CCNA Virgin...

Danny_1983

Afternoon All

I am 4 weeks into CCNA 1 (or semister 1?) and so far so good. I have taken up the offer of my local university and am studying there 1 night a week and doing the course online. I decided to do this because of the amount of hardware they have available to us to 'play' with, and also the backup of a lecturer for any questions i may have.

One thing i would like clearing up, is after CCNA 1 or Semister 1 what qualification does that leave me with? I plan to do all 4 over time, but i have also noticed there is a CCENT. Is that after CCNA 1 and 2?

Also expect i shall be calling on you people here for advice and help throughout my course.

Cheers!
Danny

laidbackfreak

after each semester assuming you pass the end of semester test you get a certificate to show what you have done.
This isnt a "true" certification like CCENT or CCNA but more a record of your work.

After semester 2 (or before if your doing self study etc) you can go to a pearson vue exam center and take the CCENT part 1 exam this is an offical certification

same applies to semester 3 + 4 at the end you can take part 2 or you can skip CCENT and just take the combined exam

hth

Daniel333

Semester 1 and 2 should prepare you for CCENT.
Semester 3 and 4 should prepare you for your CCNA.

You wont wont to stop there, make sure you take on CCNA:Voice, CCNA:Security, CCNA:Wireless and CCDA after that. It's been my recent feeling there isn't work for a basic CCNA. But the specializations seem to help.

Danny_1983

Hi Guys

Thank you both for the feedback, they were the steps that i had suspected but after spending some years in MS Certification World can never be to sure.

I'm interested in the Security side of things so the CCNA Security may be the one after that, but lets not run before i can walk

thenjduke

Danny,
I am going down the same road as you. I been looking at community college myself.
Earl

tech-airman

Danny_1983 wrote: »

Afternoon All

I am 4 weeks into CCNA 1 (or semister 1?) and so far so good. I have taken up the offer of my local university and am studying there 1 night a week and doing the course online. I decided to do this because of the amount of hardware they have available to us to 'play' with, and also the backup of a lecturer for any questions i may have.

One thing i would like clearing up, is after CCNA 1 or Semister 1 what qualification does that leave me with? I plan to do all 4 over time, but i have also noticed there is a CCENT. Is that after CCNA 1 and 2?

Also expect i shall be calling on you people here for advice and help throughout my course.

Cheers!
Danny

Danny_1983,

Are you in the CCNA Exploration or CCNA Discovery curriculum?

Danny_1983

tech-airman wrote: »

Danny_1983,

Are you in the CCNA Exploration or CCNA Discovery curriculum?

Its CCNA Semister 1, the course online is called CCNA Exploration 4.0 Network Fundamentals. Does that mean any difference?

thenjduke - i would recommend it cant complain so far!

tech-airman

Danny_1983 wrote: »

Its CCNA Semister 1, the course online is called CCNA Exploration 4.0 Network Fundamentals. Does that mean any difference?

Danny_1983,

There's the answer to my question. Is your Cisco Networking Academy instructor nice enough to give you access to the CCNA Discovery - Networking for Home and Small Businesses - 4.0 course materials as well?

thenjduke

Danny_1983 wrote: »

Its CCNA Semister 1, the course online is called CCNA Exploration 4.0 Network Fundamentals. Does that mean any difference?

thenjduke - i would recommend it cant complain so far!

I went into the open house last night and to be honest with you the money I am going to pay for the course I can watch CBT Nuggets and do my own lab. The instructor does not even have a valid CCNA and that did not impress me. Then I was sitting there with other guys that are in second semester of class and did not even know what command prompt was. Sorry that was even less impressive.

Forsaken_GA

Makes me wonder how many of the paper CCNA's are turned out by the academy, and how many are turned out by the **** sites

thenjduke

I been in the field for 15 years and I know enough to setup switches and routers and let me tell you these guys really had no clue. I just glad I got my expierence.

Danny_1983

tech-airman wrote: »

Danny_1983,

There's the answer to my question. Is your Cisco Networking Academy instructor nice enough to give you access to the CCNA Discovery - Networking for Home and Small Businesses - 4.0 course materials as well?

