Check in our blog post tips and details about the preparation to be an CCNA

Everything you should know about CCNA

Certified IT professionals are increasingly in demand and if you wish to be successful in the IT field, certification is one of the first things to think about. And the networking field isn’t any different. The CCNA or Cisco Certified Network Associate certification is a globally recognised and is respected by companies across the globe. Professionals who hold the CCNA have and understanding and hold the knowledge to operate, configure and troubleshoot medium-level switched and routed networks.  

• The main topics covered in the CCNA certification 
• Wide Area Network and Land Area Network design 
• OSI models 
• IP addressing
• VLAN and WLAN Routers/routing protocols
• Network Security and Management  

Stand out from the crowd

By pursuing your Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching Certification, you are telling your employer that you want to excel in your career. Managers notice that kind of initiative. There’s also credibility associated with Cisco certifications. In a Illuminas survey, 200 U.S. IT managers placed Cisco certifications first, above those of six other well-known certification providers. 

To hold a CCNA certification means that the professional not only enhance their skills and knowledge about networking concepts but also gain an opportunity to increase their salary potential.  

Career Advancements 

As a CCNA certificate holder, the professional can expect to have a quick career growth. These professionals have an edge over their peers, as they possess complete knowledge about the networking concepts and principles. Companies also give first preference to the certified professionals, when they have plans to promote their staff members. 

Preparation for the Exam 

To cover all the contents of the exam at New Horizons Ireland we offer 2 separate courses to develop the professional in a way that they have higher chances to pass the exam. During the course, they can do the labs to prepare themselves for the exam and access our Transcender platform to check their skills in a MOC test before the official exam, as many times they wish. The Transcender is a platform credited by Cisco, totally official and used by the best IT training companies around the world to prepare their students.  

CCNA Courses 

ICND1 - Cisco® Interconnecting Cisco® Networking Devices Part 1 v3.0 

ICND2 - Cisco® Interconnecting Cisco® Networking Devices Part 2 v3.0 

Exams

To receive the CCNA certificate the professional must have passed either the ICND 1 and ICND2 exams or one combined exam:

1. ICND1 Exam (100-101) and the ICND2 (200-101) 

2. Or the combined CCNA Exam (200-120) 

It is up to the student if they want to do both exams (CND1 and ICND2) or the combined exam. Our recommendation is to do it as soon as possible after the end of the courses.

Exam Tips

There is no back button in the exam. So, it is always good to read the question until you fully understand what it is asking you and you know what technology it is testing you on before answering. 

If you can't think of an answer within a minute consider picking the best answer and moving on. You don't have a ton of time in the exam. The best tip is managing your time. The labs and the MOC tests during the course help you with it. 

For people with a bit more IT experience, remember the context and level of the exam. Keep the exam topics in mind when answering a question. For example, if Cisco asks what device would run BGP? Then the answer would be a router, even though most devices can support BGP these days from hosts to servers to firewalls, etc. 

The Best Answer

Students usually spend some time getting used to the concept of the best answer. Like the BGP scenario above, you must keep the context of the question in mind. A router can indeed use a switch module to act like a switch and a L3 switch can act as a router, etc, but if they ask what device is best for switching then it will be a switch. That is why the course labs and the Transcender platform are a good way to prepare yourself for the exam day.

Exam Centre

Did you know you can take your exam here in the New Horizons Exam Centre. So you can take the course and exams, all under one roof. Click here for more details. 

Certification Paths

The CCNA certification is the base for all other Cisco careers, that's why it is a solid preparation for an IT career.

Click here to access all our Cisco courses.

At New Horizons Ireland, you will be in an IT learning environment surrounded by the best instructors in Ireland. We have a wide range of courses to help you develop your IT career.  

Talk to one of our Account Managers to choose the best option for you. 

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