In this post, we’ll look at the top 5 networking credentials you need to obtain in 2020. Let’s discuss them right away.

1. Wireshark Certified Network Analyst – WCNA

Wireshark University was founded in 2007. The institution provides one certificate, but it’s going to be worth all the effort. WCNA validates the skills and knowledge of the network analysts by using Wireshark and network security, network troubleshooting, and TCP/IP network communications. To get this certification, the students must pass one exam. The WCNA-102.x test consists of 100 multiple-choice questions that you must complete in 2 hours. You also need to pay a fee of $299.

This credential is valid for three years, and you should get 20 continuing professional education credits every year to maintain it. The credits must focus on functions associated with the WCNA exam domains such as analysis and sniffing. You can participate in the Black Hat conference or SharkFest. You may also need to study for the test with the training program to get the CPEs.

2. SolarWinds Certified Professional – SCP

SolarWinds is a tech company based in Austin. This organization allows the IT professionals and businesses to get access to tools, solutions, and products. They use these resources to enhance performance, monitor, and find solutions to real-world issues. SolarWinds provides solutions in various areas, such as system management, network management, security database management, Cloud, and IT help desk.

Currently, the company provides one certification, known as SCP (SolarWinds Certified Professional). The credential is designed to prove one’s expertise, knowledge, and skills in using the network management product portfolio or SolarWinds system management. The students can opt to test for the certificate on the Server and Application Monitor or the Network Performance Monitor paths. In any case, they need to pass one exam. The certification test includes 75 questions that should be answered within 90 minutes.

The company seeks to ensure that the SCP holders maintain their knowledge base. This is because new technology products are being produced. To achieve this, SolarWinds obliges the certified specialists to uphold the SolarWinds subscription. The professionals with the SCP certification are required to attend training and events organized by this organization. With this subscription, the individuals get access to online training courses, are invited to online and in-person events, get improved support and a chance to study with the SolarWinds experts. You need to pay $200 as a yearly subscription. The SCP credential expires after 3 years in case an applicant doesn’t maintain the subscription and doesn’t take part in the training.

3. CompTIA Network+

It is an entry-level certification. It is designed for the individuals in the IT industry who want to upgrade their resume. It is also meant for the beginners in the networking field. This vendor-neutral certificate serves as a springboard for many professional networking credentials. Given that it is an entry-level certification, there are no requirements for taking the CompTIA N10-007 test. The exam contains 90 questions, and the duration for completing it is 90 minutes. Furthermore, there are numerous resources that will help you prepare for this test. Also, please note that you’ll need to pay $329.

4. Cisco Certified Network Professional – CCNP

CCNP is available in different paths, such as Enterprise, Collaboration, Security, Service Provider, Data Center, and Cisco Certified DevNet Professional. To get any credentials in these categories, the individuals must first obtain CCNA. After earning CCNP for the networking professionals, you can proceed to pursue another specialty in the CCNP tracks. If you are planning to earn CCNP Enterprise, for example, you’re required to pass one core exam (350-401 ENCOR) and one from six available concentration tests.

Remember, Cisco recently updated its certification program by retiring some certificates and introducing new ones. These new changes took effect on February 24, 2020. CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE were affected. For example, the most popular CCNA R&S and CCNP R&S credentials have been retired and replaced with other certifications. The replacements are CCNA Enterprise and CCNP Enterprise, respectfully.

5. Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert – CCIE

It is among the top-paying networking certifications. It involves a number of critical networking paths. These tracks include Enterprise Infrastructure, Enterprise Wireless, Data Center, Security, Service Provider, Collaboration, and CCDE. It’s important to point out that getting this credential requires rigorous and serious work. However, the outcome is worth the investment and effort.

The Cisco CCIE certificates have the capability to open many job opportunities and high earning potential. To obtain one, you need to pass some exams. There are no specific requirements for taking the written test. Once you pass it, you can sit for the lab exam. You must pass the written test to qualify for the lab one. If you don’t pass this hands-on exam within 3 years, you will need to take it again.

Conclusion

There are numerous options for the networking experts to pursue apart from these five. For instance, you can take the Open Linux Networking credential, known as CCONP (Cumulus Certified Open Networking Professional). Even though it’s not available in our list, JNCIE-ENT (Juniper Enterprise Routing and Switching – Expert) is another great certification for those specialists who want to learn about Juniper technologies.

As you can see, the networking professionals have many credentials to consider. Please note that an IT certification can create a huge difference in one’s career advancement. 2020 seems to have many surprises for the IT industry. If you want to advance your career in this field, you need to take these top networking certificates. Get ready to pass one or two tests and take advantage of numerous possibilities in your IT career. It’s good to point out that getting the credentials is challenging. Therefore, you need to use the right study materials to prepare for the prerequisite exams.

