Training!!!

[ilovetheusers]

The boss just walked in and said the director wants to know what sort of training we want this year! The place they usually send us to has 2 things I might be able to get.

The 1st is a Comp Tia Network + training course of 2 5 day classes. I feel that after this training I will be able to pass the Network + exam as much of my knowledge is at a broad level of networking.

he other course is for CCNA and is only 5 days and costs less. I do not think I will be able to pass the CCNA test after this course but there is a better chance of getting the class as it's cheaper and uses less time.

Given time I think that I could pass the Net + exam on my own and the Cisco will not come about without courses.

I am leaning toward the Cop Tia cert training. I think I could pass the Network + exam and I like how they do not expire and people hold them in just as high of regard as others (I feel).

What do you think I should do or what would you do given a similar situation.

[Cleetus]

If this is just a stepping stone environment then I would say get the cert. But if you are staying for some time, I would recommend the CCNA, because it sounds like you could use more of it probably in the stuff that you are saying that you do.

[ilovetheusers]

With a training budget of $8000 for the whole dept, it looks like the expensive 2 week Net+ course is out. CCNA it is.

No biggie - I can pass the Net+ on my own.

[Dark Millennium]

Took CCNA a while ago, not that difficult an exam....

Good luck with the exams :)

[silencio]

Dark is right. The CCNA test isn't that hard. The CCNA material really is basic. If you take a class and look back you'll look at it like the A+. The hardest topics people get hung up on are subnetting and interfaces. Once you figure out which way traffic goes IN each interface and how that applies to a command like ip nat inside source static tcp 172.16.10.8 8080 172.16.10.8 80.

IMO, the money might be better spent on lab hardware and a good book... Check out this
lab on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11185&item=2084273392) for instance.

With the hardware, I'd make copies of the course materials, send your tech guys home with it (as homework), have x time a week (say one day every week or two plus the ability to use the lab after hours) and work together on the labs as a team. The benefit of a lab is that it's always there. When you want to experiment or troubleshoot potential fixes for customer issues (non critical), you can to it before you touch the production hardware.

[ilovetheusers]

Class I'm looking at is a 5 day course and I will have off work to go. It's a nice week off with a lot of study. It's geared towards getting you ready to pass the test and all material is supplied and any equipment is provided. It's a nice school and I was there right before taking and passing my A+.

It's an overview on how to set up a cisco router for business use and a study guide for CCNA. Who knows, maybe with enough study...