On Amazon it's only $40. Search for "Official Cert Guide Library". Dang looks like it's out of stock right now, actually.
I passed with Neil Anderson, Boson, and OCG. I'd say Boson is an absolute necessity, make sure to take one or two in study mode and take meticulous notes on the answers to the questions you got wrong.
It was nice having the OCG to explain in greater detail, there were some things on the exam not covered fully by Neil. If you can swing $40 and they get it back in stock, I would say definitely go ahead and buy it, you won't regret it. Good luck!
Not directly related to your question but you should get a college degree if possible. Check out Western Governors University for something that is really reasonably priced, and tuition includes the price of getting a crap ton of certs (CCNA, A+, Security+, etc).
If you dont want to look into college then you could start studying for your CCNA. Its 2 exams. I'd get the Official Cert Guide and maybe look into a video course like CBT Nuggets offers to get a full perspective. Boson ExamSim for practice exams and NetSim for labs.
Then get a job because it wont really click until you actually have a point of reference, which you get from working in the job for a while.
You can actually get the CCNA Routing and Switching 200-120 Official Cert Guide Library. This is both books so when you get done with one, you can start the other. Amazon Link Below. These are the most recent versions of the Official cert guide.
Again the CCNA 200-120 is both the 100-101 and 200-101. I bought mine recently.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587143879/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Another good book to read is Todd Lammle CCENT book. It's best to use Todds book to get introduced to Cisco but then read the official cert guides because these are what Cisco will be testing over.
The reason why I am doing the ICND1 and now going for the ICND2 is because I want to KNOW the equipment. You study CISCO not for the certs but to know the equipment, the certs are tools to give you credibility as well as tell you how well your doing on understanding the equipment.
Don't be a weak CCNA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJi0qyd4A-8
Personally I think so. Whether or not you can apply what you learn in college classes will heavily depend on the courses themselves. Just realize you will need to learn a lot of information and technologies, and from those you will need to be able to put together a fundamental understanding of networking in order to progress in this field.
If I were you I'd start by picking up the latest Cisco Press CCENT book (Wendell Odom ICND1) and see what you think. Also if you have any friends in the field hit them up and (if they're willing) bounce things off them. It's amazing sometimes how a simple explanation from someone who has already digested the information can help.
Edit: Grammar is hard w/o coffee.
I swear by Odom's guide. You can find the 2 book package cheap on Amazon, and it comes with practice tests and simulation software, both of which should be decent representations of what you'll see on the exam.
Ok, so the ICND book I read was back in 2005, here is the updated version (or latest) on Amazon: ICND 1 100-105
Mind you, there are two books to ICND 1 & 2
So you can do subnetting in your sleep, configure and troubleshoot OSPF & or EIGRP, know about HSRP, port-channels, VLans, and trunks, static routing, inter-vlan routing and ACLs? You know about broadcast domains and layer 2 security? You know how a switch operates differently than a hub? How a switch builds a mac table, cut threw vs store and forward?
I don't intend for any of that to come off as condescending but that is the type of material you come into contact with for the ICND1.
If any of that is unfamiliar then start at ICND1 and start with this book.
Thank you for all the info as I just Stumbled upon this post. I have this book by Odom but find it hard to read with my ADD. Is the book by Lammle any easier? I am interested in learning, CCENT/CCNA since i picked up CCNA 2015 200-120 Video Boot Camp With Chris Bryant for 10$
Do you have any spare network gear in the stores you could set up on your desk as a test environment? These are production networks you are working on. It's much better to learn on spare kit. If you make a mistake and break it then you won't have taken down a whole office and have your manager giving you grief.
If your current infrastructure is Cisco then this is a good book but please be aware it's huge and there will be quite a bit of learning curve
This is a link to the CCNA cert book. I used it to nail the main topics of the CCNA cert exam and it helped me tremendously with passing the exam. It comes with online practice exams, cards, etc. to help you study the material. You’ll find how to register those extra materials within the books if you go this route. Keep in mind, it covers mostly everything. It ain’t perfect but it will get you very far.
https://www.amazon.com/CCNA-200-301-Official-Guide-Library/dp/1587147149
That's the book I used (and passed with) and the one I see recommended most commonly on this subreddit. I suggest it because it is the "official" book that Cisco recommends you read and I find it to be suitably helpful and very indepth in terms of covering the necessary topics.
I think the first book is more useful than the second because the first book is a deep dive into routing/switching, router protocols, WIFI and subnetting. These are the real fundamental concepts you need to be extremely comfortable with to pass, and imo the real value of becoming a CCNA.
The second book is more of a shallow overview of several other topics like security concepts, quality of service, cloud concepts, controller based networking, APIs etc. Basically a grab-bag of stuff you should be familiar with conceptually but not something you'll need to sit down and be able to reproduce like setting up a port on a router or knowing how subnetting works. The stuff covered in the second book could very easily be learned in video lectures imo.
>OCG for the CCNA
Hey, sorry to ask but does OCG mean Offical Cert Guide?
Are these the books you are referring to? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1587147149?linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&tag=superofcom09-21
If you have some self-motivation you can self study most of the CompTIA stuff. Buy the official study books, read carefully and slowly, then reread. I got A+, CCNA, and MCSE many many years ago all completely self studied using the official study materials.