Correct - That is the course i work from online from home and then once a week when in the class. I am able to access any of the chapters and labs from anywhere with a internet PC. When i want to use the real kit i just go into the lab when i am at Uni. I'm also given the Lab manual as a paperback, the Cisco Academy book's. There is also the ability to work in the lab remotly by accessing various pieces of kit using telnet etc.
The site is a offical Cisco registered site. They also do alot of Beta testing (hence the amount of kit they have - usually given to them as a thanks for doing the Beta).
All in all i would count myself fairly lucky incomparison to some of the other experiences above!

tech-airman

Danny_1983 wrote: »

Correct - That is the course i work from online from home and then once a week when in the class. I am able to access any of the chapters and labs from anywhere with a internet PC. When i want to use the real kit i just go into the lab when i am at Uni. I'm also given the Lab manual as a paperback, the Cisco Academy book's. There is also the ability to work in the lab remotly by accessing various pieces of kit using telnet etc.
The site is a offical Cisco registered site. They also do alot of Beta testing (hence the amount of kit they have - usually given to them as a thanks for doing the Beta).
All in all i would count myself fairly lucky incomparison to some of the other experiences above!

Danny_1983,

According to the Cisco Networking Academy data sheet for the CCNA Discovery curriculum it states....

CCNA Discovery Data Sheet wrote:

Industry Recognized Certification
The CCNA Discovery curriculum prepares students for two different Cisco certification
exams, CCENT® or CCNA®. After completing the Networking for Home and Small Businesses and Working at a Small-to-Medium Business or ISP courses, a student
can choose to complete the CCENT® certification (Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician) certification exam. CCENT certifies that students have developed the practical skills required for entry-level networking support positions.

Source: http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/downloads/pdf/CCNAdiscoveryDS.pdf

According to the Cisco Networking Academy data sheet for the CCNA Exploration curriculum it states...

CCNA Exploration Data Sheet wrote:

Industry Standard Certification
The CCNA Exploration curriculum prepares
students for the Cisco CCNA® network
associate certification exam. CCNA is the industry standard, foundational
certification for networking careers. Students
need to complete all four courses of CCNA Exploration to fully prepare for the CCNA exam.

Source: http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/downloads/pdf/CCNAdiscoveryDS.pdf

So if you want to prepare for the 640-822 ICND1 exam that will lead to CCENT certification, you should be studying the Networking for Home and Small Businesses course materials and the Working at a Small-to-Medium Business or ISP course materials from the CCNA Discovery curriculum.

Have my posts helped?

Danny_1983

tech-airman wrote: »

According to the Cisco Networking Academy data sheet for the CCNA Exploration curriculum it states...
Quote:
Originally Posted by CCNA Exploration Data Sheet
Industry Standard Certification
The CCNA Exploration curriculum prepares
students for the Cisco CCNA® network
associate certification exam. CCNA is the industry standard, foundational
certification for networking careers. Students
need to complete all four courses of CCNA Exploration to fully prepare for the CCNA exam.

That's the one that i am doing.

sandman748

Danny_1983 wrote: »

One thing i would like clearing up, is after CCNA 1 or Semister 1 what qualification does that leave me with? I plan to do all 4 over time, but i have also noticed there is a CCENT. Is that after CCNA 1 and 2?

I have just finished going through all 4 levels of CCNA exploration v4 through my community college and just completed the two exam route for the actual CCNA certificate.

Below are the contents of the CCENT exam blueprint and the level they are covered in during CCNA Exploration by my own account.

Describe the operation of data networks - Level1
Implement a small switched network - Level 3
Implement an IP addressing scheme and IP services to meet network requirements for a small branch office - Level 2
Implement a small routed network - Level 2
Explain and select the appropriate administrative tasks required for a WLAN - Level 3
Identify security threats to a network and describe general methods to mitigate those threats - Cant remember but I'm pretty sure its level 4
Implement and verify WAN links - Level 4

At the end of level 4 the curriculum has 2 sample CCENT and CCNA exams in the same format as the real thing that will allow you to guage what you're ready for.

And about the networking academy churning out paper CCNA's, I can assure you that the material provided by Cisco does a great job in providing the foundation for what we do in the workplace. I'm doing an internship and was immediately comfortable working with the equipment here. The networking academy was a great experience overall.