The CCNA/Cisco Certifications Thread

kalvindeane · 9 Oct 2013 at 15:46

Hey guys.

I thought I'd make a thread specifically for Cisco certifications, so that we have somewhere central to discuss them.

Hopefully this will turn into an FAQ/discussion type thread, for now I've compiled a list of links to sites that I have
found helpful. As and when I get more time I will try to add more to the thread to make it more useful. Please feel
free to contribute to the thread and help me improve it in any way that you can.

Some of the links are CCNA specific since it's the most popular cert, and some are just general to Cisco certs.

A little bit about myself: currently I'm just a CCNA and I'm working my way towards the CCNP/CCIE. I'll try to grab a
pic of my lab at some point. Feel free to do the same.

kalvindeane · 9 Oct 2013 at 16:19

Thanks GostlyPea.

I'd like to expand the OP to include some proper content rather than just links to other sites, that won't happen today though.
So any help to make the thread more complete is very much appreciated.

I would also like to extend the offer of creating articles/lab scenarios for CCNA/CCNP R&S topics.

At some point in the near future I may offer access to my lab for those who wish to access it (although I can't provide 24/7
access because of the electricity cost). E.g. lots of people use 3550s for their labs instead of 3560 or above switches, and
miss out on Private VLANs etc. I have a couple of 6509s which can do this, as well as SSO/NSF etc.

kalvindeane · 9 Oct 2013 at 20:33

Sweet

What kit have you got so far Gazb?

kalvindeane · 9 Oct 2013 at 21:26

Nice to hear from you oli! How's work going?

kalvindeane · 9 Oct 2013 at 21:49

Not bad.

You may find an extra switch or two useful for STP/VTP/Etherchannels though I suppose that depends on how familiar you
are with those technologies already. If you need more routers than you currently have then look into GNS3 for a free option.

As above, if you find yourself wanting more switches for those technologies but don't want to fork out the extra dough for
them, you're welcome to remotely access my switches when they're available. Just got to ask! I think that the
freeCCNAworkbook site offers some sort of free lab access too, probably a better lab than mine. It's worth checking out
for those who don't have access to all of the kit that they need.

Occasionally you may find INE and similar companies offering free access to their kit too, I've got 50 tokens left with INE
that they gave for free

kalvindeane · 12 Oct 2013 at 14:17

Sounds sweet Oli!

I've seen a couple of local jobs open up, hoping to get one of them.

Unfortunately they're not network focussed roles, but at least it would mean a foot in the door...

kalvindeane · 16 Oct 2013 at 14:43

A pair of 2611XM routers turned up earlier. 96MB installed, brackets, 4x WIC-1T and two serial cables.

Got them for such a cheap price I may consider selling them instead of keeping them for myself!

kalvindeane · 17 Oct 2013 at 17:33

GNS3 can't emulate Cisco switches.

You can install an EtherSwitch Module in to a router and it will behave similarly to a switch, but not exactly the same.

Personally I bought a couple of real switches, then bridged them in to GNS3. Seems to work just fine.

On an unrelated note: CCNP Switch exam scheduled for the 31st of this month!

kalvindeane · 17 Oct 2013 at 17:47

That is an EtherSwitch Module inside a 3700 series router.

Bear in mind there will be some differences between the ESM and an actual switch. For the CCNA though it's pretty good.

kalvindeane · 17 Oct 2013 at 17:52

There are quite a few people who just use GNS3 so you should be good to go.

If there are any missing features then I could allow you to remotely access my lab for 2-3 hours at a time if needed
for anything that can't be done in GNS3.

kalvindeane · 17 Oct 2013 at 17:59

No problem!

Feel free to post your labs guys!

I have a 42U rack downstairs but atm my lab is sitting on my bedroom floor as the builders are doing work downstairs.
Needs to be cabled properly so forgive me for the mess

http://i.imgur.com/qi7jpy0.jpg

kalvindeane · 17 Oct 2013 at 21:08

If the ESM's support STP, you'll want a few switches that are linked together for that as well as a couple of other things.

You'll also want a frame relay switch for some of your labs too.

In response to V-Spec's comment on RIPv2 in ICND1, they've removed RIP and introduced OSPF. A mixture of serial and ethernet links as he suggested is a good idea.

kalvindeane · 17 Oct 2013 at 21:29

Indeed.

As I said previously, if you find GNS3 is limiting you too much then you can access my lab when the time comes.

kalvindeane · 17 Oct 2013 at 21:32

It's up to you guys really.

Cisco are a vendor used in large enterprises and not in home environments. Hence I thought it'd be best in here. I'd rather it be in the forum where it'll be most helpful, whatever forum it is. Perhaps we could even have this thread in the networks forum and then have a sticky link in S&E to the thread?

kalvindeane · 17 Oct 2013 at 21:36

I'll ask one of the mods then

kalvindeane · 18 Oct 2013 at 14:45

Xez said:
RIP is still in the course

Is this a Netacademy course? If so then I don't think it reflects on the actual exam, since RIP isn't in the exam objectives:

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/exams/list/icnd1b.html#~Topics

Personally I find Wendell Odom's books to be brilliant. A lot of Cisco documentation goes in to great detail and can be very dry, just like the official Cisco Press books.
If you want something that's written in plain English, Tod Lammle has books on the CCNA. I don't know if he's revised them for the new exams though.

CBT Nuggets are great. Personally I find that INE go in to more depth though. Plus the INE CCNA videos are free, unlike CBT Nuggets which requires a sub.

oli356 said:
Personally I'd use routers as client computers, I've fever quite understood those things in gns3. With a router just do:
no ip routing
Ip default-gateway x.x.x.x

At least then you can ping and trace route easily.

I like to use VMs in VirtualBox for clients. Then you can set up a couple of servers for things like 802.1x, syslog, snmp, ntp etc.

kalvindeane · 18 Oct 2013 at 22:49

I don't use Windows VMs.

I use them for other things too, so I integrate them into the lab.

kalvindeane · 23 Oct 2013 at 23:36

Think I'll reschedule my SWITCH exam because I don't feel 100% confident that I'll pass it.

What's new with you guys?

kalvindeane · 24 Oct 2013 at 15:14

I would like to make it very clear that I in no way advocate brain dumps.
In fact, anybody who asks for or admits to using them gets banned from my FB group.

They are a bad idea. If you don't understand how the technologies in a given certification work, you don't deserve the cert.
It devalues the certification, and can have consequences for other people. As far as I know they also break the NDA that you agree to when you take a Cisco exam.

kalvindeane · 25 Oct 2013 at 09:56

I've not read it myself but Todd Lammle had a lot of praise for his old CCNA book.

I always use and recommend Cisco Press personally.