Cisco Announces CCNA Prep Center Enhancements

New Videos and Educational Game that Teaches the Binary Numbering System Used by Computer Programmers Help Prepare Networking Professionals for CCNA Certification.

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 2, 2006 - Cisco Systems® today announced enhancements to its CCNA Prep Center including the availability of new learning videos and the Binary Game, an educational game designed to teach binary skills while engaging the learner in an exciting and entertaining format. The Binary Game is available to anyone with a Cisco.com login via the CCNA Prep Center, a website dedicated to networking professionals working toward completion of the CCNA certification: http://www.cisco.com/go/prepcenter.
The Binary Game teaches strategies related to the binary system, a foundation knowledge used by Cisco CCNA certified professionals to install, configure and operate local-area networks (LAN), wide-area networks (WAN) and access services for small networks. The binary numbering system is used by computer programmers because each bit - the smallest unit of storage in a computer’s memory - can have only two states, 0 or 1. These two states correspond to the off and on states of the electronic switches that make up the brain of the computer. The binary system is used in virtually all electronics including computers and networking equipment such as routers and switches. The address of nearly every device on the Internet must be converted into a binary number.

While playing the Binary Game, rows of 1s and 0s appear from the bottom of the screen. The player clicks the 1s and 0s to create binary numbers, and earns points when answering correctly. The challenge starts when rows begin to appear faster and faster. As players achieve higher scores and advanced levels, they begin to recognize patterns and develop conversion strategies.

“The CCNA Prep Center offers productive learning materials that help individuals sharpen their skills and successfully complete their certification,” said Don Field, director of certifications at Cisco. “We are excited to continue to provide productive learning materials in innovative ways to make them most useful to CCNA candidates.”

In addition to the Binary Game, the newly redesigned CCNA Prep Center has been enhanced with several CCNA videos that cover some of the most challenging, and critical topics CCNA candidates must master, such as access control lists (ACLs), Trunking and Frame Tagging Protocols, IP addressing and virtual LANs (VLANs). The latest videos include:


“Access Control Lists: Part 2,” a video on demand featuring resident expert and CCNA guru Mike Wilson of Cisco. This new video includes a review of standard ACLs, calculating a Wild Card mask, and configuring ACLs and extended IP ACLs.

“Switching Fundamentals: Part 1,” includes switching modes, CAM tables, and components of a Layer 2 frame and how they operate.
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