Best CCENT book for a 16 yr old

I am 16 and looking to do the CCENT exam.... while I have a great deal of natural ability and interest in this networking, I haven't really read or done anything to do with the subject. So when starting from nothing what is a good book place to start.... what book is good for someone like me who is studying for the CCENT.

Thanks Anoop

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Essendon

I suggest picking up the Wendell Odom book for the CCENT. Some folks like Todd Lammle's style, guess it wouldnt hurt to have both.

Anoop99

Thanks for the help, those two seem like must pickups.
Is it worth getting CCENT for dummies and/or the Bryant advantage?
Or will Odom and Lammle be enough?

MosGuy

Essendon wrote: »

I suggest picking up the Wendell Odom book for the CCENT. Some folks like Todd Lammle's style, guess it wouldnt hurt to have both.

+1 some find Todd's writing style less formal, but Odom goes into more detail. Many including myself ended up getting both. They should be enough, for the price Chris' ebook is good value for money. He explains things in plain english, which can help gel concepts further. Especially if you're just starting out in the field. I can't comment on the dummies book, I've never flipped through it. Many commonly obtain network+ first which is a good start base. But it's possible to get CCENT without prior networking knowledge. It will usually take a little longer and more studying.

bigmantenor

My personal preference is the Odom book. It's a bit more dry than Lammle, I also feel he explains things with more depth.

VAHokie56

My two cents would be Odom's book + CBT nuggets for CCENT

JamesFigueroa

VAHokie56 wrote: »

My two cents would be Odom's book + CBT nuggets for CCENT

Im using those two to prepare for the ccent. Did you use just those two for your ccent and if so, did you feel prepared for the test?

tek2advanced

Hi Anoop,

Back in 1999, when I was 15 I had the privilege to get into a Cisco Networking Academy at my High School. I was in it for 4 years. From what I remember, it took me a while to get use to all the Cisco Jargon/Terminologies at that age. My best advice to you is if you stumble across a word you don't understand, don't just skip it, make sure you take the time and dive further into it. You will learn much more this way and eventually it'll all make sense.

Just Google whatever keywords you don't understand, there are many websites that will teach you just about everything on these topics.

=============================

You may be wondering where's my CCNA Cert. Well I never pursued it after High School for a number of reasons. Life will pull you in all sorts of directions. But, now I'm back into the Cisco Academy pursuing my CCNA again. I plan on testing by the end of this year.

As for Books, I've always used Cisco Press products.
* I have both Wendell Odom's Cisco Press ICND 1 and 2
* CCNA Portable Command Guide by. Scott Empson ( My Best Friend )

Here are two other site's I recommend ( there are too many for me to list ):

Cisco Cert Zone
Packet Life

==============================

For the books make sure you go to the book website and download/check the errata's, and pencil in the changes.

Good Luck, and when I say that, Luck has nothing to do with it...

EastDallas

+1 for the combo of Odom and CBT Nuggets videos.

When studying for CCNA, I would read sections of Wendell Odom's books, follow it up by watching the associated CBT Nuggets video, and then go back to the book to review and do the end of chapter exam prep tasks. With this method I was scoring in the passing range on practice exams for both ICND1 and ICND2 in a very short period of time (about 5 weeks).

Not all of the subjects covered in each format line up just perfectly, but I did find that when I was getting brain dead from the books that the videos made it more digestible and helped me understand concepts that just felt like a bunch of jargon on the page.

If it's available to you, I certainly would recommend a classroom setting. You might check your local community college for Cisco Networking Academy classes. I followed up the above study with a boot camp (that someone else paid for, mind you) and scored nearly perfect on both tests. There were definitely concepts that became much more clear to me in a classroom setting than they were in either the books or videos.

instant000

The best way to learn the stuff is hands on, to be honest. Theory will only take you so far.

Make sure that you have a way to practice the commands, AND see what happens.

If you don't make hands on experience, it'll be very difficult to pass the exam.

tek2advanced

instant000 wrote: »

The best way to learn the stuff is hands on, to be honest. Theory will only take you so far.

