Getting Telnet to Work.

Microsoft disabled telnet in Windows Vista (don’t ask why). They also removed windows hyperterminal in Internet Explorer 7. If you have either then please follow the below instructions and do not attempt to log into the rack until you have done this because your session will not work.

Enable telnet in IE7
————————

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Catalogs/telnet_problems.html

Or even better:

USE FIREFOX

http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/

Windows Vista
—————–

If you are using Microsoft Vista, and you never enabled telnet then please follow below directions:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/81b6d4b7-905e-4d70-8379-7934913fedb01033.mspx

By default, the telnet program is not enabled / installed in Vista. To install it, follow the below.

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Select Programs and Features.
3. Select Turn Windows features on or off.
4. Select the Telnet Client option.
5. Click OK.
6. When a dialog box shows up, just confirm for the installation. After this procedure, the telnet command should now be available.

Getting Telnet to Work on the Live Cisco Rack.

Microsoft disabled telnet in Windows Vista (don’t ask why). They also removed windows hyperterminal in Internet Explorer 7. If you have either then please follow the below instructions and do not attempt to log into the rack until you have done this because your session will not work.

http://racks.howtonetwork.net/rms/

Enable telnet in IE7
————————

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Catalogs/telnet_problems.html

Or even better:

USE FIREFOX

http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/

Windows Vista
—————–

If you are using Microsoft Vista, and you never enabled telnet then please follow below directions:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/81b6d4b7-905e-4d70-8379-7934913fedb01033.mspx

By default, the telnet program is not enabled / installed in Vista. To install it, follow the below.

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Select Programs and Features.
3. Select Turn Windows features on or off.
4. Select the Telnet Client option.
5. Click OK.
6. When a dialog box shows up, just confirm for the installation. After this procedure, the telnet command should now be available.

Top 10 Cisco Books for Cisco Engineers – By Paul Browning

A career as a network engineer means dedicating yourself to continuing personal development. Even when you pass your Cisco CCNA you will discover that there are a large number of gaps in your knowledge. Sure, you know how to write an access list, do some basic routing and switching, you know a little about wireless and network security but not enough to carry out any major tasks.

Whether or not you decide to take more exams such as voice, wireless, security, design and so on you are still going to move outside your comfort zone and area of knowledge as your network grows and you encounter various scenarios. For this reason, I have put together a list of ten books I recommend to every Cisco engineer. These books will give you a broad knowledge of internetworking technologies and increase your confidence and ability to install, configure and troubleshoot a Cisco network.

I could have written a list of over 50 books which is about the number you need to read to pass your Cisco CCIE however we can perhaps be a little more conservative. The below list consists of the books I would expect to see on the shelf of most serious Cisco engineers. Don’t think you have to read each one from cover to cover, it is often enough to dip into them as and when you need to learn a specific topic, otherwise you may find you read and then quickly forget what you learned.

 

1.Cisco CCNA Simplified – By Paul Browning

Yes, you knew it was coming. I wrote CCNA Simplifed after reading every CCNA book on the market and still feeling confused. The book is based upon all my experience working at Cisco TAC and running my own IT company.

You will learn everything you need to pass your CCNA as well as apply what you learn to the real world of IT.

Cisco CCNA Simplified covers:

• Internetworking fundamentals such as OSI, cables and topologies
• Understand IP addressing and the easy way to subnet
• Switching using VLANS, RSTP+ and switch security
• NAT, RIPv2, OSPF and EIGRP
• TCP/IP
• Access lists tips, tricks and rules you won’t find anywhere else
• WAN configuration and troubleshooting
• Network troubleshooting for real life and the exam
• Security Device Manager and wireless networking

You can buy Cisco CCNA Simplifed at www.howtonetwork.net

2. Routing TCP/IP  Vol I 2nd Edition – By Jeff Doyle

This book is an absolute must for every serious Cisco engineer. Jeff has a great talent for explaining complex subjects in an easy to understand way.

Although the book is on the reading list for the CCIE written exam Jeff covers all the foundations of internetworking such as IP addressing, VLSM, routing principles and a lot more.

Jeff Doyle uses simple case studies and diagrams to explain subjects such as:

• IP addressing and VLSM
• Routing protocols
• TCP/IP
• IPv6
• Configuration and troubleshooting exercises

I highly recommend Routing TCP/IP if you want to better understand internetworking.

 

3. CCIE Practical Studies – By Karl Solie

‘Wait a minute’ I hear you say, I don’t want to jump into CCIE level books yet. I felt the same way but what if I told you that this book will actually explain things to you far better than any CCNP book you can buy?

I trawled through all the CCNP books for years until I started my CCIE preparation. When I read Karl Solie’s book everything seemed to fall in to place for me.

