NSE8/FCX Certification

After a couple of months of half-assed studying I finally sat and passed the AZ-104 exam this past week. With this as well as the start of the new year I can’t think of a better time to make the big push for the FCX/NSE8. As we get back into this topic I again cannot emphasize enough the help that the https://fcxstudy.group/ blog has provided in my short progress into this long journey thus far. My newfound enthusiasm can almost solely be attributed to this specific post: https://fcxstudy.group/2025/10/31/my-fcx-experience-kevin-guenay-nse8-003845/

In the post, an Austrian Systems Engineer explains his journey to passing the FCX. Maybe it was the parallels I saw with my level of experience, or pure dumb optimism after reading about Kevin passing the exam after close to a year of hard studying (contrary to the other FCX experience blogs that often mention 1.5-2 years). Either way, let’s talk shop.

I have recreated Andrew from fcxstudy.groups’s FCX Excel spreadsheet tracker. I started it from scratch but ended up in a similar format to what he created, and also borrowed his style of topic tracking – especially the “Teach Others” concept of learning. Let’s go through the tracker sheet by sheet and I’ll add any necessary color.

Sheet 1: Exam Requirements and General Tables

This is really just notes from reading through the NSE8_Pre-Release_Handbook_Public_Exam as well as lists of lab resources and a small table I can use to track total hours at my projected daily study rate (I still would like to get the yearly hour count up closer to 1000, but I started with a lower target in hope to not scare myself off).

Sheet 2: Questions

This is simply a list of questions I’d like to eventually have answered. Most answers will come from our Fortinet AM (Account Manager) and SE (Sales Engineer) at work. Kevin’s blog post also emphasized his use of the Fortinet Demo licenses and Hand-On-Learning labs, so one of my first tasks will be obtaining Fortinet Developer Network access from our AM.

Sheet 3: Core Module NSE8 High-Level

The two tables likely don’t need their own sheet, but I’m fine wasting e-paper. Both of these datasets are extremely important, in particular to my interest, the products covered. This sheet and the next are specific to the Core exam module, the first of two 4 hour practical exams making up the new NSE8 format. This tells me exactly what kind of lab VMs I need as well as what high level scope I can set in terms of studying resources. Personally, I love that products like FortiMail and FortiADC have been kicked off the syllabus. I personally do not have any experience with these and likely won’t in the near future so the more this exam version focuses on products I have experience with, the better.

Sheet 4: Core Module Topics

This is the meat and potatoes of the tracking spreadsheet. The list of topics was pulled directly from the NSE8_Pre-Release_Handbook_Public_Exam and will be updated accordingly if there are any changes once the production handbook is released. Let me explain the checkbox columns since I’ve labeled them for brevity:

• Learning Exp. (Experience): Do I have experience learning about this topic? This would likely come from studying for the FCP, FCSS, or the month or so I started studying for the FCX.
• Practical Exp. (Experience): Do I have practical experience working with this topic? This would likely come from work experience at my day job or from lab experience during FCSS or FCX studying.
• Deep Study: Have I spent days to weeks reading through written material, admin guides, handbooks, KBs, etc. about this topic?
• Deep Practical: Have I simulated this topic in the lab? Have I simulated troubleshooting scenarios?
• Make Guides: Have I made a guide teaching others about this topic? This is something I tweaked based on Andrews original “Teach Others” learning technique. I like making MOPs and KBs for generic troubleshooting of Fortinet equipment to be shared at work, and it’s probably the best way to passively teach others without becoming the office know-it-all. I used this method quite a bit when studying for the FCSS.
• Forum Q&As: Have I answered questions on Reddit, Fortinet Forums, Discords about this topic? Once I’ve checked this and Make Guides, I really know I’m confident on the topic.

Sheet 4: Secure Networking Module High-Level

Same as the Core high-level sheet, but for the Secure Networking module, my choice of the 3 specified exams one must pass to complete NSE8. I chose Secure Networking as it best aligns with my current experience as well as my personal interest in the pure networking domains. This is also the “logical continuation” of the core exam.

Sheet 5: Secure Networking Topics

Same as the Core module topics sheet, but for the Secure Networking topics.

I’ve set a recurring reminder in my phone reminding me to make a blog post/update every week. I highly doubt that will actually happen, but the idea is that it will remind me to stay true to my daily and weekly studying hours goals. I think it makes more sense to create these posts when I have enough material updates to warrant one. Hopefully the addition of FDN (Fortinet Developer Network, includes Demos and Hands-On Learning Labs), and some evaluation licenses from our AM will provide that content.