Make sure that you have a way to practice the commands, AND see what happens.

If you don't make hands on experience, it'll be very difficult to pass the exam.

I agree... A lab is a must...

I've seen a 135 x Cisco 1721 on eBay for $50 with the latest 12.4 IPServices.. I was thinking about picking up 5 of them myself to use as extra's.

Cisco 1721 Router 98/32 IOS 12.4 Adv IP Services IOS - eBay (item 250502289543 end time Aug-01-11 17:30:08 PDT)

Essendon

I strongly agree with the above two posters about having a lab of your own. Read the book, lab, read and lab even more.

Anoop99

instant000 wrote: »

The best way to learn the stuff is hands on, to be honest. Theory will only take you so far.

Make sure that you have a way to practice the commands, AND see what happens.

If you don't make hands on experience, it'll be very difficult to pass the exam.

I really dont know how i am to do this.... unfortunetly my budget(being I am 16) is very limited. Is there program i could use? or anything that doesnt require a lot of money....

The same problem with CB nuggets....... i really want/need a lot of these resources but may have to go without a lot.

If anyone has any free resources please post them here... it would help me a lot

and thanks for everyones help so far. Really appreciate it!

EastDallas

First thing I did after ordering books was order hardware. A lot of people will tell you that Simulators and Emulators are the way to go, but nothing is a substitute for real hardware.

There is a simulator that is (supposed to be) for Cisco Networking Academy students only called Packet Tracer. It will get you through everything you need for CCENT and CCNA. There's also an emulator called GNS3, but it requires you have the uncompressed IOS images, and obtaining them for an unlicensed user is against the license agreement. So, basically both of these methods technically violate Cisco's license agreement, but so does buying and using Cisco hardware off of ebay without a Cisco service contract. I don't think Cisco has sent their lawyers after anyone studying for their certifications.

There was a lot of 3 2620XMs that sold on ebay earlier today for $94.75. Unfortunately, the seller was unable to tell me how much RAM/Flash they had installed, and I was not available to bid as the auction was ending.

Lot 3 Cisco 2620XM Wired Routers

Anoop99

EastDallas wrote: »

First thing I did after ordering books was order hardware. A lot of people will tell you that Simulators and Emulators are the way to go, but nothing is a substitute for real hardware.

There was a lot of 3 2620XMs that sold on ebay earlier today for $94.75. Unfortunately, the seller was unable to tell me how much RAM/Flash they had installed, and I was not available to bid as the auction was ending.

Lot 3 Cisco 2620XM Wired Routers

What is the name of the Simulators.?... as of right now i cant really get a Cisco Router for practice, i have to justify the expense to my parents. So until they see my commitment to CCENT, I am forced to use Simulators, but i do intend to get router eventually.

Is there any economical practice options anyone know of? or are Simulators the only alternative... and if so what is the names of some good ones?

EastDallas

I edited my previous post, but I don't know if you get notified. The most common simulator is Packet Tracer, and the emulator is GNS3. See my edited comments about these software packages.

Anoop99

Thanks for the help EastDallas, i will be sure to look in to those i hope they will suffice at least for the start. then when i get into some more complicated stuff i will save up for a router.

If anyone has got any free sources for information could you please pass those along!

tek2advanced

Anoop99 wrote: »

What is the name of the Simulators.?... as of right now i cant really get a Cisco Router for practice, i have to justify the expense to my parents. So until they see my commitment to CCENT, I am forced to use Simulators, but i do intend to get router eventually.

Is there any economical practice options anyone know of? or are Simulators the only alternative... and if so what is the names of some good ones?

Hey Anoop,

The problem your having for financing Equipment and Certifications, was also the reason I did not pursue my CCNA during high school. Although, at 16 I made tons of money doing custom CPU builds. I use to make 400-700 off of each build. And, at the time Cisco 2500 Series costs thousands of dollars/ each (circa 1999-2000), and I would've had to buy 5 of them and plus, switches. Lucky for you, you could buy routers today for $50 and start learning the IOS.

