Networking

How do you guys get into Networking on a serious level?

I'm 23 years old have 4 years experience in the I,T Sector I would say my interests on a personal level are Networking and Linux, I spent two years working in a first line support role which became pretty mudane after a while and now I work for a Charity,

We basically take in old computers from the public and refurbish them for sale, alot of these computers also get used for various projects in which our sysadmin guy installs networking, asterisk setups.

I would consider myself a all rounder due to the nature of my current role I have had a experience of a building and repairing a broad range of hardware. Networking wise I can troubleshoot at a 1st line / 2nd line level but I have reached a stage in my career where building computers is really starting to become a routine. I have expressed numerous times at apprasials that I wish to get into networking but unfortuantley they have refused and cannot offer me no training.

I have tried shadowing our sysadmin guy lol but it can be a bit of a nightmare getting him to reveal the dark art of linux / unix, coming from a windows background myself seeing him work around the cli at first was a bit of a eyeopener.

I have been out and worked alongside the sysadmin guy on a few small networking jobs i.e running cat 5 , putting up trunking, cable trays and patching, I enjoyed the experience.

I have a idea in mind of which area I would like to go down and that involves obtaining superb open source skills so that I can offer future companines an alternative to windows enviornments and keep the cost down for them.

I once tried stuyding networking but was riducled at work by a colleague who suggested that the tcp/ip stack and OSI 7 layer models are irrelevant pieces of information he can be quite arrogant and stuck in his ways and said basically why learn all that crap if you want a router to work just plug the damm thing in lol

So I have a few questions for you guys firstly networking what are the essentail concepts of networking that I should get under my belt.

I know basically troubleshooting i.e cli, and how to setup small lans but how can I take this further?

Secondly what are good linux skills which can make the difference? I'm currently teaching myself Samba but along with the networking side of things would like to take the whole linux thing further!

Set me some goals of things to learn

Thanks for reading

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Turgon

ally_uk wrote:

How do you guys get into Networking on a serious level?

I'm 23 years old have 4 years experience in the I,T Sector I would say my interests on a personal level are Networking and Linux, I spent two years working in a first line support role which became pretty mudane after a while and now I work for a Charity,

We basically take in old computers from the public and refurbish them for sale, alot of these computers also get used for various projects in which our sysadmin guy installs networking, asterisk setups.

I would consider myself a all rounder due to the nature of my current role I have had a experience of a building and repairing a broad range of hardware. Networking wise I can troubleshoot at a 1st line / 2nd line level but I have reached a stage in my career where building computers is really starting to become a routine. I have expressed numerous times at apprasials that I wish to get into networking but unfortuantley they have refused and cannot offer me no training.

I have tried shadowing our sysadmin guy lol but it can be a bit of a nightmare getting him to reveal the dark art of linux / unix, coming from a windows background myself seeing him work around the cli at first was a bit of a eyeopener.

I have been out and worked alongside the sysadmin guy on a few small networking jobs i.e running cat 5 , putting up trunking, cable trays and patching, I enjoyed the experience.

I have a idea in mind of which area I would like to go down and that involves obtaining superb open source skills so that I can offer future companines an alternative to windows enviornments and keep the cost down for them.

I once tried stuyding networking but was riducled at work by a colleague who suggested that the tcp/ip stack and OSI 7 layer models are irrelevant pieces of information he can be quite arrogant and stuck in his ways and said basically why learn all that crap if you want a router to work just plug the damm thing in lol

So I have a few questions for you guys firstly networking what are the essentail concepts of networking that I should get under my belt.

I know basically troubleshooting i.e cli, and how to setup small lans but how can I take this further?

Secondly what are good linux skills which can make the difference? I'm currently teaching myself Samba but along with the networking side of things would like to take the whole linux thing further!

Set me some goals of things to learn

Thanks for reading

Commit the next 10 years of your life to it

Networking is a long term thing if you are to succeed in it. Certainly learn as much as you can about it. Certification helps there as does building things at home and doing a lot of non vendor reading about networking protocols. From there get as much experience as you can, 2 or 3 years in support of networks even at a menial level will teach you a great deal. From there you can advance.

I wish you luck.

ally_uk

Thanks for the feedback I see you have gone down the Cisco route I would also like to oneday achieve something similar although I picked up a CCNA book once and was baffled lol

CCIE sounds like a absolute nightmare how are you finding it in general?

Turgon

ally_uk wrote:

Thanks for the feedback I see you have gone down the Cisco route I would also like to oneday achieve something similar although I picked up a CCNA book once and was baffled lol

CCIE sounds like a absolute nightmare how are you finding it in general?