The Second Inning of a Nine-Inning Game: NSX Use Cases and the Networking Revolution

The software-defined networking revolution flows over more and more companies, including VMware that is at the forefront of this revolution. Rajiv notes that today networking industry is becoming more disaggregated than ever. If firstly it used to build everything – from chips to systems to software and services, now the situation is constantly changing.

VMware customers from all corners of the globe are driving the rapid adoption of NSX as a key enabler to the cloud, and three use cases are arising as main applications of NSX:

• micro-segmentation,
• IT automation,
• disaster recovery.

VMware’s vision continues to exist helping customers automate and secure workloads in the cloud, both in VMware private cloud environments and in containers or on non-VMware hypervisors in the private and public cloud. Despite of where these workloads are being run, NSX is able to help secure those workloads in very fine grain network policing, as well as automate them.

VMware NSX Is Becoming Critical to Multi-Cloud Strategies

In the second video, Rajiv discusses some of the customers that use NSX to manage multiple private and public cloud. He says there is one of the largest banks in the world that is using NSX as a basis to create extremely large private clouds. “They have those in production today, and they’re with us on a journey to extend NSX into the public cloud,” notes Rajiv.

Rajiv also talks about the success of a smaller customer in the media industry that’s using NSX to aggregate multiple public clouds inherited through some acquisitions. VMware NSX is allowing them to manage security, automation, and continuity across two data centers using a single, private cloud.

Furthermore, these customers are driving consistency of policy from their data centers to their branch offices by extending NSX to all their sites.

Mapping the Future of VMware NSX

Rajiv says that they are continually trying to solve their customers’ problems. As part of this continued commitment, VMware recently acquired Arkin, a leader in software-defined data center security and operations.

When customers deploy NSX, their common wish is to achieve two things. Firstly, they want to have visibility into which applications are talking to which within the data center, while the second thing is ‘day two’ operations support following deployment.

In order to manage these customer imperatives, VMware integrated Arkin into the vRealize® Automation™ suite, the product given a new name – VMware® vRealize® Network Insight™.

This acquisition will undoubtedly bring big, positive changes for NSX and customers. As Rajiv notes “the combination of vRealize Network Insight along with NSX is a great thing for customers. It helps them understand what they have in their data centers, and it provides them with visibility and operational support for their deployments.”

This recap was originally published by VMware Education and Certification Blog

So what is the difference between these two versions of cisco certification exams?

First of all, it’s a period of time and number of queries. While 200-101 ICND2 exam lasts for only 75 minutes and includes 50 or even 60 queries, 200-105 ICND2 exam allows candidates to choose correct keys during 90 minutes, with the test consisting of no more than 55 queries. Another advantage of an updated cisco certification is the possibility not only for English speakers but also for Japanese IT professionals to pass the exam.
And finally, let’s look at the topics for a new version of the exam named Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 2 (200-105 ICND2). Here they are:

• LAN Switching Technologies
• Routing Technologies
• WAN Technologies
• Infrastructure Services
• Infrastructure Maintenance

These topics are basic guidelines for the content which is suggested to occur on the exam. However, other similar topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam.

Here you can find the overview and study materials to prepare for a new exam.

The following courses are also the recommended training to pass the exam and get the IT certification.

• Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 2 v3.0 (ICND2)
• CCNA Routing and Switching Training Videos

To register for an exam, please visit Pearson VUE.

Launched on February 28, 2015, the new exam version (N10-006) covers approaches to networking and network technologies used today. Compared to the previous version of the exam, the new Network+ puts a greater emphasis on practical knowledge, especially how to identify and use elements of a network infrastructure. Just like all other CompTIA exams, the N10-006 is vendor neutral, which makes it especially attractive to many users. The new exam contains up to 100 questions (more than the old one) within the same time frame: 90 minutes.

What makes the new Network+ exam N10-006 different:

• Additional & expanded IPv6 concepts.
• Emphasis on troubleshooting.
• Additional security knowledge.
• Emphasis on Administering key systems.
• 3 brand new topics (see below)

So if you are planning to take the N10-006 exam, you should keep in mind all newer terms and technologies in the IT networking field. Remember that you are now expected to have more hands-on experience like installing, configuring, implementing, managing and troubleshooting.

There have been 3 new exam topics added. These are:

• Compare and contrast physical security controls.
• Summarize basic forensic concepts.
• Summarize safety practices.

All in all, Network+ is growing stronger, the exam is becoming harder, which makes the credential even more desired by employers worldwide. Companies such as Dell, HP, Ricoh, Sharp and Xerox recommend or require CompTIA Network+ for their networking technicians. It is also a technical prerequisite option for IT technicians seeking to join the Apple Consultants Network, and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense.  The CompTIA Network+ce program is included in the scope of this accreditation, and may be kept current through the CompTIA Continuing Education program.

This may be a promotional video of CompTIA, so beware of the strong marketing angle, but it does justice to this credential: Network+ is indeed the best certification for networking professionals.

So, study up and put the N10-006 exam on your 2015 to-do list.

What is Network Forensics?

