Exam Profile: Cisco CCNA 640-802
Date: Dec 2, 2011
The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) serves as the single most popular Cisco certification. This popularity is driven by the fact that Cisco lists the CCNA certification as the prerequisite for most other Cisco certifications, including the other Cisco CCNA Concentration certifications, plus the Cisco professional level certifications, like CCNP.
To achieve the CCNA certification, Cisco provides two testing options:
- Pass one exam (CCNA 640-802)
- Pass two exams (ICND1 640-822 and ICND2 640-816)
Both options cover the same topics, but if you take the CCNA 640-802 exam, you take one exam that covers all the topics, while the two-exam path simply breaks the same topics into two exams. This paper examines the CCNA 640-802 exam specifically.
The CCNA 640-802 exam includes a wide variety of topics that mostly tracks to two weeklong courses from Cisco: The ICND1 and ICND2 courses. As a result, the CCNA exam includes:
- TCP/IP
- LAN Switching
- IP Routing
- IP Addressing (including VLSM)
- Cisco router and switch Command Line Interface (CLI)
- WANs (point-to-point and Frame Relay)
- VLANs and VLAN trunking
- Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
- Routing Protocols (RIP, EIGRP, OSPF)
- Network Address Translation (NAT)
Along with these topics, the exam requires that you know how to configure each topic, use commands to verify that each works properly, and troubleshoot problems using a router/switch simulator on the exam.
Exam Details
- Exam Number: 640-802
- Number of questions: 45-55
- Types of questions: Multiple Choice (single and multiple answer), drag-and-drop, Sim, Simlet, Testlet
- Passing scores: varies
- Time limit: 90 minutes
- Language: Multiple languages
- How to register: Vue testing centers
Trouble Spots
IP subnetting is one of the main trouble spots on the CCNA exam. To do well on the CCNA exam, you must be skilled at:
- Interpreting the terminology surrounding subnetting
- Remembering which math process to use to find a particular answer
- Mastering the use of a particular math process to find the answer
- Applying the related IP addressing and routing concepts while also working with the math
- Working through the analysis and math very quickly on the exam
There are also some possible trouble spots, especially in these five technical topics:
- IP Subnetting and Addressing: The single most challenging technology topic for most candidates.
- Spanning Tree Protocol (STP): In real life, most people have STP enabled, and it works, and there is no need to pay much attention to it. As a result, even people who already work in networking jobs typically learn little about STP on the job.
- Access Control Lists (ACLs): ACLs act as a basic programming language that can be applied to packets flowing through a router for the purpose of filtering some packets (discarding the packets). Implementing ACLs requires mastery of the packet headers, an understanding of packet flow, and an understanding of the logic behind the commands.
- Open Shortest Path First (OSPF): OSPF is the most complex IP routing protocol included in CCNA. While CCNA only examines the basics of OSPF, its underlying operation differs so much from RIP and EIGRP that it requires a little more thought.
- Packets and Flows: Particularly for those brand new to the networking world, the details of frames, packets, segments, their headers, the flow of packets with end user data, the related overhead processes, all the related terminology, and how it all interacts, can be a big challenge.
The exam environment and question types also pose some big challenges. In particular, time pressure exists in almost every Cisco exam. Like all Cisco exams, the CCNA exam does not allow you to skip a question and go back later, so there's a tendency to take extra time when unsure. The exam includes three particularly time-consuming problem types: Sims, Simlets, and Testlets. While a time goal of 1 minute per multichoice question time budget is reasonable, these other questions typically require 4-8 minutes each-but each counts as 1 question from the overall count of the number of questions. And your speed at finding the answers to subnetting questions will impact whether you feel much time pressure.
Finally, two question types-Sims and Simlets-require you to have practiced and become comfortable with typing commands on a Cisco router or switch CLI as if you were configuring and monitoring real equipment. As a result, most CCNA candidates need hands-on experience before tackling the ICND1, ICND2, and CCNA exams.