In this book Karl covers all the below theory but he applies it all to example networks with hands on labs and solutions. I can’t recommend this book highly enough for its clear explanations and great labs.

• Ethernet switching
• HDLC and PPP
• ATM
• RIP,EIGRP, OSPF
• Access lists
• NAT
• HSRP
• NTP

This is a must have book for every Cisco engineer.

 

4. CCIE Practical Studies Vol II – By Karl Solie and Leah Lynch

Karl uses the same style that worked so well in Volume I. This time he covers advanced Ethernet swtiching, route maps, policy based routing, QoS and BGP.

This is more CCNP/CCIE level stuff if you were going to use it at work but remember that networks are becoming increasingly complex and you may well be expected to configure your network to prioritize traffic for voice, video or multicasting.

This book covers:

• Advanced Ethernet Switching
• Configuring route maps and policy based routing
• Multicast routing
• QOS
• BGP theory and configs

This book would be very useful to you if you worked at an ISP or for any company who uses BGP on their networks or needs to adopt QOS or policy based rules for their network traffic.

 

5. IP Routing Fundamentals by Mark A. Sportack

This book is a nice introduction to routing concepts and IP protocols. With plenty of explanations and diagrams to assist your learning and understanding. Mark covers internetworking basics, IP addressing, LAN segmentation.

Consider this book as a foundational read if you are not quite ready to chew into the heavier books listed in this article.

Topics covered:

• IP addressing and subnetting
• IP Protocol versions
• Routing basics
• RIPv1 and v2
• EIGRP and OSPF
• Growing the network

This book is a nice introduction to IP routing and I would recommend it to CCNA level engineers before progressing onto the more advanced CCIE level books.

 

6. Cisco Field Manual: Router Configuration – By David Hucaby and Steve McQuerry.

If you could carry only one book with you out in the field then this is the one. It features a huge amount of configuration commands for IOS routers and switches.

If you find yourself stuck as to which commands you need to enter or trying to figure out rarely used commands then this is the book you would dip into.

Probably not the sort of book you would read cover to cover but certainly one you would want close to hand. The authors presume nothing of the reader and so present all of the commands and the various combinations you can use them.

The book covers VLANs, QoS, access lists, security, routing protocols and performance tweaks.

 

7. Cisco Certification – Bridges, Routers and Switches for CCIEs – By Andrew Bruce Caslow and Valeriy Pavlichenko.

This was the must have CCIE study book before Karl Solie wrote his. It is no longer being printed but you may be able to get an old copy from eBay or Amazon marketplace. This book is crammed full of easy to follow hands on labs. When it was released it was essential reading but now it is a bit out of date. I would rate it as a good CCNP level book now but the best thing about it is the explanations followed by the hands on labs written in easy to follow steps.

I really wish these guys would release an updated version. The best part is that they build your knowledge up in six levels until you are eventually doing BGP and QoS.

You learn:

• Frame relay
• ATM
• RIP, EIGRP,OSPF
• Redistribution
• BGP
• Access lists
• QoS
• Route maps

I highly recommend this book to you.

 

8. Cisco LAN Switching – By Kennedy Clark and Kevin Hamilton.

Another CCIE level book but this covers everything you need to know about switched network design, operation and configuration.

You learn:

• High-speed LAN technologies, LAN segmentation, bridging, the Catalyst command-line environment, and VLANs
• Cisco Catalyst design, configuration, and troubleshooting techniques
• STP and troubleshooting common STP problems
• Trunking concepts and applications, including ISL, 802.1Q, LANE
• How to utilize Layer 3 switching techniques for maximum effect

This book is far more than any CCNA would need but you only need to dip into the parts relevant to you and your particular needs. I recommend this book if you want to improve your confidence around switching and Ethernet design and configurations.

 

9. Enhanced IP Services for Cisco Networks – By Donald C Lee

Lee offers a practical guide to implementing IPsec, the IOS Firewall, and IOS Intrusion Detection System. Also included are advanced routing principles and quality of service features that focus on improving the capability of your network.

A good briefing on cryptography fully explains the science that makes VPNs possible.

Rather than being another routing book, this is a guide to improving your network’s capabilities by understanding and using the sophisticated features available to you in Cisco’s IOS software.

You learn:

• Understand VPN security concepts
• Deploy quality of service technologies
• Find out how IPsec technology works and how to configure it
• Learn how to set up a router as a firewall and IDS
• Gain efficient use of your IP address space with NAT, VLSM,
• Solve real-world routing problems with redistribution, route filtering, summarization, policy routing
• Enable authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) security services wih RADIUS and TACACS+ servers

 

10. Troubleshooting IP Routing Protocols – By Zaheer Aziz, Johnson Liu, Abe Martey, Faraz Shamim

At some point you are going to have to troubleshoot your network and this book will make your job a lot easier.

