Practical training for the preparation of CCNP exam

According to Networkers Guru, CCNP can be a difficult certification to pass if you prepare without planning. The prospective candidates need to have a proper study and preparation plan in order to do well in the examination. No matter how tough are your circumstances, if you want to earn the CCNP certification, you got to allocate special time for its training and preparation. The candidates shouldn’t overlook any part of the training program. They should do theoretical preparation, lab training and also solve all types of sample exam papers in order to get the insight on the actual CCNP certification exam.

The candidates need to do lots and lots of lab training:

The CCNP certification exam also has a practical part where you need to have hands on experience with all the Cisco products. Building a Cisco home lab is a possibility and can be very useful as well, but that can be very costly as well. It is advised to all the prospective candidates to join a reputable training center like Networkers Guru which has a state of the art Cisco products lab. You will get the opportunity to thoroughly practice on all the Cisco products. The candidates sitting for the certification exam should know that how to configure, monitor and troubleshoot the Cisco devices. The wired and the wireless devices should be taken separately in order to avoid any confusion for the candidates in the lab.

An emulator can be the best resource to use for the configuration and troubleshooting of Cisco products. An emulator actually uses the real Cisco IOS which will make you understand the working of Cisco devices in a number of good ways. An emulator basically acts like a real Cisco device without actually having the hardware. The GNS3 is considered the best emulator for most CCNPlabs. The GNS3 emulator would not only teach you everything about the Cisco products, but it would also save you a good amount of money. The only drawback of the emulator is that it doesn’t emulate the switches and that you have to buy yourself in order to practice on them. It is speculated that the new version of GNS3 emulator would have switches emulation as well and it is due to release sometime in late 2014.

The students who couldn’t afford a training lab, an emulator due to financial resources or any time constraints, then they also have a choice of simulator. Although, it is not as effective as the emulator, but still it is better than nothing. A simulator is a computer software which you can use to simulate different Cisco products. You can design a network infrastructure using the simulator. Further, a simulator can give you a true understanding of the working of all the Cisco products and will give you an opportunity to configure and troubleshoot various Cisco products virtually. Therefore, it is critically important for the candidates to have practical experience with the Cisco products in any possible way for clearing the CCNP certification.

Opinion from CCIE qualified professionals

According to Networkers Guru, CCIE can be a daunting certification to prepare for, but once you achieve it, then everything will go in your favor specifically in the career that you are pursuing. You will get to have an executive post in whichever organization you work and your salary package would also be very lucrative. In short CCIE certification would altogether change your life. It will make a great impact on your CV and you will get a lot of job offers every now and then. It is always advised for CCIE professionals to have their profile at LinkedIn and keep it updated all the time. You will notice that so many people would approach you with great job offers. That will give you a sense of achievement and a sense of satisfaction as well that you own something extraordinary.

The opinion of some qualified CCIE professionals.

The Networkers Guru gathered a list of some CCIE qualified professionals which can motivate a lot of people who are looking to prepare for the said certification. Their experience would also give you an idea that hot to prepare for the exam. Following is a list of some of those people with their experience with the certification:

·         Morgan Stepp CCIE #12603 – Everyone who starts this certification is never sure about completion, but once anyone achieves it, then it is more of a relief feeling than exciting.  My advice to all the people preparing for the certification is to be determined and never give up at any stage until you achieve your desired results. Remember that the CCIE exam is just like any other exam. There is no torture cell there where you will be tortured. SO be relaxed and be confident. The proctors in the examination hall are generally nice and they will help you with the understanding of the exam or any problem that you can have during your time in the examination hall.

·         Terry Slattery CCIE #1026 – I failed my exam in the first attempt, but couldn’t figure out that where were my weaknesses. The report card which I received later told the whole story and I didn’t lose hope and began preparing for the exam again. The second time I had a different approach for the exam and worked extra hard on my weak areas. It took me a year to prepare again for my second exam and finally I passed this time with flying colors and that was such a relief. I started believing now that everything is possible and you just have to find a way.

·         Nivon Silva CCIE #19841 – My CCIE journey was quite different. I am a professional working in an IT firm full time and still I managed to clear my certification in the first attempt. I just managed time very well and allocated at least 4 days every week for the preparation of my exam. It took me almost 7 months to prepare and eventually passed the exam.

