CCNA Security, here we go

GOZCU

I am feeling myself a certificate eater in these days, As some of you know that I have been working for 2 months for an IT company where I love and feel like it is my own company. Mostly i have to deal with vpn(ipsec,l2tp..) IDS logs examining and firewall configuration. I love what i am doing and i learnt most of the things on the job training.

I don't have a security related certificate and I want to have a solid fundamental knowledge for this area. At least , when i work for a bigger cooperation at the feature, i should be able to communicate easily with the security team .

Due to this, I have decided to gain a CCNA Security certificate.

I will start tomorrow

And will schedule the exam for September....

Any suggestions, books or tips will be appreciated



Ah ah, you know what, my only dream is to live in Norway in a sweet cottage with my 2cats and a dog... I should study a lott...

hiddenknight821

Welcome aboard on the CCNA Security journey. I'm done with studying, and now I'm reviewing before I take the exam hopefully by the end of week. I'm waiting for the voucher to book the exam.

So far, I use GNS3, Paquet Cisco Press book, and Boson ExSim Max. By the way, I'm studying for the 640-553, which expires at the end of September, and to be honest, I don't feel like I am learning a lot from it compares to my CCNA study. No wonder why many here have claimed that this exam is easier than the CCNA.

I think I would learn more from the newer version (640-554) since it has ASA included in the objectives. After you are done with the CCNA Security, you should move to the CCNP level, which will probably serve you better for your daily job activities. You will not learn L2TP VPN in the 640-553 but only IPSec (IKE) Site-to-Site and SSL VPN. I can guarantee you that.

GOZCU

is your suggestion is to go for the new version? l2tp is also not available at the new version (at least what the blue print says about it). i will look more, and i may go with the new version too, why not

let us know the result and observations when you take the exam. And, good luck ^^

hiddenknight821

Unlike this someone who's pressed against time to get this cert as part of a degree requirement, you should go for the newer one and take your time to learn the information. Especially, when you're working in the security field. Who wants an engineer with an obsolete knowledge?

The only reasons some are still after the old certs are:
- They need to recertify quickly to renew all of their CCNA-level certs
- They don't currently have enough resources for the newer exam at their disposal and are in a hurry to get it but the cert really has nothing to do with their jobs. (This is where I and many amateurs belong)

UPDATE: The newer version will prepare you for the CCNP Security better than the current one since it has the ASA materials.

spd3432

hiddenknight,

I fell into your second category. Didn't really need it for my current position, but I'm a contractor for DoD. CCNA:S neatly dropped into fulfilling 3 years of CE requirement for Sec+ which is required and I was able to do everything I needed with my current lab and didn't have to buy anything new(er) or rent rack time to lab.

GOZCU

I think you are right about taking the newer version. SDM is out of date and the newer version for sure will be better for the preparation if i decide to go for ccnp. thanks for the tips