With a troubleshooting plan and an understanding of common networking problems along with how to resolve them you will be a highly sought after engineer.

You learn:

• Understand and overcome common routing problems associated with BGP, IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF, IS-IS, multicasting, and RIP, such as route installation, route advertisement, route redistribution, route summarization, route flap, and neighbor relationships
• Solve complex IP routing problems through methodical, easy-to-follow flowcharts and step-by-step scenario instructions for troubleshooting
• Obtain essential troubleshooting skills from detailed case studies by experienced Cisco TAC team members
• Examine numerous protocol-specific debugging tricks that speed up problem resolution

 

 Paul Browning passed his CCNA and then made a career change from the police into IT. He worked at Cisco TAC for two years before starting his own IT company.

Paul runs Cisco CCNA training courses in the UK through his company Networks Inc. Ltd and also runs a dedicated online Cisco CCNA training site featuring streaming videos,  exams, discussion boards and a live rack of Cisco routers and switches.

YouTube Cisco Videos

I have added a couple of videos to Youtube. The latest one
is how to connect to a router using your USB port. You
will need to know how to do this if your laptop does not
have a COM port which is basically every modern one now
manufactured.

If you like the videos please rate them.

http://www.youtube.com/user/paulwbrowning

Just click on ‘Subscribe to paulwbrowning’s videos’

Cisco CCNA Training Course

If you fancy a weekend of routing and switching fun then
please feel to join us on one of our famous CCNA weekend
boot camps with a 97% exam success rate.

Dates are available in Cardiff, Milton Keynes, Birmingham
Dublin and North London. Other venues to follow. Just click
on the link below.

CCNA Training

Big Favour Please

I am asking again because out of 1600 subscribers only 7 people went and did me a short review. I don’t often if ever ask for help so please can you do me a favour and post a quick positive review.

I will be giving out the bonuses in the next few days so thanks to those who have already done a review:-

We are really proud to have been awarded a Certguard logo for the quality of the Cisco practise tests. The test have all been checked and approved for quality and integrity.

What we really need it some reviews of our tests and site because it will bring more visitors to our site and help many more people to pass their CCNA exams.

Can you please visit the bottom of the page below and give us a good review. Even if you have only used the complementary practice exams:

http://www.certguard.com/reviews/?s=howtonetwork.net

As a thank you, when you have done that, drop me an e-mail at help@howtonetwork.net with the subject ‘Review Done’ and in the body tell me if you want a never before seen practice exam or free CCNA study card deck.

I will send out your tools within a few days.

Please can you do it now so you don’t forget. Thanks.

http://www.certguard.com/reviews/?s=howtonetwork.net

Run Your Own Cisco Training Business

The last 3 licences to teach my famous Cisco CCNA weekend model are now available in the UK. If you fancy running your own business on the side but didn’t want to take a risk or didn’t know where to start then come and visit the below page.

I will personally train you in all the teaching skills and marketing skills you need to be a big success. I will also pay my business coach to coach you on a one to one basis for 2 months. Emerson charges over £2k per month for his services and he is worth ten times that.

The current licence holders are making anything from £1500 – £3500 PER WEEKEND! Don’t take my word for it by the way, feel free to check out what they are saying on the below link:

http://www.networksinc.co.uk/Cisco_Training_Licence.htm

This model will be coming out to the USA later in the year so drop me a line if you want to be among the first.

help@howtonetwork.net

VLSM

VLSM is the process whereby you take a major network address and then break it down into different subnets with different subnet masks at various points. In the Cisco CCNA exam you may well be faced with a scenario where you are required to design an IP addressing scheme to fit certain requirements.

Throughout this article I am going to presume that you have read the Easy Way to Subnet guide at www.howtonetwork.net or if you have not, you already have a very good understanding of subnetting and IP addressing.

It is best to illustrate with an example.

FIG 1 – ACME Company with no VLSM

You may have spotted a few problems with the above addressing scheme. The most important issue is the breach of the conservation of IP addresses. If you are using RFC 1918 addresses (non routable such as 10.x.x.x) then perhaps you may not worry about address wastage but this is very bad practise and for Cisco exams you can guarantee an expectation that you will conserve IP addresses.

With a /28 mask or 255.255.255.240 you have 14 hosts per subnet. This may be fine for your LAN on either end but for your WAN connection you only need 2 IP addresses. You are wasting 12! We could change the masks to /30 or 255.255.255.252 but then for our LANs we will obviously need more than 2 hosts.

