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CCNP vs CCIE: When to Choose Which Cisco Certification?

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In this blog, you will find out the difference between CCNP vs CCIE certifications. You will get to know about the pre-requirements for the CCNP and CCIE roles. You will also get to know about the job roles and the CCNP salary and the CCIE salary. 

There are currently over 6,00,000 tech professionals holding Cisco certifications. These certifications include CCNA, CCNP, CCDA, CCDP, CCIE and CCSP certifications. 

Based on all these parameters, you can choose the best job for yourself. Let’s see the difference. Between these two certifications. 

Let’s first begin with CCNP

ccnp vs ccie

CCNA vs CCNP - What Is The Difference?

What is CCNP? Cisco Certified Network Professional

The Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) is Cisco’s professional certification. It is a certification meant for aspiring Network Engineers who already have their CCNA certification. 

The CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate. This certification is meant to help you land entry-level jobs. 

What is CCIE? Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert

The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) is the most reputed and respected Cisco certification. It is a little difficult to crack but it is completely worth it.  

This certification is meant for the candidates who already have CCNP certification.

Who can choose the CCNP certification? 

The candidates who already have their CCNA certification can take up the CCNP certification. However, it is not compulsory for you to have CCNA certification before CCNP. 

You need to have the following knowledge before taking up the CCNP course:
  • Basics of networking 
  • IP address 
  • Ports 
  • Routers 
  • Switches 
  • Subnetting 
  • Classes 
  • Subnet mask 
  • LAN technologies 
  • WAN technologies 

If you are familiar with the above technologies, you can easily enroll in a CCNP course.  

Who can choose the CCIE certification? 

You can take up the CCIE certification for two reasons: 

  • You want a handsome salary hike 
  • You want to upskill yourself in the networking industry 

Candidates who already have a CCNP certification and have 5-7 years of industry experience can think about upskilling to CCIE position. 

You need to have an understanding of the following topics: 

  • Floating routes and NAT 
  • EIGRP 
  • OSPF 
  • Inter VLAN 
  • RIP 
  • ACLs, CoPP, SPAN, RSPAN 
  • NetFlow 
  • Troubleshoot methods 
  • VPN and IPsec 
  • Python for Network Engineers 
  • Network automation 

If you are thorough with these topics, you can then proceed with the CCIE certification. 

What exams do you need to take for CCNP certification?

You need to take two exams to get CCNP certified. These exams are: 

  • Core exam: 

The core exam is the 350-401 ENCOR – Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR). 

  • Concentration exam: 

The concentration exam is 300-410 ENARSI – Implementing Cisco Enterprise Advanced Routing and Services (ENARSI). 

There are 5 other concentration exams to choose from as well. Yet, it is the best choice to take up the ENARSI and ENCOR certification. 

A lot of people also choose just one of them. However, it is recommended to take both of the exams to get CCNP certified. 

What exams do you need to take for CCIE certification?

For any CCIE exam, you need to pass two exams. These exams are: 

  • Qualifying exam: 

You have to pass the qualifying exam which is the Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR 350-401). This exam is a 2-hour long exam. 

  • Lab exam: 

You need to take a lab exam for CCIE which is the CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure v1.0. It is an 8-hour long exam. 

What is the cost for the CCNP exam? 

The exam cost of the 350-401 ENCOR exam is $400 USD. 

The exam cost for the 300-410 ENARSI exam is $300 USD.

What is the cost for the CCIE exam?

The CCIE exam costs is $2,350. 

How?

The cost of the written exam for the CCIE certification is around $450 per attempt. The cost of the lab exam is around $1,900 each attempt. 

The certificate of a CCIE costs around $2,350 in total. 

As you can see, the cost of the CCIE certification is very high as compared to CCNP. 

 Yet, if you really want to become a Senior Network Engineer and stand out from the crowd, the CCIE certification is the best certification to choose! 

What jobs can you land with CCNP?

