Road-map to the CCNA Certification

The road-map to the CCNA Certification is a complete guide for people who wanted to start a career in Networking or IT Industry.

What is the CCNA Certification?

Cisco Certified Network Associate – CCNA is an information technology certification from Cisco Systems. CCNA certification is an associate-level Cisco Career certification. It covers the following topics:

Network fundamentals

Network access

Automation and programmability

IP services

Security fundamentals

Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity

Cisco made significant changes to its exam structure on Feb. 24, 2020, putting a focus on simplifying it and making it more flexible. It also attempted to align the exam more closely with modern industry needs. Previously, Cisco offered several CCNAs for different networking specialties. The latest update consolidated those offerings into one CCNA certification, which is now the foundational certification for all Cisco-based career paths.

How to Get a CCNA Certification?

Before you can claim a CCNA certification, you need to pass particular exams that relate to CCNA. You need to score passing marks on either of the following exams:

• Combined CCNA exam (200-301)

To register for either of these exams, you can apply directly through Cisco or use certified Cisco partners in training like Koenig. The authorized partner for testing and conducting CCNA exams is Pearson Vue. According to their recommendation, you must register for the CCNA certification exam at least two days before the decided public test date. The candidate seats are limited, and slots are allotted on an FCFS (first-come-first-serve) basis. You must pay any exam fees at the time of registration. Pearson Vue also recommends reaching the testing location 45 minutes before time.

Benefits of CCNA Certification

Along with your CCNA certification, you will increase your knowledge in Cisco Networking; this provides you with in-depth knowledge that you can use in your career. When you become CCNA certified, you will understand the concept of the fundamentals of networking. CCNA certification alone can open the door to opportunities in your career. Once you are CCNA certified, you can raise and negotiate a higher salary than other IT guys applying for the same position. Today the networking world is growing. Different kinds of technologies are coming up, like SDN (Software-defined networking) and the cloud. These technologies are immensely changing the networking domain and introducing different job roles. So CCNA certification makes you a perfect fit for the new job roles in the IT field.

Who Is Eligible For The CCNA?

This is an associate-level networking course provided by CISCO. So there is no requirement for previous networking skills. Anyone can do this course without previous networking background. Though it is best suitable for candidates with a minimum of one-year prior experience in networking. Anyone between 13 to 17 years of age can do this course with parental consent. Candidates 18 years of age or above can apply for this course without parental consent. Candidates from a non-networking background may practice more using tools such as GNS3 and Packet Tracer.

• Basic knowledge of computer
• Basic navigation abilities of computer operating systems
• Skills in internet usage are necessary
• Knowledge about IP address

New CCNA exam – 200-301

The Cisco certification program was drastically changed on Feb. 24, 2020. There are no longer multiple different CCNA exams and certifications – only a single, comprehensive exam is available. The new exam’s code is 200-301 CCNA and its full name is Implementing and Administering Cisco Networking Technologies. According to Cisco, the new exam “covers a broad range of fundamentals based on the latest technologies, software development skills, and job roles “.

Under the old CCNA certification program, there were multiple concentration exams for different learning paths. However, under the new rules, the following certifications have all been replaced by the new CCNA:

CCNA Cloud

CCNA Collaboration

CCNA Data Centre

CCNA Industrial

CCNA Routing and Switching

CCNA Security

CCNA Service Provider

CCNA Wireless

CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate)

So, the specialization at the CCNA level is going away – you now choose your specialization at the CCNP level.

What topics are on the CCNA exam?

This exam tests a candidate’s knowledge and skills related to

Network fundamentals,

Network access,

IP connectivity,

IP services,

Security fundamentals,

Automation and programmability.

The course, Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA), helps candidates prepare for this exam.

CCNA passing score? For achieving CCNA certification, one must earn a passing score which is nearly 82.5% on the Cisco certification exam 200-301

How does the CCNA Certification Help Career Growth

Benefits of CCNA

CCNA Training and Certification makes you an authentic developed Network Engineer. You can learn the training in the most effective manner. Upon completing the course you will get the certificate and the necessary core skills that are required in the multiple levels of routing and switching networks.

Advantages OF CCNA TRAINING

The importance of CCNA training is, that by learning this course you can increase the aspect of credibility.

The candidates are benefited enormously and it resulted in a good development in the career graph.

The main advantages of CCNA Certification are, that you have the chance of getting priority in any organization.

Career growth

CCNA Certification helps in increasing the chances of promotion in case you are an experienced candidate. Also, the Networking Industry offers a wide opportunity to develop your career if you are wishing to shift your career or if you are a beginner. Since the technology is growing immensely day by day, the government and the other business are seeking qualified Network Engineers to handle their Network Operations.

Salary Increment

Most of the company looking for CCNA certified professionals. The chances for increasing the salary is high if you have the CCNA Certification on your resume. Also, an employee working in an organization, on the completion of the CCNA course in Chennai with a certificate could negotiate the salary hike to their higher officials and the chances of getting a hike in the salary are higher.

FREE CCNA 200-301 Full Course

Top Interview Questions and Answer

What is CCNA?

CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) is an information technology (IT) certification from Cisco Systems. CCNA certification is an associate-level Cisco Career certification.

What is routing?

Routing is the process of discovering the right path for transferring data from the original source to the destination. Routing is done by using a device known as a router. A router is a network layer device.

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

ARP is a layer of 2 protocols. Its full form Address Resolution Protocol itself defines its function. A PC sends an ARP request to know the MAC address of a device. ARP request is broadcast. In response to an ARP request, PC generates an ARP reply that is unicast in nature.