The first workaround is to buy a separate network address for each network (2 LANs and one WAN) but this would prove expensive and unnecessary. The other alternative is to break our subnet down further using VLSM which is actually what it was designed to do!

FIG 2 – ACME Company with VLSM

In FIG 2 we can see that the WAN link now has a /30 mask which gives us two usable hosts. We have a tighter addressing allocation. Should ACME expand (as companies do) we can easily allocate further WAN links and LANs.

FIG 3 – ACME with a new office

In FIG 3 we can see that ACME has now grown and added a remote office. Because you have taken the time to plan and allocate a carefully thought out VLSM scheme you can simply allocate the next block of IP addresses.

But Won’t The IP Addresses Clash?

This is a very common question and also very valid. Let’s say we have address 19.16.1.1/28 for one of our LANs, you will not therefore be able to use the IP address 19.16.1.1 with any other subnet mask. The IP address can only be used once no matter which subnet mask is attached to it.

It is a bit of a head scratcher for people who are new to networking or subnetting but it does work. Feel free to think on it some more or just accept that with VLSM (RFC 950) it is not possible to reuse IP addresses.

VLSM in the CCNA Exam

In the CCNA exam you may be asked to address a network using VLSM and allocate the correct masks to the WAN and LAN links. If you haven’t read the subnetting secrets section from www.howtonetwork.net then I strongly encourage you to do that. We are building on what you have learned on that section. Here is the subnetting secrets section.

Here is a network you have been asked to design an addressing scheme for.

FIG 4 – ACME II Company

In FIG 4 ACME II company has been allocated the network 200.100.100.x network with a default mask of 255.255.255.0. If we keep the standard mask we are left with one network with 254 usable hosts. If you want to check this for yourself please use the subnetting secrets cheat sheet onwww.howtonetwork.net or the downloadable copy here or the direct link to download is http://www.box.net/shared/yyx4y8y0zf.

If you use the bottom part of the subnetting secrets cheat sheet you can tick down eight places and see that we have one subnet with 256 – 2 hosts giving us 254. I don’t want to dwell on that part of the calculations because that is covered very well on www.howtonetwork.net.

Our challenge is this then. We have three serial connections and each only requires two usable host addresses. We have four LANs which need anything from 20 to 100 hosts. If we just design a mask to give us anything from 20 to 100 hosts we are going to be wasting a lot of addresses. To get 100 hosts (using the cheat chart) we tick down seven places giving us a mask of 255.255.255.128 (because we only have one bit left to tick down for the subnets portion). This gives us 126 hosts (128-2). We would then have two networks, one starting 200.100.100.0 and one starting 200.100.100.128. Not great to be honest. We need seven subnets (three WAN and four LAN) and some only require 20 hosts so why waste 108 addresses?

What we need to do is refer to the subnetting secrets cheat chart. If we use the bottom portion and tick down until we find a number close enough to give us the 100 hosts. The only number we can use is 128 which is seven ticks down. We are stealing seven bits from the host portion leaving us one bit for subnetting.

Powers of 2	Subnets	Hosts -2
2	√	√
4		√
8		√
16		√
32		√
64		√
128		√
256
512

If we use the upper portion of the cheat chart then we will tick down one place to reveal the subnet mask of 128.

Subnet
128	√
192
224
240
248
252
254
255

When we use the 128 subnet with ACME II companies IP address we get subnet 200.100.100.0 and subnet 200.100.100.128 both with a mask of /25 or 255.255.255.128. For our network needing 100 hosts we can use this. We will use 200.100.100.128 subnet for the network needing 100 hosts. For the first host we will use 200.100.100.129 and so on up to 200.100.100.229. So now we have:

Large LAN Hosts

200.100.100.128/25 – LAN (hosts 129-254)

200.100.100.0/25 – available for use or for VLSM

We need to allocate hosts to three remaining LAN networks and 3 WANs . The other three LANs all need anything from 20 to 30 hosts. If you tick down the hosts portion of the subnetting cheat chart you will get to 32 if you tick down five places and take two away to give us 30 hosts. If we steal 5 bits from the host portion we are left with 3 bits for the subnet (because there are 8 bits in every octet).

Powers of 2	Subnets	Hosts -2
2	√	√
4	√	√
8	√	√
16		√
32		√
64
128
256
512

Tick down three places on the subnets section of the cheat chart to reveal a subnet mask of 224. This mask will give us eight subnets (we only need three for the LANs) and each subnet will have up to 30 available host addresses. Can you see how this will fit ACME II requirements?

Subnet
128	√
192	√
224	√
240
248
252
254
255

If you tick across three places on the top row of the subnetting secrets cheat chart you will see that our subnets go up in increments of 32. Our subnets will be 0,32,64,96 and we can’t use 128 because this is used for the large LAN.

