This article will provide a profile of the Cisco 200-301 CCNA exam.

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For a long, the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), certification has been the starting point of Cisco certifications. Cisco announced in June 2019 changes that will be made by Cisco on February 24, 2020. These changes will impact nearly every aspect of Cisco certifications. These changes include major changes to the CCNA certificate, as well as a new exam called the CCNA 200-301.

Perspective: The Old CCNA Family

The CCNA certification was first introduced by Cisco in 1998. Cisco introduced the CCNA certification in 1998. Over the years, a new version has been released with seven new exams. The most recent release was in 2016 with the 200–125 exam.

Cisco added new technologies to its product line over the years. Cisco also created CCNA certifications, such as CCNA Data Center or CCNA Security. Cisco renamed the CCNA original CCNA certificate to "CCNA Routing & Switching" in 2007. This was done to remove any confusion with all the different CCNA certifications.

Cisco's 2019 certification announcements revamp the entire CCNA line-up. Cisco will stop offering nearly all existing CCNA certifications. Cisco plans to leave one consolidated CCNA certificate so that all others are gone, Cisco will simply call the new certification CCNA.

Cisco announced the changes in June 2019 but said nothing would change until February 24, 2020. You can still pursue your current certifications during the transition period. The traditional exams and certifications will be retired on transition day and the new ones will be available on that date.

The Only New CCNA

Cisco describes the new CCNA plan in its announcement messaging as a consolidation. The consolidation does not include all exam topics from all CCNA certifications. It only consolidates them into one exam. Cisco describes this instead:

CCNA consolidates skills from all areas, focusing primarily on fundamental skills when you start networking.
This article explains in greater detail the contents of this certification exam.

CCNA 200-301 Content

The official Cisco 200-301 blueprint, like all Cisco exam blueprints, breaks down the exam topics into Domains with a specific point percentage. The behind-the-scenes process of choosing questions for the exam should ensure that you only see questions that provide these points.

20%: Domain 1: Network Fundamentals
20% Domain 2: Network Access
25%: Domain 3 - IP Connectivity
10% Domain 4: Services
15% Domain 5: Security Fundamentals
10% Domain 6: Automation & Programmability

A few key points are helpful when breaking down domains more precisely:

Domain 1: Network Fundamentals covers some of the most fundamental topics. However, it also includes technology from all five domains.
Domain 2, Network Access, covers LAN access technologies up to 60% Ethernet and 40% Wireless LAN according to exam-topic count (which might not reflect the scoring weights).
Domain 5, Security Fundamentals, covers traditional routing and switching security topics like device login and switch Port Security. Some topics were covered in CCNA Security in past.
Domain 6, Automation and Programmability, has both automation-related topics and background topics that will help you understand programming and automation.

Cisco informs us that their new, exclusive CCNA contains the content that hiring managers want for entry-level network engineers so they can be directed to specialize, perhaps into one of five remaining CCNP tracks: Enterprise Service Provider Data Center Security and Collaboration.

CCNA 200-301 Compared with CCNA R&S

This certification is now obsolete. One way to get a feel for what the new CCNA200-301 exam consists of is to compare it to the old CCNA R&S200-125 exam.

This analysis was part of my observations in creating the new CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guides (Volumes 1, and 2) and I found:

65% - Traditional Routing and Switching

If you consider the new CCNA200-301 as 100%, then I estimate that 65% of the CCNA200-301 exam is made up of routing and switching topics. The vast majority of routing and switching topics are also found in the old CCNA200-125 exam.

65% of the CCNA 200-301 exam covers traditional routing.10:

10-20% Security (mostly older)

Cisco has one domain that seems to be related to security. However, security can be difficult to measure in an exam. Are IP Access Control Lists considered a security feature or a routing feature? After considering all topics that could or might be considered a security, I made some estimates and came up with 10-20% for the new CCNA 200-301 exam. This depends on the way you categorize each exam topic.

All topics in CCNA 200-301 that you might consider security-related are covered in the old CCNA R&S200-125 exam. The new CCNA 200-301 exam continues to cover IP Access Control Lists, password security, and Switch Port Security. Security policies and dynamic ARP inspection are two new topics in CCNA 200-301.

10: Automation and Programmability (mostly New)

The old CCNA R&S200-125 exam covers a few topics in network automation. The new CCNA 200-301 exam has a significant increase in volume. Cisco marks automation as 10% of the exam.

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