If you’re interested in a career as an IT professional, but don’t want to be stuck in a boring office, then maybe becoming an FBI agent is right for you. According to Yahoo! Education, investigating high-tech crime is becoming a huge priority, and the FBI needs talented people with excellent tech skills to work on those cases. One way to join the ranks of Mulder, Scully and all of those other cool FBI agents is to have your bachelor’s degree and one of Cisco’s advanced certifications like the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) or Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE). Read more to find out how you can become a high-tech FBI Agent.

Recently Cisco has streamlined the entire CCNP program, trimming it down from four exams to three. Here’s a quick breakdown of the three new exams:

ROUTE (642-902)
The ROUTE exam went live this March. According to the Cisco, passing the ROUTE (642-902) exam will “certify that the successful candidate has the knowledge and skills necessary to use advanced IP addressing and routing in implementing scalable and secure Cisco ISR routers connected to LANs and WANs.”

SWITCH (642-813)
SWITCH (642-813) became available on March 10, 2010. The Cisco Learning Network site says that passing this exam “will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills necessary to to plan, configure and verify the implementation of complex enterprise switching solutions using Cisco’s Campus Enterprise Architecture.”

TSHOOT (642-832)
TSHOOT is Cisco’s toubleshooting and problem solving component of the CCNP. It became available on April 30, 2010.  “TSHOOT 642-832 exam will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills necessary to (1) plan and perform regular maintenance on complex enterprise routed and switched networks and (2) use technology-based practices and a systematic ITIL-compliant approach to perform network troubleshooting.”

Training products for all three of the new CCNP courses are available now from PrepLogic. If you’re a Networking Unlimited Access user, you’ll see these titles automatically be added to your menu of available courses. If you have any questions about a career in technology (including becoming an awesome CCNP FBI Agent!), or you’d like to find out how you can have Unlimited Access to our entire training library, give our guys a call at 1-800-418-6789.

Your boss wants you to procure an external hard drive for his PC so that it can be quickly backed up. If he wants the quickest backup, which of the following busses should you use? Select the best answer.

A.) IEEE 1394
B.) IEEE 1284
C.) RS-232
D.) USB 2.0

The correct answer is A. Let’s run through why A is the right choice.

Answer choice B, IEEE 1284, is the spec for parallel ports which, when compared to either USB or FireWire (IEEE 1394), is much slower—about 1.5 MB/s. Definitely out. C, RS-232 is the spec for serial ports. Also too slow at 115 KB/s. That leaves A and D. USB 2.0 is an excellent transfer mechanism; but, when compared to FireWire, it’s slower: 480 Mpbs.
Tom from Mariposa CA had a question about the explanation for why FireWire is correct. We explain that FireWire is good for up to 800 Mbps and is, thus, faster than USB 2.0. Tom writes: “IEEE 1394 is 400 Mbps; USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps; IEEE 1394b which is not a choice here, runs at 800.”
Technically, Tom is correct. The b revision for IEEE 1394 is the one that runs at 800 Mbps. But, the community doesn’t refer to FireWire by its revision designation in more common parlance. All things being equal, the IEEE 1394 revision that runs at 400 Mbps is actually IEEE 1394-1995. But we don’t call it that; likewise, we don’t refer to the 2006 revision of the standard as IEEE 1394c-2006. Nor will we call the as yet unreleased (and blazingly fast at 6.2 Gbps!) IEEE 1394 revision as IEEE P1394d. Whatever the currently used FireWire standard is, it will be referred to as IEEE 1394 (or FireWire).

The next item we’ll go over comes from PrepLogic’s CCNA Voice Practice Exam. The question states:
“Using the given analog sound wave diagram, which part of the sound wave depicts the amplitude?” For reference, we’ve included this diagram.

The answer choices are as follows:

A.) Letter A
B.) Letter B
C.) Letter C
D.) Letter D

The correct answer is B.

James from Melbourne, Australia remarks that he “[does not] agree with… letter B. Self study says it’s… Letter C”.
Here’s the rub: the diagram actually shows two different types of amplitude identified by both Letter B and Letter C. So how do you distinguish? Well, only one type of amplitude is important to telecommunications and, thus, the CCNA Voice exam: peak amplitude. Peak amplitude is exemplified by Letter B. Peak-to-peak amplitude (Letter C) is a common way of measuring amplitude, but peak amplitude—the absolute value of the signal, is more appropriate for this measurement.

The last item we want to discuss comes from PrepLogic’s Security+ (SY0-201) Practice Exam. The question:

Which of the following is NOT true about password security?

A.) Passwords are kept secret at all times.
B.) Passwords are of a minimum sufficient length.
C.) Passwords are of a minimum sufficient strength.
D.) Passwords are generated of personal possessions or preferences.

The correct answer is D.

Stuart from Sierra Vista, AZ writes that he sees two answer choices that are repeated. This is actually another excellent demonstration of how CompTIA creates distracters that pull you away from the correct answer. The problem is that, in reading quickly, answer choices B and C do, indeed, look the same. However, if you look closely you’ll see that answer B indicates passwords “of a minimum sufficient length” while answer C indicates passwords “of a minimum sufficient strength.” This just shows that you have to make sure to read your questions very carefully when taking the test.

Ok, that’s all for now. Check back soon for another installment!

CCNA Concentrations:

The great thing about CCNA concentrations is that in addition to renewing your CCNA for another 3 years, they allow you to upgrade your basic CCNA to reflect a specialization in Security, Voice or Wireless, all by passing just one exam!  Think about your on-the-job experience.  By now, you may have developed a focus or interest in one of these roles.  Specialization helps you stand out and makes you more valuable to employers.  Doesn’t it make sense to have a credential to reflect your specialty?  Below is some basic information about each of these concentrations.

CCNA Security:

This credential validates your skills in installing, troubleshooting, and monitoring Cisco security technologies.  It also signals to employers that you have a demonstrated ability to develop security policies and mitigate network risk.  With more and more employers cutting costs by bringing their security in-house, security certifications are more relevant than ever before.  This credential is a natural stepping stone toward the CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional) certification and prepares you for job roles such as Network Security Specialist, Security Administrator and Network Security Support Engineer.  In order to obtain the CCNA Security you will need to pass the CCNA Security (640-553) exam.

CCNA Voice:

The CCNA Voice certification is a great way to showcase your skills in voice applications and infrastructure concepts.  CCNA voice also demonstrates proficiency in installation, configuration, and maintenance of Cisco VoIP technologies.  This certification prepares you for job roles such as Voice Engineer, Voice Manager, and Voice Administrator and is a pre-requisite for the CCVP (Cisco Certified Voice Professional) certification.

CCNA Wireless:

This Cisco Certification demonstrates your ability to install, configure and support Cisco wireless LAN networks in both SMBs and large enterprises.  Job roles for this certification include Wireless Technician, Support Technician, Network Administrator and Wireless Network Security Engineer.  In order to obtain the CCNA Wireless certification, you will need to pass the CCNA Wireless (640-721) exam.

Start upgrading your CCNA today:

Keeping your CCNA current is very important for your career. It shows your attention to detail and due diligence as much as it shows your abilities. Now you have an extra incentive to keep current with Cisco’s specialized CCNA certifications. PrepLogic can help you get ready to renew your CCNA. Check out our site for free practice exam previews for all of your specialized CCNA exams. Download them today, try them out and give us a call when you’re ready to start training. Good luck on your exams!