Hosts	128	64	32	16	8	4	2	1
	√	√	√

So now we have:

LAN Hosts

200.100.100.0/27 – Let’s reserve this for the WAN links

200.100.100.32/27 – LAN 1 (hosts 33-62)
200.100.100.64/27 – LAN 2 (hosts 65-94)
200.100.100.96/27 – LAN 3 (hosts 96-126)

Next. We need IP addresses for three WAN connections. WAN IP addressing is fairly easy because we only ever need 2 IP addresses if it is a point to point link. On the hosts column tick down two places to get 4 and we take 2 away to get 2 hosts. This leaves 6 bits for the subnet.

Powers of 2	Subnets	Hosts -2
2	√	√
4	√	√
8	√
16	√
32	√
64	√
128
256
512

Tick down 6 places on the subnets column to get 252 as our subnet mask.

Subnet
128	√
192	√
224	√
240	√
248	√
252	√
254
255

Our Network Addresses

As a network administrator you would keep a record of used IP addresses and subnets. So far you will have allocated the addresses as follows:

WAN Links

200.100.100.0 /30 – WAN link 1 (hosts 1-2)
200.100.100.4 /30 – WAN link 2 (hosts 5-6)
200.100.100.8/30 – WAN link 3 (hosts 9-10)

LAN Hosts

200.100.100.32/27 – LAN 1 (hosts 33-62)
200.100.100.64/27 – LAN 2 (hosts 65-94)
200.100.100.96/27 – LAN 3 (hosts 96-126)

Large LAN Hosts

200.100.100.128/25 – LAN (hosts 129-254)

My CCNA Exam Experience

by John D.

About Me

You have probably already guessed that my real name isn’t John D but in the interests of keeping my identity a secret I wanted to remain anonymous.

I work as an IT contractor doing basic router installs. I basically swap out old models for new versions and copy over the configuration files. Nothing too complicated. I work as a contractor for a large company and have been in IT for about five years now. I did pass my CCNP a few years ago but it expired and now I consider myself very rusty indeed. I don’t really configure Cisco equipment apart from copying over the config which is a very low level skill. I want to get back to CCNP level and go and work on a network support team somewhere.

I wanted to share with you my CCNA exam day experience. Things didn’t really go that well to be honest so I didn’t give myself the best chances of passing. Perhaps if I tell you my story it may give you a few pointers on how you can perform at your best on the actual day. I won’t be telling you what my questions in the exam were but I will be sharing with you how I was caught out several times with questions on topics I thought I knew pretty well.

How I Prepared

When I passed a few years ago all there was by way of study materials was Cisco press and one by a big name author. I bought both books but it took many weeks to trawl through all the information in them. At many points I thought I must be stupid because the information simply wouldn’t sink in. I failed the CCNA twice before finally passing it but that must have been a fluke. I went on to study for the CCNP but for that I used some old CCIE books which actually seemed to explain things in a far easier way than the CCNP ones. I also used lots of practise exams from Boson and Transcender who at the time were the leaders in the field.

This time round things have changed and it seems everyone wants a slice of the IT training pie. I was recommendedwww.howtonetwork.net by a colleage who was at the Cisco Academy doing his CCNA. He was very unhappy with the trainer he had there and had found Paul Brownings site mentioned on the forum by another academy student.

I couldn’t believe it when I found the site. It seemed that there was finally somebody out there who could explain stuff without going off on a tangent or losing me with useless babble. As I watched the videos, followed the lessons and did the hands on labs with walkthroughs I felt a massive improvement in my confidence levels. I posted questions on the forums and had replies from some very helpful people within the hour most of the time.

I didn’t bother to buy any more books this time. I just used www.howtonetwork.net and bought a copy of CCNA Simplified because I travel to work on the train so I wanted something I could read. For hands on experience I bought some second hand routers from ebay. Three 1720 routers and two 2950 switches. I used the live racks on http://racks.howtonetwork.net/as well and they were excellent. I bought all the cables I needed from ebay.

My Study System

I just got up every day one hour earlier. I like to study early in the morning because I know there will be no distractions. I asked my wife to help with the children for that hour and I explained to her (on Pauls advice) that it would only be for a few weeks so I could pass the exam and get a better contract. The ‘CCNA in 60 days‘ programme was not available when I was studying but I wish it was.

I read on the train to work and if it was quiet at work I did a quick practise exam. I studied during my lunch break (cram guide and subnetting) and then read on the train home again. It seemed at the time that all I was doing was studying but was very keen to pass the CCNA. I had also promised my two children a day out at the local theme park if I passed and so they kept on nagging me to study.

