Cert Questions?

spud2005

I took the Cisco CCNA class I say 7 years ago, but never went to take the cert test. My question is, if I was starting to head into the cisco path again, could I take the ccna or do I have to take the ccent first in order to take the ccna. Does exam center allow you to jump a test?

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mikej412

There is the 640-802 CCNA exam option to earn the CCNA -- 1 exam, 1 CCNA Certification.

The single CCNA exam costs the same as the 2 exam option (ICND1 & ICND2). A lot of people now consider the 2 exam option so that they can pick up that extra new CCENT Certification and get that extra line for their resume.

You can actually take almost any Cisco Exam in any order. You could take the 4 current CCNP exams first, but you won't get the CCNP until you meet the CCNA prerequisite.

You can check out the Cisco Certification website for the current options -- CCNA - Career Certifications & Paths - Cisco Systems

spud2005

Mike do you recommend any books or preferably video teaching or labs? I have started on using boson NetSim 7 demo version. I find it helpful but some of the command line doesn't exactly work. I still have the old CCNA books back from 7 years ago. Hopefully, they are still good enough to pass the test.

miller811

spud2005 wrote: »

Mike do you recommend any books or preferably video teaching or labs? I have started on using boson NetSim 7 demo version. I find it helpful but some of the command line doesn't exactly work. I still have the old CCNA books back from 7 years ago. Hopefully, they are still good enough to pass the test.

You will need to buy new books, the exam has changed in the last 7 years

mikej412

There is a book section in the CCNA Forum FAQ - http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/6434-ccna-faq-please-read-before-posting.html

The links to the current most suggested books (Odom's CCNA Certification Library and Todd's Sybex 6th edition) are in the FAQ. Multiple sources are recommended and most people will suggest using both. If you have lots of Cisco experience you can probably get away with just the Sybex book.

You can also check out the Cisco Press CCNA page and see all the stuff that they would love to sell you.... I like the CCNA Quick Reference Sheets, the CCNA Portable Command Guide, and the CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack.

The full Boson should be enough to get by for the CCNA exam -- but I still like using real hardware for the CCENT/CCNA. If you stick to the labs that come with Boson you should miss most of the software bugs. If you try to lab up scenarios from the books you may waste some time finding the bugs. Not sure about that Cisco Press CCENT Lab Simulator. If you buy the CCENT version there's still no guarantee they'll hit their current delivery guess for the full CCNA product (and deliver the free upgrade to the current CCENT buyers).

CBT Nuggets and Trainsignal are popular CBTs (for "video people").

Yeah -- you'll definitely want updated books

abhustler

I would recommend the Cisco Press ICND1 and ICND2 book by Odem. The boson tests that come packaged with the book are exceptional. In my opinion if you can pass the odem exam (which include full working simulators) you will pass the actual test. For example I scored a 92% on the ICND2 boson test and scored a 903 on my real exam. Good Luck!

spud2005

Thanks, Abhustler. I just order the odom book from amazon.

captobvious

abhustler wrote: »

I would recommend the Cisco Press ICND1 and ICND2 book by Odem. The boson tests that come packaged with the book are exceptional. In my opinion if you can pass the odem exam (which include full working simulators) you will pass the actual test. For example I scored a 92% on the ICND2 boson test and scored a 903 on my real exam. Good Luck!

+1 on the Boson Exams

I think they are way harder than the actual tests. I was getting 80% on Boson and scored a 931 on ICND2 yesterday!