CCNA



1. Please tell me how many questions in the real CCNA exam, and how much time to answer them?
Until now, you have 90 minutes to answer 50 questions in the real CCNA exam but if your native language is not English, Cisco allows you a 30-minute exam time extension. But there are a few requirements to get this extension, so the best way is asking your teacher or mentor before taking the exam.

2. How much does the CCNA Exam 200-125 cost? And how many points I need to pass the exam?
It now costs $325 (big money, right?) :)
The passing score is 810/1000.

3. How many ways can I get the CCNA certification?
There are 2 ways to achieve this certification:
  • By taking two exams ICND-1 100-105 and ICND-2 200-105
  • By taking only one CCNA 200-125 exam
4. I got the CCNA certification, will this certification expire?
CCNA certification is valid for three years. To recertify, pass the ICND2 exam, or pass the current CCNA exam, or pass a CCNA Concentration exam (wireless, security, voice), or pass the current CCDA exam, or pass any 300 – XXX professional level or Cisco Specialist exam (excluding Sales Specialist exams), or pass a current CCIE or CCDE written exam.

5. After completing the INTRO exam (ICND 1), students currently have a three-year window in which to complete the ICND exam (ICND 2) to earn CCNA certification. Will this option still exist?
Yes, students will still be able to take and pass the first exam (INTRO or ICND1) and have a three-year window to pass the second exam (ICND2), before the first exam expires.

6. If students fulfill the exam requirements for the CCNA certification, will they also receive CCENT certification?
No, students who certify at the CCNA level will not earn CCENT certification. The purpose of the CCENT certification is to provide an option for those who aren’t ready for CCNA.

7. Which sims will I see in the CCNA exam?
The popular sims now are RIPv2 Troubleshooting, DHCP Sim, Access-list 2 , EIGRP TroubleShooting, OSPF Neighbor sims but no one can guarantee you will not see other sims in your exam. So the best way is practicing all sims on this site.

8. How many points will I get for one sim?
Well, Cisco doesn’t tell how many points you will get for each correctly solved sim but from my experience, you will get from 80 to 100 points for each sim. Cisco maybe is a bit rude for sims because you will just get a few points if you can’t solve the sim completely. So be careful with the sims and try to write all the commands on paper many times before taking this exam.

9. In the real exam, I clicked “Next” after choosing the answer, can I go back for reviewing?
No, this is a very important thing about CCNA exam. You can just go forward! You can visit http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/wwtraining/certprog/training/cert_exam_tutorial.htmlto be familiar with the exam interface.

10. What is the key to pass CCNA?
The CCNA exam covers many aspects of networking and most of the topics will be asked. But the most important topic is subnetting so make sure you understand how to subnet. Of course other topics are important too so you shouldn’t bypass them.

11. Can I use short commands, for example “conf t” instead of “configure terminal”? Will I get full mark for short commands?
It is another big question in the CCNA exam. Some reports said that you can use the “Tab” and short commands but some said they didn’t work. Sometimes the simulator in the exam doesn’t accept short commands and marks as “incomplete command”. Besides, no one can guarantee it will cost points or not if you use short commands so my recommendation is you should learn the full commands.

12. What are your recommended materials for CCNA?
There are many options you can choose, but below are materials used and recommended by many candidates:

Books:

The difference between CCNA Discovery and CCNA Exploration is “CCNA Discovery is designed for students with basic PC skills and can be delivered as an independent curriculum or integrated into broader courses of study at secondary schools, technical schools, colleges, and universities. CCNA Exploration is designed for students with advanced problem solving and analytical skills, such as those who are pursuing degrees in engineering, math, or science”. (Reference from “new CCNA faq”).

Video Training:

  • CBT Nuggets
  • Train Signal
  • Testout
From my point of view, these video are just optional materials and they cost much, you can definitely pass the CCNA exam without buying them. If you have strong budget and want to learn in a more comfortable way then buy them! (but it is difficult to pass if just listening to them without reading books, believe me!)

Simulators (luckily, they’re the best and free):

  • Packet Tracer (and you can get real exam labs on my site here)
  • GNS 3
GNS 3 is really good and it uses real IOS so all the commands are available but these IOS are copyrighted so it is hard to get. Besides, GNS 3 needs much RAM to run so from my experience you should use the Router c2600 with 64MB RAM to run if your labs are simple (like assign IP addresses, hostname, RIP…). If you need to configure OSPF or EIGRP, use higher router. These two simulators are enough to practice labs for CCNA but if you want to learn about other simulators, check out my Free Router Simulators article. Packet Tracer is light, quick and convenient for common tasks but sometimes it doesn’t act like real devices. A good point of Packet Tracer is that Cisco has many good labs (.pkt files) to practice with.

Websites & Forums:

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