Back then, before I started building computers, I never had any start-up money. So, what did I do? I put together packages/builds and passed out fliers, I then had interested customers putting up half of the money for the build and then I went to my uncle and asked him to finance the rest. Once, I collected the other half, I'd pay my uncle off and kept the profits. After, my first sale I didn't need my uncle's money anymore, all I needed was his credit card to make the online purchases. Now, I'm not saying you can run a business like that TODAY. I didn't tell you that story to brag, but more in hopes that you could find something creative that works best for you. If your parent's aren't going to help, I've found it best to seek help from other family members, that's what I did.

======================
Just a Thought!

If you live in the city, I'd ask around to see if anyone in the neighborhood needs their grass cut. I know I'd pay someone to cut mines if they asked... Print out fliers and stick in the mailbox.. Even if you charged them $10 a cut and it takes about an hour per house. On the bright side, you get paid more than someone at MC'D and plus you don't have to deal with anyone's' CR@P.

In your flier, you could probably even give them a little background on your age, school, grade, neighborhood, raising money for my education, how much your raising, plan on using the money for computer networking equipment, plan on getting a I.T. Certification (CCNA?), etc.. etc... You could probably only collect $20 per house a month. However, (10 Houses) x ($20/two cuts a month) = $200.. Not to mention, that's only 20 total hours of work.. Heck you may even get a donation because they support you and your goal.. Ionno kid, I'm just throwing idea's out there...

I pay my two younger female cousins who are around your age (13/15) to read a book of my choosing (Usually Finance Related), and sometimes I'll even pay them to do a quick research on what I believe is an important word. I'd pay them $50 for each request (I quiz them afterwards of course). I pay them because gaining knowledge is productivity and it's worth something.
======================

My advice to you is "Don't think that you're at a disadvantage for being your age, look at it as an advantage". I didn't have thousands of dollars in my pocket in HS from doing nothing.

If I were you. I'd recommend saving up for the $50 Cisco 1721 which I posted earlier. It has the latest 12.4 IP Advanced IOS on it. Granted, that you'll also need to buy WIC-2T card for each router. But the end game is that you'll have real hands on. It's amazing how much more research you do when you start buying your own equipment.

Or you could go the SIM/EM route like some others have suggested. I understand that Packet Tracer is given to Cisco Academy Students only (it is illegal to distribute the software).. That doesn't mean it isn't leaked out there on the Internet. SIM/EM has its limitations and/or work-arounds.

alan2308

Anoop99 wrote: »

Thanks for the help, those two seem like must pickups.
Is it worth getting CCENT for dummies and/or the Bryant advantage?
Or will Odom and Lammle be enough?

I haven't read CCENT For Dummies, but if it's anything like CCNA For Dummies (which I have read), then I'll say that it's a great intro into the world of Cisco, but it's only going to give you 25% of what you need.

Odom's book on its own will be sufficient, but Lammle's book assumes at least a Network+ level knowledge of networks. Besides that, it's really just a question of who's writing style you prefer. Google Books has previews of both, which will be enough to help you decide on that.

Anoop99 wrote:

If anyone has got any free sources for information could you please pass those along!

There's a ton of free resources in the CCNA FAQ sticky at the top of this forum. The one that I'll point out now is Free CCNA Workbook. It will help you set up and start using GNS3. I'd do this now so when you're ready to start doing some real labbing, you'll be ready to run.

Anoop99

So i ordered Lammle's Book for now, and soon will get Odom's.

Thanks for the help with Books

One more question, what is more accurate simulator GNS3 or packet tracer?

QHalo

Anoop99 wrote: »

So i ordered Lammle's Book for now, and soon will get Odom's.

Thanks for the help with Books

One more question, what is more accurate simulator GNS3 or packet tracer?

Packet Tracer doesn't run real IOS like GNS3/Dynamips does. So Packet Tracer will be missing commands that the authors didn't feel necessary to put in and also Packet Tracer is only available for Cisco Network Academy students. GNS3 is free, but you need access to IOS which requires a CCO account and valid SmartNet contracts for the routers IOS you are downloading.

