The IT Certification Thread

[FN-GM]

Good news guys, I passed my 901 A+ Exam with a 842 out of 900!

 

Well done and congrats!

[synaesthesia]

Still cracking through (over half way now) the Google Support on Coursera and finding that particularly good, especially with brushing up on linux and Powershell, which has always been a weakness for me and also re-iterating the fundamentals of networking; whilst we all know the majority, things like the makeup of packets, segments etc have long eluded me. Some of that's been rather daunting but regardless, useful and for rather a low price definitely worth looking at. It's also very agnostic which is very useful in itself.

[MS2011]

Dear all

 

Can anyone recommend the Cisco kit from amazon or eBay to setup at home and do the ccna and ccnp.

 

Thanks

[FN-GM]

Dear all

 

Can anyone recommend the Cisco kit from amazon or eBay to setup at home and do the ccna and ccnp.

 

Thanks

 

For CCNP you will need a layer 3 switch that is capable of Private VLANS. The Catalyst 3560 will be a good choice. The 3550 switches are cheaper but are not capable of private VLANS (but can do the rest). If you're interested PM me as I am selling my 3560 switches I used for my CCNP.

 

For routers you can use GNS to emulate them. You can't use this to emulate switches as there is a physical ASIC chip on each port of a switch.

 

For CCNA level you can get away with using Cisco Packet Tracer. This is a simulator. Although some features are missing so its not the best really.

[MS2011]

For CCNP you will need a layer 3 switch that is capable of Private VLANS. The Catalyst 3560 will be a good choice. The 3550 switches are cheaper but are not capable of private VLANS (but can do the rest). If you're interested PM me as I am selling my 3560 switches I used for my CCNP.

 

For routers you can use GNS to emulate them. You can't use this to emulate switches as there is a physical ASIC chip on each port of a switch.

 

For CCNA level you can get away with using Cisco Packet Tracer. This is a simulator. Although some features are missing so its not the best really.

 

Many thanks for prompt reply.

[Kitkatninja]

Working in IT now for years, I'm kinda certificated-out... If I was going to get anything I'll get the MCSA Office 365 cert at somepoint... I'm actually more interested now in finishing my Masters...

[mavhc]

Working in IT now for years, I'm kinda certificated-out... If I was going to get anything I'll get the MCSA Office 365 cert at somepoint... I'm actually more interested now in finishing my Masters...

 

Have they been useful? Worth the money? Which ones were good, which courses/training was good?

[FN-GM]

Many thanks for prompt reply.

 

Sorry slight correction the software I mentioned is GNS3 not GNS. Made a typo.

 

Cheers

[FN-GM]

ITIL seems to be the one that employers want these days, its pretty easy to be honest.

 

I have just sat the ITIL Foundation exam. I got 37 out of 40 questions correct. I wouldn't agree it was easy. It does require study and many of the questions require to think about them.

 

Don't Sit ITIL V3 in 2018. A new version is out Q1 next year.

 

They are still going to offer the v3 exam into 2020 so it isn't obsolete yet.

Edited December 9, 2018 by FN-GM

[rich_tech]

I’m studying for their Resilia foundation at the moment, exam booked for early January after having a four day course on it, I would say their quite involved and you have to get used to thinking about the questions in a certain way, which is why I’m finding it painful

[flyinghaggis]

Have they been useful? Worth the money? Which ones were good, which courses/training was good?

 

That is very much the pertinent question to ask isn't it! My school's made it clear they aren't interested in offering any support so if I do any courses then it's coming out of my own pocket and means spending my own time studying it.

 

Without wanting to sound overly mercenary about it I need to be convinced there's going to be a return on that investment and it's going to improve my job prospects and/or job security! With so many courses being time-limited and qualifications going out-of-date within a year or two it's often difficult to justify.

 

Of course, the flip side of that is that you risk never doing any training/studying and fall behind. I find it difficult in education to strike a balance because I've found myself doing courses which have felt like money/time down the drain as the school's decided to abandon the project/technology which is frustrating. Plus the number of technologies/platforms is so diverse in the school these days it's difficult to know what to study to keep on top of the workload.

