Top 5 Network & Security Certifications That Need To Be Grabbed In 2021!
With every passing day, the uses and innovations in the world of Information Technology are increasing around the world at great pace. People are getting more into the world of the IT industry knowing the fact that here every individual is valued if the person has the right skills to showcase.
And this is where the role of certifications and training courses enter the frame. No doubt that the IT industry is full of opportunities but to explore them, first you need to gain and validate the required skills for the positions. Certifications and training courses do the job for you. There are a number of such training courses that prepare the aspirants for the in-demand network and security related skills.
1. CCNA
CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate is an entry-level certification offered by Cisco. The training course for CCNA delivers the skills required to manage, troubleshoot, configure, and track the requirements of network and operations at the associate level.
Earlier, there were different certifications for different domains like CCNA Cloud, CCNA Collaboration, CCNA Data Center, CCNA Industrial, CCNA Routing and Switching, CCNA Service Provider & CCNA Wireless, which was later converted into only one exam. Presently, Cisco offers only one certification and training course under CCNA that takes sections of all the above-mentioned domains. This was done to upgrade the quality of CCNA with more challenges and to validate multi-skilled individuals.
Some basic details:-
- Exam Code: CCNA 200-301
- Exam Duration: 120 minutes
- Available Languages: English & Japanese
- Conducted by: Cisco
- Exam Fees: 300 USD
- Schedule CCNA exam at Pearson Vue (https://home.pearsonvue.com/cisco)
- The validity of Certification: 3 years
2. CCNP
CCNP certifications are the professional-level certification offered by Cisco. This stands for Cisco Certified Network Professional that validates the skills of configuration, installation, troubleshooting and managing the network and related devices at a professional level. This certification and training course is one step higher than the CCNA and hence validates deeper knowledge and skills.
The CCNP level has different certifications for different levels as this certification training is more precise. The domains of CCNP are:-
- CCNP Enterprise
- CCNP Data Center
- CCNP Security
- CCNP Service Provider
- CCNP Collaboration
- Cisco Certified CyberOps Professional
- Cisco Certified DevNet Professional
Currently, CCNP security is among the most desired certification and training courses.
3. CCIE
The topmost level of Cisco certification is the CCIE referring to Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert. The certification is tough to get as it validates the supremacy over the network domain. The expert-certified with the CCIE certification is capable of handling the complex network devices and troubleshooting them along with having the idea and capability of designing the network.
The CCIE certification is the domain specified hence it has several certification options, such as:-
- CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure
- CCIE Enterprise wireless
- CCIE Collaboration
- CCIE security
- CCIE Data Center
- CCIE service provider
The candidate having the CCIE certification or training is eligible for many highly reputed and paid job, some of them are:-
- Network Engineer
- Senior Network Engineer
- Network Security Engineer
- Lead Network Engineer
- Customer Support Engineer
- Network Architect
- Solution Architect
4. CompTIA Network+
The all-rounder certification and training for network automation can be termed CompTIA Network+. The certification course includes many complex to important topic areas all covered at once. Having trained for this certification can help the candidate to land on many decent job designations, especially for freshers. The designations like:-
- Junior network administrator
- Network field technician
- Network field engineer
- Computer technician
- Help desk technician
- System engineer
The certification exam will test the candidate on the following domains:-
- Networking concepts
- Network security
- Infrastructure
- Network troubleshooting & tools
- Network operations
Some basic details of the CompTIA network+ certification:
- Exam Code: N10-007
- Duration of time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Format of exam: MCQ, performance-based and drag and drop.
- Numbers of Question: 90 questions per exam
- Language: English, German, Japanese (coming soon: Portuguese, Spanish)
- Conducted by: Pearson VUE
- Exam Fees: USD 338
- The validity of certification: 3 years
5. CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker)
Certified ethical hacking is now the most demanded area for job opportunities. As in the last couple of years, the cyberattack and hacking have been a major concern for every organization as well as individuals. From governments to private companies, all want their data to be secure and safe by all means, especially from unethical hackers who use the data for their personal benefits.
Hence the need for ethical hackers emerged immensely in the last few years. Therefore, the EC council came up with the CEH certification and course where the candidate learns the skills of protecting the network and data by learning the hacking terms to defend the network from any external attacks.
Some basic details of CEH MCQ exam details:-
- Exam Code: 312-50 (ECC EXAM), 312-50 (VUE)
- Duration of exam: 4 hours
- Exam format: MCQ
- Conducted by: EC Council
- Exam Fees: Application fee ($ 100) + Voucher fee ($950 ECC voucher)
- Schedule CEH exam at EC Council or Pearson Vue.
- The validity of Certification: 3 years
There are some more certifications like CompTIA security+, Checkpoint CCSA, Cisco ACI and more that have similar popularity and demand in the IT industry. One point to note is that these certifications will grow more and more in the upcoming time and that is for sure.