The Ideal BCMSN Candidate

The BCMSN exam tests you on advanced or journeyman knowledge of local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) technologies. You'll be tested for the skills necessary to configure and operate LAN and WAN services for organizations with networks from 100 to more than 500 nodes.

The protocols and technologies that you should know by exam time include

• Enterprise switched network designs

• Virtual LAN (VLAN) technologies

• The Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) and its enhancements

• Multilayer switching implementations

• Availability and redundancy in a campus network

• Multicasting solutions

• Quality of Service (QoS) concerns and solutions

• Switching optimization and security

• Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and Ethernet

To ultimately achieve a Cisco Career Certification, you have to read and accept the terms of the Cisco Career Certifications and Confidentiality Agreement. If you fail to complete this step, certification application processing will stop. You can take the BCMSN exam on the way to earning the CCNP, CCIP, and CCDP certifications without taking any courses, but you must hold a valid CCNA certificate when you register for the BCMSN exam.

The BCMSN exam is often the first test taken on the path to CCNP, CCIP, and CCDP certifications. These professional certifications generally endorse an individual's networking skills at the mid-career level. Many BCMSN candidates already hold positions such as help-desk support, field technician, systems administrator, network administrator, or technical trainer. As a BCMSN exam candidate, you should already have knowledge of networking at the small-office, home-office (SOHO) level as well as have the ability to operate in a small business or organization with networks of fewer than 100 nodes. You also should presently be able to install and configure Cisco routers in multiprotocol internetworks using LAN and WAN interfaces as well as Cisco switches in small environments. In addition, you should be confident providing Level 1 troubleshooting support as well as optimizing network security and performance.

Fundamentally, this all boils down to about a bachelor's degree in computer science with a strong focus on networking, plus at least two years of experience working in a position involving network design, installation, configuration, maintenance, and/or security. We believe that fewer than half of all certification candidates meet these requirements and that, in fact, most meet less than half of these requirements at least, when they begin the certification process. But because so many other IT professionals who already have been certified in networking topics have survived this ordeal, you can survive it, too, especially if you heed what our self-assessment can tell you about what you already know and what you need to learn.