CCNA
CCNA
The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is a foundation-level Cisco certification. Cisco offers five levels of information technology certifications, from foundation-level to expert. CCNA certification is Cisco’s most popular certification, and one of the tech industry’s most sought-after career credentials. Becoming CCNA certified is a distinctive first step towards a rewarding career as a Network Administrator or Network Engineer.
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification validates your ability to install, configures, operate and troubleshoot medium-size Routers & Switches. CCNA certified professionals can make connections to remote sites via a wide area network (WAN), mitigate basic network security threats, and understand fundamental networking concepts and terminology. Credential holders are also familiar with technologies such as access control lists (ACLs), VLANS, various routing protocols and more…
The following are the abilities you can learn from the Cisco CCNA course:
- Basic Routing and Switching
- Networking Fundamentals
- Network Access
- Wireless Access Point
- Internet Protocol (IP) Services
- Automation and Programmability
You will find the complete CCNA v1.1 Syllabus in the below table –
| Section | Weightage | Objectives |
| Network fundamentals | 20% | 1. Network components a. Routers b. Controllers c. Servers d. L2 and L3 switches e. Endpoints f. Firewalls and IPS g. Accent points 2. Network topology architectures a. WAN b. Spine-leaf c. 2-tier d. 3-tier e. SOHO f. On-premises and cloud 3. Physical interface and cabling types comparison a. Single-mode fiber, Copper, Multimode fiber b. Connections c. PoE 4. Interface and cable issues identification 5. TCP to UDP comparison 6. IPv4 addressing and subnetting 7. Need for private IPv4 addressing 8. IPv6 addressing and prefix 9. IPv6 address types comparison a. Global unicast b. Anycast c. Unique local d. Multicast e. Link local f. EUI 64 10. IP parameters for Client OS 11. Wireless principles a. Non-overlapping WiFi channels 12. Virtualization fundamentals 13. Switching concepts a. MAC learning and edging b. Frame switching c. Frame flooding d. MAC address table |
| Network Access | 20% | 1. VLANs spanning multiple switches a. Access ports b. Default VLAN c. Connectivity 2. Interswitch connectivity a. Trunk ports b. Native VLAN c. 802.1Q 3. Layer 2 discovery protocols 4. Layer2/Layer3 EtherChannel 5. Rapid PVST a. Port names like Root port and many more b. Benefits of PortFast c. Port states d. Root Guard, loop guard, BPDU filter, and BPDU guard 6. AP modes and Wireless architectures comparison 7. WLAN components 8. Describing Network Device management access (Telnet, SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, console, TACACS+/RADIUS, and cloud managed) 9. Components of a wireless LAN access using GUI only such as WLAN creation, QoS profiles, and many more. |
| IP Connectivity | 25% | 1. Components of the routing table a. Prefix b. Next hop c. Network Mask d. Administrative distance e. Routing protocol code f. Gateway of last resort g. Metric 2. Examine how a router decides on default forwarding. a. Administrative distance b. Longest match c. Routing protocol metric 3. IPv4 and IPv6 static routing a. Host route b. Floating route c. Network route d. Default route 4. Single area OSPFv2 a. Broadcast b. Point-to-Point c. Router ID d. Neighbor adjacencies 5. The objectives of the first hop redundancy protocol |
| IP Services | 10% | 1. NAT using static and pools 2. NTP operating 3. Role of DHCP and DNS 4. Function of SNMP 5. Use of Syslog 6. DHCP client and relay 7. Forwarding PHB for QoS 8. Network devices for remote access 9. TFTP/FTP capabilities and network functions |
| Security Fundamentals | 15% | 1. Key security concepts (exploit, Vulnerabilities, etc.) 2. Security program elements 3. Device access control 4. Security password policies elements 5. Remote access and site-to-site VPNs 6. Access control lists 7. Layer 2 security features 8. Distinguish between the concepts of authorization, accounting, and authentication 9. Wireless security protocols 10. Configure WLAN using WPA2 PSK using the GUI |
| Automation & Programmability | 10% | 1. Impact of automation on network management 2. Controller-based networking and traditional network comparison 3. Controller-based and software-defined architectures a. Control plane and Data plane separation b. South-bound and North-bound APIs 4. AI (generative and predictive) and machine learning in network operations explanation 5. Characteristics of REST-based APIs 6. Capabilities of configuration management mechanisms (Terraform and Ansible) 7. Interpret JSON encoded data |
These are the new changes brought to the CCNA Syllabus. If are preparing for CCNA exam, you should be familiar with its syllabus.
CCNA Exam Details
| Exam Number | CCNA 200-301 |
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| No. of Question | 50-60 |
| Language | English and Japanese |
| Cost | $300 USD, plus tax |
| Validity | 3 years |
| Pre-requisites | Anyone with the basic networking knowledge can appear for CCNA certification |