco's rival in the market. Or, at least, one of them. They manufacture their own routers, firewalls, and even a line of switches, as well as a whole range of specialty network appliances. They do have a certification track just like Cisco does on their own products. While a lot of things overlap, such as TCP/IP concepts, open routing protocols, etc., Juniper's certifications focus on their own products only, just the same way Cisco does, just like Microsoft does, and so forth. Juniper has their own hardware, their own software, (JUNOS), and a lot of their own best-practices and ways of doing things.

Learning about more than one product is a great way to round out your knowledge and give yourself an edge when applying for work. Keep in mind, though, that it can be tough to learn and retain the knowledge needed for just the CCNA, and mixing in the topics covered by the Juniper counterpart, JNCIA, makes things even more confusing. (Also, Juniper has several versions of the JNCIA, for each router platform they make; not just one, like Cisco has, that adds specializations.) Just something to keep in mind: either try to balance it all at once, or become a pro or expert-level with Cisco first, then take on Juniper. . . or vice-versa.

zoidberg

There's currently many Juniper certifications paths. Service Provider, Enterprise, Firewalls, Switches, Enhanced Services, etc, etc, etc.

See here: http://www.juniper.net/training/certification/

JNCIA - Associate, Entry Level Written exam at Prometric
JNCIS - Specialist, Written exam at Prometric
JNCIP - Professional, 8hr Lab exam at a Juniper office
JNCIE - Expert, 8hr Lab exam at a Juniper office

I would say it's relevant if you work on, or plan to work on, Juniper routers, switches, firewalls, ERXs, etc. There will be knowledge gaps between the CCNA and JNCIA exams. Depending on your path, those gaps could be huge. That's where networking background, learning goals, and career goals can help you decide if learning Juniper at this stage is right for you.

Personally, I have found the Juniper track very gratifying. The books they have published are excellent and refreshing change from some of the Cisco Press titles I've gone thru. You can learn a lot about networking and protocols with those books. If you don't have access to play on their equipment though, grasping the configurations steps will be harder. JUNOS is to IOS as a couch is to a bird. Completely different. JUNOSe is very much like IOS however, but unless you work for an ISP, odds are you won't have many chances to play on an ERX.

darkerosxx

mjones wrote:

Studying for CCENT then CCNA, what is Juniper? Is there an entry level test? Is it relevant after someone has obtained CCNA?

Currently, JNCIA is much MUCH easier than the CCNA. If you get your CCNA, you'll need to study the JNCIA materials, but it'll be a breeze.

Aldur

darkerosxx wrote:

mjones wrote:

Studying for CCENT then CCNA, what is Juniper? Is there an entry level test? Is it relevant after someone has obtained CCNA?

Currently, JNCIA is much MUCH easier than the CCNA. If you get your CCNA, you'll need to study the JNCIA materials, but it'll be a breeze.

Have you taken any JNCIA's darkerosxx? I haven't taken the CCNA so I don't know the difficulty comparsion, although I do plan on taking it I am curious on the relative challenge difference.

darkerosxx

I haven't taken the JNCIA. All the people I know taking it are saying it's a breeze compared to the CCNA and that if you want JNCIA, to take it now while it's still easy.

Since I haven't taken it, I can't comment, but what I'm hearing is the difference is labs being on CCNA and the questions being much harder and intricate.

Aldur

Do you know which specific JNCIA they took. I've taken a few JNCIA's and found the JNCIA-SSL to be easy but the JNCIA-M was definitely more challenging. Without a doubt its definitely worth having both cisco and juniper certs, those two seem to be the two main players in the networking arena with Juniper having a slight lead in the SP market.

cblm123

I have taken the JNCIA-ER and it was a pretty straightforward multiple choice exam with no simulations.

I was able to pass using the Juniper "Fasttrack" study material and was able to pass the exam with an 81 after a month or so of studying.

I almost forgot to mention that I have over 10 years of Cisco experience...I have limited exposure to Juniper, but I look forward to growing my JUNOS skills!