So unless you're in one of those camps, you're going to have to go with real equipment. Besides, I think anyone starting in Cisco should start with real equipment anyway. As you progress and get more hands on, having a real router in front of you isn't going to be as important.

JamesFigueroa

Also from what i understand, gns3 cannot simulate switch ios'. Gns3 will give you the best sim if you can get iso's, otherwise id suggest you go with ebay. I got a 2950 switch and a 2620 router for 80 bucks...it can be done

alan2308

Anoop99 wrote: »

So i ordered Lammle's Book for now, and soon will get Odom's.

Thanks for the help with Books

One more question, what is more accurate simulator GNS3 or packet tracer?

Packet Tracer gets better with each release, but in my experience, it's still buggy. If something doesn't go the way I'm expecting it to, I'm more apt to think that I've come across another bug instead of I'm just doing something wrong. The one example that immediately comes to mind is the exercises that come on the CD with the Academy workbooks. They were created in PT 5.1, and we were using PT 5.2 in the classes. And there would be an exercise every couple chapters that would incorrectly tell you that you did not complete one of the objectives no matter what you did. When we downgraded to 5.1, it would then say the objectives were complete even though we changed nothing. There was also a thread on here a while back where we all verified that you can trigger a broadcast storm on demand without actually doing anything wrong with the topology.

If it comes down to it, I would just go with GNS3. The learning curve is higher, but you'll be better off in the long run as it will not stop being useful once you complete the CCNA. And as far as it not being able to emulate switches, thats technically true, but there's ways around that.

And as far as real gear, there are plenty of routers and switches on eBay that can be had for as little as $10 each. They may not have all the functionality needed for certification, but they'll definitely solve the "I've never touched a real Cisco router" problem. And I still find some use for my $10 1600's when I'm labbing something up.

Anoop99

What is the most economical way i can setup a Practice Lab for myself?

How much am i looking to spend to set it all up?

If possible could someone give me some advice on what products to buy?

sorry for all the questions, I have never done any of this before...

And thanks again really appreciate the help from everyone

alan2308

Anoop99 wrote: »

What is the most economical way i can setup a Practice Lab for myself?

How much am i looking to spend to set it all up?

If possible could someone give me some advice on what products to buy?

sorry for all the questions, I have never done any of this before...

And thanks again really appreciate the help from everyone

You want at least 2 routers and 2 switches. 3 of each is better, 4 routers is real good, but 4 switches is bordering on overkill. For routers, you want to look at the 1760's, 1721's (both in the $40 - $50 range) or 2600XM's ($100 range), and for switches, look at the 2950's. Many will suggest going straight for the 3550 switches, but they're $125-$150 while the 2950's can be had for $30. Each router should have 2 serial interfaces minimum. And for the routers, be careful of how much memory and flash is in them.

But not every piece of your lab needs to be high end. Your 3rd router can be a 2500 or MC3810 and your 3rd switch can be a 2900XL or 3500XL for example. And you definitely don't need the whole enchilada right away. If you're doing the CCENT first, one or two of each will be sufficient. Add more when you move on to the CCNA.

Read through some of the other lab threads in the CCNA and CCNP sections. Researching what you're going to buy and getting the best lab possible for your individual needs and budget is a big part of the learning process. But don't plan too far into the future, things change. Stay away from the pre built kits (they're overpriced and under performing), and I will personally come to your house and kick you if you buy a 1900 switch.

tek2advanced

alan2308 wrote: »

You want at least 2 routers and 2 switches. 3 of each is better, 4 routers is real good, but 4 switches is bordering on overkill. For routers, you want to look at the 1760's, 1721's (both in the $40 - $50 range) or 2600XM's ($100 range), and for switches, look at the 2950's. Many will suggest going straight for the 3550 switches, but they're $125-$150 while the 2950's can be had for $30. Each router should have 2 serial interfaces minimum. And for the routers, be careful of how much memory and flash is in them.

