Q. What exams do I have to take to get my CCNA?

A. The CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certification offers two paths. You can take the one-exam path by taking the 640-801 CCNA Composite exam. If you want to break it up into two parts, you can take the Introduction To Cisco Networking Technologies (INTRO 640-821) and the Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devcies (ICND 640-811) exams.

Q. Chris, which path do you recommend?

A. I generally recommend the two-exam path, particularly for those CCNA candidates that haven't taken a Cisco exam before. The Intro exam offers you a little more time and allows you to become comfortable with the Cisco exam engine, particularly the simulator questions. Let's face it, the CCNA single exam covers a lot of material, from basic networking to OSPF to router on a stick. Most candidates are better off breaking this huge amount of material into two distinct parts.

Don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of students and customers pass the CCNA composite. It can be done!

Q. Do I have to recertify my CCNA, or is it mine forever after I pass?

A. One way Cisco protects the value of its certifications is to enforce strict recertification policies. When you earn your CCNA, you must recertify within three years.

Q. How do I recertify my CCNA?

A. There is a lot of confusion out there on this question. The latest information from Cisco is that you recertify your CCNA by doing any of the following three things:

1. Pass the current CCNA Composite or ICND exam.

2. Pass any 642-level professional level exam or any Cisco Qualified Specialist exam, not including Sales Specialist exams.

3. Pass any CCIE written exam.

Q. How do I register for the CCNA exam?

A. You can take the CCNA exam at any Prometric or VUE testing center. To find a Prometric testing center near you and register online, visit www.2test.com . For a VUE site, register at www.vue.com .

Q. Can you give me a braindump for the exam?

A. Boy, do you have the wrong guy! :)

To your success,

Chris Bryant

CCIE #12933
About the Author

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, write to chris@thebryantadvantage.com !

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Cisco... Cisco CCNA Certification: Don't Overreact To Exam Version Changes CCNA Certification: Don't Overreact To Exam Version Changes Whenever a Cisco exam version changes, there's always a lot of chatter about it on the web. The CCNA exams are no exception. One comment I see often goes like this: " I hear Cisco is going to change Intro / ICND / CCNA exam versions soon, so I'm not going to start studying yet. I'll wait until the new exam comes out." Do not let this happen to you. While some large publishers would have you think these exams change tremendously from one version to another ("updated for the latest exams!"), the simple fact is that the Intro, ICND, and CCNA Composite exams simply don't change much from version to version.Sure, the questions change. The only people who should be nervous about that are those who are trying to braindump their way to a technical certification.The topics covered on the CCNA exams don't change much at all. You know you're going to have to demonstrate knowledge of LAN switching, ISDN, Frame Relay,...