The Cisco CCNA 640-802 Certification is the premier entry level networking certification in the job marketplace. This is generally the Cisco certification that your Help Desk and Microsoft Certified engineers gravitate to take their career to the next level. So you may ask…what are the core concepts of the Cisco CCNA 640-802 certification and what does it prove and how will it help me secure a good paying job?

Well as I am sure you know, the help desk technicians are good at fixing local PC software problems but they do not really understand how traffic traverses the network. Microsoft certified individuals usually have an understanding of the network services such as DNS, DHCP and what a gateway is…but after dropping TCP/IP as a core certification exam about 5 years ago, I have seen many Microsoft certified individuals who do not really understand network traffic.

So here is where the Cisco CCNA certification comes into play. The Cisco CCNA 640-802 certification first and foremost covers how TCP/IP works. Think about it; TCP/IP is the backbone of most communications and how traffic traverses the Internet. So that is a pretty good starting point. You will learn both the OSI model and the DOD model and how the TCP/IP protocol suite maps to each from a Cisco CCNA perspective.

Then the next step is to understand subnetting and how that works. This is a tricky concept at first, but after a bit of repetition actually becomes quite easy and can be gimme questions on your CCNA exam if you master it. And make no mistake; you will need to master it for your Cisco CCNA exam!

Then as your start to put the two together you will learn how traffic encapsulates and decapsulates as it traverses a network. This is where you really get to see some of the cool CCNA certification concepts at work as you explore data at the packet level.

Ok, so now you have an understanding of TCP/IP. Now you will learn how routers actually make decisions on how to direct the traffic on the network by using their route tables. How do the route tables get populated on each Cisco router? Well that depends on the protocol you are using. Not the protocol such as TCP/IP or IPX. Those are routABLE protocols that your computer uses. We are now talking about routING protocols that your Cisco routers will use. RIP, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, etc. You will learn the advantages of each in different environments. How to configure each and tweak them to make your network the most efficient possible. So lots of good things here that most Help Desk technicians never think about until they get to thinking about getting their Cisco CCNA certification.

Next the Cisco CCNA 640-802 certification covers all kinds of WAN connections so you know how to connect your remote offices via different types of methodologies and technologies such as ATM, Frame-Relay, Leased Lines, ISDN, HDLC, PPP just to name a few as this where the Cisco CCNA’s earn their money.

Finally the Cisco CCNA certification also covers switching. LAN Switching from a Cisco perspective is very important. You will learn about how to prevent broadcast storms that can bring your local area network to a crawl. Do you think Help Desk Technicians know anything about broadcast storms? No way! STP(no, not the rock band from the 90s), CDP, VLANs and much, much more are all covered in your Cisco CCNA certification.

So take the next step and visit us at www.CiscoKits.com to set yourself apart from the tons of other help desk and Microsoft certified individuals. Get the most well respected networking certification out there, the Cisco CCNA 640-802 certification and set yourself apart from the crowd and get the big bucks that only Cisco certification can offer!