any realistic simulations...

hi everyone. wondering if anyone knows of some really good and very comprehensive simulation programs for people who want to master networking but can't afford to buy all the equipment. thanks all

p.s. a+, networking, security, linux and Ethical hacking simulations are what i am looking for please.

take are!

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veritas_libertas

info_genius wrote: »

hi everyone. wondering if anyone knows of some really good and very comprehensive simulation programs for people who want to master networking but can't afford to buy all the equipment. thanks all

p.s. a+, networking, security, linux and Ethical hacking simulations are what i am looking for please.

take are!

VMWARE (for free VirtualBox) with multiple servers Windows/Linux, NMAP, GNS3 for Cisco routers/switches, and of course BackTrack3. Does that help at all?

dynamik

It'd probably help if you mentioned what you are specifically looking for. All of those are very broad areas of study. Veritas listed some good places to start.

info_genius

Man, this is a very fast and great responding forum. thanks everyone for your guidance. ok, I guess what i am saying is that i would like to study networking, a+, linux +, ethical hacking + all forms of cisco and security + with simulators so i don't necessarily have to buy all the expensive equipment first. something i can learn from that is as realistic as possible. and of course something that will help prepare me for the certifications. i hope that this is a little more specific.

take care!

dynamik

Yea, just go with virtual machines for all that (with the exception of Cisco). I use VMware Workstation myself, but as mentioned, there are free solutions, such as VMware Server and Virtual Box. If you want to do MS studies, check out a Technet Plus subscription; you'll get full-access to all MS products for $349/year ($249/renew).

Check out Dynamips/Dynagen and optionally GNS3 (if you need a GUI) for your Cisco routing studies. You'll need a valid IOS image for that. If you don't have one available, you can buy a router on eBay on get it off of that. It'd probably be beneficial to have at least a little experience with actual hardware anyway. You'll still need to buy switches though; they only emulate routers.

veritas_libertas

info_genius wrote: »

Man, this is a very fast and great responding forum. thanks everyone for your guidance. ok, I guess what i am saying is that i would like to study networking, a+, linux +, ethical hacking + all forms of cisco and security + with simulators so i don't necessarily have to buy all the expensive equipment first. something i can learn from that is as realistic as possible. and of course something that will help prepare me for the certifications. i hope that this is a little more specific.

take care!

Actually that was about as broad as your first post

I know your excited but you want to take this in steps or your knowledge will not have a solid foundation. Start with the A+, you can find books with labs. The A+ builds your repair/basic computer knowledge, then do the N+ which doesn't require any hardware to pass, then Security+ which also doesn't require hands on experience to pass, and then finally start working on CCNA which will require hardware.

dynamik

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Actually that was about as broad as your first post

Oh, you went there!

That's why my response was about as broad as your first one, Veritas

I'm sure he'll get a bit more specific over time as he starts playing around with stuff. He's got a good start and a lot to cover!

info_genius

thanks for this guidance. this is a super fast responding forum.

RouteThisWay

Veritas usually has some great advice

And I recommend it here.

You say you want to do everything, but you want to master networking. That's a great goal to have. Just an fyi, you don't need any simulator/equipment to pass A+ or Network+.

For Linux, just download any of the free Linux distributions and go to town. Fedora, Ubuntu, whatever floats your boat. I am not going to even pretend I know Linux, so you may want to visit the Linux threads here

You really don't need any simulators/equipment until you get to higher level cisco/ms/redhat certs etc. A+ and Network+ (I am only going to comment on those since I have them) are very basic, fundamental certs. They explain theory and standards.