Chapter 9
Required Learning Material for Your CCNA Routing and Switching
You must have the right learning material to help you understand the concepts covered in the examination. This is the only way you can ensure that you are confident when you appear for the examination. This learning material should include all the information about the examination, including the various questions that one can be asked during the examination. This material should also include the exam code structure and some sample exam questions that one may be asked. You should keep the following factors in mind before you choose the right study material.
Factors to Consider
Look Out for Free Material
Every student will always look for the best resources when they are preparing for the examination. The same can be said for you when you appear for the CCNA routing and switching examination. You will want to rely on the expensive course material and books available on the Cisco learning network to learn for the examination. There are, however, numerous websites that offer free study material for the examination. Before you rush into making a purchase, you should conduct thorough the search to understand which material has the required information and can be purchased for a lower rate.
Your Peers are Your Greatest Resource
Your peers are not a great resource that you can Roach to learn more about the CC Annie routing and switching certification. You can always approach them and arrange a one on one session, so you
are aware of which direction your career is going to take. You can also ask them to recommend some books and borrow their news before the examination. These notes can be very helpful when you prepare for the examination. It is always a good idea to ask someone who has already written the examination any questions and ask them for guidance.
Mix It Up
One of the best ways to learn something and also remember the concepts by committing them to memory is by engaging all your senses. You should always choose different ways of learning so that you are always on your toes, wanting to learn more first up this will make your learning experience fun. You can always choose a mix of video, audio, text, real-time data, and graphics to help you understand the different concepts covered in the examination. This will help you build a holistic approach of learning that will enable you to commit all your concepts the memory. You will be engaged in the subject when you mix things up.
Keep Yourself Updated
You must always be updated with the advancements made in technology in the routing industry. You should always stay abreast of the happenings and developments in the network industry. These study materials will only teach you a little bit about the networking industry. It is, therefore, important that you throw in some relevant information. In addition to studying the theoretical concepts.
Get Practical
You must always include some practical horses and tests as a part of your learning. If you are an employee of any organization or are a member of the Cisco learning network, you can obtain and appear for different practice tests that will help you prepare well for the examination. You cannot expect too easy examination simply with theoretical knowledge.
We will now look at how you can obtain the required information
that will help you covered the concepts that you will need to learn to appear for the CCNA routing and switching certification.
The Cisco Official Study Material
The Cisco learning website will give you the link to the syllabus or material you will need to clear the CCNA Routing and Switching certification. You can obtain this information on the routing and switching tab on the Cisco website. In this tab, you will find a link to the two exam approaches: the one exam approach and the two-exam approach. The former is the CCNA composite exam, while the latter is the ICND1 and ICND2 examination. These sections have an examination kit that provides information about every topic that you will need to cover to clear the examination. This kit will also shed some light on the topics that are easy to understand and also on the topics that are slightly difficult and more complicated.
As mentioned earlier, businesses are doing their best to migrate towards a control-based framework. This means that the role and the skills required for a network engineer are also changing rapidly. Most certifications offered by Cisco will provide this information. The CCNA routing and switching certification, however, will give you the foundation and the required knowledge about the technologies and how they impact the networks. Using this course material, you can ensure that your skills stay relevant even when there are changes in network technology.
This section will shed some light on the different study material and training program that you can use to understand the concepts covered in this certification.
Self-Study Materials
Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices- Part 1
Cisco offers you an E-learning portal that is designed to assist you and enable you to learn to understand the concepts included in the routing and switching certification examination. This portal will
include all the information about the ICND1 examination.
The course is structured in a way that will provide you a basic understanding of all the layers within the network that is used for code routing and switching. You will also gather information about various progressive technologies. Humorous topics have been included in the latest version of this examination, the version developed in the year 2016, to help you understand the interactions that take place in different network functions. You will also learn more about the interactions between wireless controllers, access points, and firewalls. Apart from this, you will also learn about the fundamentals of network security and some important protocols. This course will also introduce you to different configuration commands that will enable you to develop networks easily. You are also given a few lab exercises that will help you put your theoretical knowledge into practice.