You can land the following job positions with CCNP. These job positions include: 

  • Network Engineer 
  • Network Security Engineer 
  • L3 Network Security Engineer 
  • Network Support Specialist 
  • L1 L2 Network Engineer 
  • NOC Engineer 
  • TAC Engineer 
  • Infrastructure Specialist 
  • Network Architect 
  • Network Administrator 

This list can go on and on. You can see there are plenty of job openings for CCNP certification holders.

What jobs can you land with CCIE?

You can land the following prestigious job titles with the CCIE certification. These job roles are mentioned below: 

  • Network Manager 
  • Senior Network Engineer 
  • Senior Network Architect 
  • Network Security Expert 
  • Security Network Consulting Engineer  
  • Senior Security Architect 
  • L3 Network Engineer  
  • Senior Network Administrator 
  • Solution Network Architect 
  • Network Engineering Specialist Advisor 
  • Network Design Engineer 

What can you do to upskill after CCNP?

After CCNP, you can upgrade your skills by going for the CCIE certification. Yet, it has to be noted that you need to have five to eight years of experience in the CCNP domain to upskill. 

CCIE is the highest level of Cisco certification. It needs patience, determination and hard work. You can choose to do CCIE if you want to!

What can you do to upskill after CCIE?

CCIE is the highest level of Cisco certification. After CCIE, you can upskill yourself by gaining more CCIE certifications in various domains.  

You can have expertise in the CCIE certification that you have the certification of. You can stay updated with the latest networking technologies and latest Cisco curriculums. This will help you to stay upgraded. 

Conclusion CCNP vs CCIE:

Cisco certifications have always been the best to enter the tech industry. These certifications have helped thousands of candidates stand out from the regular candidates. 

CCNP certification and CCIE certification are the best networking certifications that you can gain throughout your technical career.  

It gives you the magic key to open the door to unlimited job opportunities. You can begin your CCNP journey today if you are already a CCNA certification holder. 

Also, if you are a CCNP certification holder, you must buck up for the CCIE certification for a better salary.

People also ask

Is F5 LTM Certification Worth It

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f5ltm load balancer, f5 ltm worth it

‘F5 ltm worth Named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Application Firewalls’- F5 LTM announced back in the year 2017. 

Since then, F5 LTM has been placed at a higher position as compared to other firewalls. F5 LTM training consists of learning about load balancing and incoming traffic. You must be familiar with Firewalls such as Palo Alto firewall, Check Point firewall, Cisco ASA firewall, FortiGate firewall, Versa Networks, and many more. 

Yet F5 LTM is a part and parcel of firewalls. It balances the load. A lot of people are taking up this F5 LTM certification. Yet a lot of people question its worth. 

In this blog, we will break down in pointers if the F5 LTM certification is worth it or not. We will see it, especially from a career point of view.  

Without further ado, let’s begin with the blog. 

We have listed a few solid reasons why F5 LTM training is worth the money. Here’s why:

The Market Leader: 

A load balancer works by managing incoming traffic and it spreads it throughout other backend servers. This is what F5 LTM does. It manages the traffic. 

What’s the need for a traffic manager like F5 LTM? 

There has to be a traffic manager similar to the ones we have in real life. The absence of a traffic manager can lead to congestion.  

There are two most popular load balancers in the market. These are: 

  • F5 LTM 
  • Citrix 

Since F5 LTM stands at the top of the load balancing hierarchy, it is the best decision to begin with F5 LTM training. Followed by it comes the Citrix. 

You would be amazed to know that 36,646 companies use F5 LTM let alone in the United States. 

F5 LTM WORTH Covers the Biggest Market Share: 

When it comes to Network Management, F5 LTM has the biggest market share. It has a market share of 29.2% in the industry.  

Do you know which industry is the largest user of the F5 BIG-IP? 

You will be surprised to know the answer. It is none other than the Hospital and the Healthcare industry (according to a report on Network Management by Enlyft).  

