help me with network certification

[sample text]

hey,I want to start studying for network/system admin and I was about to buy plenty of Cisco books,but my friend told me that it's better to start with CompTia Network+,because Cisco books are only for Cisco products.Is that true?

[MarbleHornets]

Even though Cisco tends to be used around a lot of industries, you definitely will want to move up the CompTIA ladder. Depending on your skill set, you'll at least want to get the more basic concepts before moving up to more complicated things. Network+ is a great way to start, followed by CCNA, and you'll definitely want to through in Security+ if you want to be an administrator as well. Getting Cisco specific certifications aren't bad, but you're limiting yourself just to that one field instead of having a broad horizon to work on. So in my advice, as a current network technical, is to aim more for CompTIA certs.

[sample text]

1 hour ago, MarbleHornets said:

Even though Cisco tends to be used around a lot of industries, you definitely will want to move up the CompTIA ladder. Depending on your skill set, you'll at least want to get the more basic concepts before moving up to more complicated things. Network+ is a great way to start, followed by CCNA, and you'll definitely want to through in Security+ if you want to be an administrator as well. Getting Cisco specific certifications aren't bad, but you're limiting yourself just to that one field instead of having a broad horizon to work on. So in my advice, as a current network technical, is to aim more for CompTIA certs.

Ok,but here is 1 thing which don't understand:What if I buy https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119139740/ref=emc_b_5_t

and I buy exam after 1 or 2 years?Will this book give me the required knowledge or it will be outdated?I directly asked CompTia and they said that they recommend to buy the exam and the book and complete them at the same year before the new version of exam starts.Also they said if I buy this book now and buy an exam after 1-2 years,the book will not be useful and it will be outdated.Well why is there always a newer version of exams?Why don't we just learn everything at once and buy an exam?Isn't it dumb,because let's say that I buy an exam now and complete it and find a job,but next year new version of exam will appear and I won't even know enough about it and I will be outdated 24/7

[LAwLz]

8 hours ago, sample text said:

Cisco books are only for Cisco products.Is that true?

Not true at all. They sometimes bring up Cisco proprietary protocols such as Per VLAN Spanning Tree, but when they do, they usually do so in the context of other protocols such as Multiple Instance STP (which is not Cisco proprietary).

 

If you get something like a CCNA, then you will understand how for example HP switches works and gets configured too.

[Ithanul]

12 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Not true at all. They sometimes bring up Cisco proprietary protocols such as Per VLAN Spanning Tree, but when they do, they usually do so in the context of other protocols such as Multiple Instance STP (which is not Cisco proprietary).

 

If you get something like a CCNA, then you will understand how for example HP switches works and gets configured too.

Yep, the Cisco books will touch on networking outside their standard protocols.

Also, a good chunk of the network admin job openings I see tend to really favor the Cisco certs, but the Net+ is not a bad starting point.  I see that usually as a requirement on like beginner net admin assistant positions.

 

5 hours ago, sample text said:

Ok,but here is 1 thing which don't understand:What if I buy https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119139740/ref=emc_b_5_t

and I buy exam after 1 or 2 years?Will this book give me the required knowledge or it will be outdated?I directly asked CompTia and they said that they recommend to buy the exam and the book and complete them at the same year before the new version of exam starts.Also they said if I buy this book now and buy an exam after 1-2 years,the book will not be useful and it will be outdated.Well why is there always a newer version of exams?Why don't we just learn everything at once and buy an exam?Isn't it dumb,because let's say that I buy an exam now and complete it and find a job,but next year new version of exam will appear and I won't even know enough about it and I will be outdated 24/7

The reason new exams are made is because the IT industry is continuously changing.  The CompTIA cert stays good for three years.  To renew you must pay the annual fee and apply CEU (continuous education units).  This is to ensure that holders of the cert stay up-to-date on the latest in that part of the IT field.

If you are lucky, the employer may cover the annual fees, especially if the cert is a job requirement (like in my case with my Sec+ cert).  Some IT companies will even refund exam costs when their employees take exams.

 

Pretty much, the trick is getting your foot into the door and staying up on the skill set within the field.

[sample text]

would you recommend me to get CCNA and Network+ even on all levels if I have to?Just to be sure that I will have deep knowledge,and it will be good to have some specific knowledge about Cisco products since I guess that rich or big companies/corporations work with Cisco.It will be annoying for me to have only CompTia network+ and ignore CCNA,it's always better if you know more tho