This course is designed effectively. The material in this course will ensure that you develop a basic understanding of the routing and switching certification. The content in this course is available in the form of text as well as an instructor-led session. This text is presented in a very easy format that you can understand. The course is often self-paced, but it ensures that you can interact with other students appearing for this examination. These different aspects ensure a hands-on learning experience while simultaneously increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the course. This course will also make it easier for you to obtain feedback from your peers and instructors about your understanding of the course. There are some merit badges and leaderboards shown at the end of each week to motivate students to perform better.
When you complete this course, you will have gathered the required knowledge and skills to:
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Define the fundamentals of networks and build basic LANs
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Secure as well as manage network devices
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Work on expanding networks that are small to medium-sized
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Be able to describe the fundamentals of IPv6
This course is specifically designed for network specialists, network administrators, network support engineers, and some Cisco channel partners. You do not have to match any criterion. This means that there are no prerequisites for this course, but you will need to have some knowledge about the following topics will stop this knowledge will definitely come in handy while you are preparing for the course. The topics are fundamental computer literacy, essentials of PC operating system and navigation skills, primary Internet usage skills, and the basics of IP addressing systems. The associated certification of this course is CCNA Routing, and Switching and the associated exam is 100-1051 ICND1. English, Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish are the languages supported by this module. At present, the instructional videos are available in English and Spanish.
Cisco Learning Labs for ICND1
Cisco developed labs for each examination, and this set of labs was created to help students understand and improve their understanding of the different concepts covered in this examination. These labs are powered by the Cisco IOS Software equipped with Layer 2 and Layer 3 features, are supported by CLI, and are accessible 24/7, so you can study and learn at your convenience. These labs will enable you to improve your understanding of all networks. You will be proficient in designing, configuring, managing, and troubleshooting any network issues that can arise. This product comes also comes with the discovery labs and challenge labs. The former provides you with guided learning so that you can learn different concepts while the latter will test your ability and understanding of the theoretical concepts. This means that you will need to spend some time on practical test sets so you can assess your knowledge. There are 45 different test sets or pieces that you will need to go through when you take this lab curriculum. These pieces are in line with the different concepts that you need to cover
in this examination. When you clear this examination, you can appear for the second part of the examination. This will help you obtain the CCNA routing and switching certification.
Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices- Part 2
The school also offers an E-learning portal for the second part of the examination. As with the first part of the examination, this learning portal is designed to help you prepare for the second part of the CCNA routing and switching certification examination. You will gather all the required information about the various topics covered in this examination.
This examination is an associate-level examination or course and is the second part of the CNA routing and switching certification. This course gives networking specialists and administrators the required skills and information to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot networks in small enterprises. Some significant additions have been made to the curriculum in the year 2016. These have been discussed in detail in the previous chapters of the book. Some of the topics that have been included in this are:
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Quality of Service (QoS) elements and their application
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The interaction and impact of virtual and cloud services on the enterprise's network
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An overview of programmability of network and associated controller types
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Tools available to support any network architectures that are defined by the software
The course is structured similarly to the previous course. When you complete this course, you can:
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Work with medium-sized LANs with various switches supporting VLANs, trunking and spanning tree
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Solve problems related to IP connectivity
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Understand the configuration and troubleshooting of EIGRP in an IPv4 system and the configuration of EIGRP for IPv6
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Successfully understand the traits, functions and different aspects of WAN
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Understand how device management can be executed by utilizing conventional and smart technology
You do not have to satisfy any prerequisites or criteria when you want to appear for the scores, but you must have some knowledge about the following topics:
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Fundamentals of networks
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Implementation of local area networks
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Implementation of Internet connectivity
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Management of devices
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Knowledge about securing network devices
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Implementation of IPv6 connectivity
The associated certification of this course is CCNA Routing, and Switching and the associated exam is 200-1051 ICND2. English, Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish are the languages supported by this module. At present, the instructional videos are available in English and Spanish.