What is the advantage of using switches?

Using a switch is an efficient way to transmit data when compared to broadcasting data on all ports. Switches create a frame out of bits from the signal sent to the switch. It then gains access and interprets the destination address and then sends that frame to the appropriate port.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

4. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP):

The DHCP server assigns an IP address automatically to the host machine. In a small network, we can configure an IP address manually, but in a larger network, we can’t assign IP addresses individually to each machine.

So, we configure the DHCP server so that all hosts automatically receive an IP address. 

To get an IP address, there are 4 DHCP messages that are exchanged between a DHCP server and a host. 

Discover: The first host sends a discover message to discover the DHCP server.

Offer: In response to the discovery message, the DHCP server sends an IP address.

Request: After getting the offer message, the host sends a request message to the DHCP server, I (host) am OK with this IP address, please send full configuration details.

Acknowledge: In the acknowledge message, the DHCP server sends an IP address with all essential configurations.  

All four messages are broadcast. This process of getting an IP address is also known as the DORA process.     

What does a Window mean in networking?

A Window refers to the number of segments that can be sent from source to destination before an acknowledgment is received.

Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)

The spanning tree protocol is used to reduce layer 2 loops. In general, to ensure network availability, some extra links are added. These extra links are also known as redundant links. They act as backup links, which means, if any active link fails, then traffic shifts to these backup links. 

We saw, that the purpose of adding these links is good, but these links have some cons also, these links also create loops at layer 2, and because of these loops, broadcast storm and MAC instability problems arise.

Now let’s see how STP reduces layer 2 loops. By default, STP is running in all manageable switches. By putting extra links in block mode, STP creates a single path between each point.

What causes network congestion?

Network congestion is caused by too many users trying to use one bandwidth at once. Congestion in a network most commonly happens in bigger networks that do not utilize network segmentation.

Secure Shell (SSH) and Telnet

SSH and Telnet both are used to remotely access the device. SSH is preferred over Telnet, as Telnet is less secure and sends data and password in plain text, so there is a possibility anyone can view the passwords, while SSH sends encrypted data, no one can view the actual data.

What is BootP?

BootP, which stands for “Boot Program,” is a protocol that is most commonly utilized to boot diskless work areas that are connected to one network. A diskless workstation may also use BootP to determine its IP address and the IP address of the server PC.

Hot Standby Routing Protocol (HSRP)

Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) is a CISCO proprietary protocol, which provides redundancy for a local subnet. In HSRP, two or more routers give an illusion of a virtual router. HSRP allows you to configure two or more routers as standby routers and only a single router as an active router at a time.

What is the difference between User Mode and Privileged Mode?

User Mode is commonly utilized for performing regular tasks on a CISCO router. For example, User Mode may be

What is the Open Shortest Path First OSPF protocol?

Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a link-state routing protocol that was developed for IP networks and is based on the Shortest Path First (SPF) algorithm. OSPF is an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP)

What is latency?

Latency is a term used to describe the delay of time between when a network device receives a data frame and when the network device resends this data frame out towards another network segment.

What is Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)?

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is one of the main protocols of the Internet protocol suite. It lies between the Application and Network Layers which are used in providing reliable delivery services. It is a connection-oriented protocol for communications that helps in the exchange of messages between different devices over a network.

What is subnetting?

Subnetting is when smaller networks are created from a larger parent network. Each subnet is given an identifier or certain parameters within the network to depict its subnet number in the network

User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

UDP is a connectionless protocol. Also, there is no acknowledgement, if a packet is lost, it means, it’s lost. It is not reliable. UDP is useful in VoIP applications. 

Note: Differences between UDP and TCP and 3-way handshake are the most commonly asked questions in the interview.

What is a MAC address?

A MAC address is the abbreviation for a Media Access Control address. This address is the identification used to depict a media access control layer in a network’s architecture. It’s most commonly stored in the ROM and is different for each device

What is CDP?

CDP, which stands for “Cisco Discovery Protocol,” is a layer 2 protocol that works on a Media Access Control (MAC) address. CDP may be used to identify port numbers, iOS details, router models, device IDs, and switch, models

What is MTU?

MTU stands for maximum transmission unit and is used to depict the maximum packet size that can be sent on a data line without requiring fragmentation.

What are the primary functions of the transport layer?

This layer ensures that messages are delivered error-free, in sequence, and with no losses or duplications

HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems.[1] HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, where hypertext documents include hyperlinks to other resources that the user can easily access, for example by a mouse click or by tapping the screen in a web browser. The development of HTTP was initiated by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1989 and summarized in a simple document describing the behavior of a client and a server using the first HTTP protocol version that was named 0.9.

DTP- Dynamic Trunking Protocol

The Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) is a proprietary networking protocol developed by Cisco Systems for the purpose of negotiating trunking on a link between two VLAN-aware switches, and for negotiating the type of trunking encapsulation to be used. It works on Layer 2 of the OSI model. VLAN trunks formed using DTP may utilize either IEEE 802.1Q or Cisco ISL trunking protocols

What is Networking?

Networking is used to connect or operate with a network. It is the process of creating and using wired or wireless networks for exchanging information, ideas, files, and other electronic communication.

What does Protocol mean?

The protocol is defined as the rules that connect two or more devices to transfer information from one device to another. It helps to know how data is being transferred from one network to another network for communication.

What is the OSI reference model?

OSI is a reference model that tells how information and data are communicated over a network. It is a conceptual framework that understands the relationships of transmission.