What is CCNA?

CCNA, or Cisco Certified Network Associate, is one of the world’s most famous certifications offered by Cisco.

CCNA validates your skills in the areas of network fundamentals, network access, IP connectivity, IP services, computer security, automation, software, and data communication.

In February 2020, Cisco retired its old CCNA exam and announced major changes to the certification.

The intention was to incorporate the rapidly changing technological trends into the curriculum to equip CCNA holders with the latest skills and knowledge.

Some of the key concepts included in the CCNA curriculum include programming, automation, networking infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning.

After the latest changes, you only need to pass one exam to get the CCNA certification.

The certification has a lot of value in the industry, especially with companies that are looking for candidates for networking, data communication, security, network administration, and system administration jobs.

Many of these jobs are among the most in-demand tech jobs, according to Robert Half’s IT salary report.

CCNA is both theoretical and practical.  This makes it easier for you to understand IT networking.

Cisco’s CCNA certification is also one of the top five IT certifications in North America, according to Global Knowledge’s IT Skills and Salary report.

According to Global Knowledge, over 70% of candidates prefer CCNA over all of Cisco’s other certifications. CCNA ranked third on the list of top-paying certifications in the survey.

In order to get the CCNA certification, you must pass the 200-301 exam.

The exam costs $300 US dollars.

The exam covers network fundamentals, switches, routers, networking technology & protocols, network configuration, APIs, programmability, and automation.

It contains multiple-choice questions, drag & drop questions, fill-in-the-blank & scenario-based questions.

In scenario-based questions, you will be given a detailed case study or a scenario and you will be expected to choose your answers based on that scenario. Scenario based questions test your practical approach towards the networking concepts covered in the certification.

CCNA is valid for three years.

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Skills Measured by the CCNA Certification

CCNA covers networking concepts that are useful and necessary for you to function effectively in IT Networking.

The certification lays a foundation from which you can pursue more advanced certifications.  These advanced certifications will help you enter the more upper tiers of the technology industry.

Here is a breakdown of what you will learn with the CCNA certification.

Network Fundamentals (Weightage: 20%)

• Role and function of network components
• Routers
• L2 and L3 switches
• Next-generation firewalls and IPS
• Access points
• Servers
• WAN
• Small office/home office (SOHO)
• Single-mode fiber, multimode fiber, copper
• Ethernet
• Subnetting
• TCP/UDP
• IPv6 address types, and
• Virtualization fundamentals

Network Access (Weightage: 20%)

• Configure and verify VLANs
• Access ports
• Trunk ports
• Configure and verify Layer 2 discovery protocols (Cisco Discovery Protocol and LLDP)
• Configure and verify (Layer 2 & Layer 3)
• EtherChannel (LACP), and
• Compare Cisco Wireless Architectures and AP modes

IP Connectivity (Weightage: 25%)

• Interpreting the components of a routing table
• Understanding forwarding decisions in routers, and
• Configuring single area OSPFv2

IP Services (Weightage: 10%)

• Configuring NTP operating in a client and server mode
• DHCP and DNS within the network
• SNMP in network operations
• Forwarding per-hop behavior (PHB) for QoS such as classification
• Network devices for remote access using SSH, and
• TFTP/FTP in the network

Security Fundamentals (Weightage: 15%)

• Different exploits and mitigation techniques
• Device access control using local passwords
• Remote access and site-to-site VPNs
• Access control lists
• DHCP snooping, dynamic ARP inspection
• Security protocols (WPA, WPA2, and WPA3)
• Configuring WLAN using WPA2 PSK, and
• Troubleshooting wireless and wired networks

Automation and Programmability (Weightage: 10%)

• Effect of automation on network management
• Networks with controller-based networking
• North-bound and south-bound APIs
• Cisco DNA Center enabled device
• REST-based APIs (CRUD, HTTP verbs, and data encoding), and
• JSON encoded data

For a more complete curriculum, download the latest CCNA exam objectives.

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Pre-requisites for CCNA

There are no pre-requisites for the CCNA certification. However, it is recommended to have at least one year of experience in networking, especially in implementation of Cisco solutions.