Cisco Learning Labs for ICND2
Cisco developed labs for each examination, and this set of labs was created to help students understand and improve their understanding of the different concepts covered in this examination. These labs are powered by the Cisco IOS Software equipped with Layer 2 and Layer 3 features, are supported by CLI, and are accessible 24/7, so you can study and learn at your convenience. If you want to study on your own, the module and structure given in this course are easy to follow. It is the second part of the labs. You
will learn more about how to configure, manage, and troubleshoot any issues in the network. Like the previous module, this module is also a combination of discovery and challenge labs. These will enable you to understand the topics better and also test your theoretical knowledge. These labs consist of 44 different pieces that you should go through. These pieces are aligned with the learning objectives of the second examination. When you hear this examination, you will obtain the CCNA routing and switching certification.
Certification Practice Exams
MeasureUp provides Cisco Certification Practice Exams to help test your level of understanding and skills. This website provides some information on different topics (these aren't the questions that might come in the final exam) that are related to various certification exams offered, such as Cisco CCENT, Cisco CCNA Routing, and Switching, Cisco CCNP ROUTE, Cisco CCNP SWITCH, and Cisco CCNA Security.
Apart from the study materials, Cisco also offers an extensive network of resources that include CCNA routing and switching study sessions, study material, access to different forums and blogs, and peer counseling.
Training
One of the best ways to prepare for the CCNA routing and switching certification is to enroll for the different training programs that are approved by Cisco. You can enroll for either the CCNAX course or enroll for the independent courses ICND1 and ICND2.
Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 (ICND1)
The ICND1 course will help you learn the basics of network layers, which are important for routing and switching. You will also learn more about the basics of routing and switching, which will create a base for some advanced technologies. The syllabus covered in this training module is the same as the syllabus that is covered in the
ICND1 course. Please refer to the previous section for more information about the ICND1 examination.
Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 2 (ICND2)
The syllabus or the content covered in this training module is the same as the course material you will need to prepare if you are writing the ICND2 examination. Please refer to the previous section for more information about the ICND2 examination. The difference between this training program and the self-paced learning is that the former has numerous lab exercises that you can work on to master the different training modules.
Enrollment
You can enroll for either the composite examination or the ICND1 and ICND2 examinations depending on which you choose to appear for in the following ways:
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Choose an instructor-led training session, and enroll yourself into that session on the Cisco Learning Locator page.
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Enroll for a private group training session on the Cisco Private Group Training.
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Visit the Cisco Learning Network Store if you want to choose a self-paced e-learning program.
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You should visit the Cisco Platinum Learning Library if you only want to access the digital library.
Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices: Accelerated (CCNAX)
The CCNAX course is the perfect amalgamation of the courses ICND1 and ICND2. This course is a five-day training program. You will learn about the installation, management, operation, configuration, and the fundamentals of the Internet Protocol version 4 or IPv4 along with the Internet Protocol version 6 or IPv6 network. You will not only learn about these concepts but will also learn more about how
to configure a LAN switch, how to work with an IP router, how do identify potential security breaches in a network, and connect to the Wen network. This combined course will give you the basic troubleshooting steps and tips that you can use if there are any errors in the network. These tips will also enable you to do well in the examination.
Some of the concepts included in this training program are:
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Quality of Service (QoS) as well as their applications
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The effect of virtual and cloud services on enterprise networks and their interaction
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A detailed overview of the network programmability along with the corresponding tools and controller varieties that are available for supporting a Software-Defined Networking (SDN) architecture
This is not an exhaustive list of all the concepts that you will learn in this course. You will also learn about the functions and interactions of firewalls, the basics of network security, the IPv6 protocol, wireless controllers, the access points for wireless controllers, and more. This course is a combination of the ICND1 and ICND2 courses.
Cisco learning network offers instructor-led training that is spread over five days. This course also includes some lab practice. At the end of the course, you will learn to design, configure, implement, and troubleshoot a network. This course will ensure that you nor the basics of networking. Support engineers, associate network engineers, network specialists, and network administrators and analysts must appear for this course. You can either choose to take a private group training or instructor-led training depending on your interest. You can obtain further details about this course on Cisco's website in the following sections: "Cisco Learning Locator" and "Cisco Private Group Training," respectively.
Cisco Official Course Material for Purchase
You can access all the material required to prepare for the certification examination by just paying $750. Some topics can be downloaded for free, while others are sold at a lower price. You must ensure that you check the content and verify that the material is not repetitive.