After a year of on and off again studying of Cisco’s CCNA I can finally say that I am CCNA certified. It’s not an easy exam to pass. The CCNA exam is a lot harder compared to the Network+, which was my last certification. The format between the Comptia and Cisco exams are definitely different. The CCNA requires a lot more studying and with experience it may be a lot easier.
Hands on experience is a plus with the CCNA. Physical routers and switches are a big advantage for doing labs while doing theory. If purchasing hardware is out of the question there is Packet Tracer which you receive complimentary if you’re part of the Cisco Academy. I’ve played around with Packet Tracer and it will help you get a lot closer to passing the CCNA exam.
Another application very useful and very popular is GNS3. With GNS3 you have the flexibility of creating various network topologies. The downside to using GNS3 is that you need to supply your own IOS images which can be found on Cisco.com.
After thinking about my CCNA journey I felt that I did not do enough lab work. I recommend getting as much lab work as possible before taking the CCNA exam. It will help you memorize the commands needed to answer exam questions. If you have commands burned into your brain then you will not waste any time guessing and using the “?”.
For a long time I wasn’t studying properly. I would just read without taking any notes or review. Now what I do is write down any important topics worth memorizing for the test and for the real world. Afterwards I review my notes and make sure I memorize commands and other important items pertaining to each technology.
Along with reading Wendell Odom’s ICND1 and ICND2 books I watched videos from Trainsignal. Computer based training alongside good theory and labs will help you pass the CCNA exam.
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