Having a basic understanding of IP addressing, computer networks, and data communication will also help a lot with this certification.  We highly recommend that you get the CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications before undertaking the CCNA.

How to Prepare for the CCNA Certification Exam

To prepare for Cisco CCNA certification, there are several options available.  Let’s review these options in more detail.

Self-Study Resources

Many CCNA students use self-study resources to prepare for the CCNA exam.

Using self-study resources has become much easier due to YouTube, online courses, white-papers, forums, and books. Let’s take a look at some of these resources.

Books

CCNA certification prep books will help you understand the CCNA exam objectives in detail.

Cisco has an official book that you can use to prepare for the CCNA exam.

The CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide covers the updated syllabus, and has 600 practice exam questions and tests.

CCNA certification prep material is widely available on the internet. Do not limit yourself to a specific book. Instead, use a diverse range of sources, especially videos and practice questions.

Video Training

Video is an excellent medium to prepare for the CCNA exam. Videos help you understand technical and complex concepts and you retain more of the information due to its more engaging format.

Cisco has its official video training page where recorded video on many topics are available. You will need to create an account on the Cisco Learning Network to access this training.

YouTube is full of CCNA video training. To make sure you understand every concept in depth, print out the CCNA objectives and search for each one on YouTube.  This might take a bit more effort but it’s free.

Instructor-Led Training

If you want face to face training by an expert, Cisco offers instructor-led training courses as well.

Cisco partners with third-party training companies to deliver instructor-led classes.

If you consider it valuable to ask questions to an expert, you can consider instructor-led training.

Keep in mind that instructor-led training is usually expensive. For example, one such program on Cisco’s instructor-led training page costs over $4000.

Practice Tests

CCNA is a highly practical exam. You have to solve complex, scenario-based questions within 120 minutes. If you don’t practice thinking logically in a limited time, you won’t be able to give your best on the test.

That’s why you should do practice tests to prepare for your exam.

Cisco has a practice test series  with hundreds of practice questions.

Practice Labs

The CCNA certification has many lab questions in which you are tested on practical concepts like switching, routing, identifying cable types, configuration of networks, subnetting, and designing networks.

One of the best free resources for practice labs for the CCNA exam is GNS3Vault, where you can find practice lab questions, their answers, video explanations and configuration files.

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What Jobs can you get with a CCNA certification

CCNA certification will make you eligible for a variety of jobs in the technology industry.

Networking is the core job area where you’ll be able to use this certification. However, with the latest changes, CCNA also covers software, system administration, and design.

Every office has computers and they often run into connectivity issues and networking problems.

Companies need people with the right skills who can solve these problems. CCNA will give you a strong foundation to develop your career in the industry.  Starting with basic problem-solving and advancing to high-level architecture, networking design, management and strategy roles.

Here are some of the jobs you should be considering after getting CCNA.

• Network Administrator
• Technical Support Engineer
• Network Engineer
• Network or Desktop Support Engineer
• Network Security Associate
• System Administrator, and
• IT Support Engineer

Keep in mind that just having the CCNA certification won’t guarantee you a job. You should always try to get hands-on experience from wherever you can.

When you get your hands dirty with practical projects, having the CCNA certification will enhance your chances of landing a great job.

You should also complement your CCNA with advanced certifications like CCNP, CISSP, CCDP and CompTIA Security+, depending upon your chosen career path, and industry trends.

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How much money you can make with the CCNA Certification

CCNA could lead to a career with high salaries and growth potential because the demand for experts in the networking industry is rising.

According to ZipRecruiter, the annual median salary for CCNA-related jobs is around $84,376 US dollars.

According to PayScale, CCNA-related jobs on average have an annual salary of $77,838.

However, keep in mind that salaries vary a lot based on geography, skillset, experience, company, and market conditions.

Let’s see what other people think about this certification.  Here are a few…

Observations from Successful CCNA Holders in the Industry

The best advice comes from people who have passed the certification. Let’s see how they prepared, their experience, and changes they observed in their career.