The CCIE? Well I have been a student of cisco for years both at work and on my own time so I have a lot of experience to bring to the table. That said, it's a big ask in terms of personal time to prepare for it thoroughly but Im getting there in the evenings when work and family commitments allows me to play

dynamik

The CCIE's not a big deal for Turgon. He's just taking it slow, so he doesn't embarrass everyone else who struggles with it.

Your coworker sounds like a d-bag (if you want to use pro-level IT terminology). You can get by without theory for awhile, but after a certain point, you're going to find it impossible to advance without it.

Like Turgon said, you're going to have to commit to it long-term. I have the next 5-6 years of certs planned out (and that doesn't account for anything new that comes out in that time

). Given your situation, you should definitely start with the Network+ for networking and the Linux+ and/or LPIC for Linux. I'm kind of surprised that someone with "Certified I.T God Status" is asking these questions though

Slowhand

Like the others mentioned, it looks like you'll be doing a couple of CompTIA exams first and foremost. I'd recommend doing A+ because a lot of other certs build on the material required for this cert, Network+ to give you a foundation in networking concepts, Linux+ to get you started on the open-source path, and possibly even Server+ to give you a better insight into server hardware.

From there, I'd say you're next step would be to check out the CCNA and the rest of the certifications Cisco offers, to really get you into routing & switching, along with any other kind of networking you can imagine. There's a lot to it, and you'll probably end up studying a lot of other things as you go along the Cisco path. Basically, don't expect to go from being CCNA to CCNP as fast as you got to CCNA, or from CCNP to CCIE as fast as you made the last transition. It's about the journey, after all, and you'll find that as you work, you have an easier time tackling the high-level certs.

Working with Linux and Unix, you'll have a couple of options. You can look at getting certified on Red Hat, Sun Solaris, SuSE/Novell, or go for a vendor-neutral cert called LPIC. Again, these certs are tough, and it'll take the same three things that anything worth doing does: time, dedication, and lots of work. And as you learn more, get out there and apply for jobs, do volunteer work, and get as much hands-on experience as you can.

Good luck, no matter which path(s) you choose. Feel free to ask questions, to post your progress/frustrations/war stories on the forum, and keep on soaking up as much knowledge as you can. Guys like your coworker, who want things to "just work", will one day be calling you "Sir", if you stick to studying and don't get discouraged.

remyforbes777

Be passionate about it. Learn as much as you can. The guy that said its irrelevant has obviously never configured ACL's on a router or firewall. As far as Linux, learn scripting along with Red Hat since it dominates the commerical market. Try new things at all times and don't be afraid to mess something up. As long as you have the install disk don't worry.

ally_uk

Redhat eh? interesting I have a bible at work on redhat 6 bit old now lol I'm a Debian User myself currentlly have a old skool compaq laptop with Etch installed which I use to tinker with.

I usually just SSH using putty from XP box into the laptop and muck around with things until I break them

I hosed samba the other week.

I have been looking at the MCSA and It seems to be a area of interest as I would like to improve my microsoft knowledge first before I move onto linux and networking.

Has anyone done the MCSA? what do you think about the course good choice?

Lee H

HI

My 2 pence worth

Your first decision will be one of 3: Comptia - Microsoft - Cisco

Comptia - Entry level exams, if you know nothing about hardware, OS's, servers etc, then this is were you start. Dont disregard this option even if you feel your knowledge is strong. Having these on your CV may get you an alternative IT position were you could get first hand experiance - Experiance and Knowlegde go hand in hand.

Microsoft - Desktop Technician, Server Engineer etc...I have only done of these in XP and non-existant studying of server, as someone else pointed out they take a lot of your personal time to study, if you have a few of these on your way to becomming MCSA then you would easily find an IT position to gain very valuable experiance.

Cisco - Configuring switches, setting up VLAN's etc....I know very little about this area but i get the idea.

Once you have decided one of these - i will say it only once

STUDY LIKE HELL!!!!!!!!

Pass a couple of exams whichever they may be and then move on, move on and up into something bigger and better, never stay in a job too long were you stop learning, this will only hold your career back. Each time you move on your salary expectations get bigger.

As someone else has pointed out, dedicate the next 10 years of your life to this, its a slow process but once you get going there no looking back.

Let me know if this helps

Good Luck

Lee H

Slowhand

ally_uk wrote:

I usually just SSH using putty from XP box into the laptop and muck around with things until I break them I hosed samba the other week.

The sign of a true IT geek. You'll be breaking all kinds of things, before you know it.

As for MCSA, I've done it, and I plan on continuing on to MCSE, then MCITP: Enterprise Administrator. The reason for this is that I have more of an interest in Windows administration. It's a good choice, if that's what you want to do. There's always going to be a demand for Windows specialists. Since you mentioned that you wanted to get into open-source, something like RHCE, SCSA, and/or LPIC would probably be in the cards for you. It's all about what you're interested in.