But not every piece of your lab needs to be high end. Your 3rd router can be a 2500 or MC3810 and your 3rd switch can be a 2900XL or 3500XL for example. And you definitely don't need the whole enchilada right away. If you're doing the CCENT first, one or two of each will be sufficient. Add more when you move on to the CCNA.

Read through some of the other lab threads in the CCNA and CCNP sections. Researching what you're going to buy and getting the best lab possible for your individual needs and budget is a big part of the learning process. But don't plan too far into the future, things change. Stay away from the pre built kits (they're overpriced and under performing), and I will personally come to your house and kick you if you buy a 1900 switch.

I would like to elaborate a little bit more to the above quote:

You should also consider IOS 12.4 (series Operating Systems), this is going to give you the latest commands (as far as the routers are concerned).

EastDallas

Just to piggyback on what these guys are saying, I would be looking at 2950C or 2950T switches as the price difference is negligible vs straight 2950s, but they support a higher version of IOS with Extended Instruction set.

alan2308

tek2advanced wrote: »

I would like to elaborate a little bit more to the above quote:

You should also consider IOS 12.4 (series Operating Systems), this is going to give you the latest commands (as far as the routers are concerned).

And to elaborate further, the 2600XM can run 12.4, the 1721 and 1760 can run 12.4T (a step up from 12.4). But of course the higher IOS versions require more memory and flash, hence my mentioning that you should be aware of how much of each is in a router you plan to purchase.

EastDallas wrote: »

Just to piggyback on what these guys are saying, I would be looking at 2950C or 2950T switches as the price difference is negligible vs straight 2950s, but they support a higher version of IOS with Extended Instruction set.

If the price difference isn't a lot, go with the EI models. But if it is a lot, go with the SI models, because the difference between the two has really narrowed over time. Look at this doc and you will see that there aren't a lot of features you'll care about that say yes for EI and no for SI. If price were no object, we'd all just go straight for the 3550's and skip the 2950's all together, right?

Edit: And looking at that doc, the 2900XL's hold their own a lot better than I would have thought.

EastDallas

I just bought a WS-C2950C 2 weeks ago for $32 including shipping on ebay.

ccnaomkar

wendell odom book with packet tracer or gns3 or lab

packetlife.net is a free lab

u have to register and schedule ur time

tek2advanced

I just got my hands on:
* 3 x 2611XM's (Maxed Mem/WIC-2Ts)
* 1 x AS2511-RJ
* 2 x 2950 and
* 1 x 3550 (for Layer 3 switching).
========================

I'm not recommending the above because it's a expensive build. I paid over well over 1k for it. But, I purchased it because I wanted a rack mountable solution and I wanted my devices last all the way to the CCIE level. I'm still anticipating on purchasing 5 x 1721's to use as "hosts". The same device I recommend to you earlier for $50 a pop with the latest IOS. It's just as good as the 2611XMs in a lab environment (Except you don't have Two Built in FastEthernets and Network Module Port).

Here's a Link to the 1721:
Cisco 1721 Router 98/32 IOS 12.4 Adv IP Services IOS - eBay (item 250502289543 end time Aug-01-11 17:30:08 PDT)

What do you guys think? Is this a decent "Deal" or what? It has the memory to run IP Services (Which comes with it). And, you could upgrade a 64MB Ram module (making it 128MB) to run the Advanced Enterprise Services. Plus it has 2 x WIC slots, in which you could install an additional Ethernet WIC, and a WIC-2T (Dual Smart Serial). The only downfall I see to 1721 is that you can't turn it into a Frame Relay Router, but you could easily get a inexpensive 2500 series router to do that.

=========================

The 2950 (with no prefixes) *should* do everything you need for CCNA and CCNP (For CCNA Security it may be a different story).

I have 12.1(22) EA (The Enhanced IOS) installed on my 2950's.
I picked up the 2950's for about 50-60 bucks each from eBay. I was surprised to see that they hardly look used.