I think from start to finish I studied for six weeks. Being an expired CCNP I thought would have helped but by the time I came to study again I had literally forgotten everything I had learned the first time around. It was like being a novice again.

Exam Day

I woke up with a knot in my stomach. I forced a light breakfast down and then left for the exam testing centre. It is only five miles from my house and I have taken exams there a few times over the last few years.

When I got into town I had left a good 45 minutes free to park up and find a local coffee shop to sit in. It was then that the problems started. The car park I usually use was completely full and as I drove round it looking for a space I could feel my tension building. I eventually found another car park a short walk away but then realised to my horror that I had forgotten to bring any change with me for the parking meter. Luckily I managed to get some change of a stranger in the car park. I was feeling very tense now as I walked over the road to the testing centre which is located in a large office building on the top floor.

I sat in a coffee shop outside the testing centre and had a coffee because I had another 20 minutes before it was time to go in. After I finished the coffee I immediately regretted drinking it because I felt the need to pee. I knew that with a combination of exam nerves and caffeine I would be desperate to pee every thirty minutes. Stupid mistake.

I casually strolled to the entrance to the testing centre but there was a sign on the door saying that the entrance had moved to the other side of the building. I felt more twisting in my stomach as I walked round the perimeter of the building trying to find where the new entrance was.

Inside the Centre

I finally found the new improved entrance and walked nervously up three flights of stairs until I found the correct floor for the testing centre. I was greeted by the receptionist who told me to sit in the corner until she was ready. There was no offer of water or smiles from her.

When she was ready for me I  had to show my ID (driving license and credit card) and fill in a disclaimer form about not telling people which questions I was asked or taking anything into the exam room with me. I then had to lock everything I had in a small locker. Bag, wallet, mobile phone and so on.

In the Exam Room

She led me to a cramped room with six PCs in. Each one separated by a screen to the left and right. I asked where the water cooler was and got myself two glasses of water.

I sat down and click on a few buttons on the PC to confirm who I was. I gave my e-mail address so they could e-mail me off my certificates and result. I then did a short practise exam which shows you the question styles you may get such as multiple choice, drag and drop, fill in the blank etc. I always do that short test just to get me in the swing of things.

The real exam then started. It told me that I had 45 questions to answer in 90 minutes and that I needed 833 out of 1000 to pass.

The first question had me stuck already. It was on VLSM which I thought I knew pretty well but the way it was phrased made no sense to me. I looked at the answers and they all looked wrong to me. I read the question over and over but it still didn’t make sense at all. My anxiety was rising fast and as I looked at the clock I knew I was wasting valuable time. I clicked on the answer that looked least wrong to me and continued.

There were a few other questions which seemed to make sense. Multiple choice, drag and drop and so on. They asked me about which algorithm is used to compute a certain routing protocols routes which really annoyed me. What on earth has that got do do with configuring the protocol? Then I was asked who it was who invented it! That is a history question as far as I am concerned but it appeared that Cisco thought it was important.

I was then hit with my first configuration issue. A new router had been added to a network and was not routing correctly. I had done a few troubleshooting problems on howtonetwork so I used the OSI to resolve the problem and moved on feeling confident that I had fixed everything.

I was asked to look at a network diagram for a TCP/IP service and answer what the default behaviour was for the router. They didn’t explain if the router had been configured or not. Was it the default behaviour they wanted if it had not been set up or if it had been set up? I was really annoyed at this question and left a comment about it. Clearly they presumed something about that question which was not obvious or at least not to me.

Next there was a pretty straight forward configuration on a router. At least it would have been straight forward if I could have seen what I was typing! The router config box opened but you couldn’t see the bottom half of it. You could only see what you had typed about ten commands ago as you hit enter and the old commands scrolled up the screen. I tried closing the box down, reloading the router but nothing worked.

I went out of the room and called the modulator in but she said there was nothing she could do about it. I had to just leave a comment and keep going. I knew at that point I was going to fail. I did my best to configure the router without being able to see what I was typing. It was very difficult but I gave it my best shot and moved on.

I had lost valuable time by this point and had 15 questions left to answer in seven minutes. It was all a blur after that. I read and clicked, read and clicked. I have to be honest that some of it was actually guess work. I had prepared very well but it was either the way they were phrasing the question or the ambiguity around the choices which sometimes all appeared wrong to me.

I got to question 45 which was an easy one about a port number and was presented with the ‘Finish Exam’ button.

The Result

I hate that part of the test. I just wanted to sit there not knowing. It is an old cliché but with the broken simulator, the strange default behaviours and me simply guessing I didn’t rate my chances of passing. I clicked on the ‘Finish Exam’ button and saw my result. It said ‘Congratulations. You have passed.’ I had attained 845 out of 1000 which was enough to pass.

