CCNA and my plan 1 month to complete..Crazy? Maybe? You be the judge?
OK, as I have been writing of late I am looking into getting my certifications up to date, as we are suppose to be doing it through work, I am a little weary of getting started on the MCSE, I have finished one of the books, and was getting ready to schedule the exam, but there is a possibility that I may be in the next round of training with work, so I decided to hold off on that for the moment.
I have decided then to go for the CCNA instead as in terms of value it probably makes more sense, and is in higher demand. The CCNA can be done in one or two exams depending on your preference. I am going for the one exam approach. I think it makes the most sense and is the most cost effective option. the exam itself is only about $150. That being said one exam and your certified as opposed to the MCSE which is about 7 exams to get your full certification.
I started reading the material on the 26th of January, and my plan is to take the exam by the 24th of February. So roughly a month time frame to get up to speed and prepared for the exam. From the resources I have found the exam itself is between 55-60 questions and there is a 110 minutes to complete the exam. You need to score an 85% or better to have passed.
Now I am not completely new to Cisco, I have worked with them in the past but it has been about 4 years since I have had to work on a router or switch. I did take the course through the Cisco academy about 6 years ago at McGill University in Montreal. I passed the course, but never got around to taking the exam. So in essence it is kind of a refresher, as I probably know most of the stuff just have remember how to do it again.
as part of tools I have gotten I am currently reading the “CCNA : Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide (Exam 640-802) , 6th Edition” by Todd Lammle. I am also using Dynamips Cisco Router simulator to practice as it simulates almost exactly the router environment as it uses actual Cisco IOS.
I will keep up my progress and list things I have found along this adventure, hopefully by the end of it I can say I am officially a CCNA? we’ll have to wait and see.