Preparation Hints
First, you should plan to study to learn deeply. No matter what tool you use for your primary study source, plan to do more than just read the book once and take the exam. Plan to read, review, and apply the concepts and commands using lab exercises and question sets. Because there are so many variables impacting your changes of passing on the first attempt, that to get a passing score you will need to be well prepared.
Practice on the CLI. Buy used gear, use emulators, use the simulator, rent or borrow gear, but plan to practice the configurations and spend time understanding the router and switch commands. Certskills.com has some links to help you work through the topic of building a CCNA lab.
Practice subnetting, particularly with cases that use VLSM in the design. Practice until you can do it all, do it well, and do it fast.
As always, jump in and participate in the forums at the Cisco Learning Network (learningnetwork.cisco.com). This is a wonderful place where you can pose questions and often get multiple answers in minutes or hours. It's a hugely popular place for folks to collaborate on their path towards Cisco certification.
Recommended Study Resources
Because of the two possible paths to get your CCNA (1 exam or 2 exam), many Cisco Press products have an ICND1 product, a matching ICND2 product, and the two items are sold together for CCNA study at a lower price. In some cases, the product has an ICND1/CCENT edition, and a CCNA edition.
If you plan on taking the CCNA 640-802 exam, the most cost-effective option is to purchase the CCNA version of each product. For example, most people buy one of the following:
- The CCNA 640-802 Official Certification Library
- The CCNA 640-802 Official Certification Library, Simulator Edition
The first of these actually contains two books: The CCENT/CCNA ICND1 640-822 Official Exam Certification Guide and the CCNA ICND2 640-816 Official Exam Certification Guide. These two books together cover all the CCNA topics, and they supply a reading plan you can choose to follow when going for the CCNA 640-802 exam.
The second of the options above saves even more money if you also plan to use the Pearson Network Simulator, which is an excellent way to build the hands-on CLI skills for the CCNA exam. (The second library above includes the two books, plus the Simulator software.) This software product simulates the Cisco router and switch CLI: you type commands, and the software reacts as if you were doing the same thing on real gear. It comes with 250 scripted lab exercises that also teach and reinforce the concepts.
For practice, you have a several good tools:
- CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack: practice questions and flash cards
- Pearson Subnet Prep smart phone applications: learn subnetting, and practice until you master it all. One app in particular is geared towards VLSM design.
Finally, studies show that many people that pursue Cisco certification use two separate primary reading sources. The CCNA Preparation Library, also from Cisco Press, is created from the two authorized Cisco courses related to CCNA: the Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices, Part 1 (ICND1) and Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices, Part 2 (ICND2) courses. This library includes two books, matching the courses, using the same examples, figures, sequence, and explanations as those courses. This is an excellent source for alternate explanations and examples as compared to the CCNA Exam Certification Guides.
Where to Go from Here
You actually have a relatively big decision to make after passing the CCNA 640-802 exam and achieving your CCNA certification. You can go wide, or you can go deep, with your next step in Cisco certifications.
To go wide, you would choose another Cisco technology area, and pursue a CCNA certification in that technology concentration. All you need to do is pass 1 additional exam for that technology. As of the writing of this paper, the CCNA concentrations are:
- Security
- Voice
- Wireless
- SP Operations (Service Provider)
You can also go wide by pursuing the Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA) certification, which is a design-oriented certification at the same technical depth as the CCNA concentrations. Like the CCNA concentrations, CCDA requires CCNA as a prerequisite, and requires an additional exam to attain CCDA.
Finally, you can also choose to immediately go deeper into routing and switching, without getting another CCNA certification first. Two such options currently exist: CCIP and CCNP. CCIP has a decidedly Service Provider bias, while CCNP is more Enterprise oriented. Although both require CCNA as the only prerequisite, the much more popular option between these two is to pursue the CCNP certification.
While all these options have benefits, the decision at this point is possibly the most important choice to make regarding the first few years of pursuing Cisco certifications. This is a great point at which to seek out advice. Ask around in your circle of work friends, watch the Cisco Learning Network pose questions there, and check out other online resources, such as this blog post at NetworkWorld.