It wasn’t a great result but a pass is a pass and my employers would never need to know the result.

The End

I hope my experience has been of some help. If I could go back in time I don’t know what I could have done any differently. I studied hard. Maybe I should have skipped the coffee or had decaf. I should have done a test drive to the testing centre to check they hadn’t moved. Taken some change with me.

Best of luck in your exam.

UPDATE – www.ccnaHomeLab.com is now live with updated information and equipment.

Introduction

So you have heard that you need a lot of hands on time before you take your Cisco CCNA or CCENT. The next logical question is ‘How do I do that’ closely followed by ‘How much will it cost me?’

In this article I will show you the basics of buying and setting up your own home CCNA training rack.

Costs

Actually cost is the wrong word to be honest, it is better to think of it as an investment in your future. When you buy your own home rack you can actually sell it for what you paid for it or close anyway so consider it cheap router rental. I would budget for around £250/$500 for a basic CCNA training level rack or around £350/$700 for a super duper rack. That includes all your kit and cables. But if you find a great deal somewhere you could pay a lot less.

If you are completely broke and can’t even afford that then I would recommend using an online CCNA rack as opposed to a router simulator. Router sims are okay if you have nothing else to work on but to be honest, you can never honestly put time spent on router sims onto your CV or résumé whereas you can definitely put time spent on live routers and switches onto your CV. If you want to access live Cisco routers over the web then the absolute best rack you can use is the howtonetwork live Cisco rack which comes with 10 free hours when you sign up.

What You Need

For a basic home rack you will need:

2 Cisco routers, each with a serial port (WIC) and fast ethernet port
1 Cisco 2950 switch
2 Ethernet cables
1 WIC back to back (DTE-DCE) cable
Console lead for hyperterminal or putty connection
Copy of Putty (software)

The models of Cisco router available can seem overwhelming but here is my take:

1600 – too old to be useful
2500 – okay but they have the old 10meg ethernet ports
1720 – perfect for home labs
1760 – great if you can afford but heavy to post
1800 – too expensive for CCNA level

You need to have a 2950 model switch because this is what is tested in the CCNA exam.

Cisco 1720 Router

 

 

Cisco 2950 Switch

 

 

For an advanced Cisco CCNA training rack you need:

3 Cisco routers, two with one serial port and one with two serial ports (the hub router)
2 Cisco 2950 switches
2 Ethernet cables
1 crossover cable (to connect the switches together)
2 WIC back to back (DTE-DCE) cable
Console lead for hyperterminal or putty connection
Copy of Putty

If you are buying 1720 model routers make sure you get a power supply unit (PSU) with it because this is what plugs into your router. You plug a three pin kettle lead into that which leads to your power supply.

The Cables

Cabling for your rack can seem a little confusing at times. Here is the lowdown on the cables you need:

Ethernet – I hope you know this one. Ethernet is used to connect devices to your switch at 100meg.
Crossover – You need a cable to connect your PC or laptop to the console port on the router or switch. This lets you log into the device and configure them. They are usually light blue in colour and connect to the COM port on the back of your PC. Modern laptops no longer have them which is a pain so you need a USB to COM converter cable. You can search on Ebay for the term ‘Cisco console cable.’ Expect to pay a few pounds for one.I would personally buy three or four of the crossover cables so you can have one window open per device.

Console cable

 

 

 

 

Plug the rollover cable into the console port

 

 

 

 

 

USB to Console – As mentioned above. You will need a cable which your console cable can plug into before it reaches your USB port. The cable should come with drivers to get it working on your PC.The picture to the right shows my rollover (console) cable plugged into my USB to Console cable.I have actually filmed a short video which shows you how to do this and it is posted on YouTube:

Connect the cables together

 

 

 

 WAN Cable – A serial or WAN cable lets you configure your connection between the serial interfaces on the routers. When you work at an office you usually connect one end of the cable into your router and the other into a socket on the wall provided by your ISP. Your home lab will have two routers, one as the customer router and the other as the ISP router.Your WAN cable will have one end as the customer end (DTE) and the other end as the ISP (DCE). The DCE end provides the speed for the connection.