How to prepare for the CCNP exam

The Networkers Guru is a reputable training center located in New Delhi, India which gives extensive trainings on all the Cisco certifications. The training center is equipped with state of the art lecture rooms and labs where you can find almost all sorts of Cisco products. Further, the Networkers Guru has the service of all the Cisco certified professionals who can train you in an exceptionally good way with their own experience in the Cisco certifications. A lot of prospective candidates seeking CCNP certification feel really anxious about the training and preparation of the exam. In reality, they shouldn’t be worried at all if they are focused, committed, determined and motivated. The first thing that the student should do is to ask themselves that why they are doing this certification, what impact it will have on their current job and how this certification would help them in future. If any of the prospective CCNP candidates has positive answers to all these questions, then he would have all the much needed motivation, dedication and commitment to pass the certification. The point here is that the prospective candidates shouldn’t be aimless while pursuing this certification. They should have an aim, objectives and future career goals in order to attain the certification with flying colors. 

Self Study:

The students can choose their training and preparation method as per their suitability and convenience. There are a number of prospective candidates seeking CCNP certification who are full time employed in some organization and they still try to train and prepare for the CCNP certification. For such professionals, self study is the most suitable option as they couldn’t get enough time to go for training at Cisco coaching center. For self study, the candidates need to acquire all the study material which is needed for the preparation of the exam. They can refer to many helpful sites on the web which can give you full details of the required books and other course material which you will need. The candidate should also consult the Cisco Systems website which will always have all up to date information about the study material. Further, the self study candidates should also refer to sample exam paper which they can easily download from the web and can also attain them in the form of a CD from many reputable book stores and CD shops. The sample exam paper can be the best resource for the self studying candidates as it will give them a good insight about the type of questions asked in the CCNP exam.

Joining a Training Center:

A lot of candidates who have problem in their networking concepts prefer joining a training center where they seek help from Cisco certified experts. Further, they also get a chance to practically train in the labs on actual Cisco products. The NetworkersGuru in India is one such reputable training center which can help all the prospective candidates in the attainment of the CCNP certification.

How to prepare for the CCNA examination

The CCNA examination just asks the candidates to prepare themselves for the examination in a systematic way. The Networkers Guru professionals also give useful tips for the candidates sitting for the certification exam. The Networking Guru can also provide the candidates with useful study material that can help them a great deal in preparing for the examination.  Following are some of the key points which will help you a great deal in preparing for your examination:

·         Get the proper study material – CCNA is a specialized certification and it requires you to study for specific study material. The Networkers Guru gives their students all sorts of information about the relevant study material required for the preparation of the certification. It is also essential to note for the candidates that they shouldn’t waste their time on irrelevant study material. Rather, they should stick strictly to the scope of the CCNA preparation. Reading other books might increase your knowledge, but it will waste your energies for the preparation of the certification and it can also confuse you as well while you are sitting in the CCNA examination hall. You ideally need two text books which are Cisco ICND 1 and ICND 2. These two books will be sufficient for your preparation and make sure you have the updated versions of the book. Further, there is also an app available on Smartphone by the name of ‘CCNAx Exam Prep’ app which can be downloaded free of cost from the Apple iTunes store. The app has a lot of useful study material which can help you in the preparation of your exam.

·         Approach for preparation – The candidates should have a proper approach for their exam preparation. The Networkers Guru suggests that you should first begin by studying for making your concepts and then you should go for the exam questions which are given in the ICND 1 and the ICND 2 books. The books also come with the CDs which you can use to do the practice exams. The exam questions given in the CD are absolutely same as the questions given in the actual CCNA exam paper. It can be a very useful resource to prepare yourself for the exam. But make sure that you keep the practice exams as the last thing in your preparation.

·         Schedule the test – The CCNA examination is scheduled by the certification body several times in a year. Don’t think about the exam date in the start. Prepare yourself thoroughly first and then look that on which coming date you want to book the examination. You can keep a target date and prepare yourself well for the examination to take on the desired date. But, don’t take the date on your nerve. The date can be the next one available as well. Just make sure that you are fully prepared when you book your test. The Network Guru professionals can help you as well with the test booking and other relevant things.

