CCNA

jimjam81

jimjam81

jimjam81

Associate
Joined
21 Sep 2010
Posts
369
Hi

Is CCNA worth doing and roughly how long does it take to achieve?

I have been working in IT services for around 5 years specialising in web proxies and secure gateways. It was roughly 75% bau, 25% projects split.

I tried contracting for a year, but only got 5 months work and found it hard to get other contracts due to being in quite a niche area.

Recently I managed to secure a full time job on a good salary for Northern England doing 100% project work in security infrastructure, so proxies, gateways, Av, Siem, ids/ips, firewalls etc.

I also achieved my Cissp about 5 months ago and I am at a crossroads as whether I should do CCNA now or do another security certification such as Cisa or the CCSP, perhaps even work towards CISSP ISSAP.

Ideally I would like my next career step in 2-3 years time to be a security architect or Consultant.
 
I did it in about 6 months with fairly unintensive after work study, I'd say 3 months is doable if you really go for it.

Cisco also offer ccnas in things like security and data centres which might be worth taking a look at.
 
Thanks for the feedback, that would be great if I could do CCNA in approx 6 months, I thought it would take about a year.

Not sure I would need the data centre one but the security one I will research.
 
Not my field but this might be of interest - the OU offers a CCNA course and will give you 60 credits (equivalent to half a year of full time 2nd year undergraduate study) that you could use towards a diploma or degree.

http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/modules/t216

Looks like they also have CCNP courses that you can count towards graduate diplomas or MSc degrees in Advanced Networking, Computer Science etc..
 
I would go with CCNA if you want to carry on with the hands on or want a good grounding or go with the ISC route if you want to end up doing the security side of things but without the hands on.

I'd split the CCNA into the two exams to make them more manageable for you although 3 months for the whole lot should be doable (if committed to regular study) given you work in the industry already
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. Yes I have decided I am going to do CCNA next, I will try and get it into my h2 objectives and see if my company is willing to pay for the course or at least the exams if I pass.

I do plan on staying in information security in the long term as its booming right now and will work towards another security certificate (probably Cisa) in about a years time after I achieve CCnA.
 
I'd say it depends...

I have CCNA Security and while it's hands on, it's hands on with Cisco kit (albeit with many concepts you can apply outside of Cisco)

The course focusses a lot on Network/Infrastructure security. I do not personally consider this an InfoSec cert, but it is certainly something which would hold you in good stead if you wanted to go into a Network Security Engineer type role.

Security+ may also be worth looking at...it really just depends on where you want to go.
 
Energize said:
It's worth buying the full CCNA version of that book, it's only a few £ more and it's the one I used to prepare for my CCNA exam.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Routing-Switching-Complete-Study-Guide/dp/1119288282/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

You really need some sort of simulator for the routers and switches, you won't be able to retain knowledge of IOS commands and syntax simply by reading the book, you need actual configuration experience.
Click to expand...

doh, i just ordered the book i mentioned last night. i just want to get icnd1 at the moment so should be good
i did have the packet tracer program so would that be enough?
 
You mean wireshark? No that's not nearly enough.

You need some sort of actual Cisco router and switch to work on whether real or virtual in order to learn the operating system commands.

I bought a lab for about £200 because it gives hands on experience with the actual hardware and allows me to easily setup any possible configuration I might come across at CCNA level. For ICND 1 you can get a setup for about £100.

When it comes to emulators or virtual IOS programs I don't have a clue as I haven't used them I'm afraid.
 
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IMO For ICND1 a physical lab is not really necessary - look into using GNS3 labs. It's nice to know how things fit together but for me spenidng money on noisy and clunky kit which ends up gathering dust is not really necessary at this level.

Cisco Packet Tracer is great for ICND1 as well albeit basic and has limited commands but very useful as a study tool. Just for clarity this is not wireshark :)
 
Honestly for ICND1 I can't remember but there are usually a few sims. Things like spanning tree are popular topics for that

Not going to be loads, but they can carry high marks. There are also often questions that ask what would happen if you do a certain command, or what the correct format for a command is so it's important to know
 
is there anywhere i can get free test banks, or whats the best site if i had to pay for test banks and practice exams
(or if anyone wants to email stuff they used or no longer need it would be appreciated :))
 
Hulkster said:
IMO For ICND1 a physical lab is not really necessary - look into using GNS3 labs. It's nice to know how things fit together but for me spenidng money on noisy and clunky kit which ends up gathering dust is not really necessary at this level.

Cisco Packet Tracer is great for ICND1 as well albeit basic and has limited commands but very useful as a study tool. Just for clarity this is not wireshark :)
Click to expand...

Getting hands on with the equipment is half the fun!
 
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