DB60 – Serial WAN cable

 

 

 

WIC-1T

 

 

 

 

WIC Card – If you buy a modular router you need to have cards to slot in to the black slots in the router. For Cisco CCNA racks you simply need a WIC card which you can buy from Ebay. They can be a little expensive so you may actually be better off buying a router which comes with a WIC card.A WIC is a serial card with a 60 pin connection which of course you plug your 60 pin WAN cable into.Please turn the power off before you insert the WIC or another other card into your router.
The Software

You will need software to run a terminal connection so you can connect through the console port of your routers and switches. The old faithful program has always been hyperterminal developed by Microsoft but this hasn’t been updated for years and is not very flexible.The best program to use is Putty and best of all it is free. You can download putty here.You simply install putty, plug your console cable in and connect over serial COM 1 port. If you are using the USB to COM adaptor you can look in device manager under COM and LTP ports and see which COM port you have been allocated.

There is a video showing you how it works on our sister site howtonetwork.net.

Putty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cisco IOS – routers and switches need an operating system which is referred to as the IOS (internetwork operating system). When you buy second hand equipment it should come with one installed. Technically, you are supposed to pay Cisco to use their software but if it is installed on the device already then great. If you you have to buy an image from Cisco it may well cost you a few thousand dollars so make sure you have one on whatever you buy.

The latest versions of Cisco IOS run at 12.4 but anything from 12.1 onwards will do you fine. For the CCNA you only need something which support basic routing which is almost every release available. You do need to know about IPv6 for the CCNA but at the moment you are not expected to know how to configure it.

Cisco SDM – there is now a graphical tool you can use to configure Cisco routers. It is called Security Device Manager and is now featured in the CCNA exam. Although Cisco expect you to be able to configure routers with SDM it appears that they have not worked out a way to test you on it in the exam yet but of course this could change. If you want to use SDM you will need to download it (for free) and then install it on your router.

SDM only works with Cisco routers model 1760 or higher. If you want to use it you are going to have to go to the trouble of buying the routers, getting a higher release of Cisco IOS and then spend a few hours playing with it. My advice is either to watch a couple of SDM videos on YouTube or put the software on your PC for free and connect to a live Cisco rack which can support SDM. Before you ask, yes, our live racks support SDM.

I have put the info you need in the above SDM videos.

Where To Buy

The best place to find second hand Cisco kit has to be Ebay. There are several companies now who offer Cisco CCNA racks or you can just buy the kit individually. Buying the entire rack with cables will save you time but if you are up for a bargain you can bid on Cisco CCNA routers being sold by people who do not know what they are worth. I can’t personally recommend any particular sellers but look for somebody who offers a warranty and e-mail support to help you get set up.

Beware companies who seem to be selling cheap equipment but then charge a fortune for postage. Ebay are clamping down on these rogue traders. You can do an Ebay search for ‘cisco rack’ or ‘ccna rack’ or for the individual items such as ‘cisco 1720’ which are my personal favourite because they are light and cheap.

Get yourself an account on Phantom Bidder and set a low bid amount to go in at the last 3 seconds. This way you can pick up Cisco 1720 routers for a few pounds.

Setting it Up

Once you have all your shiny equipment at home, setting it up should be fairly easy. You connect your power, plug your devices together with your Ethernet and serial cables, plug your console cable in and open up Putty. I recommend just playing with one device first until you get used to opening up your Putty sessions.

If you want to use another device I recommend having one console cable per device. If you only have one console cable you are going to have to continually unplug it to connect to the other devices and you may well wear out the metal contacted inside the console port on the routers (I have lost several devices this way).

Configuring Labs

This is actually a bit of a challenge. You need to configure lots and lots of labs if you want to be a good Cisco engineer as well as the small matter of passing your CCNA exam. I have read most of the books by CCNA authors and they are all missing one small detail – labs for you to configure! I’m not kidding, I have read them from page to page and they give you all the theory but then they don’t give you a lab to configure! Is it just me or is that completely crazy.

I don’t want to go all salesy on you (I know that isn’t a word) but I ended up writing my own Cisco study guide to plug that massive gap in the market. More details on that below. Meanwhile, there are lots and lots of challenge labs for you to get your teeth into for FREE at our sister site howtonetwork.net under the section Free CCNA labs.

The End?

I hope this has all been some help to you. When I was learning about Cisco networking it used to drive me nuts when the sites and books presumed I knew the basics. They launched into all the protocols and OSI layers but forgot to tell me where to plug in my cables and how to connect to the routers. Small details I know but kind of important don’t you think.

Best of luck in your exam.

About Paul Browning

Paul Browning owns Networks Inc. Ltd who have been teaching Cisco courses in the UK since 2002. Customers include BT, Shell, British Army, Jaguar, Ford and many many more.Paul also owns the worlds only complete end-to-end CCNA training site www.howtonetwork.net which is one of the fastest growing training sites in the world. Paul believes that anybody can pass their Cisco exams if they are prepared to put the work in and follow a proven successful study method. He is the only person in the UK to have authored his own Cisco CCNA study guide – CCNA Simplified.