 

To be honest though I find it incredibly disillusioning that it's become "expected" that IT staff will spend their own time and money on training for new technologies the school decides to roll-out Interestingly someone earlier in this thread mentioned that the IT generalist role is slowly dying out and maybe my experiences are just a symptom of it. Having a knowledge of every single system and platform being used across the school is increasingly feeling like an impossible task.

 

I guess I need to focus less about what's going on at my workplace and more on learning the technologies which I think will be of more general benefit in future....!

Edited December 9, 2018 by flyinghaggis

[Kitkatninja]

Have they been useful? Worth the money? Which ones were good, which courses/training was good?

 

Some of them have been useful, some of them not - it depends on your job role/what you do, imo otherwise you get the certification/qualification and if you don't use the skills & knowledge you get very rusty and out of date...

[DrBeaker]

.......To be honest though I find it incredibly disillusioning that it's become "expected" that IT staff will spend their own time and money on training for new technologies the school decides to roll-out Interestingly someone earlier in this thread mentioned that the IT generalist role is slowly dying out and maybe my experiences are just a symptom of it. Having a knowledge of every single system and platform being used across the school is increasingly feeling like an impossible task.....

 

I agree. I think this is why there's seemingly so much disrespect for IT Techs and IT services in education and the wider community. Nurses, teachers, GP's etc aren't expected to fund their own training once they're in a role and in their own time. This is also why there's so much frustration in the role - we don't have the funding, time and sometimes the training/skills to do what people are asking of us, yet we're still expected to do it? Get real!

[Jcx500]

I did my MTA Server administrator, planing to do my CCNA, Edited December 11, 2018 by Jcx500

[Leeoakley]

My point was if you were looking at long term prospects it makes more sense to wait 2 months an get the new cert.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

I have just sat the ITIL Foundation exam. I got 37 out of 40 questions correct. I wouldn't agree it was easy. It does require study and many of the questions require to think about them.

 

 

 

They are still going to offer the v3 exam into 2020 so it isn't obsolete yet.

 

My point was if you were looking at long term prospects it makes more sense to wait 2 months an get the new cert.

[ITAsh]

I did my MTA Server administrator, planing to do my CCNA,

 

How did you find the MTA Server Administrator exam?

[FN-GM]

My point was if you were looking at long term prospects it makes more sense to wait 2 months an get the new cert.

 

The certificate itself doesn't say any versions and it doesn't expire. Plus the new exam that is coming out is only the foundation certification. So if you wanted to go higher (as I am doing) you have to stick to the current track anyway.

[mavhc]

If your education expires it's probably a for profit education system

[Kitkatninja]

If your education expires it's probably a for profit education system

 

Sometimes, however alot of the certifications (and their companies) are from the US... So they have to meet either the DoD requirements or they have achieved (and want to continue) the ISO/ANSI accredited continuing education standard. Added to this, there are big jumps between different versions of technologies, eg I gained my MCSE/MCSA in Windows 2000, 2003 and Exchange 2000... My MCSA in Windows Server 2008 & 2012, etc... There are big differences between server 2000 and 2016 as well as Exchange 2000 and 2016... That's not to say that I approve of certifications & qualifications expiring/retiring like with the new MCSEs, the Cisco certs, Apple certs, some of the Comptia certs, etc... But they should be recognized for what they are plus the underlining knowledge that they provide...

[Leeoakley]

The certificate itself doesn't say any versions and it doesn't expire. Plus the new exam that is coming out is only the foundation certification. So if you wanted to go higher (as I am doing) you have to stick to the current track anyway.

 

Just offering advice, as others will read it. The equivalent of the intermediate modules will be out later in the year (H2), so it depends how desperate you are to move through the track. There will also be a bridging course I believe.

[mavhc]

[FN-GM]

 

That is based on the old syllabus unfortunately.

[mavhc]

But little has changed I'd expect

[Leeoakley]

But little has changed I'd expect

 

Depends on the course. You can google the changes and the list is fairly clear.

[mavhc]

https://www.itonlinelearning.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-ccna-v2-and-v3/ so about 10% changed I guess