A question I consistently get from my CCNA students when I teach a Cisco networking associate certification class is: What will I be expected to do in a new position working with computer networks.

Completion of the CCNA exam gives you a credential, but it doesn’t give you experience. While you do get lots of book learning and some hands-on troubleshooting as you prepare for an exam, you will have a much better idea of what to expect to face in a new network administrator position if you have had some real-world experience....

The Building Converged Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks (BCMSN 642-812) is a qualifying exam for the Cisco Certified Network Professional CCNP? and the Cisco Certified Design Professional CCDP? certifications. The BCMSN 642-812 exam will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills necessary to implement scalable multilayer switched networks. The exam includes topics on Campus Networks, describing and implementing advanced Spanning Tree concepts, VLANs and Inter-VLAN routing, High Availability, Wireless Client Access, Access Layer Voice concepts, and minimizing service Loss and Data Theft in a Campus Network....

Practice materials for IT professionals looking for certification in CCNA, CCNP, CCDP, MCSE, MCDBA, MCSD, MCSA, MCP, CIW, ORACLE, Security+ and A+.

Certay is the online Certification Expert recognized by a worldwide audience of IT professionals and executives alike as the definitive source of training materials for the candidate seeking insight, updates and resources for vendor certifications.

Certay Top 50 Certification Exams List:

1. ...

A firend of mine named Tesl and me are currently working away at our CCNA, and hope to get it within the next couple of weeks. We are trying to read all the material we can get his hands on, but we are a little worried that we need to buy some more.

We are using the Sybex CCNA 4th Edition by Todd Lammle. Has the exam changed enough to justify buying the 5th edition? Ideally we don't want to have to fork out more if its not really necessary.
...

The Cisco CCNA network associate certification validates the ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks, including implementation and verification of connections to remote sites in a WAN. This new curriculum includes basic mitigation of security threats, introduction to wireless networking concepts and terminology, and performance-based skills. This new curriculum also includes (but is not limited to) the use of these protocols: IP, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Serial Line Interface Protocol Frame Relay, Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2),VLANs, Ethernet, access control lists (ACLs)...