Sieci - Cisco CNNA, protokoły, NETWARE.pdf

(5048 KB) Pobierz
CCNA Exam Certification Guide
C
H
A
P
T
E
R
1
What Is CCNA?
The growth of Cisco Systems since its inception has been phenomenal and consistent. This
growth has occurred in part due to market dominance in their core product lines, as well as
through adding breadth of products through acquisition of other companies. The stock price
has grown to the point that many Cisco employees who get stock options as part of their
compensation packages cannot afford to leave Cisco and leave such a large sum of money
behind!
The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification program was introduced in
1994 as the only Cisco certification. The entire breadth of the then-current product line was
allowed to be covered on the exam, and it was intended to be a truly difficult certification
to obtain. Certification required an exam (computer-based) and then a hands-on, two-day
lab. The failure rate on each portion was high.
NOTE
Cisco does not publish the success rate for passing the CCIE exam or lab. I did some
informal surveys, none of which I am allowed to quote. Consistently, the feedback was
more than a 50 percent failure rate on CCIE lab candidates, with about an 80 percent failure
rate for first-time candidates!
The breadth of Cisco’s product line has been growing and will continue to grow. Inside the
Cisco sales arena, Systems Engineers and Account Managers sometimes long for the days
of a one-volume, thin product manual. In those days, the entire product line could be
memorized. Today, the product line is too broad for any one person to remember and to
understand how all the products work.
So two problems evolved for Cisco relating to certification: one relating to the breadth of
topics, the other to the depth of knowledge required. The CCIE exam could no longer cover
the breadth of products. One solution was to create types of CCIE certifications, of which
there are now three:
•
CCIE
—Routing/Switching
•
CCIE
—ISP
•
CCIE
—WAN
This helped address the problems that the breadth of product line created for the CCIE
program.
 
4
Chapter 1: What Is CCNA?
The other solution was to create certifications in addition to the CCIE that did not require the
same depth of skills and knowledge. The Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA)
certification is the first and most basic of these certifications. (The rest of these new
certifications are described in the Introduction to this book.)
The CCNA exam is basic, but not necessarily easy. The purpose of the exam could be best
summarized as follows:
To prove the candidate has mastered the topics covered on the CCNA exam, to the
technical depth required for basic networks.
Of course, that objective is open to considerable interpretation. What is a basic network? What
breadth of topics are covered? Does basic mean small?
This chapter provides a complete interpretation of what the CCNA exam actually covers and
the depth of knowledge needed. It also compares these objectives with the typical training
you would have taken before attempting the exam. Cisco publishes a detailed list of CCNA
objectives; each will be described. Finally, a “game plan” of how to complete your preparations
with this study guide is included.
CCNA Exam Philosophy
This book defines the objective of the CCNA exam as “proving mastery of the basics.” Mastery,
in this case, means recalling all the facts and concepts relating to the subject. The only two
questions that remain are as follows:
•
What are the subjects?
•
How deeply do I need to know each subject?
We begin by examining all that Cisco has published about the exam.
What Cisco Says about CCNA
After sifting through the materials currently available from Cisco, the following is what we
know
about the exam:
•
There are 60 published exam objectives that can be covered on the exam.
•
A basic network (the exam covers “basic” networks) has two or three routers, LAN
switches, leased lines or Frame Relay for WAN access, and ISDN for dial backup.
•
Cisco’s certification Web page is URL http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/10/wwtraining/
certprog.
Figure 1-1 illustrates a basic network.
CCNA Exam Philosophy
5
Figure 1-1
Typical Basic CCNA Network
Frame Relay
what each
objective means, and the breadth of questions that could be asked based on an individual
objective, is open to interpretation
. This book gives an interpretation of the objectives and
makes suggestions to you about topics that you need to be ready for, and topics that are unlikely
to be covered on the exam.
The definition of “basic network” is in a diagram on Cisco’s Web site, with Figure 1-1 being
essentially identical. However, the network diagram does not necessarily define the list of topics
that this test covers. Is DECNET covered? Is AppleTalk? IPX? X.25? ATM? The list goes on.
So, from what Cisco tells us, we cannot define what is on the test exactly. But, you can get a
pretty good idea, based on the objectives.
What We Can Infer from What Cisco States
A full definition of exactly what topics are on the exam will probably never be stated by Cisco.
Cisco does want candidates to succeed at passing the CCNA exam, but not at the expense of
making CCNA a “paper certification.” Paper certification refers to the process through which
someone can just buy a test study guide, read it, memorize portions, take the test, and pass.
Cisco’s goal is that passing CCNA should reflect the fact that you have internalized and
mastered these basic concepts, not that you can read a book and memorize well. To protect you
against having the CCNA slowly lose credibility due to people just reading a book and passing
the test, Cisco will probably always avoid an exact definition of the topics on the exam. By
giving a general definition only, those who understand networks are rewarded. Those who
prefer to memorize will be less likely to pass the test.
An exact definition of what is covered on the CCNA exam is difficult to construct. Cisco’s 60
stated CCNA objectives should describe all the topics that will be on your exam. However, the
The objectives create a great tool for preparation. If you are going to prepare only slightly,
making sure you can answer all 60 objectives is an obvious thing to do. However,
 
6
Chapter 1: What Is CCNA?
objectives are subject to interpretation. To address this potential problem, this book directly
refers to the CCNA objectives whenever possible. In this chapter, an interpretation of the
objectives is offered. A chart containing many of the borderline topics is included, with an
opinion about how likely it is for each topic to be on the exam.
The objectives will change as time goes on. As this happens, a higher percentage of the test
questions will not be in the list of objectives found in this book. Of course, Cisco will change
or add to the objective list at their discretion, so pulling the latest CCNA objectives list from
Cisco’s Web site is worth the effort. In an effort to make any changed objective lists more
usable, Cisco Press will include my comments on its Web site (http://www.ciscopress.com/)
with an explanation of each new objective.
The CCNA exam topics will closely match what is covered in the recommended prerequisite
training. Cisco Worldwide Training (WWT) is the Cisco organization responsible for the
certifications. Many of the certification exams, including CCNA, were an evolution from exams
covering a particular course. It is reasonable to expect, with good benefits to us, that CCNA and
the other certifications will cover the topics in the prerequisite classes. Knowing that, we can
make better choices on which topics to focus upon, and which to ignore.
These suggested prerequisite classes are listed by Cisco as key parts of the
Training Paths
you
can take to prepare for the CCNA and other certifications. Because I am inferring that the
CCNA exam will only cover topics in these courses, knowing what these topics are and the
depth to which the courses cover each topic will be important to your preparation. An entire
section of this chapter, titled “Analysis of Training Paths,” is devoted to an examination of the
CCNA recommended prerequisite training.
Summary of the CCNA Exam Philosophy
The following list encapsulates the basic philosophy behind preparing for the CCNA exam
based on what Cisco is willing to disclose to CCNA candidates.
•
While open to interpretation, the CCNA objectives define the main topics covered on the
exam. At a minimum, you should know about each subject covered in these objectives.
•
The depth of knowledge on each topic is comparable to what is covered in the prerequisite
courses. The book attempts to cover the topics at a slightly deeper level to make sure you
know more than enough.
•
Getting the latest copy of Cisco’s CCNA objectives from their Web site is very useful.
Comparing that list to the one used for this book will let you know the topics you will need
to spend additional time studying.
•
Do not expect to pass the exam if your only preparation has been to read this book. One
of the suggested training paths should be used. You should also work with routers and
switches for the best chance at success.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin