- Exam Details
- Trouble Spots
- Preparation Hints
- Recommended Study Resources
- Where to Go from Here
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Where to Go from Here
Instead of choosing to pursue the VPN exam, most candidates make a choice to pursue a particular certification level, like CCNP, CCDP, CCNP Security, CCIP, CCNP SP Operations, CCNP Voice, CCNP Wireless or CCIE, which then drives the choice to study for particular exams as required by the certification track. Start by reading about these certifications, and once you choose the technology vertical that best fits you, pick that as starting point. In general, most candidates start with good old CCNP track as it is the best and easier technical approach after achieving the CCNA level. This is because you cannot really claim yourself a professional level voice, wireless, security, or service provider engineer if you don’t know how routing and switching really works, as you are running your services over an routing and switching infrastructure.
In the same time, if your focus is only on security related technologies, you can stick with the CCNA level of knowledge for basic routing and switching. To achieve the CCNP Security level you first need to meet the prerequisites, be CCNA Security certified as well as CCNA certified. CCNA Security provides you with a basic of general security aspects and Cisco security technologies. Afterwards, you need to pass the four exams previously described. While there is no prerequisite for achieving the CCIE level, going through the Associate and Professional certification levels along with real life experience with the technologies is a recommended path.