CCNP Switch Exam Description

Exam Description:

The Networkers Guru explains everything about the CCNP exam in detail both on their website and also during their training sessions. There have been rapid changes in the switching exam over the past few years. The candidates need to thoroughly research and understand the structure of the exam before they prepare for it and take their exam. The CCNP as in 2014 is consolidated into three courses and test with a lot of focus on the technical and practical aspects of networking. As far as the switching exam is concerned, the SWITCH exam not only covers the generally switching aspects, but also extensively covers the layer 3 switching abilities, voice over IP (VOIP), security video services and its high level connectivity. Thus, the students are required to cover all other related aspects with switching capabilities in order to fully prepare for the exam.

Switching equipment recommendations:

Switching exam can be a bit tougher than the routing CCNP exam as explained by the professionals from Networkers Guru. One critical part of the switching exam as opposed to the routing exam is that it doesn’t give you any inexpensive way for getting hands on experience with the switching devices. All the emulators available in the market have got everything to emulate except switches. This means the only thing that you can do in such cases is to buy a real switch, but that can be a very expensive thing to do for just preparing yourself for the CCNP exam. At a much higher level beyond the CCNP exam, investing in buying a switch can be justified as that becomes a mandatory thing to survive in the competitive networking industry. The best thing that students can do in such cases is to join a training center which has real networking switches which you can use to learn in order to prepare for the exam. The Networkers Guru training center in New Delhi, India has got the Cisco 2550 and Cisco 3560 switches which you will be taught to configure and troubleshoot. Another benefit of joining Networkers Guru training institute is that you will learn everything that you need to give the CCNP certification exam.

The students can search for used switches on eBay and other such sites and remember that even a second hand switch can cost you $500 or above.

Switching Exam difference:

The Networkers Guru explains that there has been a lot of revision in the CCNP but the major differences were in the features and functionality of the switches which has evolved over time. The core concepts of the switching exam remain almost the same. The key thing for students to consider here is that all the modern switches along with the routers are running the IOS. If you want to configure a layer 3 switch then it is almost same as configuring any standard router. A lot of candidates prefer to take the ROUTE exam first, so this thing would considerably help them in the SWITCH CCNP exam.

CCNA Exam Essentials

CCNA exams are designed to thoroughly test the candidates about their networking expertise. The exam tests them on the installation, maintenance, configuring and monitoring of small to medium sized networks. Further, the exam also tests them with the knowledge of various network devices, including router, switches and a range of other wireless devices as well.

Which path should candidates take?
The CCNA examination offers two paths for you which are on the candidate’s discretion to take. The candidates can either split the objective part of the paper into two separate exams or otherwise take a single composite exam. There is no better path to take between the two. Ideally, they both are equal and it depends on the candidate that where he is comfortable. The split route of the exam tests you on ICND 1 and ICND 2.

Newly Introduced topics:
With the rapid advancement in technology, a lot of new topics are included in the CCNA course which makes the CCNA certification a lot more challenging. The Networkers Guru takes this challenge very well and gives extensive training to all the potential candidates who are looking to take the test in the near future. The Networkers Guru keeps themselves updated about all the inclusions in the course and update their website as well. Some of the newly included topics in the CCNA include:
• IPv6, which includes additional coverage including several routing protocols, namely OSPFv3 and EIGRP. This is the latest IP protocol, which is a must to learn a thing for clearing the examination.
• First Hop Redundancy Protocols (FHRP) are another newly added hot topic in the CCNA course.
• SYSLOG
• Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
• Hot Standby Routing Protocol (HSRP)
• Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
• Gateway Load Redundancy Protocol (GLRP)
• Password Recovery techniques
• Software (IOS)Licensing issues
• Network Time Protocol
• Netflow

These are all very new and hot topics and the authorities of CCNA believe that all the candidates sitting for the examination should be well prepared on all these topics. The Networkers Guru  training center gives special training on all the new topics and give extra help to candidates as not much exam help or sample papers are available on these new topics. The candidates should also do extensive research on the new topics and gather as much information as they can from the internet. The most testing examination material on the new topics can be the troubleshooting techniques related to these questions which really test the skills and expertise of the candidates.

Preparing for the Exam:
The candidates for the preparation of their CCNA exams should go by following the way they feel more comfortable with and not by and bookish approach. Ideally, the students should first polish all their networking concepts. When this phase is finished, then they should go for the sample text exams to analyze that how prepared they are for the examination. Once, the candidate s fully prepared, then only he should book his examination.