CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate, and is one of the base certifications provided by Cisco Systems, Inc. It is a fairly commonly-held certification and certainly is the most common amongst Cisco's. This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... Cisco Systems, Inc. ...

Exam information

(test codes current as of December, 2004)

A CCNA candidate must prove familiarity & expertise with Cisco's IOS, TCP/IP, LAN and WAN management, routing and routing protocols, the OSI model, LAN troubleshooting, and be familiar with a variety of network protocols, some Cisco-specific and some not. Ios (locally Nios) is an island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. ... The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet runs. ... A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a local area, like a home, office or small group of buildings such as a college. ... Wan is a Chinese abbreviation for the province of Anhui in China. ... This article describes routing in computer networks, a method of finding paths from origins to destinations, along which information can be passed. ... The Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model (OSI Model or OSI Reference Model for short) is a layered abstract description for communications and computer network protocol design, developed as part of the Open Systems Interconnect initiative. ... In networking, a communications protocol or network protocol is the specification of a set of rules for a particular type of communication. ...

The test (Cisco code 640-801) is computer-administered and is 60 questions over 90 minutes and is adaptive; the test will quickly ascertain which areas an examinee is weak on and focus on those. The test includes multiple choice questions (including many multiple-answer questions, e.g. 'which three of these five options'), matching questions, and simulated 'lab' questions that provide a virtual network consisting of several routers and switches to test troubleshooting skills.

There is also a two test option using the INTRO (Cisco code 640-821) and ICND (Cisco code 640-811) tests. This allows the candidate to focus on certain subjects and allows Cisco to get more money out of the tests.

The certification is valid for three years; at that time a CCNA holder must either re-take the certification exam or take an exam for one of the Professional or Specialist level certifications, such as CCNP. At one point, the CCNA re-certification exam was different from the CCNA exam, but this no longer seems to be the case. The CCNP certifcation, or Cisco Certified Network Professional, is the middle ground of Cisco technical certifications. ...

External links

• Cisco Systems, Inc. (http://www.cisco.com/)
• Cisco's CCNA page (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/learning/le3/le2/le0/le9/learning_certification_type_home.html)
• CCNA Lessons Online (http://cisco.netacad.net/)
• Network course materials Cisco CCNA (http://www.cisco.prv.pl/)
• Unofficial CCNA Tutorials (http://www.semsim.com/ccna/tutorials.html)