I'd go straight for CCNA for networking over Net+. Double check this is still the current test but you could probably just buy this book, study, then take the test: https://www.amazon.com/CCNA-200-301-Official-Guide-Library/dp/1587147149
Net+ is fine too, if you can self study the cost is pretty negligible to do both, but I think CCNA might have more respect in the industry.
I don't think it can hurt to apply now. Years of experience matter, even if it is entry level IT jobs. I do not think you're likely to secure a specifically "cybersecurity" job with just a sec+, though, but it could be showing enough competence to get a job as internal IT services at a company.
If money is tight, you can rent one from the library. My local library had the OCGs. The book set is $37 dollars on amazon right now for the two volumes. I think that's worth the investment, imo.
$28 for the Kindle version of the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide. Chapters 22-25 explain IPv6 eloquently. Could be the best explanation of IP addressing I have ever read.
https://www.amazon.com/CCNA-200-301-Official-Guide-Library/dp/1587147149/
Others have mentioned Sec+ as a good starting place and I think I'd disagree. Sec+ is a very high level introduction to security as a whole while you have specified you are teaching a class on NETWORK security which is a bit more specific. In that spirit, I would recommend a book (or books) that is specifically related to networks rather than include other infosec domains. Important concepts here include (but are not limited to)..
Though I'm sure there are some books out there that would cover all these things, I'm not sure of one specifically I would recommend. One book that does cover quite a few of these things is https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861. This book leans a little more towards straight networking than "security" specifically but I think the best way to become a good security pro is to understand the actual technologies as best you can. Supplementing this book with other books that dive deeper into other security specific topics listed above would also be good though.
I've found this book on Amazon by Wendell Odom for $38. Apparently contains volumes 1 and 2 which can be bought for the same price each. Has anyone read this one?
https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861
Been an enterprise network admin for many years (no certs) - I love this book.....
I would start with the official book. I think this is it (double check me): https://www.amazon.com/CCNA-200-301-Official-Guide-Library/dp/1587147149/ref=lp_379347011_1_2?dchild=1
Then maybe google/youtube stuff that isn't clear. Check out /r/ccna too.
Then it sounds like you aren't studying for 2 certs at the same time after all. As for resource suggestions, I just had a coworker pass the CCNA using this guide along with some hands on experience in his homelab.
They are talking about the official cert guides by Wendell Odom.
https://www.amazon.com/CCNA-200-301-Official-Guide-Library/dp/1587147149?ref_=ast_sto_dp
That link on Amazon has both Volumes 1 and 2.
Thanks! As someone also interested in investing, yeah, it makes sense. I eventually want to make my own business, even if I make less than what I normally would otherwise just for the drive of doing it myself.
Regarding the CCNA, where could I get the OCG? Is this it? https://www.amazon.com/CCNA-200-301-Official-Guide-Library/dp/1587147149
yes, that's the exam cram. here's the ocg https://www.amazon.com/CCNA-200-301-Official-Guide-Library/dp/1587147149/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=ccna&qid=1606889208&sr=8-3
If you decide to take the CCNA plunge, I recommend the CCNA 200-301 Official Certification Guide by Wendell Odom as the primary information source, supplanted by the CBTNuggets.com CCNA course (expensive) or the Chris Bryant course on Udemy (inexpensive) for video training. Practice exams from Boson.com are the absolute best, go for the ex-sim exam simulators (about $100 usd) worth every penny
Thanks for this. Do you know which book it is? On Amazon for instance they sell a 200-125:
CCNA Routing and Switching 200-125 Official Cert Guide Library https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1587205815/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BnbXxb71WJ5VE
Is this the most appropriate book? I jumped on eBay to see if there is something similar but second hand but, though they look similar, all have different codes. I'm really very new to the Cisco certs so any info is appreciated.
Majority of the core router market share is dominated by CISCO. IT shops are largely run on or have CISCO products. As for roles, you could pretty much start mid-level in whatever you want to do. The roles depend on what you and your organization want you to do or willing to do — many times what is listed in job descriptions is not always the entire picture. One of my extra questions I ask in the end of interviews are, "Are there any roles or responsibilities that are not listed or previously discussed, that I will have to carryout ?" great question to ask the panel or manager.
Networking will always be an in-demand job. Networks are extremely complex at the enterprise level. Finding people qualified to design, implement , maintain and retire the infrastructure and software at the enterprise level is not easy.
To see if you would like the CCNP you could try the CCNA Series. They are basically college textbooks, but will give you a good idea if you will like networking. If you end up not liking it, you have great networking references or you could sell them back. If you do end up liking it, well, read through all of those then start the CCNP prep (CCNA knowledge is assumed). Your local Library may have CCNA material as well.
Check out the book Network Warrior. It's getting old now, but it covers a bunch of topics that CCNA doesn't really touch at all but are common things you deal with.
Whatever equipment your company uses, go sign up for vendor training. Seems like most of them will provide basic training and more for customers for free. Ask your manager about paid training as well. Hopefully your company budgets for this.
Subscribe to /r/networking. The community there can be brutal at times, but also very helpful if you are stuck. Also sub to more specific subreddits for your network stack. Bonus, check out /r/networkingmemes
Ask if there is a lab or testing equipment you can use. Practice troubleshooting etc on a non-production device before you go and delete all the vlans on your core switch because you forgot to type 'add'.
Just keep learning. I had major imposter syndrome for a year when I got my first network engineer position. You'll surely make mistakes and cause outages, but w/e. Figure out what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again.