How to pass the CCNA Exam

If you stumbled upon this article, then you are most likely familiar with what the CCNA exam is. It is a vendor-specific exam that covers the basics of networking.

CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate. There are now multiple flavors of CCNA exams, including CCNA Security, CCNA Cloud, CCNA Data Center, and many others.

Before all of the new flavors of CCNA were introduced, there was the original: CCNA Routing and Switching.  This test was an extremely comprehensive test that covered both basic and advanced topics.

At some point the folks at Cisco decided to give the option of breaking up the CCNA exam into two parts:

  • CCENT – Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician
  • CCNA – Cisco Certified Network Administrator

You have the choice of taking the combined test and obtaining the full CCNA certification in one sitting or taking the two tests separately. The entire test can be quite daunting, so breaking up the test is an excellent option if you are concerned.

There are some ways that you can gain the required knowledge needed to pass the tests. Dozens of boot camps available will teach you what you need to know. I am not a big fan of these boot camps because most of them are quite costly. If you are ok with the cost or better yet if your company is willing to pay for the Bootcamp, then you will undoubtedly be more prepared after completion. Many boot camps will also include the cost of the test. They also often offer some type of pass guarantee. This means that you can either retake the test at no cost or take the class a second time without having to pay.

A self-study is undoubtedly an option for this test. There are many books and online video courses that will prepare you well for this exam. I recommend the free video course at Cybrary.it

One of the benefits of boot camps is that the instructors often have an excellent idea of the types of questions on the tests. The instructors get feedback from their students regularly and use this feedback to adapt their class to ensure that they are teaching the specific knowledge that will likely be on the test.

But, there are also some excellent online resources that allow you to get the pulse of the recent CCNA exams. These sites are a combination of ethical teaching sites and somewhat black hat test dump sites.

If you are doing self-study and you want to get a good feel for the questions on the test, then there is just one website to use. This site is famous in the Cisco world and will ensure that you are prepared for the CCNA exam by providing sample questions that are very close to what you will find on the actual test. The site is 9Tut.net.

I have no idea why the site has such a strange name, but I can vouch for it. The questions and answers that 9Tut.net provide are so close to what you will find on the actual exam that you will be amazed. Some folks claim that they have passed the CCNA exam by merely studying the test questions and answers on the 9Tut.net website. I believe that this is probably true.

If you study hard and know the material, then 9Tut.net will top off your knowledge and ensure that you are prepared for the questions you will encounter on the exam.