Hello.. CCNA or VCP 5?

mikejwhat

Hello everyone. I'm just trying to decide which of the above certs to go for and I could do with some help deciding; here are my thoughts.. Positives of doing ccna - I can probably get discount on the books and exam, I enjoy networking concepts and am pretty comfortable with concepts such as subnetting etc. negatives include concern for how long ipv4 will be valid for (probably a lot longer than I am anticipating) and it not being the most helpful cert for my current employment. Arguments for doing VCP are pretty obvious and I think I will be using VMware at work, however I am concerned about the difficulty and cost. Also if anyone can give me a difficulty rating (I am aware this is an unpopular concept on this forum) for each of these exams in comparison to 70-685 that would be great. Please go easy on me, this is my first post so apologies if I am not in sync with the forum etiquette. Thanks.

gorebrush

As these two exams cover vastly different technologies, I believe you must first ask yourself what it is you ultimately want to work with.

Though, if your employer is paying - VCP would be nice to do as you must attend the £3,000 course in order to get the certification, whereas the CCNA can be done by yourself for relatively small beans.

So, what technology do you want?

mikejwhat

Thanks for your response mate. Im equally interested in both topics really and im not looking to move jobs any time in the near future (sorry not v. helpful) Im more concerned with longevity of the certs, broadening the vendors in which I am educated and how realistic VCP is for me. Difficulty of each cert?

ajs1976

What is your background? What you already know can make one easier then the other.

I haven't taken either, but both are in my plans. Based on my experience and exposure to the topics, VCP would be easier for me then CCNA.

mikejwhat

I'm relatively new to IT... I've just left a service desk job to work in various schools as a technician. I am actually starting tomorrow. It sounds like its going to be a really good learning opportunity and it has been mentioned that I will be deploying Server 2012 and using virtualization with some training from my colleagues who seem to have good experience. I feel as if my network knowledge is close to good enough for this role already, although maybe I am being naïve. Is IPv4 likely to be around in 5-10 years?

N2IT

Sounds like you have little experience in either one. I would focus on the job first and then that should help guide your path.

gorebrush

N2IT wrote: »

Sounds like you have little experience in either one. I would focus on the job first and then that should help guide your path.

Yes, I would agree with this.

If your only service desk now - there is a ton of networking you could be learning

Also, with the current rate of adoption of IPv6... I'd imagine 5 years will only be the beginning of the mass migration to v6. I believe IPv6 itself was developed close to 20 years ago.

mikejwhat

Im not on a service desk anymore. You were right to recommend waiting to be guided by my job, it would have been silky to decide beforehand. Think im just gonna do 70-686.

mikejwhat

.......*silly

N2IT

Good luck with 686

Bring back a winner

tbgree00

I think the MS exam is 100% the right option for you. If you're in an MS shop knowing the ins and outs of administration will only help your job advancement and make you better in the field. If you have the option to work with Cisco and VMware both take some time to talk to the admins that run those, help them as much as your job will allow, and see which one lights your fire more. I love VMware so VCP is my natural suggestion but I realize that Cisco is an extremely valuable skill as well. My Cisco guy is on vacation this week and I really lamented his absence on Monday when a switch port went bad and nobody knew how to reset it.

mikejwhat

Thanks for the encouragement N2IT and great advice tbgree00. I'm starting to see the benefits of specialisation at work and I think sticking with Microsoft study for a bit longer is a good idea. I just started to worry about being biased towards one vendor but am starting to see it might not be a bad thing for a while. Are Microsoft and IPv4 safe for another 5-10 years in the enterprise environment do you think because these certs are alot of effort!! I guess there is no certainty with these things but I would certainly like to hear your thoughts?

tbgree00

Microsoft is safe for the foreseeable future in my opinion. I think 2008 R2 is seeing good adoption among small businesses and 2012 seems pretty amazing. I don't want to start a Microsoft/ unix war but I think that having Microsoft certs will open doors for you, even if it's a generation or two out of date. IPv4 is probably safe for awhile too. I don't know much about networking and the upcoming tech so I will let someone more qualified talk on that point.

If Server Admin or systems admin is a place you think you'd like to be getting the MCSA:2008/2012 is a great idea. Even if you are in a bigger corporation and get a chance to specialize the Server team will thank you when you're able to consider their needs with your switch/esxi host rollout.

Humbe

CCNA is becoming sort of a must have out there nowadays. If I'm you I would take the CCNA then you can move on to the VCP.

That's my 2 cents.

mikejwhat

thanks guys

Akaricloud

I know you've decided to stick with MS certs for now, but if you do come back to these in the future I'd definitely recommend the CCNA first. The VCP networking sections will be much easier to understand if you've sat the CCNA first.

I'm doing them in the opposite order and can clearly see that now.

TheNewITGuy

I'm a CCNA and working on VCP 5 - I think that it will be a nice combination and put me over the 80K mark in no time. It will also help that I'm doing data center integrations and engineering - I'd like to stay in the DC