You can check out the complete report here: https://enlyft.com/tech/products/f5-big-ip via @enlyftinc 

Some of the companies that use F5 BIG-IP include: 

  • Cision Ltd. 
  • Lorven Technologies 
  • Confidential Records, Inc. 

You can estimate the value of F5 LTM load balancer.  

F5 is More than Just a Load Balancer: 

F5 LTM is not just a load balancer. It is more than that. In today’s time, BIG-IP is a family of a lot of products. These products include: 

  • Software designed around application availability 
  • Hardware designed around application availability 
  • Access control 
  • Security solutions 
  • Automation 
  • Multi-cloud 

F5 and Citrix majorly provide security solutions. Since security is one of the major concerns for any working business, F5 is one of the most chosen load balancers of all time. 

Due to the enhanced use of F5 LTM, a lot of company recruiters are looking for F5 LTM Engineers who can deploy the technology in the right way. 

F5 LTM is now a virtual machine. Due to its high availability, it makes F5 LTM the first choice of many business organizations. 

F5 LTM does not Require any Special Previous Training: 

You do not need to have any special subject-focused training before starting the F5 LTM course. But yes, you need to have the following knowledge: 

  • Basic networking knowledge 
  • Fundamentals of networking 
  • Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) 
  • Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) 
  • Some basic firewall knowledge 

You are good to go with the F5 LTM training if you fulfil the above requirements. A lot of people think that they can skip Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) training before digging into firewall or load balancer training. However, it is not true. 

You need to have basic and advanced-level router/switching knowledge. It would help you put your skills into use. So, make sure that you have the networking skills before you step into the firewall or LTM training. 

Build a Solid Career in Network Security with F5 LTM: 

An exceptional Network Security Engineer knows F5 LTM. It is one of the most in-demand skills in the network engineers looking out for security-focused roles. With F5 LTM, you can strengthen your role as an F5 LTM Engineer. 

You can also explore other aspects of load balancing. These include automation, multi-cloud, virtual load balancer and security parameters. 

F5 LTM is the Hot Topic: 

A fair share of Firewall Engineers can be seen in the industry. At the same time, a lot of people are opting for load balancing roles. You can bag a handsome salary with such a job. You can enhance your skills by choosing the best load balancer, that is, the F5 LTM training. 

You cannot go wrong with it. 

You can Bag High-Paying Job roles: 

You can get high-paying job offers if you combine F5 LTM skills in your resume. It has been studied that 83% of candidates applying as a Network Engineer lack F5 LTM skills. 

You can get high-paying jobs such as: 

  • L3 Network Engineer 
  • L1 Operations Analyst 
  • Systems Engineer 
  • Network and Security Engineer 
  • Senior Technical Services Analyst 
  • Network Administrator 

You can easily find these job positions to fill for on LinkedIn, Indeed, Naukri, etc. 

The only mantra here is to incorporate top-rated skills in you. Learning F5 LTM is one of them. 

Conclusion: 

It is really important to spend your precious time on the right skills at the right time. Becoming a Network Engineer seems to be a simple task. But the add-on skills surely increase the value of your job position. It helps you stand out from the crowd. 

You can start your F5 LTM journey with us today. 

From this blog, we can conclude that F5 LTM training is worth it. It is definitely a skill in demand. It is the best decision to make since business organizations look for professionals with outstanding skills. 

F5 LTM course makes you stand out from the crowd. You can expect a high-paying job if you add this skill to your portfolio. If you didn’t have enough time, it’s okay we have already summed up this blog with the major headings. 

Now, we can say a solid yes to the F5 LTM load balancing course. We have already enrolled a number of students in our previous F5 LTM batch. You can start your learning journey here with us too. 

Here, at Network Kings, we have special Network Engineers to help you understand the real-world networking scenario. This further helps you to grow in your career the right way. 

What are you waiting for? Begin your F5 LTM training now.