Reading material - trouble shooting networks? Anyone recommend?

can... open... worms... everywhere...

whats your current level of knowledge? are there any particular area of networks that you are particularly interested in?
 
Do you want to do this because of your job or to enhance your knowledge?

Trouble shooting networks can depend on how big the network is but then all results usually into the same diagnostics.

It also depends what kind of hardware is used too for example Cisco, HP, Dell e.t.c (Switches/Routers e.t.c)
 
atomiser said:
can... open... worms... everywhere...

whats your current level of knowledge? are there any particular area of networks that you are particularly interested in?
Click to expand...

I want to increase my knowledge but hopefully could use in my job. And as I am office based I would like to know about testing that I can perform from my desk.

I use ping and tracert commands for testing but I would like to know more about it.

I have only been in IT for a few years. Currently work on 1.5 team.

Sorry if I am a little vague.:D
 
bloodline76 said:
I want to increase my knowledge but hopefully could use in my job. And as I am office based I would like to know about testing that I can perform from my desk.

I use ping and tracert commands for testing but I would like to know more about it.

I have only been in IT for a few years. Currently work on 1.5 team.

Sorry if I am a little vague.:D
Click to expand...

If your a helpdesk support assistant then theres no chance really you can expand your knowledge to you in your current role.

Only if your position changes to techy or something like that.

Ping, Tracert, Arp e.t.c is the few commands you will need in the support role really.
 
andr3w1984 said:
If your a helpdesk support assistant then theres no chance really you can expand your knowledge to you in your current role.

Only if your position changes to techy or something like that.

Ping, Tracert, Arp e.t.c is the few commands you will need in the support role really.
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Dont know the Arp one? Whats that do?

Could you offer any career advice then? lol

The company that I work for are very mean with their training and I think I am getting held back because I am very good at training new starters up to the same level as me.

Normally this takes about two months for them to get to an acceptable level where as I know how to teach and have them running at a good level within three or four days.

I want to increase my knowledge which would also benefit those under me but my company arent interested in putting in the effort to train me further as I would leave the department. :(

I do account management and also handle trouble shooting in all areas of the applications that we handle, which is about 700.
 
if networking is something you are really interested in then see if a local college does the cisco networking academy program. do that - get a good grounding and a little hands on with the kit, and then get out from your service desk role. pretty much any networking job out there requires some experience (which you sort of have, and can expand upon), and a bit of paper (ccna) to back it up. i'm doing my ccna now, and i love it.

p.s. arp stands for address resolution protocol.
 
atomiser said:
if networking is something you are really interested in then see if a local college does the cisco networking academy program. do that - get a good grounding and a little hands on with the kit, and then get out from your service desk role. pretty much any networking job out there requires some experience (which you sort of have, and can expand upon), and a bit of paper (ccna) to back it up. i'm doing my ccna now, and i love it.

p.s. arp stands for address resolution protocol.
Click to expand...

thanks for your advice. How much is the course costing you if you dont mind me asking?
 
Could you not get your work to pay for staff development? Maybe they will send you on a course for networking?
 
atomiser said:
if networking is something you are really interested in then see if a local college does the cisco networking academy program. do that - get a good grounding and a little hands on with the kit, and then get out from your service desk role. pretty much any networking job out there requires some experience (which you sort of have, and can expand upon), and a bit of paper (ccna) to back it up. i'm doing my ccna now, and i love it.

p.s. arp stands for address resolution protocol.
Click to expand...

Good advice IMO. I've been in the ISP industry for 5 years and Cisco qualifications are the one's I'd recommend. The instructor-led CCNA courses they do at college are a great start and once you've got a good grounding you could have a look at the pro certs such as CCIP/DP/NP/SP, etc.
 
andr3w1984 said:
Certainly is..... abit wierd don't you think? You working with a bunch of kids or something?
Click to expand...

I am not sure why they do it, as if you teach them younger then they are more likely to leave with the training when older people might appreciate the training and stay.

I might try asking if they might help towards the training, even a little would be nice.
 
the course is four semesters covered over two years. each semester costs around £300. this covers your registration into the programme, access to the instructor, the online content, the lab of kit, access to the simulation software 'packet tracer' and end of semester exams of which there are two per semester - one theory, and one practical. you have to pass the exams before you can proceed to the next semester. you get two go's, and if you fail the first attempt then the pass mark is raised by 5%, oh and the questions are different! ;) you can also buy 4 books too, at a cost of about £25 each. there is a lot of reading involved, and sometimes the book (which follows the online content very well) is a welcome rest from the computer screen. you may wish to purchase yourself a small lab of second hand kit if you don't have access to equipment where you work. you can pick up some 2600 routers and 2900 switches off ebay. you don't *have* to get a lab of kit but if you want extra practice, and whilst packet tracer is good, there is no substitute for real hands on experience.

i believe the ccna *has* been devalued by the sheer amount of people of people reading the books, taking the exams and somehow passing. the problem is that for pretty much any networking job it is *the* defacto standard certification to have. i also think it is a little underrated - for example, i seriously doubt you would have service desk staff troubleshooting ospf! i also believe that when it really comes down to it (and you don't have four answers to choose from!) that a graduate of the academy programme would be streets ahead of someone who had simply read a book and then memorised some brain dumps. hopefully these sort of people are weeded out at the recruitment stage.

if there is anything else you want to know, get in touch. good luck!
 
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