CCNA: The defacto Network Engineering Exam
Why do professional networking world consider the CCNA to be the defacto Network Engineering exam?
Professional network administrators consider the Cisco Certified Network Associate test to be the defacto network engineering exam because it is so comprehensive. There is a large amount of course material that is covered on this exam, everything from IP to RIP to VLANs to Ethernet. While this may seem like a small amount of information that can be easily remembered, it requires large amounts of work to remember the vast amount of information and possible questions that can be asked on the CCNA test.
Many network administrators who did not study enough did not pass the CCNA test on their first try. The CCNA certification test is rather difficult and thus CCNA training is necessary to prepare.
In order to train for the Cisco Certified Network Associate test you should take classes at a local technical school. Other sources for education are local universities, community colleges, night school or online training. These schools are equipped with the tools that you will need to learn the information that will be on the exam.
While technical schools are not free, they are not nearly as expensive as formal training at a college or community college. You will need to learn quite a bit of information in order to qualify for the CCNA test, and then to pass it, you will need an even higher capability of knowledge.
The professional world considers anyone who is able to pass the CCNA test able to administrate a personal or small business network. Cisco does offer higher levels of certification, however, in order to test for them you must first pass the testing for the CCNA. The initial testing for the CCNA requires two smaller tests or one large test.
You have to be certified again every three years and can do so by taking either interconnecting Cisco networking devices part 2 or the entire CCNA exam. Network engineering requires the ability to function quickly, and think on your feet. Without the great depth of knowledge provided in the training for the CCNA certification test, you would never be able to be a network engineer.
The professional networking world considers the CCNA certification as the basis for networking engineering exam qualifying you to be able to handle personal and small business network.
