Cisco Certification Testing, The widely respected Cisco Career Certifications bring valuable, measurable rewards to network professionals, their managers, and the organizations that employ them. Cisco offers three levels of general certification-from Associate to Professional to Expert, representing the highest level of achievement-available in various paths (or tracks) and designations.

CCENT® Certification (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician)
The Cisco CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) certification validates the skills required for entry-level network support positions, the starting point for many successful careers in networking. Candidates should have the knowledge and skill to install, operate and troubleshoot a small enterprise branch network, including basic network security. CCENT certification is the first step toward achieving CCNA, which covers medium size enterprise branch networks with more complex connections.

CCNA Certification (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
The Cisco CCNA network associate certification validates the ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks, including implementation and verification of connections to remote sites in a WAN. This new curriculum includes basic mitigation of security threats, introduction to wireless networking concepts and terminology, and performance-based skills. This new curriculum also includes (but is not limited to) the use of these protocols: IP, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Serial Line Interface Protocol Frame Relay, Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2),VLANs, Ethernet, access control lists (ACLs)

CCNP Certification (Cisco Certified Network Professional)
CCNP certification validates a network professional’s ability to install, configure and troubleshoot converged local and wide area networks with 100 to 500 or more nodes. Network Professionals who achieve the CCNP have demonstrated the knowledge and skills required to manage the routers and switches that form the network core, as well as edge applications that integrate voice, wireless, and security into the network.

Want to start getting into routers etc so looking at doing some cisco stuff?
Think you need to start on the CCNA? but dont really know where or know of any real books that can teach you this from scratch? Here is a guideline for the Cisco newbies to start on the CCNA.

Q: Looking at doing some cisco stuff?

A: Cisco’s Career Certifications & Paths information can be found here.
Cisco also has a CCNA Prep Center — it might impress you, or it might scare you away — but worth a look to get an idea of what Cisco makes available.

http://www.cisco.com/go/prepcenter Only one comment on the prepCenter.
When watching the flash, dont take their word when they say that linux is an operating system.

One who says that linux is an OS, states that his knowledge of operating systems converging to zero (especially linux based).

Q: Don’t really know where or know of any real books that can teach you this from scratch.

A: The books you’ll hear the most about around here are:
Sybex - Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide — by Todd Lammle. Should be on the 5th edition. Great for learning subnetting. Missing some info, but there are one or two new update chapters available for download.

Cisco Press - The CCNA 640-802 books by Wendell Odom. Probably the CCNA Official Exam Certification Library.

You can check out all the Cisco Press Books (and the link to the simulator) at the Cisco Press Web site.
Hands-on practice is important…. but you can get by with the simulator for the CCNA.

Q: Are the exams expensive?

A: The CCNA 640-802 exam is $125.
There is also the 2 exam option (INTRO and ICND). There should be link at the CCNP Prep Center that explains it. I think those are $100 each.

That should be enough links to keep you busy for the rest of the night.

From
http://exam-test-blog.org/cisco-newbie-start-on-the-ccna/