CCNA Routing & Switching – Q&A Last week our guy in estimating – Vishal Hirani passed the CCNA test with a brilliant 97%. I sat him down and asked him some questions regarding the CCNA course and what it involves CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate. It’s an IT certification from Cisco which teaches you to configure, build and design CISCO and general networks. I have been studying for CCNA since November 2015 after attending a 6-week training course (weekends). Then 3 months after this course studying both days at the weekend. I also studied roughly 4 evenings per week. I’ve spent many hours overall studying. Days sat in the library studying and troubleshooting through different configurations. The most enjoyable part for me was trouble shooting through the online labs (simulation). I enjoyed this because it was interactive problem solving. It engaged my mind more than just reading through the books. The worst bit was sacrificing my weekends! In terms of material, it was probably configuring WAN and learning the theory behind this as it was so complicated to learn the Cisco commands. It is very applicable especially when I go to site and need to find a fault within the networks. It will be a great tool to enable me to design customer’s networks. The skills that I have acquired will also really help me to diagnose and monitor existing customer’s networks remotely. The Cisco command and language is more or less the same for all different vendors e.g. HP which means it can be transferred to different networks. The topics include connecting to a WAN, implementing network security, network types, network media, routing and switching fundamentals, the TCP/IP and OSI models, IP addressing, WAN technologies, operating and configuring IOS devices, extending switched networks with VLANs; determining IP routes, managing IP traffic with access lists, establishing point-to-point connections and establishing Frame Relay connections. CCNA didn’t cover firewalls, VPN, integrating a Cisco router with a modem and Ethernet types. The obvious next step would be to study CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) and I would like to go on to study security (VPN). The exam has 40 questions in total. Most of them are multiple choice, 4 simulations and a few trouble shooting. You have 90 minutes to complete the exam. Once you have submitted your answer to each question you can’t go back to change or check any of your answers. To pass the CCNA exam you need to have 85%. Study, study and study! Go through a lot of practice exam questions, simulations and time yourself which will help when taking the exam.What is CCNA?
How long have you been studying for CCNA and how much actual time did you spend?
What was the most enjoyable part of the CCNA course and why?
What was the worst bit?
How applicable is the subject material to your everyday work?
The CCNA is a Cisco exam. How relevant is the material to non-Cisco network?
What technical areas did the course cover?
What technical areas didn't the course cover?
Would you like to do more network study and if so what courses are you thinking about?
What format is the exam?
And finally, what tips would you give to a student thinking about doing the CCNA?