With a number of cybercriminals and cyber crimes steadily growing (no surprise as more and more various operations are conducted online), there is little wonder that digital forensics is on the rise. From government and law enforcement agencies to private companies and international corporations, digital security and forensics professionals are highly in demand. If you’re eying this career,  you need to know that network forensics experts should be capable of blocking the majority of system attacks, as well as, more importantly, to implicate the aggressors who manage to penetrate the system, or commit a cybercrime.

Cybercriminals become harder and harder to identify as their get better at hiding their traces, so they are harder to identify. Network forensics collects data from network traffic and analyzes it for threats or intrusions. As a result, a good network forensics expert should have a very solid understanding of how the system is built, as well as possess great analytical skills and understand the trends of how traffic flows.

GNFA Certification

Previously, there has been no certification to validate the skills in network forensics. Recently,GAC has announced the very first credential of such kind, GNFA (GIAC Network Forensics Analyst), which will be available starting this Monday, November 3, 2014.

The GNFA certification was developed for professionals who want to validate their qualification to perform examinations employing network forensic artifact analysis. This requires 100% understanding of the fundamentals of network forensics, normal and abnormal conditions for common network protocols, the process and tools used to examine device and system logs, wireless communication and encrypted protocols.

GNFA Exam Will Cover the Following Topics/Objectives:

• Common Network Protocols – understanding of the behavior, security risks and controls of common network protocols.
• Encryption and Encoding – techniques and practices used to encode and encrypt common network traffic and common attacks on these controls.
• NetFlow Analysis and Attack Visualization – the use of NetFlow data and information sources to identify network attacks.
• Network Analysis Tools and Usage – open source packet analysis tools and their purpose to effectively filter and rebuild data streams for analysis.
• Network Architecture – design and deployment of a network employing diverse transmission and collection technologies.
• Network Protocol Reverse Engineering – the tools and techniques required to analyze diverse protocols and data traversing a network environment.
• Open Source Network Security Proxies – the architecture, deployment, benefits and weaknesses of network security proxies, common log formats and flow of data in a network environment.
• Security Event and Incident Logging – various log formats, protocols and the security impact of the event generating processes; configuration and deployment strategies to secure and position logging aggregators and collection devices throughout a network environment.
• Wireless Network Analysis the process to identify and control the risks associated with wireless technologies, protocols and infrastructure.

GNFA exam and certification are available starting November 3, 2014.

What’s The Story With Brocade Networking?

Brocade is really pushing its virtual routing products – both software and routers. This is definitely worth looking into since Brocade Vyatta vRouters and VCS Fabric technology enable NFV in data centers and support efficient and elastic network architectures that can scale up or down to match current application needs in dynamic workload situations. Obviously, this results in significant reduction in hardware costs for network infrastructure – according to Brocade, these savings can go up as high as 90%. It also allows for better usage of the data center and networking resources. More info about Brocade technology is available here.

So, for now, becoming Brocade Certified vRouter Engineer (BCVRE) is free. This offer also includes a 60-day free trial of the Brocade Vyatta vRouter software plus free online training. Then you take the exam and end up with a Brocade Certified vRouter Engineer (BCVRE) credential.

Once you register for the exam, you will get access to the online course materials and study guides for your exam preparation.

BCVRE Exam Objectives:

Brocade Vyatta vRouter System Operations

• Describe show command system usage
• Identify key CLI operations
• Describe the commit and save processes

Ethernet Concepts

• Identify Ethernet operations
• Identify VLAN operations and settings
• Identify bonded interface operations
• Demonstrate knowledge of configuration and operation using show commands

TCP/IP

• Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between Layer 2, IP and TCP/IP
• Identify TCP and UDP differences
• Identify address subnets

DHCP and DNS Troubleshooting

• Describe troubleshooting of DHCP operations
• Describe troubleshooting of DNS forwarding

Routing

• Identify uses for routing
• Identify show commands for use with routing
• Identify configuration of different types of static routes

Firewalls

• Describe firewall operations and troubleshooting using show commands
• Describe firewall rulebase operations

NAT

• Describe NAT concepts

Upgrades

• Describe the Brocade Vyatta upgrade process

Logging and Packet Captures

• Identify logging options for firewall and NAT operations
• Identify methods to verify operations and troubleshooting

OSPF Single-Area

• Describe OSPF show command output
• Describe how to configure OSPF

From what we can see this is a good NFV certification – even if the exam hadn’t been free. There is a lot of potential to this latest Brocade technology, so if you are interested in software defined networking, just go and register for the exam now!

Background info:

Brocade is a San Jose, CA based technology company that specializes in data and storage networking products. Founded in 1995 and gone public in 1999, Brocade’s product portfolio includes network-attached storage, storage area network (SAN) directors and switches, data center switches, Virtual Cluster Switching, software-defined networking, network virtualization, and more. Brocade’s certification program validate the knowledge and skills in the company’s products, as well as overall understanding of the networking landscape, data and storage concepts and other related fields.