Cisco To Launch New CCNA Exam, Add Two-Exam Option for Less-Experienced
Candidates
6/23/03 ¡ª This week at its Networkers conference in
Orlando, Cisco Systems will announce a new Cisco Certified Network
Associate (CCNA) exam, 640-801, to launch June 30.
The current CCNA exam (640-607), which debuted in March 2002, includes
understanding the functions and operations of local area networks
(LAN), Cisco IOS fundamentals, wide area networks (WAN), virtual
private networks (VPN), and Storage Area Networks (SAN). Other topics
covered are IP Addressing, Cisco Command Line Interface (CLI), Routing
and Switching technologies and protocols. (Editor's Note: TCPmag.com
provides a review of this exam, written by CCNP Andy Barkl, here.)
Nader Nanjiani, marketing programs manager of the Internet Learning
Solutions Group at Cisco, said the 801 version of the CCNA exam
has been updated to cover switching configuration, Open Shortest
Path First (OSPF) and Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol
(EIGRP) protocols, and variable length subnet masking.
"This exam is more in-depth than 607, not a reduction,"
he commented. "These topics were already included in the ICND
class that we're teaching now¡ [So] anyone who's taken
the [Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices) course that was already
out, [he or she] should be able to pass the new exam, because now
[the exam] covers the chapters that weren't necessarily covered
before."
The 640-607 exam is scheduled to retire Sept. 30, although candidates
will be able to take the exam into early October as long as they
schedule the test by the earlier date.
At the same technical conference for Cisco professionals, the company
will also announce a new two-exam approach to the CCNA.
According to Nanjiani, the two new exams -- INTRO 640-821 and ICND
640-811 -- cover exactly the same content as the soon-to-debut 801
exam, but the information is split, with higher-level content in
the ICND, and lower-level content in INTRO. "Now you have the
option of taking a single exam if you can handle the content in
one fell swoop¡or piecemeal if you want to take more
time," Nanjiani explained.
The INTRO test is currently available in beta form as 641-821.
Nanjiani estimated that it would be available in live form in eight
to 12 weeks. A corresponding course will be available later in July.
The ICND exam will be available on June 30. Each exam will be valid
for three years.
Nanjiani said that candidates will be able to choose for themselves
which CCNA path to take; Cisco is only recommending that those with
less networking experience choose the two-exam option. "We
were hearing from our training partners that people were coming
to the ICND class and having a difficult time keeping up¡they
didn't have the networking background," he explained. "No
one is going to stop you, but [the INTRO exam] is a way for an individual
to see how he or she stands before jumping into the ICND courses."
With the two-exam approach, candidates need to take the required
exams within three years of each other to earn their CCNA. Both
exams are 30 minutes shorter than the typical Cisco exam (60 minutes
vs. 90 minutes) and will cost $100 each as opposed to the standard
$125.
Passing either the ICND or INTRO exams alone does not earn the
candidate any title, Nanjiani said, although current CCNAs will
be allowed to use the new ICDN exam as a renewal requirement.
Nanjiani said that the company may consider offering a similar
two-exam path for its Cisco Certfied Design Associate (CCDA) title,
depending on customer feedback.
More information on these announcements should be published on
Cisco's Web site here on Tuesday.
|
