Question on learning the new CCENT material

galoryber

I have a slight demand at my job to know Cisco. The demand isn't high enough to justify purchasing hardware, software, and loads of different books to learn the material though.

I have the new Wendell Odom 100-101 book for the CCENT, but I'd like to keep the additional needs down to just some free software like GNS3. Is it possible to gain substantial Cisco knowledge on these alone? I'm sure it's not enough to earn the certification (Todd Lammle says the new CCENT is harder than the old CCNA!) but it is enough for someone like me to get by?

Any intensive Cisco work would go through our consultant, but it would be nice to be able to run basic commands when needed, even if it means I don't get certified in the knowledge.

P.S. Part of my concern is that my work is having a very busy year, which means the IT budget has pretty much been spent already since February. It's not likely that they will be paying for any of the equipment, books, or exam until next year. I'm not comfortable with waiting to learn the material until next year. I'd like to get cozy with it and then touch up on it next year if we decide I should get equipment and get certified.

networker050184

The Odom book and GNS3 will definitely be enough to get you up to speed on basic networking tasks.

Carpe Porcus

For a start, you don't need to spend a ridiculous amount of money for the CCENT, enough to purchase a switch and router off eBay which are reasonable and you can sell them back once you've finished.

No additional software is required unless you need a telnet client which is available for free on the internet in various flavours.

EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING you need to know is on the Cisco web site and you can download the PDFs for the specific section you need to revise.

You talk about substantial knowledge, for what you want it is a small price to pay and you will learn a lot more and become familiar with the concepts with hands on experience, router sims have their place but as you are intending getting working knowledge opt for the real thing and an internet connection to Cisco dot com!

iamme4eva

Depending how much you work with real equipment at work, I see no harm at all in using simulators / emulators for study.

I was working with real equipment for years before I did my CCNA - not just Cisco, but all sorts of telecomms equipment. When I did my CCNA I bought two routers and two switches off ebay. The switches came in handy, because you can't emulate them in GNS3 and I don't have access to the Cisco Net Acadamy stuff. But the routers sat and gathered dust.

I would always recommend someone starting out learning to use real kit. There's no substitute for it. Knowing what cables go where, the "quirks" that USB-Serial adapters cause, fault finding self-induced cabling faults, etc...you can't get that experience from a simulator.

Personally, I worked with a lot of deployable communications equipment for a long time so I'm pretty used to all that sort of stuff - I just needed to learn the concepts and the IOS, not the "physical" stuff. If you work with equipment and get amongst it, then it's not necessary to have all that kit in your house*.

I guess what I'm saying is, it depends on your personal circumstances - experiences, existing knowledge, etc.

*that said, I wouldn't get rid of my lab!

NetworkVeteran

networker050184 wrote: »

The Odom book and GNS3 will definitely be enough to get you up to speed on basic networking tasks.

+1. A good book, GNS3, plus a ~$30 switch rack rental should be enough to ace CCENT/CCNA.

(And certainly more than enough to learn basic router commands.)

galoryber

This is all great to hear. It sounds like I have no reason to hesitate with this material then. I'll start with this and go from there. I imagine I'll be able to do more on the hardware at work after going through the book. If I needed anything in addition to that I'm sure I could put it on the expense report along with the exam costs.

Thanks for the clarification everyone.