Unsure what to do here

Hello
I am a bit unsure on what to do

My CCNA expired in September 2016. Ive already been studying to do the CCNP - Switch Exam, but so far just done most of CBT Nugget videos
Next I will read the official ccnp-switch book and do labs

Now my dilemma is i just landed a great new job which is more desktop support and focuses on stuff like SCCM, citrix, virtualizing applications and deployment
It is not really any network involvement in this team I am in

I still want to refresh my CCNA for another 3 years as I do not want it to expire...

But I am worried if I study CCNP-Switch which is unrelated to my job position, that I will loose valuable key time to look at and concentrate on things they use that I have limited and/or have no exposure to, to show them good performance by myself

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joetest

just redo the CCNA and be done with it?

Mike-Mike

or take another CCNA, like CCNA Security or Wireless

Drekko

Mike-Mike wrote: »

or take another CCNA, like CCNA Security or Wireless

Yes but for me to do one of these over CCNP - Switch exam ( remember you only need to do 1 of the 3 CCNP exams to regain your CCNA cert validation)

CCNA Wireless or Security would have to be easier and faster to complete compared to the single CCNP - Switch study and exam

Is this the case?

Dollarhyde

Drekko wrote: »

Yes but for me to do one of these over CCNP - Switch exam ( remember you only need to do 1 of the 3 CCNP exams to regain your CCNA cert validation)

CCNA Wireless or Security would have to be easier and faster to complete compared to the single CCNP - Switch study and exam

Is this the case?

You could do another CCNA. Do not underestimate Cisco certs, they can be hard. If you are fresh from CCNA R&S, I would probably recommend going for your CCNP, as there is not much more "new" material. It is mostly expanding on what you already know, a lot of expansion, on already known technologies. If you go different route, it might be easier, but you have to learn something that you were not familiar before. Security used to be very easy, but they changed the exam, so it is a bit harder.

You just have to see whether you are going to learn many different technologies on easier level or go deeper and get your np.

Drekko

Dollarhyde wrote: »

You could do another CCNA. Do not underestimate Cisco certs, they can be hard. If you are fresh from CCNA R&S, I would probably recommend going for your CCNP, as there is not much more "new" material. It is mostly expanding on what you already know, a lot of expansion, on already known technologies. If you go different route, it might be easier, but you have to learn something that you were not familiar before. Security used to be very easy, but they changed the exam, so it is a bit harder.

You just have to see whether you are going to learn many different technologies on easier level or go deeper and get your np.

Well at the moment I have a good job and do not intend to leave and its more desktop stuff so no networking stuff so I do not going deeper at the moment
My main concern is not letting it expire
I pass my CCNA R&S 2 years ago so its not fresh in my mind

Do you know anything about the wireless exam? Difficulty and length of study content?

danny069

It seems deep down inside you want to do the CCNP, then you should go for it. I'm going to do my CCNA, CCNP R&S, then CCNP Security. It's not job related, but I want to have it for my own personal satisfaction and to make myself more marketable. I'm doing the CCNA modules at my University using Cisco netacad. One day you're doing desktop and perhaps the next you're doing networking.

Dollarhyde

Drekko wrote: »

Well at the moment I have a good job and do not intend to leave and its more desktop stuff so no networking stuff so I do not going deeper at the moment
My main concern is not letting it expire
I pass my CCNA R&S 2 years ago so its not fresh in my mind

Do you know anything about the wireless exam? Difficulty and length of study content?

Well in my opinion Wireless is not one of the best and most known Cisco certs, therefore it is probably not as marketable. That is not their bread and butter, therefore it should not be as hard, but some questions might be just odd, as their main focus is not wireless at the moment. You might not be able to find as valuable resources that will help you study for it, they might be enough for the exam, but I am just unsure about them. That is just my opinion, always double check.

I like security, and I would go for that one, but it might not be as easy as you might think.

I would say try to look more into CCDA, that exam is just high overview of design, nothing extremely hard IMO. That probably might be the easiest way to go.

Drekko

Cheers mate, have you actually done ccda?

Dollarhyde

I did not personally, but my colleague did and he said it was very easy. I trust him on that, after I finish CCNP, I will probably go for CCDA to see how it is.

Drekko

Dollarhyde wrote: »

I did not personally, but my colleague did and he said it was very easy. I trust him on that, after I finish CCNP, I will probably go for CCDA to see how it is.

Well I hope your colleague is not some genius that would find CCNP easy then haha

Also wouldnt you rather do CCDP if you get CCNP certified?

THanks I am researching and getting some study materials now on it!

Drekko

Dollarhyde wrote: »

I would say try to look more into CCDA, that exam is just high overview of design, nothing extremely hard IMO. That probably might be the easiest way to go.

Wait a sec
Does doing a CCDA exam renew my CCNA R&S?
Researching and found this:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccda-ccdp/34911-ccda-does-renew-ccna.html

people on that are saying it does not renew my CCNA?

