Still relevant today?
To start a career in networking or infrastructure, Cisco's CCNA certification remains and will continue to be one of the most recognized and respected qualifications in the IT industry. I sincerely believe that this certification is underrated. It is really difficult and provides a lot of skills and knowledge on a variety of topics. Cisco updates the topics frequently. For instance, they added AI and Terraform this year.
Preparing for the exam is very accessible today, even without a university degree or prior professional experience. There are more and more accessible websites that help learners pass the CCNA. (Links are at the end of the thread). The CCNA blueprint provides a clear roadmap for progressing from basic to advanced networking concepts: Cisco Learning Network
CCNA Topics:
Network Fundamentals
This topic focuses on the basics of networking, including OSI & TCP/IP, IPv4/IPv6 addressing, Ethernet, Wi-fi fundamentals, and more.
Network Access
This topic focuses on switch and L2 operations such as VLANs, trunking, etherchannel and spanning tree. It evaluates the ability to segment networks and manage how switches handle traffic and loops.
IP Connectivity
This topic focuses on routing concepts like static routing and dynamic routing like OSPF.
IP Services
This topic focuses on core services such as NAT, DHCP, NTP, and Syslog for examples. These services keep network devices synchronized, reachable, and properly monitored.
Security Fundamentals
This topic focuses on essential security mechanisms, including L2/L3 security measures and threats.
Automation & Programmability
The blueprint ends with automation concepts such as APIs and controller-based architectures. (AI and Terraform were added in 2025.)
Some resources:
Cisco blueprint: Cisco CCNA Blueprint
Complete CCNA blueprint broken down into lessons: CCNA 200-301
Cisco community for any questions or advices: https://community.cisco.com/
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Dorian Alary
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