What to do??

Hello everyone!

First time poster here...

I'm looking into the CCNA and for some advice.

I've been working in IT for about 5 years now. Started with helpdesk, and then sys admin. As a sys admin, I would have to do just basic router stuff now and then. (add a static route, change passwords, etc.) Nothing to big. However my main job was admin the servers, Windows AD, all the software, etc.

I'm now working as a IT Director at a different company. Don't be impressed by the title. I'm mostly doing sys admin stuff, and fixing anything IT around here.

I'm the only IT guy they have so I just do everything.

I would like to start working/learning more about the network side of things. Right now for anything cisco I call in a consultant to do it, unless it's basic.

OK, back to the point!

Like I said, I'm looking into the CCNA, and maybe the CCNP later.

Do you think I could just pick up some books, and use one of our old routers to pass the test?

Now I just don't want to pass, but learn. Do the books have enough in them to really grasp a working knowledge of networking?

Should I look into some of the classes that are like 4 or 5 days? (They seem overly priced to me.)

I also have a degree in Information Technology.

Thanks again for any advice you might give!

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Comments

kafifi13

I'd say pick up a couple of the Books out there like the Cisco Press by Wendal Odem and Sybex 5th addtion by todd Lammel. With that and the equipment you have you should be all set. You will not only pass the test but really learn hte info. It will probably come a bit easier for you since you have hands on experiance.

shednik

What series router were you looking to use?

Rearden

You should be fine with the Cisco Press books and a couple of old routers. If you only have one, you can pick up another one or two from ebay for not all that much money. You probably will also want a switch or two.

Also, where did you get a degree in IT from? I'm looking at graduate schools at the moment, for after I finish CS.

bran0923

Thanks everyone for quick reply!

What series router were you looking to use?

Just a old 1600.

Also, where did you get a degree in IT from? I'm looking at graduate schools at the moment, for after I finish CS.

Just a small college in MI.

So what's the big differance between the CCNA and the CCNP?

Does the CCNP just dig deeper into topics? Do you have to know a lot more IOS commands?

malweth

My CCNA was a couple of years ago now, but (to me) the big differences between the two were:

ISP and large company level routing on CCNP (BGP, multi-area OSPF, EIGRP, & IS-IS), slightly more advanced switching topics, and features like QoS, Security, & Wireless. The hardest stuff to learn is what you don't (and probably never will) use (ISDN BRI was one for me)

In case you don't know: you do need to certify at the CCNA level before the CCNP.

mikej412

Welcome to the CCNA Forum

You can check out the CCNA Forum FAQ to get an idea about what others used and suggest in the way of books and hardware.

The Quick answer -- The Odom Cisco Press books for CCNA if you are a networking newbie. If you're feeling lucky (and have the experience you have) you could try the Sybex 5th (possibly soon to be 6th). It's usually best to get both so you have two sources of study -- the Cisco Press that covers everything and lays the foundation for later CCNP study, and Todd's book which nails subnetting the best (major skill you need to learn) and is a fun fast read for review before you take the CCNA exam.

For a hardware lab -- you want to start out working on real hardware, but your experience (and spare equipment) might cover that. If you don't want to collect old equipment for a home lab (and you don't have the "good switches" at work), you could take a look at the Boson CCNA Simulator. For routing practice that goes way beyond what Boson can do -- there is Dynamips/Dynagen. To practice everything from the CCNA you'd want 4 routers (one of them to also work as a Frame-Relay switch, and one router that can Trunk) and 3 switches.

As for the differences between the CCNAand CCNP -- click the links for the exam blueprints. Cisco says the CCNA is for small networks (100 nodes or fewer) while the CCNP is for 100-500 nodes (or more).

markzab

mikej412 wrote:

To practice everything from the CCNA you'd want 4 routers (one of them to also work as a Frame-Relay switch, and one router that can Trunk) and 3 switches.

Mike, a 2610 can trunk, right?

mikej412

markzab wrote:

Mike, a 2610 can trunk, right?

Yeah, I think they added it to the IOS at 12.2 ( 8 )T - so you can get an IOS that lets you trunk on the 10Mb 2610 Ethernet port. It was added into the "mainline" IOS sometime after that.

IOS Versions and Feature Set Information

mgeorge27 wrote:

Updated agian as of 3/31/07 to include InterVLAN routing & dot1q trunking for 2610, 2611 and 2613 routers using 10BaseT Ethernet port & required IOS version

markzab

mikej412 wrote:

markzab wrote:

Mike, a 2610 can trunk, right?

Yeah, I think they added it to the IOS at 12.2 ( 8 )T - so you can get an IOS that lets you trunk on the 10Mb 2610 Ethernet port. It was added into the "mainline" IOS sometime after that.

IOS Versions and Feature Set Information

mgeorge27 wrote:

Updated agian as of 3/31/07 to include InterVLAN routing & dot1q trunking for 2610, 2611 and 2613 routers using 10BaseT Ethernet port & required IOS version

So I would have to get that exact IOS or would anything above 12.2 (I have 12.3) be sufficient?