Also on the official cisco site under Re-Certification Tab:

CCNA Routing and Switching certifications are valid for three years. To recertify, pass ONE of the following before the certification expiration date:

Pass any current Associate-level exam except for ICND1 exam, or
Pass any current 642-XXX Professional-level or any 300-XXX Professional-level exam, or
Pass any current 642-XXX Cisco Specialist exam (excluding Sales Specialist exams or MeetingPlace Specialist exams, Implementing Cisco TelePresence Installations (ITI) exams, Cisco Leading Virtual Classroom Instruction exams, or any 650 online exams), or
Pass any current CCIE Written Exam, or
Pass the current CCDE Written Exam OR current CCDE Practical Exam, or
Pass the Cisco Certified Architect (CCAr) interview AND the CCAr board review to extend lower certifications

is CCDA one of the Associate level exams?

koz24

Ya CCDA counts as well but you may want to wait till May to start it since that's when the new book comes out.

Drekko

koz24 wrote: »

Ya CCDA counts as well but you may want to wait till May to start it since that's when the new book comes out.

My CCNA expires in September, dont really have time to wait around

so the book 300-310 comes out in may?

http://www.amazon.com/CCDA-200-310-Official-Guide-Edition/dp/1587144549

I have other study sources of this, such as CBT nuggets and the older book. DO you think i can at least go over the old book and buy the new book as soon as its out? and go over it

koz24

Drekko wrote: »

My CCNA expires in September, dont really have time to wait around

so the book 300-310 comes out in may?

Robot Check

I have other study sources of this, such as CBT nuggets and the older book. DO you think i can at least go over the old book and buy the new book as soon as its out? and go over it

That sounds like a plan. You can always check out CCDA Simplified as well, a bit older book though.

Dollarhyde

Drekko wrote: »

Wait a sec
Does doing a CCDA exam renew my CCNA R&S?
Researching and found this:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccda-ccdp/34911-ccda-does-renew-ccna.html

people on that are saying it does not renew my CCNA?

Also on the official cisco site under Re-Certification Tab:

CCNA Routing and Switching certifications are valid for three years. To recertify, pass ONE of the following before the certification expiration date:
Pass any current Associate-level exam except for ICND1 exam, or

Pass any current 642-XXX Professional-level or any 300-XXX Professional-level exam, or

Pass any current 642-XXX Cisco Specialist exam (excluding Sales Specialist exams or MeetingPlace Specialist exams, Implementing Cisco TelePresence Installations (ITI) exams, Cisco Leading Virtual Classroom Instruction exams, or any 650 online exams), or

Pass any current CCIE Written Exam, or

Pass the current CCDE Written Exam OR current CCDE Practical Exam, or

Pass the Cisco Certified Architect (CCAr) interview AND the CCAr board review to extend lower certifications

is CCDA one of the Associate level exams?

CCDA is an associate level exam as it stands for Cisco Certified Design Associate and you can see all of them right here: Certifications - Training & Certifications - Cisco
I would go for CCDP as by the time I finish CCNP I will finish 2 exams required by CCDP (Switch and Route), the only one left is 300-320 ARCH, but the prerequisite for CCDP is any Valid Cisco CCDA and CCNA Routing and Switching or any Cisco CCIE certification. As I do not have my CCIE I have to take CCDA first.

The book you specified is 200-310 which is the book for the exam. It indeed comes out in May, but I would go through the old book, just so you can get the feel of designing a network and getting into that mindset.

The exams do not change that much, therefore if you study enough until May, you will just go through a book in about a month and go over topics that were not covered in the book from previous exam.

Drekko

Problem is I am a pretty busy with family and work full time. My CCNA expires in September

I do not have much time to do this and I feel a little under pressure

I have had mixed responses from people from different forums about the difficulty of CCDA

People have said its harder then any CCNA specialist exams and then I would be better off doing one of those

Others have said CCDA is easy

I am looking for a short and preferably easiest to grasp out of the CCNA's as possible. As I am pretty busy and do not have alot of time before my CCNA R&S expires. Can you recommened anything? I was thinking CCNA: Wireless?

Dollarhyde

As I said before CCNA Wireless is probably not the best one to go for, as it is probably not as explained in the books. Most of the questions will probably have some mistakes, as they do not focus on it as much as R&S.

Security would have been an option couple months ago, but now it is harder, if you want some extra very informational knowledge go for security, but it will not be as easy.

CCDA should not be as hard, but if you really do not know what to go for, just take the ICND2 again, it is cheaper exam and it gives you 3 more years to find out where you want to specialize and go for that one.

Drekko

Dollarhyde wrote: »

CCDA should not be as hard, but if you really do not know what to go for, just take the ICND2 again, it is cheaper exam and it gives you 3 more years to find out where you want to specialize and go for that one.

Yeh I might just cut my losses and take the ICND2 exam and work out and plan what to do next

I have been on reddit in the CCNA forum and two people on there said CCDA is actually difficult

Couple of mixed answers

I am confident about passing the ICND2 exam. I have kept all my study material and notes, and just need to do some revision

Dollarhyde

Drekko wrote: »

Yeh I might just cut my losses and take the ICND2 exam and work out and plan what to do next

I have been on reddit in the CCNA forum and two people on there said CCDA is actually difficult

Couple of mixed answers

I am confident about passing the ICND2 exam. I have kept all my study material and notes, and just need to do some revision

That is probably the best option, as studying for ICND2 will take you maybe around a month max two.

In addition with CCDA the new book is not out, and you might be short on time if you start to study in May.

After maybe 2 years, you can see where you land, and then you can probably go for your CCNP, as it is just addition to CCNA.