Craftworking

Cisco Lab Pt.2

Using your lab. The first thing you need to do after you power up the equipment it to get console connectivity. This is where a terminal server comes into play. The idea is to be able to login to all of the equipment at the same time. You can get any terminal server. There is no question on the exams that deal with the terminal server. I recommend Cyclades for the terminal server. It is easiest terminal server I have ever used. And it connects to the routers and switches using a standard rollover cable. Some of the other terminal servers have complicated pinouts that make the serial connection difficult.

After all the console connections are made, login to each of the routers and switches and make sure that the correct IOS version is loaded. There is a nice feature with Cisco that will come in handy. That is that it is easy to dump the IOS from a router and load it on another one of the same model. It is a good idea to purchase routers that are of the same model.

Once the IOS code has been verified, upload the IOS to a computer for safe keeping.

There are two things you need to know to pass an exam. One being the command syntax. The other being the technology itself. You can do a lot of practice on you lab without connecting the routers together. A lot of exam failures happen because they missed the syntax of the commands.

Hooking it all up.
There are two types of connections that are on the exams. One being ethernet and the other serial. Start with the ethernet. The routers are rarely connected directly to each other. Instead all connections to to the switch. But is is a good idea to practice connecting to routers together to get familiar with cross-over cabling. That being said, you connect all of the routers to the switch. What this gives you is that no matter what topology is given, you won't have to recable your equipment everytime the topology changes. Make sure that you get link light to every connection. Oh and build your own cables.

Serial connections are on the CCNA blueprint. This encompasses ppp and frame relay. When you purchase serial cables, one of the ends will be labled DCE. That is where you clock will be. Just make a note on which router has the DCE connections. This is an important configration step that may be on the test. When hooking up the serial cables. Make sure that the physical layer comes up.

Now go play.
Spend as much time on the equipment as possible. Practice subnetting by coming up with your own network topologies. You should be able to quickly identify addressing problems. You can get very proficient on addressing by configuring many different networks. Practice the switching. Even though it not a big part of the CCNA exam, it will keep you from routing is it isn't done right. Its all about confidents and comfort. Once you get confident with the command line and configurations, understanding the routing technology becomes much easier. You should be able to configure a simple dynamic routed network in just a few minutes and acheive end to end connectivity.

troubleshooting.
This is a big topic with Cisco nowadays. So go and break your lab. Pull out cables and intentially make configuration mistakes and work on your troubleshooting skills. See what happens when you put in a routing loop or miss a default route.

It is a good idea and one I use all the time is to get out a piece of paper and draw up a network topology off the top of your head. Come up with an addressing scheme and go build it. This is what you will get in the real world. If you have friends in the networking world, have them come up with a case study. Or even come up with a use case yourself. One example I came up with was this. I have two offices each in a different city. Both offices use the same IP address space. I need to route traffic between the two offices.

I have build my own lab. Initially it was intended to be used for getting certified. But now I also use it to experiment with work related routing scenarios. My lab helped me out not only getting a certification, it also is helping me out in my professional career as well.