Here’s a comment from Reddit user “m3t3kh4n”

“It takes eight weeks. There was quarantine in my country and I do not have any extra stuff, such as the university, job, or something else, so I could spend my whole day preparing this exam. I started with the course of Neil Anderson. He was gorgeous. You cannot learn every little point from his course but overall you can understand the topics generally, such as what is HSRP, why we need Network Automation, and all other kinds of stuff. Secondly, I use the Official Guide Book by Wendell Odom. These books look like the Bible, but there are full of information. They are a little dry, but worth to read it. You learn any single piece of information. Then that is true I need to know all the commands by heart, so do LAB LAB LAB. What you find about the CCNA try to do it. David Bombal. He has many different labs. As an optional variant, you can buy his Cisco Packet Tracer Ultimate Labs course. Also, there are plenty of labs on YouTube too. Another main point for the exam is practicing with tests. Boson is the number one in this branch. Their questions and explanations are awesome. If you did badly at first times, do not be disappointed. The same for me. Lastly, I want to sit that, please try to read Cisco Documentations. They are all free. If you do not understand any topic properly please Google it. Google is our nearest and dearest friend in this way. In the last sentence, I want to say that you can do it. The exam is not so hard overall. It is in your hands. Good luck every one”

https://www.reddit.com/r/ccna/comments/hmr0xz/passed_ccna_200301_9691000/

Here’s a comment from Reddit user “PhantomSlasher”

“I gave my test online and this was my first time doing something like this and all in all it was a seamless experience.

2 hours is ample amount of time for the exam and you can attempt all the questions with ease.

There were quite a few wireless questions ( everyone says that boson had questions which were of this depth and if u are familiar with that it should work out well in the actual exam) which was quite out of hand and that was the only tricky part.. the other topics were pretty straightforward.

For subnetting it would be better if u can do it in your mind (if you are taking it online) as the whiteboard is not that great a tool and you will end up wasting time messing around with it! I relied on the whiteboard and ended up wasting quite some time.

If you are stuck on a question and can’t decide on something eliminate the wrong answers rather than trying to guess smthing that worked out pretty well.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/ccna/comments/hfxmtv/passed_ccna_200301_with_a_938/

Here’s another comment from Reddit user “slippinjimmy54”

Started taking Boson tests at the beginning of last week. Sequence: 780, 822, 907. Studied the answers I got wrong and some I got right but guessed before taking the next test. After taking each test once, I did not bother on retaking them because I didn’t see the point. Boson was good for confidence and the wireless aspect. They went into areas that even the OCG didn’t include and some of these areas showed up on the exam.

IP routing (IP connectivity) was heavy on my test and I scored a 100% on that aspect. (Thanks Keith Barker). Most questions were: you know it or you don’t while the questions on which you actually had to think and combine different concepts were mostly under the IP connectivity and Network Access sections.

My advice:

Don’t rush it. Absorb the content bit by bit and you’ll enjoy the journey. Be confident, during the exam. There’s enough time, don’t rush. Read every question and corresponding options multiple times. Don’t let your eyes trick you! Always eliminate wrong answers first, they are usually more noticeable. Get you some Boson software!

LAB! LAB! LAB! They help you tied down what you’ve read. Learn how these devices behave. Try new things on PT. Try weird things! If you have any doubt about how a Router would react to a certain change, pull up your PC and try it out on PT. Don’t settle for written text telling you what a Router would don in that hypothetical situation.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ccna/comments/hax52a/passed_ccna_200301_9171000/

The Truth About CCNA Certification

CCNA validates your skills in the area of networking, and companies need people with networking skills. CCNA will go a long way towards helping you get your foot in the door.

To prove your skills, you should also get hands-on experience to develop a real-world understanding of computer networks.

Combining this experience with advanced IT certifications, could help you get high-paying jobs.

Is Cisco CCNA Certification for You?

CCNA is one of the most viable options if you want to advance your career in the lucrative IT networking industry.

You can start preparing for this certification, learn the concepts, and apply them in real life. You can schedule the exam whenever you feel confident enough.

However, while preparing for the certification exam, you should also try to find actual projects related to IT networking so that you can gain experience.

So, is the CCNA certification worth it?

If you are new to IT, and like to learn about networking, CCNA is definitely worth the money, time, and effort.