Cisco Certified Network Associate
Cisco's CCNA Certification is given once you pass the Cisco
Exam # 640-507.
To
qualify for a CCNA you need to be
well versed on the following topics:
The exam is totally computer-based with multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank and
drag-and-drop style questions. The tests are administered by Sylvan
Prometric and you can sign up to take a test at www.2test.com where
you can also find a testing facility in your area.
Cisco implemented the lower level CCNA and CCNP certifications
because there are only about 6500 practicing CCIEs (Cisco's highest
certification level; involves very difficult written and lab testing)
in the world; to give an idea, there are about 174 CCIEs in Canada
and about 2955 in the USA. Since a reseller or consulting company
needed to have Cisco Certified staff on hand to be a Cisco certified company,
Cisco needed to provide stepping stone certifications to increase the
number of active, certified professionals. Not all companies needed CCIE
level employees and there were just not that many to go around.
A related certification is the CCNA-WAN certification which focuses on Cisco's
WAN switches whereas the CCNA exam focuses mainly on routing and LAN switching.