What are CCNA or CCNP exams? This question is frequently asked by individuals who have no knowledge of the networking field. Well, even if you may be acquainted with networking world you may still be unaware of these exams. There is nothing unnatural about these exams. These are the Cisco certification exams which can help a person working as network technicians achieve an expert level in the networking world.
Cisco, founded in San Francisco in 1984 has been offering different levels of certification to individuals since 2002. It has been offering five different levels of certification; Entry, Associate, Professional, Expert and Architect. The CCNA security is a certification of the Associate level which stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate Security and the CCNP security is a certification of the Professional level which stands for Cisco Certified Network Professional Security.
In order to take the CCNA Security exam you must have Cisco CCENT certification or CCNA routing and switching certification or any CCIE certification. If you do not have the prerequisites you may not be eligible to take the exam. Furthermore if you wish to take the exam you may participate in training classes or you can opt for self-study for which you can get the materials from the official Cisco website. And finally to take your CCNA Security exams you must find a test center who works with Pearson VUE.
Similarly, if you have planned to take the CCNP security exam you must have CCNA security certification or CCSP certification or any CCIE certification. Without meeting the prerequisites you will not be qualified to appear for the CCNP security exam. However if you meet the requirement and want to take the exam you can study on your own by using the study materials available in the Cisco website or participate in training classes made available for you by Cisco. And you must indeed find a test center who works with Pearson VUE to take your CCNP security exam.
For both of the examination, candidates have to give a written exam which is followed by a lab work. The result of the first written examination - pass or fail, which is available immediately after examination, defines eligibility of the candidate to participate in the second phase of the examination. Lab examination administered by Cisco is considered to be far more difficult than the written examination. The candidate should solve a series of complex network problems and to pass the exam the candidate must secure about 80% of the total marks. Then after, the passed candidate is considered to be an expert in that particular field.
The Cisco Systems not only offer the CCNP security and the CCNA Security exam but they also offer different level of examinations which aid in the development of knowledge and skill in an individual. By providing the opportunity to gain professionalism the Cisco group has added a milestone on the road to networking. A network technician can easily get a recognized certification which will enable him\her to deliver his\her service effectively without having to face any barrier.