Cisco Certified Network Associate or the CCNA is a certification from a leading network hardware vendor, Cisco. This certification will be given to those candidates who successfully completed and passed its examination which focuses on networking fundamentals specifically on Cisco Routers and Switches. CCNA certification is one of the most popular networking certifications that surely helps aspiring network engineers in accelerating their career.

What are the Key Features of the CCNA certification?

CCNA covers the latest and advanced network technologies such as automation and programmability. It aims to perform the below activities using the Cisco devices:

• Installation
• Configuration
• Operations (Monitoring, Managing)
• Troubleshooting

What’s on the CCNA exam?

The CCNA exam breaks down as follows:

• Network Fundamentals (20%)Network fundamentals has a weightage of 20% that covers the fundamentals of Routing, Switching, Cabling types, IPV4/IPV6 configurations, Virtualization and Wireless.
• Network Access (20%)Network access has a weightage of about 20%, covering topics like VLAN, Intervlan, STP, RSTP. Access Points, Wireless Controller, Wireless LAN access, Cisco Wireless Architecture, Discovery protocols.
• IP Connectivity (25%)Routing tables; router decision-making; configuring and verifying IPv4 and IPv6 static routing and single area OSPFv2; first hop redundancy protocol
• IP Services (10%)Configuring and verifying NAT and NTP; describing DHCP, DNS, SNMP, and syslog features; per-hop behaviour; using SSH; describing TFTP/FTP
• Security Fundamentals (15%)Security concepts, such as threats and mitigation, physical access control; password policies; access control lists; Layer 2 security features; wireless security protocols
• Automation and Programmability (10%)Comparing traditional networks with controller-based networks; automation concepts; interpreting JSON data

Who should take the CCNA certification?

• Anyone who wants to enter the Network/Cyber/Information Security domain
• Someone who is willing to learn networking for their professional growth or wants to shift their job to a networking domain
• Professional who is looking for automating the network operations

Why is having the CCNA certification an advantage?

Here’s the facts:

• CCNA certificate is for anyone who needs to start a Networking Career and it helps to easily achieve advanced Cisco certifications courses, such as CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional), CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) and etc.
• It increases chances of promotion if you are already an experienced candidate working in the networking industry
• It helps in clearing the network interviews and shifting the job domain to networking.
• The rapid growth of digitalization allows governments and private organizations to recruit more qualified network engineers to handle their network operations daily
• Employers will shortlist your CV for the interview in comparison to unqualified networking professionals
• CCNA certificate assures that the candidate can operate with the complex and severe network environments
• Most expert and professional Cisco certificates need CCNA as a prerequisite.
• CCNA is a globally recognized and accepted certification

How to get the CCNA certification?

We all know that CCNA certification is one of the Top-Rated Network Certifications. So in order to become CCNA certified, you’ll have to take the 200-301 CCNA exam offered by Cisco. There are no prerequisites for the exam, but at least having the following experience is an advantage:

• At least one year of using and implementing Cisco products and solutions
• Basic knowledge of IP addressing
• Knowledge of network fundamentals

How long is the validity of the CCNA certificate?

CCNA certificate is valid for 3 years and after this time you will need to recertify. Within the three years period, if you will pass any higher-level certificate from Cisco (CCNP/CCIE) or complete continuing education activities or a combination of these two, you are not required for recertification. For more details about recertification, please refer to the Cisco recertification policy.

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