Which Cert next!?

Maverick918

As always there are so many certs to go for. This begs the question. "Which one is going to benefit me most in the long run." I have so many options and its time I study up and take another one. I currently have A+ and Network+ with an Associates in Network Administration.

I'm a Systems Administrator so I was leaning more towards Security+ just because I have a lot of Servers to secure.

However 70-640 seems like a good choice too because our AD domain is terrible and I want to audit and re-organize.

I went for CCNA and was 100 shy of passing so I'm thinking of waiting for a bit on that one and going for another as I take time and watch a few video's to understand more on the concepts. And plus I work with Routers and Switches at work so getting the experience is going to benefit me in the understanding part.

I'm really interested in the Hacking/pentesting/security aspect of systems and really enjoy that part of it, but there is the question should I go for what I want to go for or what I should go for?

I'm torn, if you were in my shoes would you go for 70-640 or Security+ or bite the freakin bullet and bust out the CCNA?

Thoughts?

dave330i

I'd go for Security+ then CCNA. Security+ is an easy cert to get and it sounds like you'll have plenty of opportunity to practice for CCNA at work. 640 will suck a lot of time.

instant000

I'm really interested in the Hacking/pentesting/security aspect of systems and really enjoy that part of it, but there is the question should I go for what I want to go for or what I should go for?

You answered the question, as far as I'm concerned. If you're after hacking/pentesting/security, then you actually need everything you put up there, plus more.

You can't penetrate an OS, without understanding it a little bit.

Security+ and CCNA would be logical, to boost you up in your current job, plus in the future.

I'd recommend getting some level of OS competence, too.

Taking the Security+ and CCNA before tackling the AD test makes sense, as it'll be easier for you to understand what occurs there.

Maverick918

Thanks so much for the reply guys! I was planning on taking all 3 I just wasn't sure what I wanted to focus on at the moment. Like I said I really enjoy the security aspect so Security+ is what I will focus on for the time being then move on to the CCNA and then 70-640. There are so many certs to go for its tough to just choose one and stick with it.

After that the plan is to continue on track with MCITP or do more focused security certs like CEH. I'd really like to go for VCP but its so damn expensive, I'm getting experience with VMWare ESX at work as we have a lot VM's in our environment. So it wouldn't be totally foreign for me. But thats way in the future! See what I mean!

For now I'll focus on Security+

Thanks for the advice!