Question?

ccnpbgp

I've been a telecom communications technican for approx 6 years. I worked for MCI for approx 5 years REMOTELY testing and troubleshooting T1 and Fractional circuits. I never really had to get too involved in TCP/IP compnets on a LAN level and my hardheaded self thought i would be working for Worldcom forever

Anyways, Ive recently gotten an opportunity to work for a company with Network secuity. And again it is all remotley based so i dont get the hands on experience. I have no Certs. I have no degrees. Anyways, I've been studying TCP/IP (started with TCP IP for dummies haha, then i broke down the subnetting. I have been just jumping from site to site printing all of the Network+ info i can and studying and taking exams (which im only averaging about 60% at this time)

What is the best route to actually learn my Net+ Self Study. I understand real books like Mike Meyers and Cram Session. But I can have all the knowledge in the world but can i apply it? If i get this Net+ I want to put it on my resume and be able to troubleshoot real issues and set up networks. But everything is real dry and just seems to only explain itself in componets.

Maybe I'm just babbling, but maybe one of you can give me some direction. Because i would like to start getting these certifications but also be able to do the job. Thanks in advance

ccnpbgp

thanks, thats great advice....................

Silver Bullet

To be able to troubleshoot and apply the knowledge you learn from taking a cert exam comes from actually understanding the material. The more you understand the material, the more effective you will be at your job. The more effective you are at your job, the more valuable you are as an employee.

So, IMO, obtaining a cert validates your knowledge/skills and is worth obtaining and putting on your resume.

For the Net+, I used Sybex self Study Guide and did fine.

Good Luck.

crap I forgot my old pwd

When I passed it, the only book I used was Network+ for Dummies...However, I would definately recommend Sybex. I have been using their stuff for lots of my current work, and they are amazing. Also, if you wanted to spend some extra $$ on this, I would recommend cbtnuggets.com. They may be a tad bit expensive, but they do a superb job in teaching you everything. Good luck!

keatron

Start with the cheapest possible switch or hub you can find (yes i know switches are much better, but at this point all you need is connectivity). You can get a cheap 4 port hub on ebay for under 10 bucks. Get yourself 4 cat 5 cables. If you don't have more than one pc, find yourself some that are not being used (no need to be super machines, just needs to be able to run windows or linux). Once you've gotten this stuff, go to work setting yourself up a lab. Get an eval copy of windows 2003 server (you can download it or request a cd from the Microsoft website). However many other machines you have can all be client machines. The OS really doesn't matter that much, besides if you can troubleshoot MS client OS and open source client OS you're that much more valuable. Once you have these things in place, get ready to do some serious reading and configuration practice. Start by setting up a basic connected environment. This means don't worry about installing active directory or anything of that nature on the server to start with. Just leave it as a member of the workgroup. Give all clients an IP address in the same range, and you should have basic connectivity. After you're confortable with this and understand how it's all working, go ahead and setup DHCP server on the server machine. Leave one client machine with a static ip and the other/others dynamic (obtain ip address automatically). This will force you to learn the basics of DHCP as far as reservations, exclusions, etc. Once you have this down, go ahead and read up on DNS, then create your self a domain by running the DCPROMO command on the server. This will actually force the installation of DNS, while creating your domain and Active Directory. If you have a Linux client installed, google for Samba and learn how it relates to your setup. This will get you started.

Keep in mind that this is just a overview, you'll need to read up, or come back here and ask questions on the specifics you might need. Coming back here will help you a lot, because we're always here, and we respond fast. Good luck.

Gogousa

Bgpfau, What keaton suggested you can do it too in a virtual machine, I use Vmware which helped me a lot with my MCSE, the only drawback is that you need actual physical memory for each machine you want running and a relatively good machine . The good thing is that you can set different scenarios of networking and go back and ford in the configurations.
What happens to me is if I read something and don’t use it or practice with it, I wont remember it. That’s why Vmware is a great help for me. (I don’t work or sale Vmware jeje)
Good luck on your certification.

DarklyWise

MindLeaders.com - buy yourself a year long membership and study what they have. I bought no books for the Network+ and found their site to be pretty good. I did buy testing software as well (on my laptop, I have the program name on my desktop ) and I'll get you the name if you want it - it was ~$20 and the questions from the sw matched CompTIA's pretty good.

This site is also an excellent reference for the Net+, have a look at study guides.

DW

ccnpbgp

I havent gotten a chance to read everything you guys wrote yet, But i really appreciate all of the feedback and I will review it and get back to all of you. thanks soo much as I have my 1st child due in a few months and I really want to get my life more focused and commited to bettering myself.

Silver Bullet

Indeed your life is about to change. Congratulations and get plenty of rest now.

ccnpbgp

I actually got some Sybex study guides recently that i havent been able to really review yet. A friend is giving me great xmas presents! - CAT5 cables, a switch, extra PC, and Windows Server 2000. (Hope that will work as well). I work for a company that does network security, so im hoping to get a firewall to add to the network, and I really want to learn VOIP an i would like to set up that system also. First things first, im going to set up this network. Once I get all of this from him, what should i start with? any refernce material, or just install the windows server and go from there? (by the way keatron thanks)

Thanks for the feedback. Im also thinking of checking out that vmware, because im the same, i forget things if i dont apply it. and i will also look at mindleaders. Thanks everyone

Darkly any info or names would be great.

keatron

Yes, Windows 2000 server will work also. On the server machine, if you can, make sure you have 2 network cards for it. Once you get the server installed, spend some time at http://support.microsoft.com. Use the Knowledgebase articles there to search for relevant information. Start by getting a basic workgroup setup, and getting to where you are sharing folders/files. Once you have this nailed down, u can start working on creating a domain.