Preparing for Cisco CCNA Certification Exam

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is a very valued Cisco certification that is considered as an asset by most IT employers worldwide. CCNA certification was launched in April of 1998. It is considered to be an entry level certification that qualifies you for the Cisco Career Certification Program.

A CCNA Certification is a solid proof of your good networking foundation and various networking and troubleshooting skills. This certification also is a mandatory requirement for advanced certifications such as CCDP, CCNP, CCSP and also CCIP certification.
A candidate, to take the CCNA, will have to choose from two exam routes – a two exam route that will comprise of two individual exams, one the #640-811 ICND or Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices and the other #640-821 INTRO or Introduction to Cisco Networking Technologies. The other route is the single exam which includes CCNA 640-802 exam.

There are no definite prerequisites for taking a CCNA certification exam. The certification exam comprises of test formats such as multiple-choice with single answer, multiple choice with multiple answers, fill in the blank, drag and drop and simulations. It is important that a candidate becomes well familiarized with each of these formats prior to the exam. There have been certain changes made to the 640-801 exam, making it much tougher, but, this has also improved the credibility of this certification.

Simply mugging and memorizing the concepts will not help you tackle the CCNA certification exam. You will have to understand the various concepts and especially focus on Switching, Access Lists, Subnetting, Routing protocols and simulation. Practicing and understanding the various concepts and developing skills is the key to clearing the exam. Every test is for 90 minutes. It is important that you distribute your time well for all the questions. Time management counts heavily in the passing of this exam.

There are several books available in the market that you can refer to for CCNA. Refer to the various study guides and questionnaires as they will help you study systematically. A CCNA certification exam is not an easy one, and you will have to work really hard to clear it. And that is what adds to its as well as your credibility.

Cisco CCDP Certification Exams

Completing CCDP exams is essential for network experts in the design area. Major corporations have made certification exams a must for all its professionals, so that there is a way to find out that a candidate fulfills the needs of his job. This is picking up in mid-level companies too as there is a large talent pool to choose from and nobody knows for sure who has the best skills for the job. While hiring suitable candidates and training them is the trend that is followed in some companies, most of them prefer to hire certified candidates, so that the company can save time. Also, it is better to train the employee’s one batch after another and it is difficult to train individuals as and when they are hired.

CCDP Exams:

• 642-892 Exam

• 642-873 Exam

Having understood this trend, even lesser experienced candidates and freshmen prefer to spend a few months in becoming certified, since they know that it will pay them back. A similar thing is happening among highly experienced professionals as they want to carve a niche for themselves. Even if the professionals themselves want to postpone their certification plans, the companies employing them request them to plan their certification exams. In either case, it is mandatory for professionals to get a certification. Certifications are the only way in which a company can weigh the skills of a person.

The actual exams of CCDP certification are three in number and you are offered the flexibility to combine two exams among the three. The following are the CCDP exams – Building Cisco Internetworks, Building Cisco Switched Networks in addition to Network Service Architecture design. The Cisco Internetworks and Cisco Switched Networks exams can be combined. You should be prepared to attempt simulation type questions and multiple choice type queries. You must be interested in re-certification too. Plan to complete the re-certification exams – CCDE or CCIE or professional level exam before the last day of your CCDP validity.

For CCDP preparation, make use of offline or online resources. After using free online resources, if you come across paid online resources, find out how good they are. If they are quite good, pay and make use of them. Similarly, find out more about excellent offline resources and use them. You should be willing to exchange whatever resources you have with other test takers.