Education

What Is The New CCNA Exam?

Being a student and staying updated on the latest changes in the world of education and learning is quite difficult. But not anymore as we have decided to provide you with all the details on what is the new CCNA exam.

So, if you are an aspiring network associate and want to step into the world of information technology, then this information is for you.

WHAT’S THE NEW DEAL?

CCNA exam comes under the Cisco certification program and this program has been drastically changed on Feb. 24, 2020.

But before we tell you the new deal about the exam, let us quickly brief you on what is CCNA.

What Is the CCNA Exam/Course?

CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate and it is a specialized course of information technology certification from Cisco Systems. In simple words, it is an associate-level Cisco Career certification.

And now let us discuss what’s the new deal with this certification course and its exam.

CCNA 200-125 vs 200-301

Here is a clear picture of compression between all the changes that have taken place from the old to the new CCNA exam:

What Was There in The Old Exam?

The old CCNA certification program consisted of multiple concentration exams and that is exactly what has been changed in the new exam.

This change means that there is no more specialization at the CCNA level and now you have to choose your specialization at the next level aka CCNP level.

Also, please note that your CCNA certification that was acquired under the old rules will be active until its expiration date.

With the change in the examination, a new rule was also passed in February 2020 stating that your current CCNA certification will be equivalent in the new program which means that you will automatically be granted the new CCNA certificate.

Following are the certificates that have been replaced in the new CCNA exam:

CCNA Cloud
CCNA Collaboration
CCNA Data Center
CCNA Industrial
CCNA Routing and Switching
CCNA Security
CCNA Service Provider
CCNA Wireless
CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate)

WHAT’S UP WITH THE NEW CCNA EXAM?

The newest CCNAS exam is a single comprehensive exam, consisting of about 120 questions.

Also, the exam code of the new CCNA exam is 200-301 CCNA and its full name is Implementing and Administering Cisco Networking Technologies.

This exam covers a wide variety of fundamental topics in a single exam like routing and switching, security, wireless networking, some programming concepts and topics related to the latest technologies, software development skills, and job roles.

Then what has been removed from the previous set of exams and syllabus and what’s the new drill?

Here are all the topics that are no more a part of the new CCNA curriculum:

Routing – EIGRP, RIPv2, OSPFv3, Inter-VLAN routing
Network fundamentals – OSI model
WAN – PPP, MLPPP, PPPoE, GRE, BGP, WAN access
LAN Switching – Frame, VTP, Switch stack

If something has been removed from the old curriculum then something must have been added too. Here is a list of all the new modules and syllables that have been added to the new CCNA curriculum:

Security Fundamentals – VPNs, wireless security, port security
Automation and Programmability – REST APIs, Puppet, Chef, JSON, SDN
IP Services – NTP, DHCP, QoS, SNMP
Network Fundamentals – routers, switches, cabling, TCP and UDP, IPv4 and IPv6
Network Access – VLANs and trunking, EtherChannel
IP Connectivity – IP routing, OSPFv2

And now that you all about the new and old exams and their changes, we are pretty sure your doubts are clear and you can act upon them accordingly.

TO SUM UP:

Whenever we decide to join a course or appear for an exam, it is very crucial to always check if our knowledge on the topic is up-to-date or we need a revision on the new curriculum?

And since the CCNA exam has revised almost everything about its course, it was very important for you to know the drill about what is the new CCNA exam to avoid future conflicts.

To clear more doubts and get more details on exam and courses, just stay tuned.

Sarah Irick